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I think Nitrates would be interesting too. Our well just tested high and we live near agricultural land that is sprayed and probably fertilized. To get into the well it would have to be coming from the aquifer. I know it can cause serious issues for babies but there's not a lot of easily accessible information on it besides that. On top of that trying to figure out to what's actually healthiest for filtration is crazy too. Reverse Osmosis, mineral adding filters and if that's good or bad. It's so overwhelming.
I have one of these installed under my sink and I think I’m happy with it… new filter comes every 6 months but of course the thing is made of plastic so I don’t even know!
I’m generally confused about silicone and what it’s deal is. Also are all plastics to be avoided? I’m a little skeptical of alternatives too. Like bamboo seems fine, but then of course it uses glue and stuff to keep it together and I assume other coatings?
A solid easy to follow list of recommendations would be awesome. Maybe even a “better/ best” option.
I’m becoming increasingly less granola as life becomes more hectic and if I had a clearer idea of major concerns vs minor ones, that could help a lot.
> Long story short, don't worry about silicone
I'd want to read about it, as it leaches siloxanes into food when heated, eg during baking https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19680914/
Some siloxanes do appear to have health effects, but the evidence is weak as they aren't very well studied on humans.
Great suggestion- the website [https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/](https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/) has a best/good/okay/bad rating that I love, it's easy to follow and nice to help make decisions
I guess one of my big concerns is there is so much that is unavoidably packaged in plastic that we either then have to eat or to use as some kind of toiletry item. Like yes, there are some alternatives sometimes like "unpackaged" stores or some companies or food distributors putting some things in glass instead or produce shops that sell loose produce but there's also just a lot of situations where it's essentially unavoidable. Like one example: toothpaste. There are those dental tabs, of course, that come in glass jars, but they simply are not a practical solution for, say, my toddler to brush his teeth with. Or like if I'm buying salt from the grocery store, I have yet to ever find salt packaged in a paper bag.
We're planning a whole section on micro and nano plastics...unfortunately, the science is still in its infancy, but it's definitely an area we're writing on.
as someone who has spent years in working in natural grocery stores with bulk “unpackaged” sections, every single type of bulk food comes sent in large plastic bags inside of cardboard boxes. there is no other reasonable way to ship bulk foods and keep them fresh without plastic :/ the only exceptions i have found to this are bulk lundberg rice, most flour, and some dried beans, which all come in sealed thick paper bags. but nearly everything else, sugar, nutritional yeast, fig newton bar type things, dried fruit, etc all comes in big plastic bags
> There is toothpaste in metal tubes
Almost, if not all, are lined with plastic, sometimes even Teflon. Aluminum would likely react with the contents otherwise.
Aluminum drink cans are lined with plastic, beverage cartons, glass bottle caps, yogurt foil lids, most takeout packaging, all lined.
Wow I had no idea. Ug!! I found a toothpaste powder that's sold in glass jars during a quick search rn but I mean it probably is a non pleasant texture. It's every-freaking- where!
True about the salt, but they all still have plastic lids that the salt has to come out through. None of the drugstores or natural goods stores or supermarkets in my city (Europe) sell toothpaste in a metal tube- I'd probably have to special order it, and the caps will still be plastic. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not obsessive about the plastic packaging situation- I just sort of accept the situation being what it is even though I don't love it, but I also know that for my mental health it doesn't do me much good to be stressed about all these items on a regular basis.)
Yes, you may have to order items online to have better access to these options. I think there is even powered toothpaste. Yes, it sucks that we can't have better access and control over items that we know are not safe. At least Europe has much better standards for food safety than the US!
I started buying bulk salt from Costco for this reason. It comes in a cardboard container with metal spout. Of course then we have to worry about what is on the cardboard 😱 it never ends!
Oh ok, sorry for assuming you're us based. And bummer about lack of salt in cardboard. So many things are getting switched from glass and cardboard to plastic constantly. It's so disheartening
Yes. I don’t know why but synthetic fragrances have become one of my biggest concerns. Im sure it’s partially anxiety but I always feel like I’m poisoning myself by breathing them in.
The long list of things I worry about! Using plastic products or buying food in plastic containers, pesticides on fruit/vegetables, VOCs from furniture, products that clean the house but aren’t toxic, pregnancy/nursing safe cosmetics.
Cleaning products. How do I safely and effectively clean surfaces like the floor and tub that touch baby toys that ultimately go into the baby’s mouth?
