Tag: food
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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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“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…
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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 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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Reducing toxins in food Rule #1. Choose a primarily plant-based diet.
Why is switching to a more plant-focused diet important? Because animals accumulate fat-soluble pollutants like dioxins, PCBs, and organic mercury compounds at much higher levels than plants. And it takes a long time to clear these chemicals from your body so it’s important to reduce your exposure to them in the first place. Bioaccumulation is a process…
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Ah, summer. Time to cook over a fire…
Summer is grilling season and a central part of many outdoor gatherings. However, cooking food, especially meat, over a hot grill creates smoke and other toxic substances. Similarly, cooking s’mores and other goodies over a campfire can also expose you to toxic smoke and char. Charred food contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are considered…
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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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Resources for Finding Less Contaminated Food
The amount of information online about toxic chemicals in food can be overwhelming. However, there are resources that make it easier for you navigate finding safer food. There are apps you can download to your phone, as well as guides you can take with you shopping. I’d recommend trying each of them to see which…
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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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“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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What’s that in my food?
Participating in #OctoberUnprocessed this year gives me another opportunity to take a closer look at what’s really in the food I eat. Thousands of ingredients are added to foods for sale in the U.S. and can include chemicals that act as preservatives, change texture or appearance, or add flavor. These must be listed on ingredient…
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Your Input on Book on Toxins in Food & Water
Dear Toxins Blog followers: I am writing a book on the presence and source of toxins in our food and drinking water, whether they come through environmental contamination, are added as ingredients, or leach from packaging/cooking materials. One major chapter of the book will focus on how choosing different diets likely affects your exposure to toxins…
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Join #OctoberUnprocessed!
During the month of October, I’ll be tweeting (@Laurel_Standley) on the benefits of an unprocessed diet on reducing exposures to toxic chemicals. This was inspired by Andrew Wilder’s annual event called October Unprocessed (follow @eatingrules). I highly recommend visiting his site (https://eatingrules.com/october-unprocessed-2014/) and signing up for the month as a way to reconnect to ‘real’ food and good…
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Heart- and Cancer-smart Diets Tend to be Lower in Toxins
The Mediterranean Diet has been in the news lately for reducing the risk of heart disease and the need for pharmacological or surgical interventions.1 As a long-time fan of Dr. Dean Ornish’s work documenting the benefits of diet and lifestyle changes on reversing heart disease and cancer,2 I was struck by the fact that many…
Dr. Laurel Standley 