When you’re a food blogger and you post something non-food related, you tend to get a lot of, “I follow you for food …..” or “Why are you posting about this …this has nothing to do with food…” and I get it. Trust me – if I’m following someone for inspiration on getting a healthy meal on the table, I have to wonder why she might be sharing her love for a kitchen towel!
Here’s the thing (and if you’ve followed my blog or IG for a while, you know that I’ve shared this before), when I first started my blog, it was to encourage and motivate people who wanted ideas of getting healthy paleo meals on the table. I listened to your requests – and for those who asked for recipes on my Instagram posts, starting a blog was a great way to be able to direct people here, so that all the recipes would be “stored” in one place.
A couple of years in, I realized that food wasn’t the only component of living a healthy life! When you’re in the sphere of like-minded healthy people, you start seeing and hearing more and more about ‘nonfood’ healthy components to round out optimum health. I will be sharing what I’ve added in to my lifestyle but first, let’s talk about the effects of toxic chemicals that are wreaking havoc on our bodies.
#1 Safer Products
One of the things I did to make a switch to living a healthier life was switch out my skincare, make-up and cleaning products. I wasn’t doing my body any favors of eating ‘real, whole foods’ if I was slathering hormone disrupting chemicals all over my skin/hair. Did you know there’s a link to phthalates and childhood obesity? This chemical can be found in personal care products such as the sunscreen we are “protecting” our children with! Hormone disrupting chemicals (such as phthalates) disrupt our bodies natural hormone process. Our bodies get confused and stop producing the hormone naturally as it detects the hormone is already in our system! So instead of our bodies running in its natural state, it’s being tricked by a synthetic and it truly takes a huge toll on our health. This is very scary for females in particular – think about the disruption it causes for girls in preteen years, the ability to get pregnant, normal monthly cycles and menopause. Hormones play a vital role in health in its entirety. Our whole body is made up of hormones and anything “off” or imbalanced sends us into an unhealthy state. This is just an example of one chemical ….but imagine the damage of several ingredients that aren’t safe, in one bottle of lotion! Environmental Working Group has a great app that allows us to scan or submit a product to see where it falls in terms of it being safe to use. For me, I made the switch slowly because let’s face it, it is costly to just toss everything and start from scratch — but slowly over time, I’ve got everything “cleaned out” from personal care to cleansers.
#2 Essential Oils
Eliminating toxic chemicals was a great place to start for me but adding in healthy practices was equally as important. When I ditched my cleaning products, I didn’t get the same fresh smell in my house after cleaning. I realize that the lemon scent in my furniture polish was added fragrance so I opted to grab a Lemon Essential Oil to just help get that “just cleaned” scent back into my home. Little did I know that these oils were powerhouse tools to help aid in my personal well-being! Essential oils are my go-to’s for stress, sickness, motivation, cleaning and even perfume. I pretty much use these oils for anything and everything. I even rub some on after a hard workout to help alleviate sore muscles. Diffusing a couple of vibrant scents (lemon and peppermint) in the morning helps to get me moving with a positive vibe, while diffusing more calming oils in the evening (Lavender or Ylang Ylang) helps me relax before hitting the pillow. And not gonna lie, Frankincense is added to my facial cream each night as it’s supposed to help with fine lines! But it’s also an oil that I drop under my tongue each day for boosting immunity. There are also blends that serve multipurpose and I use those daily. Rubbing Balance on the bottom of my feet when I feel a bit scattered or Past Tense (these are DōTerra oils) when I need to get the “weight of the world” off my shoulders has been a huge help for me.
Essential oils have helped with headaches and stomach aches as well but I truly love oils for what they do before you really “need them”. When my daughter heads off for an audition, I send her with some Serenity and/or ClaryCalm and it helps keep anxiety down. I know there are many oils on the market but I chose DōTerra because they source the oil from origin. If you aren’t familiar with essential oils, I highly suggest trying them out. Most are safe for children as well and I know soooo many friends that use oils to help relax their kids before bed or to help them focus in school or with homework.
#3 Oil Pulling
When I first heard about oil pulling, I almost gagged a little. Yep. That seriously happened. I didn’t think there was any way possible that I could keep coconut oil ‘swishing’ in my mouth for 15 minutes!
Ok, so for those of you who aren’t familiar with oil pulling – the idea is to swish around 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil in your mouth for 10-20 minutes – so that means, no talking for that amount of time ….but even more than that, keeping your mouth closed while moving oil around so it doesn’t drip down your chin! So why do I do it??? Well, I initially wanted to give it a try because I am a coffee drinker and I was looking for a more natural way to whiten my teeth. Oil pulling was suggested. After I did a little more research on it, I realized that it did in fact suggest that oil pulling would whiten teeth but it also talked about how it helped with cavities, gum issues and removing toxins from in and around the gum line. Some even suggested that it is more beneficial than flossing! I gave it a-go and have been doing it for a couple of years now. I find that swishing in the shower is the best way for me to get in the amount of time needed to be effective. I I have most definitely noticed whiter teeth, as well as decrease in plaque. My gums aren’t as sensitive either. I will keep up this method since it’s proven to help and it doesn’t disturb gum sensitivity like whitening strips tend to do. TIP: If you should try this ….I would suggest starting out with a teaspoon and working your way up to a tablespoon or 2. Also, don’t spit the oil out in the sink ….it hardens and you certainly don’t want it to harden in cooler weather and clog your drains.
Welp. There you have it my friends. I know it was a long read and I have soooo many other things to share but I’ll leave that for another day! I’d love to hear from you — what are some of your favorite non-food related health practices that you do either on a daily or weekly basis? I am all ears and always eager to learn!