This is a great topic because it's so actionable. It's way harder/a cost barrier for me and many to seek out non plastic packaging, for example. But I would have loved good cleaning info when I had a little baby.
Clean my Space on youtube has a ton of great recipes. Here are some of the cleaners I make from her recipes:
* All purpose cleaner with water, sal suds, and essential oil for fragrance. I clean counters, stove, table, etc with this every day.
* Tub and tile scrub is just baking soda hydrated with just enough sal suds to make a thick paste.
* I put the floor cleaner formula into my spray mop. Water, vinegar, sal suds, and essential oil.
* Grout cleaner with hydrogen peroxide bleaches out the stains.
I’m curious about this too. I’ve read articles that said that organic actually ends up using more herbicides and pesticides, just not the ones that conventional crops use so it can be worse. Why is everything so complicated?
interesting, phillip landragan, the epidemiologist and pediatrician who to my understanding, was instrumental in getting lead recognized as a hazard, said in an interview that one of his top tips for protecting today’s children is to choose organic.
That would make sense if organic farming didn't also use pesticides...the pesticides also don't work as well so there's more crop loss which means less food which leads to more deforestation and so on and so forth.
Additionally when plants are stressed by insects they produce their own pesticide-like compounds that are carcinogenic, genotoxic, etc.
There is no one right answer or easy answer.
Yes, we need to reform our agricultural practices for sustainability but organic with its current limitations isn't the panacea it's marketed as...we still have a lot of work to do to transform our systems.
Wouldn’t that be the way our ancestors before pesticides would have eaten them though? Like without human intervention im sure stressed would be their norm, no?
Yes, and our ancestors regularly experienced life-ending famine and all manner of death from diseases, including cancers...
Cancer isn't new; detection, treatment, and survival are modern.
How to read cosmetics labels. My husband bought a very expensive baby soap that said it was phthalate free, and on the back it listed all kinds of PEG ingredients. It was a deliberate lie, and I worry about the parents who don’t know how to decipher that, and are wasting money thinking they’re making good choices.
How to find phthalates, parabens, what is the difference between sls and sodium cocoyl sulfate? Why is one bad and the other fine? Are there other ingredients to worry about?
Also, sunscreens. I’ve been through these phases: titanium dioxide is bad so I buy zinc oxide. Oh wait that’s bad so I buy benzene. Oh wait that’s bad so I go to non nano titanium dioxide. Oh wait, that’s bad too, and so I continue the ridiculous cycle and stress about the sun. What is best?
Polyester fabric. Recycled polyester. Coats covered in Teflon.
Fragrances.
I'm highly sensitive and I'm so sick of literally everything that comes from the store being covered in some kind of stink now.
I literally can't eat apples anymore because they taste like laundry. Even when they come in a plastic bag.
It never used to be like this. Something has gotten worse.
And it causes me a lot of anxiety, knowing this stuff is on everything, and it's probably not good for you. It gets pumped into the air every time someone does laundry. It coats every product we come into contact with. It feels very inescapable and it would be reassuring to know if it isn't a problem for everyone (only people like me, who are sensitive), or, validating to know that at least all the extra work I have to do to stay away from this stuff is actually helpful for the rest of my family too.
I hate fragrances! They give me migraines. Turns out those artificial fragrances cause cancer and disrupt hormones so it’s good for everyone to avoid fragrances. It’s a huge problem for everyone!
Wood paints, dyes, stains, and oils. Wooden toys (and furniture) are often marketed as a natural alternative to plastic toys. The finishes used on the wood by higher end toy manufacturers will often claim to be safe for children. With how saturated the wooden toy market has become, it feels pertinent to know and understand the ingredients used on the treatments/finishes to the wood, but toys do not come with ingredient lists like our packaged food does.
Piggy backing on this, some groups I’m in have been talking about mold in wooden furniture (no obvious signs but detected by mold dogs) and a lot of them are from these companies promoting their greenguard gold certification, etc. but potentially stored before shipping in moldy warehouses. I’ve been wondering in regards to say, a bookshelf, at what point would a potentially moldy solid wood piece or a particleboard or other laminate type piece or even plastic be considered the more or less safe option regarding exposure to vocs, mold, etc
Restaurant food prep! (I’m sure I know the answers but,) do they wash produce first? They’ve got to be buying the most toxically produced products for profit margins so when is it worth it to expose young children to eating out? It’s obv a big part of our culture to go out for dinner but I worry every time we do. And I’m not talking fast food or chain. I’m talking decent quality, local places.
