Category: reducing exposure

• 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

• Garden to table – keeping toxic chemicals out

  There’s nothing quite like harvesting fresh produce from your garden. In addition to having access to high quality fruits and veggies, there are other reasons to grow your own. Home gardening can be a hedge against rising grocery prices. And in the spirit of our ancestors who grew some of their own food during World…

  laurelstandley

  April 30, 2025

  organic, pesticides, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  composting, environment, food, garden, gardening, sustainability

• “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

• Safe foraging

  It’s blackberry season in my area, one of my favorite times of the year. There’s nothing like fresh-picked berries over store bought for flavor. In addition to what we grow in our yards, it’s nice to go collecting in the wild. However, there are a few guidelines to follow to make sure you avoid fruits,…

  laurelstandley

  August 15, 2024

  foraging, pesticides, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  environment, exposure, food, health, pesticides, pollutants

• “One word: plastics.” Health concerns and tips to reduce exposure in your diet.

  In the nearly sixty years since that line was uttered by Dustin Hoffman in the movie The Graduate, plastics have spread far and wide across the surface of the earth. They, or their breakdown products, are present in samples collected from the deepest oceans, on mountain tops, in air and clouds, our homes, our food, and…

  laurelstandley

  June 6, 2024

  food and beverages, plastic, reducing exposure, toxic chemicals

  diet, environment, exposure, food, health, microplastics, plastic, plastic-pollution