Toxins and Pregnancy

Toxins are unfortunately all around us and can be in every day modern life very

difficult to completely avoid, however looking for simple ways to avoid the effects of common every day toxins in your home as well as using nutrition to help protect our body from their detrimental effects is something we do have control over.

I’ve been thinking a bit about this as we are doing some rennovation/decorating work in our home in preparation for our new little arrival including moving our son into his own bigger boys bedroom which is very exciting but also a little emotional, as it signals the end of his baby nursery days and hello to pre-school growing up. We’ve had to do a lot of painting lately on walls and even the smell of the fresh paint always makes me feel a little lightheaded as I move around the house, which is a sign that my body is not altogether keen on the chemicals flying around. I have been looking for paint brands to use in our sons new bedroom that are more eco friendly and less toxin heavy not just for ourselves and our children and am pleased we’ve selected a paint by the brand ‘Lick’ which is low VOC and a water based paint which means it produces fewer fumes and potentially harmful chemicals, and is a more easily biodegradable paint.

VOC stands for Volatile organic compounds which can be found in everything from air fresheners to carpets and paint. They are highly concentrated indoors and Short-term exposure to high VOC levels can lead to throat irritation, headaches, dizziness and a touch of nausea. If you’re exposed to it at high levels over longer periods, you could have an increased risk of cancer, liver damage and kidney damage. There are other brands which similarly have looked to produce as low as possible VOC paint including ‘Little Greene’ and ‘Paint the town green’

Voc’s are one of the biggest culprits of ‘indoor pollution’ and also show up in products we tend to use a lot of on or near our bodies....Cosmetic soap, deodorant, lotion, perfume, hairdryers, nail care products, air fresheners and scented candles. A great website for checking out how your beauty products match up on the toxicity scale is https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ they provide info on the toxicity level of 74,000 products.

It’s almost impossible in our modern world to completely avoid pollutants and toxins, although it’s worth considering making even some small changes around your home such as swapping out plastic for glass or stainless steel, getting a water filter jug to keep in the fridge and trying to eat organic foods where it matters the most including meat and thin skinned fruit and veg, however another way we can help to protect ourselves and our families is through thinking about what we can eat that will help our bodies, particularly the all important liver that has to deal with all these toxins as well as our waste removal digestive and urinary systems, fight off the effects of these nasties.

There are some simple and effective steps we can take to help protect as well as allow our bodies to effectively deal with daily toxins:

1) Keep well hydrated by drinking as close to 2 litres a day of either filtered water and herbal teas. To keep your water interesting you can add all kinds of flavourings such as lemon, mint, berries, ginger, the skys the limit. Our bodies need to be hydrated for so many vital actions but we often forget that it also helps keep our digestive function moving and regular bowel movements mean toxins will be able to leave our bodies through waste, similarly to regular urination. Also water helps the liver move toxins through our body and out in a nice speedy way.

2) Include as many anti- oxidant foods in your daily diet as you can - these powerful substances can help prevent or slow down damage to our cells caused by free-radicals which our body creates as a reaction to environmental and other damage - there's lots of delicious choices that you can consume regularly such as

• Red, black and blue berries

• Green tea

• Raw cacao and high quality 85% and upwards dark chocolate

• Extra Virgin olive oil

• Raw Honey

3) Feed your liver with food sources which help speed up the detoxification process for example

• Bok choy

• Broccoli

• cauliflower

• brussel sprouts

• cabbages

• kale and spinach

• cress

• Radish

• watercress

• Avocados

• Tomatoes

• turmeric

• garlic

4) Engage in moving your body for at least 30 minutes every day and ideally 2-3 times a week, in an activity which allows your body to sweat and brings your heart rate up. This is a hard one when we are pregnant or have small children running around, but even doing the housework, gardening, walking our kids to the park and taking 15-20 mins for ourselves to stretch can all help keep us active. Moving our body not only improves circulation, but also reduces inflammation and keeps fat storage lower which is an area that toxins love to hide

5) Bring some greenery into your home with houseplants. There is lots of evidence now including a NASA clean air study that the greener we make our homes with indoor plants the less polluted our inside air. Some are particular good at cleaning our air and absorbing nasties including

• Snake plants

• Jade plant

• Weeping fig

• Aloe Vera

• Devils ivy

As a qualified Naturopathic Nutritional therapist, I seek to help women in all stages of reproductive health, manage the hormonal rollercoaster, regain and boost their energy, levels, find out what nutrients you need to feel great in the stage you are in and help you discover ways to nourish and protect your mind so that you can feel your absolute best and embrace your new stages of life.. I first and foremost treat the body as a whole rather than on a symptom basis, taking an in-depth health and lifestyle history, recommending any relevant testing, creating a nutrition and lifestyle plan to support replenishment and repair for each stage you are in and offering you coaching and support on your journey to and past motherhood to help marry the woman you are now with the woman you once were.

You can book a free 30 minute health review with me to find out more, using the link below

https://my.practicebetter.io/#/6053af492a832607e0c6b3c9/bookings

Otherwise do drop me an email to hello@everymothernutrition.co.uk i'd love to hear from you and have a chat about what your needs might me.