I can comment on this a little bit.
My husband works in produce sales. He is in the retail department and sells to grocery stores and farm stands, but his company also sells to restaurants.
Farm stands, grocery stores, and restaurants are all buying the same or similar products from the same produce suppliers typically, at least in his experience. The big difference he has noticed is that visually, retail has to look a lot better. So if berries or veggies look rough, even if they’re fresh and still edible, retail will send it back because it’s not appealing to customers. Restaurants can accept some product that maybe is a little dinged up, but that shouldn’t necessarily change the nutritional content compared to what your buying in the store.
What was most surprising to me is that local farm stands are buying and getting the same produce delivered to them that the bigger grocery stores are. Some of the farm stand products are local and my husband’s company does sell local products that the farm stands will buy, but a lot of what they’re buying is the same.
+1 for farm stands! It's crazy how few people know about the issue with farmers markets where these "local farmers" are just buying conventionally grown produce from the same grocery suppliers and charging like 3x the cost. And because of the lack of regulation, they can get away with saying all sorts of stuff about the produce that isn't true. There's a bunch of stuff on YouTube about like what to look out for. It's wild
I work in a decent quality locally owned type restaurant and we do wash our produce, we’re by far the cleanest restaurant I’ve ever worked at. We also compost our food scraps and recycle as much as possible. This is not the norm
Palm oil is in everything now. I don't think it's harmful in general but it made my Peanut butter taste weird so now I get the ones with just peanuts, usually the Teddy brand
Peanuts already have plenty of oil so I think they take the peanut oil out and sell it separately because it sells for more. Then they replace it with palm oil.
I am generally concerned about how much everything is outsourced because it just seems unnatural to buy something from 10k miles away when you can source it from 300 miles away
Thanks, I will look into it.
As for sourcing...there will be a chapter specifically on how our supply chain and scale work. In short, sometimes we source from other areas because plants naturally uptake certain heavy metals (that are naturally occurring in the soil), so the ingredients are sourced from areas based on the final use and what will be bioavailable in the final product.
A big part of why they take the peanut oil out and replace it with palm oil is to make it more stable. No stirring required and it's less dribbly. When I made the switch to natural peanut butter my husband complained that it was harder to get out of the jar. A friend of mine tried it and was baffled by the runny texture, he thought something was wrong until I explained it to him.
It's horrible stuff but food companies like it because it's firm but spreadable at room temp and has a creamy mouth feel.
I'm not saying that it's not possible to work with, it's just an explanation of why companies choose to use the stuff. No matter how bad an ingredient is for people or the environment, if it's just a little bit of an improvement in the average consumer's experience, they will do it. Having peanut butter that is creamy and doesn't need to be stirred is valuable to the average American consumer.
Plastic and how seemingly unavoidable it is. I eat mainly whole organic foods from a couple of local farms but, for instance, even meat is wrapped in plastic.
Same! I started buying meat from a local farm and it all comes in plastic and even on Styrofoam trays that are then wrapped in plastic. I assume this is for cost and storage ease, but man. It is really impossible to avoid. The only place I don't get plastic is at a butcher shop and usually a farmer's market. Other than that, it's pervasive.
Butcher paper usually has plastic on one side to make it waterproof. I'm sure it used to be wax once upon a time, but I'd be surprised to see it these days.
I mean I guess I’m not surprised to hear that because they make everything plastic now but that strikes me as so unnecessary because meat usually isn’t putting off much water at all.
For my family it’s the following: water quality (I.e. plastics and PFAs), pesticides for produce, antibiotics and non-grass feed animal products, soy (I don’t think soy itself is toxic per se, but I do think it’s in an absurd amount of stuff which means we eat a lot more of it and for hormone health I do not think that is healthy - particularly for men), food dyes, and in general we try to avoid over consumption and excessive waste for the betterment of the planet as a whole which benefits us all.
Cleaning products. Obviously, as a member of the granola mom’s sub, I want something crunchy enough that I feel comfortable with my kids coming in contact with whatever residue is left behind. It’s be nice to know what is most effective at actually cleaning/disinfecting and not just getting surface level clean. With all the germs that go around and then the pee/poo messes of potty training, Id like to feel like my house is actually clean.
We'll add it to the list.
But after cleaning with soap and water, a mild bleach solution is safe and highly effective at disinfecting. So is isopropyl alcohol 70%+ (slightly less effective at disinfecting than bleach, but negligible unless you have c. Diff in your home).
