Category: clean eating

• Location versus environmental contamination

  In this post, I’ll cover an aspect of contamination that can be challenging but not impossible to avoid – where your food grows and water flows determines their exposure to environmental pollution. I’ll discuss strategies below that can help you avoid some of that contamination. Keep in mind, there are things you have control over…

  laurelstandley

  May 18, 2026

  bioaccumulation, clean eating, foraging, pesticides, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  environment, health

• Good enough. The no stress approach to avoiding toxic chemicals in food.

  The subject of toxic chemicals in our food and beverages can be overwhelming, especially when you think of all the potential sources of contamination. And issues around food can be triggering for people, especially for those with eating disorders, such as anorexia and orthorexia. However, food is essential for life and can be an occasion…

  laurelstandley

  February 27, 2026

  clean eating, organic, pesticides, plant-based, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  diet, environment, exposure, food, health, toxins

• Popular diets and sources of toxic chemicals 

  There are many popular diets out there and, other than the Standard American Diet (SAD), each have strengths and weaknesses with respect to the potential presence of toxic chemicals in recommended foods. In this post, I’ll discuss which aspects of those diets are best and which expose you to foods that are more vulnerable to…

  laurelstandley

  February 9, 2026

  bioaccumulation, clean eating, food and beverages, organic, pesticides, plant-based, plastic, reducing exposure, saturated fats, toxic chemicals

  Blue Zones, diet, environment, exposure, food, health, mediterranean diet, toxins, vegan, vegetarian

• Saturated animal fats as dietary sources of toxic chemicals

  Advice recommending the consumption of saturated fat, including from beef tallow, has been in the news lately.1,2 I won’t go into the health issues associated with eating this, as I’m not a medical doctor. My concern focuses more on beef and other animal fats as delivery devices for fat-soluble, toxic chemicals like dioxins, organochlorine pesticides, and…

  laurelstandley

  November 20, 2025

  bioaccumulation, clean eating, conventional farming, organic, plant-based, reducing exposure, saturated fats, toxic chemicals

  environment, exposure, food, health

• Get the Lead Out. My Detox Journey

  I began seeing a Naturopathic doctor last summer when I learned I’d become allergic to yet another food. For me, that manifests as pain and, as someone with Fibromyalgia, I don’t need more of that. In the summer of 2022, I discovered that corn (including one of my favorite treats – popcorn) triggered excess pain…

  laurelstandley

  August 28, 2025

  clean eating, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  clean eating, detox, dishes, exposure, food, heavy metals, toxins

• “Conventional” farming as a source of toxic chemicals to food

  Conventional, a.k.a. chemically-intensive farming can be a source of toxic chemicals to our food. Pesticides, such as insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, may be directly sprayed, leftover from a prior crop, or drift in from an adjacent field. Growth regulators and sprouting inhibitors may also be applied after harvest. Why be concerned about pesticides in your…

  laurelstandley

  March 31, 2025

  clean eating, conventional farming, organic, pesticides, produce, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  food, health, organic

• Environmental sources of toxic chemicals in food

  Because food is not grown in a vacuum (except on the Space Station), fruits, veggies, chickens, cattle, and fish are exposed to environmental contamination during their life spans. Even controlled or sheltered conditions, like a greenhouse, are likely not free of environmental contaminants present in the building or soil and brought in by irrigation water.…

  laurelstandley

  February 27, 2025

  clean eating, food and beverages, foraging, pesticides, plant-based, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  environment, toxins

• Monthly food hacks for fewer toxins in 2025

  In addition to providing sustenance and enjoyment, the food we eat can be contaminated with hundreds of toxic chemicals, including pesticides, plastic components, and cancer-causing molecules formed during cooking. While you can’t avoid everything, there’s a lot you can do to reduce your exposure in the first place, in other words, to pre-detox. To figure out…

  laurelstandley

  January 31, 2025

  clean eating, food and beverages, pesticides, plant-based, plastic, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  environment, food, health, plastic, toxins, wellness

• Plant-based eating made easy: cookbooks and resources

  

  As I mentioned in a prior post, animals accumulate fat-soluble chemicals such as PCBs, dioxins, and some pesticides at much higher levels than plants, up to millions of times higher. Because it can take years or decades to clear these chemicals from your body, it’s best to reduce your exposure to them in the first…

  laurelstandley

  February 1, 2024

  clean eating, plant-based, toxic chemicals

  cooking, environment, exposure, food, health, plant-based, toxins