Week 5 – Kick out the Chemicals
Aim of the week – Check out where the chemicals are around you and your family and start to reduce them
Chemicals are all around us – in our food, on our food, in our houses and workplaces, in our cars…
Our livers have to work really hard to get rid of chemicals in the body and we can give them a real boost by just being more aware of what we are putting in (and eating lots of those green leaves)
Sixty years ago pretty much all our fruit and vegetables were organic. It was (and still is) the ‘normal’. I dream of a world where organic produce is not labeled and the labels of ‘toxic’ and ‘carcinogenic’ get slapped across all the non-organic produce. Because that is what it is.
Let’s break this down into simple steps though.
1) Go through your food cupboard. Read the labels on the food. In there are ingredients that you do not recognize and would not know what they look like, then chances are your body doesn’t know either. Take them out – either give them away or throw them in the bin. Or simply make a note to yourself not to buy that again and find a simpler version.
2) Choose organic - give you and your family a boost by making the switch – where possible – to organic produce. Start with fruits like apples, pears and strawberries as they are the most treated. Look to veg like tomatoes, spinach and kale. Check out the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen for guidance.
3) Look what you put on your skin – our skin is one of the largest organs in your body and absorbs what you put on it. Natural ingredients are often even more effective than chemical ones – look out for natural toothpaste and deodorant, moisturise with almond or coconut oil or shea butter for very dry areas – these are also safe for children.
4) Check out your cleaning products – choose ‘greener’ brands like Ecover or Froggy – there are a lot of different ones on the market now.
5) Home improvements? Painting or varnishing a wall or floor? There are more environmentally friendly and people friendly products on the market. Ask for paint with less VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). If you are decorating a nursery or playroom – go for second hand furniture, solid wood or at least check on the glues used. Many big brand furniture manufacturers may be cheap but the products used can be damaging to health.
6) Plants – adding green leafy plants to your house can also help in getting rid of toxins. This is a good move if you have already painted and decorated but you would like to reduce the impact of the chemicals
Top tip:
When you are shopping and you don’t have access to organic foods – choose foods from the Clean 15 list – these are foods that even in their non-organic form are much less treated with pesticides. Check out the list attached below and try and avoid those in the Dirty Dozen!
Recipe(s) of the week
When you buy organic fruit, in season, they are so much more tasty that you don’t have to do much for your kids to love them. Here are a few ideas:
Kiwi Flowers
Peel a kiwi and cut into thick slices. Lie each slice flat and cut away a bit of the edge to make the kiwi a flower shape. Put on a wooden stick to make a simple kiwi flower for a party.
Banana Ice-cream
If you have a few ripe bananas left, peel them and break them into pieces and put in the freezer for at least 24 hours. This means you will always have banana ice-cream available! When you want it – put the pieces in a powerful blender with a bit of plant milk or regular milk and blend until smooth. You can also add some frozen berries or mango if you want to change the flavour.
Chia Breakfast
Make a smoothie with some seasonal fruit (avoid kiwi), plant milk or water and maybe a pinch of vanilla or cinnamon. Put a dessert spoon of chia in a glass and fill the glass half way with the smoothie. Stir well and leave in the fridge overnight. Breakfast is then already ready when you wake up in the morning.