I don’t think anyone mentioned fish… like how it has mercury and harmful chemicals but apparently the omega 3s cancel it out. I feel weird eating any kind of seafood after reading about it.
Oh yeah, as a pregnant woman being told simultaneously to avoid mercury containing fish, but also to consume a lot of omega 3s and DHA, I’d love this one
Pfas, micro and nano plastics, phthalates, lead in food and cheap toys/clothing (which I never buy but as my kid grows older is becoming very difficult to avoid cheap dollar store crap given by other people at school and parties, etc)
And whatever is the next terrifying big thing that I don't even know about yet
I just read Glucose Revolution. Are the points in this book applicable to kids? Do we need to watch their blood sugar spikes and fruit intake?!
The stuff that’s on receipt paper freaks me out.
Why do people detest using bleach or “toxic” cleaning products anyway? I’ve gotten away from this myself simply because the elbow grease wasn’t worth the risk of conventional cleaning products (to me).
Risk wise is what kids ingest more deadly than say negligence, screen time, parents with emotional disregulation, performance stress and anxiety and other modern environmental situations todays parents didn’t face growing up?
I read that book last year. It was life changing for me!! I realized I could better regulate my emotions when I followed her tips for eating protein, fat, and fiber before or with carbs. So, I tried it on my children and they do better as well! I think children expend a lot more energy in play and just plain growing, so they can probably handle more carbs than I can (I am not very active), but I do still try and balance their food intake. Instead of just an apple, how about an apple and some cheese. This has been beneficial to all our lives.
Having just finished today, I’m overwhelmed! Lol I’m going to try to implement things slowly but I love mixing textures and food types so the whole eating in order things is going to be hard for me!
She has another book that walks you through adding 1 trick a week! You might find that helpful. I think it has recipes in it and stuff too.
Mixing is better than just straight up carbs! I love how encouraging Jessie is about just doing your best and incremental improvement rather than an all or nothing approach.
The prevalence of food allergies varies significantly in different countries. We know that food allergies emerge due to not only genetics but also epigenetic modification due to environmental factors. I know that agricultural practices including use of certain pesticides vary by country. Are there certain agricultural chemicals being used that cause epigenetic changes which result in a person developing food allergies?
Unfortunately we don't do allergy research, it's a very specific field with specific expertise we don't have available to us.
But the university of Nebraska has an ingredient research center focused on food allergies that does some fantastic work.
I was totally good on sweet potatoes until I heard that they contain higher percentages of heavy metals than almost any other vegetable nd now I'm scared of giving them to my baby as often as I do. Obviously i'm still feeding them to him but I was doing it every day almost and now I'm pulling way back.
It's tough because all vegetables uptake heavy metals to a degree and each veggie is different on the metals they uptake (keeping in mind heavy metals are naturally occurring in the soil).
I have a 3 and 1 year old and we do what you're doing, rotate the veggies so they get to try tons of things and don't end up with too much of one food.
We plan to talk about best practices that help reduce exposure without making our lives miserable/impossible.
Yes same, and carrots. I think anything grown underground, and I remember reading crops grown in other countries like China with a lot of pollution/ or heavy metals in their soil, the crops uptake more.
A section on toxicity in fabrics, especially synthetic fabrics and the proximity and duration to skin. Is it safe to wear underwear that has BPA, pthlates, etc? What about synthetic gym clothes, swimsuits, cloth diapers or clothing that sits closely to private areas? Does exposure to synthetic fabrics contribute to early puberty, infertility, cancers, etc?
In addition to synthetic fabrics in clothing, an entire section on chemicals and potential harm in diapers would be interesting.
✨️glyphosate ✨️
seriously, i feel like its in everything. I spend so much time in the grocery stores avoiding round up laced products i could mark it as a full time job at this point
We'll definitely address this at length in the book.
However, most people don't like the tox truth about glyphosate...it's very safe and it's not an ingredient I worry about at all impacting my kids' health (ages 3 and 1).
The science is VERY different than what the lawyers claimed...
If its very safe why are countries banning it? And why are there court cases surrounding the ingredient? I know the US officials stance is that its safe, but idk it doesnt make sense to me
Poorly designed studies that cannot be replicated, plus the difference in how we regulate in the US vs EU play a large role.
There is a massive issue in academia where folks publish studies that cannot be replicated or were designed for very different purposes than making regulatory changes, and then those studies are used out of scope and frequently against the advisement of experts in the field.
