Tag: environment
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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,…
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“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…
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Plant-based scones, anyone?
In my prior post, I listed resources that will help you include more plant-based food in your diet. In this post, I thought I’d share one of my favorite recipes – scones. Traditional scone recipes call for eggs, milk or cream, and butter. But both cattle and chickens, e.g. the sources of dairy and eggs,…
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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…
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Gardening part 3. From seed to harvest: avoiding pesticides in your garden
From seed to harvest: avoiding pesticides in your garden.
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Gardening part 2. Organic is not always “organic”
Once you’re sure the garden where you’ll be planting produce is as free of toxic chemicals as possible (see prior post), the next step is to make sure products you use in the garden are also free of added pesticides or other potentially harmful materials. First, I need to clarify what the term “organic” means…
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Gardening, part 1. Avoiding toxic chemicals in your garden.
Whether it’s an acre of greenery or a collection of pots on your balcony or windowsill, having a garden can provide you with your own slice of nature. And growing your own food is a pleasure that even access to a great Farmer’s Market can’t beat. A ripe strawberry or tomato freshly harvested and still…
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A Day in the Life, Toxins for Breakfast
We are exposed to toxic chemicals in our food and beverages from many, everyday sources. Most of these exposures occur at low levels but can accumulate over time and increase your risk for diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, reproductive impairment, and neurological disease. Taking small steps to lower your overall exposure can help you reduce…
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Quick Tips for Reducing Exposure to Toxic Chemicals in Your Diet
I just heard from someone that waiting a couple of years for advice while I write this book would be difficult for them since they’d be worried about what they were being exposed to in the meantime. I truly understand that concern so I decided to post my bottom line advice here while I work…
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Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Our Diet
I am currently writing a book about where toxic chemicals in our diet come from and how you can reduce your exposure to them. Join me over the next couple of years as I blog about this subject.
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The Perils of Poisons and Pesticides
The recent poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny1 brings to mind the parallel histories of neurotoxic chemicals used in chemical warfare and as insecticides on crops. Just before World War II, German scientists tasked with developing insecticides to protect crops wound up creating a chemical so toxic that it was repurposed and weaponized for…
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Recipe Hacks to Reduce Phthalates
With plastics, and the chemicals associated with them, so prevalent in our world, it’s not surprising that much of our food is contaminated by plasticizers (see previous post). So what do you do to reduce these chemicals in your diet? The best approach is to eliminate all processed food. But that’s not always possible. A…
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“One word: plastics.”
Oh, that prophetic line from the movie The Graduate. There’ve been a lot of stories lately about plastic in our environment, thanks to the hundreds of millions of tons produced globally each year.1 Because it’s so convenient, plastic is a tough habit to break. So why bother? Plastics and their additives cause problems at all…
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Got Organic: Cereal & Beer?
When you’re looking to avoid pesticides in your diet, it’s important to go beyond organic produce. A good place to start is grains, such as cereal, bread, pasta, etc. These crops are also treated with pesticides, especially grains engineered (GMOs) to be resistant to herbicides like glyphosate, which is now considered a probable carcinogen to…
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Join me for the #OctoberUnprocessed Challenge! Starting tomorrow and for the entire month of October, I’ll be choosing to eat minimally processed, whole foods . And I will be posting at DocLaurel (Facebook) and @Laurel_Standley (Twitter) on ways that eating a less processed diet can reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals. This is the 7th…
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Environmental Toxins and Pets: Suggestions for Reducing Their Exposure
Over the last couple of decades we have learned much about the wide range of toxic chemicals that people are exposed to at home and elsewhere. These exposures are associated with illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and disruption of reproductive and other hormonal systems. Our companion animals are also exposed to many of these…
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The Twelve NonToxic Days of Christmas
Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season with those you love. Day 1. A real holiday tree (organic if you can find it) and its organic soil sop up carbon from the atmosphere (http://bit.ly/127ztlt) and reduce exposure to plasticizers from fake trees. Day 2. Looking for great ideas for nontoxic presents? Check out www.GoodGuide.org…
Dr. Laurel Standley 