Health is more than food, part 1

All the physical toxins you're surrounded by, and how to fix them

“You are what you eat” — Your grandma.

This is definitionally true, as your cells are made of the food you eat. But you’re not only what you eat.

According to Jim Rohn, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

And as Frank Zappa said, “You are what you is.”

Trying to summarize, we might say that “you are what you consume.”

And if you want to be healthy, you thus must not consume toxic things. In this post, we will discover other toxic material influences besides food that affect your health.

And in the next installment, we’ll cover those things which can’t easily be seen or touched.

cities, the patron place of toxic living

Material Toxins

An easy way to think about health is by optimizing your body’s chemistry. Hormones, nutrients, vitamins, and toxins, all of which physically enter your body by different means.

Health comes from reducing the bad stuff, and maximizing the good stuff.

This series of articles will be about reducing the bad stuff.

Chief among those bad influences is food. Its importance is obvious, but just the tip of the iceberg. Avoid toxic foods, especially “health foods”, and if you don’t know what to eat, start here.

But you consume more than simply what enters your mouth.

Toxins can come through your skin, through your lungs, and through your eyes.

You become more like these things that you consume.

Spend time absorbing fluorescent light? Become pale and ghastly.

Swim in chlorinated water? You become dry and sterile.

But if you consume sunlight, you become golden and powerful. Breathe fresh air, and your skin becomes clean.

The following list of toxic influences is broken down according to all the ways by which foreign substances enter your body. I’ll list specific examples, and briefly describe or link to how you can fix them.

Air

Pollution (smells bad)

This is all the bad smelling stuff that infects the air around us. Pollution is obvious because a) it’s noticeable and b) it’s unpleasant.

These chemicals will give you lung cancer, brain cancer, bad skin, and disrupt every hormone in your body.

And hormone disrupters can cause epigenetic damage that will harm your future kids.

• Examples

  • Truck, car, lawn mower, weed whacker, and construction exhaust

  • Jet fuel exhaust in air planes

  • Factory exhaust from nearby industrial centers

  • Fertilizer and pesticide vapor from industrial farms

  • Off-gassing from plastic household items (shower curtains, new furniture, etc.), that “new car smell”

  • Household chemicals like bleach, anti-freeze, spray paint, etc.

  • Smoke from chemical incense and pesticide-laced “herbs”

• How to fix

  • In-home or in-car air filters

  • Charcoal air toxin absorbers

  • Wear a gas mask when appropriate, e.g. when spray painting (or driving on the highway)

  • Move to a more remote place

  • If you’re going to spend time outdoors, make sure the environment is a clean one

  • Stop bringing plastic things into your home

  • Stop smoking. If you’re going to smoke, make sure it is an organic plant. Some plants worse than others.

exhaust is toxic, but sometimes you just have to suck it up.

Fragrances (smell “good”)

Fragrances smell good, which makes them noticeable. But because they smell good, we often don’t think twice about them.

But they are not innocuous.

The good news on fragrances is that you yourself are often your largest source of this exposure, so you can easily eliminate them from your life.

If something smells good and it’s not food, flowers, or verifiably naturally produced (e.g. handmade farmers market soap, even then you have to be careful), then it’s probably an artificial fragrance and should be eliminated.

• Examples

  • Perfumes/colognes

  • Dish detergent/laundry detergent

  • Scented candles

  • All household cleaners (windex, pine-sol, etc.)

  • Air fresheners/ Glade plugins (car and home)

• How to fix

  • Unscented/ “free and clear” versions of all of those things

  • Natural cleaning chemicals, like vinegar instead of bleach.

  • Do without. No need for perfume or cologne, why are you trying to suppress your pheromones?

  • Get flowers, or burn some orange peels on the stove. Surround yourself with either no smells or natural good smells

Water

Water is toxic, and 70% of your body is water.

Fortunately, I have a whole article on how to optimize your drinking water.

And if you are going to drink anything that is not water, try as much as possible to find drinks that come in glass— not plastic or aluminum (aluminum cans are lined with plastic).

If you’re going to a bar, minimize the harms from booze here.

Skin Absorption

Your skin absorbs everything it touches. And when chemicals are absorbed through your skin, they directly enter your blood unfiltered, unlike food which is at least digested first.

This means that toxins on your skin are particularly insidious. If your skin touches toxic things, you become toxic.

Examples

• Clothing (especially clothes that are tight/right next to your skin)

• Fabrics (towels, sheets)

• EDC stuff (phone, wallet, keys, headphones, laptops)

• Furniture (laptops, keyboard, desk, chair)

• Dish soap/hand soap

• Scented body wash/shampoo/cosmetics

• Shower water/pools/hottubs

How to fix

• Natural cosmetics, e.g. tallow soap from your farmers market.

• Natural fabric clothing and towels/sheets

• As much leather as you can find. Phone cases, bags, wallets, etc.

• Real furniture— wood, leather, and natural fabrics

• Read my article about reducing plastics

• Avoid toxic water, using filters. Avoid swimming in chlorine pools, choose salt water instead

natural fabrics are an easy sell— they look better and feel better than the plastic alternatives, and they’re cheaper and last longer than brand name plastic garments

Light and Energy

While light and energy are not chemical per se, they are physical, and have obvious and direct affects on your health, particularly that of your hormones and circadian rhythm.

A poor energy environment will lead to chronic stress and health issues. And I don’t mean “bad vibes”— that will be covered in part 2.

We’re talking good old fashioned electromagnetic radiation.

These are things that you studied in physics class that have a direct impact.

• Examples

  • Blue light from phones, electronics, and screens

  • Wireless radiation from phones, airpods, Wifi, 5G and cell towers, etc.

  • Microwaves and x-rays at the doctor

• How to fix

  • For Blue light, there are two main things to do: block and remove blue light, particularly in the evenings, and add more red light.

    • Blue light blocking glasses with red lenses are a necessity at night. You can also download free programs like flux which will reduce the blue light on your screens at night.

    • You can buy red light panels and red light bulbs as well to illuminate your room at night.

  • For EMF, you similarly must reduce or eliminate radiation where possible, and block it when that’s not possible

    • Turn your wifi off at night. Keep your phone out of your pocket. Avoid “smart” watches. Put your phone on airplane mode. Smash the airpods and buy wired headphones. Paint your walls with EMF-blocking paint. Move to the woods.

    • EMF blocking underwear is very useful when out and about in the city or on an airplane. You can also buy a blanket to put between your lap and computer/tablet

  • Throw out the microwave, get a toaster oven. What are you getting x-rays for anyway, unless you broke something?

Conclusion