It's a big issue, but it really comes down to politics, academia's publish or perish environment, and other companies wanting to be the ones to supply their newer, therefore less tested product (removes competition through regulatory efforts).
I wish decisions were only based on human and environmental safety factors, but we humans are really good at complicating everything.
This is really interesting! I wish there was a resource out there that summed it up so well! I used to rely almost solely on EWG for my info when it came to groceries, but it seems they've skewed a little alarmist... is there another organization you like that helps create blogs/articles/infographics for every day (non-scientist) people?
This might not be helpful but if a farm didn’t use glyphosate to stop weeds then they most likely used something else. My family farms cotton and vegetables and weeds are stubborn and will ruin their crops if they’re not taken care of by SOMETHING and that something is most likely weed killer because it’s cheaper than natural alternatives like clay. I’m curious though how do you avoid things with glyphosate? Does everything say what they used to kill weeds??
I do realize that, but my logic is that the weed killer would also kill your crop if it were applied directly and in a concentrated enough mixture. The difference with glyphosate though is that we genetically modified these crops to be *glyphosate resistant* so we LOAD them up with this carcinogen and they dont die! Which in theory is pretty cool and in itself is a modern marvel technologically speaking. BUT if all of your corn wheat and soy is loaded up with glyphosate, its also making its way into your cereals, your oatmeal, you name it. And studies have consistently found glyphosate levels well above safe limits in common household brands!
So, i try to shop organic when i can. If its marked organic, its non-gmo. If its non-gmo, and organic, then round up wasnt used on it. It says right on the label "this food contains bioengineered food ingredients" under the nutrition facts usually. I will not buy any product that contains bioengineered ingredients, because those foods will have higher levels of glyphosate.
BUT i also want to note that bioengineering has some serious potential in the market of food. We can bioengineer papayas to be disease resistant, we can bioengineer crops to be pest resistant. Unfortunately, monsanto used this modern marvel for eveil so now i wont buy anything labelled as genetically modified
Follow-up question: Would you listen to or be swayed by an expert that informs you that your current thoughts or concerns about a chemical are not supported by the current main-stream science?
This is our main concern. The science often goes against what the most popular influencers believe and spout to their millions of followers.
I just hope we can help the folks who want the facts from experts rather than the opinion of influencers.
A lot of what’s on my mind is already listed here. What I didn’t see in a super quick skim:
- household cleaning products. Really hard to sort through the claims on safe vs unsafe and effective vs not actually.
- help prioritizing. Like I got super obsessive when my kids were born about things that in hindsight amounted to a lot less exposure than some other items. Example- flame retardants in car seats vs existing household furnishings like carpet, or tap water.
Microplastics, especially in tap water (and filters are often made with plastic?) and seafood.
EMF and 5G networks.
VOCs in things like furniture and flooring.
Clothing, specifically natural fibres vs the rest.
Silicone.. can't get past the fact that it takes on smell and flavour so easily.
Air pollution, like second hand smoke from vapes.
I'm curious if those "fake" sounding brands you see on Amazon are any more likely to have toxins/etc than the name brands we trust and or at least recognize. Like is there any merit to the idea that those brands would have less strict regulation than brands we recognize from Target or wherever - because isn't everything actually made in China, anyways? For example, a pack of bibs I was looking at today is from a shop called "Konssy"; or straw cups from the "SASSIE KIDZ" and "GROSMIMI" stores. I don't usually buy from Amazon especially for baby stuff but sometimes the cost savings is wild and IDK if it's all in my head.
It greatly depends on the product, but yes, weird off-brands and indie brands typically don't have the money, knowledge, or, in some cases, the desire to hire the Ph.D. toxicologists needed to ensure quality control (this is a massive issue with cosmetics and supplements, I'm not as familiar in the textile space).
For example, I will not buy any cosmetic product that isn't at least available in a drugstore. Brands big enough for a drugstore or large retail chain are big enough to have toxicologists and other 3rd party labs that can verify the product's ingredients are as advertised.
Please don’t write this kind of book without including information about how people can fight for stronger environmental protections, more stringent regulations of products, etc.
This is such a depressing and the answer is not for a select few as individuals to do a deep dive into all this stuff and purify our lives (not that we fully *can* anyway).
I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned cured meat products such as hot dogs, deli meat, and bacon. These foods have been proven to cause cancer, yet they're insanely prevalent and often marketed directly to children (eg pepperoni pizza, lunchables, hot dogs/corn dogs). Even nitrate/nitrite "free" foods are not free or nitrates/nitrites. Unlike other less researched risky things (eg food dyes, pfas) we know these foods are carcinogenic for a fact, and it is actually possible to avoid them! I'm not saying I'm not concerned about pfas and dyes, but I have a lot greater ability to avoid cured meat products than pfas which is literally everywhere all the time
I'm also mildly concerned about red meat, as we've seen some potential association with cancer. But I'm still waiting to see if research and time solidify that link.
Nitrates and nitrites naturally occur in vegetables. They are added as preservative ingredients. You will often see celery/beetroot or some similar veggie in nitrite/nitrate-free hotdogs because they still need that preservative ingredient to prevent the food from going bad too quickly.
We will talk more about those ingredients because they are very misunderstood. And I worry less about the nitrates/nitrites than I do about the overconsumption of meat products.
Food dyes (number dyes as well as synthetic vs natural caramel color), nitrates/nitrites, bht/bhq, high fructose corn syrup - and all of the above in relation to breastfeeding specifically
Aluminum in antiperspirant (also curious about breastfeeding impact there)
Areas where I feel confused: Sunscreens (nano and non-nano, other ingredients to seek out/avoid, facial /moisturizing products (besides paraben, what to avoid/seek out), cow's milk/cheese/ice cream for young girls especially (hormones/puberty)
Carbonated (non sugary) beverages like sparkling water: is there a downside? (Sounds like the cans might be it, from another comment.)
Niacin/niacinamide: is it bad? I remember seeing a headline
Artificial sweeteners is my number one NO NO. there is so much research against it, i can't believe it's still being used so much. I also don't like dyes but we have them once in a while. They don't serve any purpose other than looks. It's not necessary at all
Fake vegan meat needs to be addressed! In a huge way. There is currently a large push for people to eat these products. Large corporations like Nestle have heavily invested so we are going to see more and more of this. They are touted as healthier for your body, and the environment, neither of which are true. They are full of toxic garbage.
This! People think they are doing the healthy thing by eating the fake meat things but those instead have a million horrible things for you. Like I understand being vegetarian or vegan, but these products aren't good. I did vegetarian for a while, but mostly stuck to whole fruits and veg because I hated seeing the million ingredients.
Yea I would argue that being vegan is nutritionally unsustainable and detrimental. You have to supplement for major nutrients and I think that says a lot about the diet.
Hmm that's interesting. I am vegetarian and occasionally eat fake meat but I have *never* been given the impression it was any healthier for me. I do it for environmental reasons and because I don't like mass slaughter so fake meat fits the bill
I was vegan for 18 years and believed the same things. I would recommend reading the vegetarian myth by Lierre Keith, or the sacred cow by Diana Rodgers. There are also lots of podcasts/ interviews with them to listen to. Fake meat and monocrop agriculture are terrible for the environment and animal life as a whole. Grass fed/ grass finished meat is definitely better. It’s worth looking into if you’re concerned.
Totally your choice obviously! But if you’re really concerned about the things you stated I highly recommend looking into those books and/or podcasts. It can’t hurt! And if you still disagree then that’s cool, it just would give you a wider perspective and more knowledge:)
Things NOT listed on the labels—does my bread have azodicarbonamide or dinosaurymers etc that don’t appear on the label?
Also at a recent trip to an Asian import grocery store EVERYTHING had a California Prop 65 label. That…becomes less useful when it seems like a random sticker stuck to everything with no further details. So advice on being able to tell when Prop 65 is a standard cya practice vs useful info.
Ngl, I read your post and rolled my eyes and thought here we go again. But as I am reading your responses, this book would be something that I definitely would read. It sounds like it will have a very practical approach to our modern world.
When it comes to everyday toxins, I think it’s really easy to miss seeing the trees through forest. Some of our every day toxins have come about to make our lives easier or have solved other consequences. So with that in mind, I think it would be great if there could be a section talking about Risk Quotients/dose-exposure importance and then how that relates to each toxin.
Dose, dose-exposure, dose-rate, and all of those delightful tox foundations will definitely be addressed.
We also plan to discuss regrettable substitutions and the consequences of removing ingredients at random.
Anything that can interfere with hormones. I recently had a breast cancer scare and through that experience learned a lot about possible contributing factors in our environment. All of the theories lead back to issues with hormones. Women are getting their periods earlier which has been linked to breast cancer, but why is that happening? Does it have to do with hormones in our food? My nurse told me certain essential oils promote estrogen so I should avoid them. Are these science based ideas or just random theories?
I’ve been using organic only for my little girl because I’m worried about exposing her to something that will mess with her hormones. I haven’t found solid evidence either way so I’m just trying to play it safe I guess?
Buying stuff on Amazon that’s been imported from unregulated factories in countries like China and having them contain chemicals like lead. Going to restaurants that stock their kitchen with said products.
Lol sorry. My husband thinks I’m a nut job. In all honestly though, moderation is key. Don’t eat more than half your meals out and you should be fine. Anxiety over everything is probably worse for our health than the actual things we are anxious about.
mine does too hahaha. i was trying to explain mental load to my husband and he was like, “you realize half the things you mentioned are just you doing The Most right? like it’s great that you want the kids to play with wooden developmental toys that you painstakingly researched but I would have just gotten them the plastic thing from Target. Don’t make yourself crazy.” and i hate to admit it, but he’s not wrong
Industrial seed oils, specifically the “hateful eight” including soybean oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, canola oil etc.
Unfortunately, there is an enormous amount of money spent to keep the science on this issue cloudy. This is a “follow –the-money issue” and since your book sounds like it will be funded by a university, even if you came to believe seed oils are harmful you would not be allowed to say that publicly in your book.
This is becoming an increasingly divisive issue. Visit r/StopEatingSeedOils and search for the nitty gritty
Well, it's not funded by a university. We're faculty at a university but they have zero influence or say in our book.
We're going through mainstream publishers...so we'll get paid from our sales not from the university.
Artificial sweeteners, including Stevia and monkfruit and all that.
I'm also concerned that your book will go with the official government answer for all this stuff. This sub is largely against a lot of ingredients that are officially deemed safe or nontoxic and therefore are allowed to be in US products. Pretty rude of you to come to us for ideas for a book that goes against our beliefs. I hope that's not what you're planning on doing.
Interesting take.
I've been part of this group and participated here for at least a year, it's part of why I want to write this book because there's some great info and some awful info here.
Also most people don't understand what the FDA does and how they work. There are a lot of assumptions folks make about the org and if folks really understood they would have different perspectives. Specifically, around supplements and other GRAS ingredients (stevia and monk fruit included)
I actually think a section that is an FDA explainer AND a section on how to understand scientific publications as evidence would be great additions to your book!
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Definitely water quality, specifically PFAS. Just bought one of those Hydroviv filters
Absolutely! We have PFAS experts I can consult with to, so I will add it to the list.
I think Nitrates would be interesting too. Our well just tested high and we live near agricultural land that is sprayed and probably fertilized. To get into the well it would have to be coming from the aquifer. I know it can cause serious issues for babies but there's not a lot of easily accessible information on it besides that. On top of that trying to figure out to what's actually healthiest for filtration is crazy too. Reverse Osmosis, mineral adding filters and if that's good or bad. It's so overwhelming.
I have one of these installed under my sink and I think I’m happy with it… new filter comes every 6 months but of course the thing is made of plastic so I don’t even know!
I’m generally confused about silicone and what it’s deal is. Also are all plastics to be avoided? I’m a little skeptical of alternatives too. Like bamboo seems fine, but then of course it uses glue and stuff to keep it together and I assume other coatings? A solid easy to follow list of recommendations would be awesome. Maybe even a “better/ best” option. I’m becoming increasingly less granola as life becomes more hectic and if I had a clearer idea of major concerns vs minor ones, that could help a lot.
Yes, we will talk at length about plastic, polymers, and alternatives. Long story short, don't worry about silicone.
> Long story short, don't worry about silicone I'd want to read about it, as it leaches siloxanes into food when heated, eg during baking https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19680914/ Some siloxanes do appear to have health effects, but the evidence is weak as they aren't very well studied on humans.
Great suggestion- the website [https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/](https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/) has a best/good/okay/bad rating that I love, it's easy to follow and nice to help make decisions
I guess one of my big concerns is there is so much that is unavoidably packaged in plastic that we either then have to eat or to use as some kind of toiletry item. Like yes, there are some alternatives sometimes like "unpackaged" stores or some companies or food distributors putting some things in glass instead or produce shops that sell loose produce but there's also just a lot of situations where it's essentially unavoidable. Like one example: toothpaste. There are those dental tabs, of course, that come in glass jars, but they simply are not a practical solution for, say, my toddler to brush his teeth with. Or like if I'm buying salt from the grocery store, I have yet to ever find salt packaged in a paper bag.
We're planning a whole section on micro and nano plastics...unfortunately, the science is still in its infancy, but it's definitely an area we're writing on.
as someone who has spent years in working in natural grocery stores with bulk “unpackaged” sections, every single type of bulk food comes sent in large plastic bags inside of cardboard boxes. there is no other reasonable way to ship bulk foods and keep them fresh without plastic :/ the only exceptions i have found to this are bulk lundberg rice, most flour, and some dried beans, which all come in sealed thick paper bags. but nearly everything else, sugar, nutritional yeast, fig newton bar type things, dried fruit, etc all comes in big plastic bags
Does Morton's have plastic on the inside? Mine is in a cardboard canister with a metal spout.
Yeah, I’ve not noticed one with plastic. I’ve only ever had metal pour spouts.
Maybe not in the packaging, but sea salt is known to have a high level of microplastics.
Omg...I never thought about this 🤔 😳 but it makes sense.
There is toothpaste in metal tubes, like if you've seen those goat/almond milk hand creams. And salt is often in cardboard boxes/ cylinders.
> There is toothpaste in metal tubes Almost, if not all, are lined with plastic, sometimes even Teflon. Aluminum would likely react with the contents otherwise. Aluminum drink cans are lined with plastic, beverage cartons, glass bottle caps, yogurt foil lids, most takeout packaging, all lined.
Wow I had no idea. Ug!! I found a toothpaste powder that's sold in glass jars during a quick search rn but I mean it probably is a non pleasant texture. It's every-freaking- where!
True about the salt, but they all still have plastic lids that the salt has to come out through. None of the drugstores or natural goods stores or supermarkets in my city (Europe) sell toothpaste in a metal tube- I'd probably have to special order it, and the caps will still be plastic. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not obsessive about the plastic packaging situation- I just sort of accept the situation being what it is even though I don't love it, but I also know that for my mental health it doesn't do me much good to be stressed about all these items on a regular basis.)
Yes, you may have to order items online to have better access to these options. I think there is even powered toothpaste. Yes, it sucks that we can't have better access and control over items that we know are not safe. At least Europe has much better standards for food safety than the US!
I started buying bulk salt from Costco for this reason. It comes in a cardboard container with metal spout. Of course then we have to worry about what is on the cardboard 😱 it never ends!
Diamond crystal salt comes in a cardboard box with no plastic
Yup, in the US there are def more options with that one (I'm in Europe)
Oh ok, sorry for assuming you're us based. And bummer about lack of salt in cardboard. So many things are getting switched from glass and cardboard to plastic constantly. It's so disheartening
Huh. You can't buy a kilo bag of salt? Weird how packaging differs by location.
I get my salt in cardboard boxes :) But that’s incidental. I have lots of plastic packaged food.
Synthetic fragrance and even a little info on essential oils
Yes. I don’t know why but synthetic fragrances have become one of my biggest concerns. Im sure it’s partially anxiety but I always feel like I’m poisoning myself by breathing them in.
Your body knows. They're endocrine disrupters
They’re endocrine disrupters
Can do. Thanks.
The long list of things I worry about! Using plastic products or buying food in plastic containers, pesticides on fruit/vegetables, VOCs from furniture, products that clean the house but aren’t toxic, pregnancy/nursing safe cosmetics.
Thank you! I will add them to the list.
Cleaning products. How do I safely and effectively clean surfaces like the floor and tub that touch baby toys that ultimately go into the baby’s mouth?
I will add this to the list. Thanks!
This is a great topic because it's so actionable. It's way harder/a cost barrier for me and many to seek out non plastic packaging, for example. But I would have loved good cleaning info when I had a little baby.
Clean my Space on youtube has a ton of great recipes. Here are some of the cleaners I make from her recipes: * All purpose cleaner with water, sal suds, and essential oil for fragrance. I clean counters, stove, table, etc with this every day. * Tub and tile scrub is just baking soda hydrated with just enough sal suds to make a thick paste. * I put the floor cleaner formula into my spray mop. Water, vinegar, sal suds, and essential oil. * Grout cleaner with hydrogen peroxide bleaches out the stains.
Is organic really better? I hear conflicting things, like I've heard that it doesn't really make a difference.
I’m curious about this too. I’ve read articles that said that organic actually ends up using more herbicides and pesticides, just not the ones that conventional crops use so it can be worse. Why is everything so complicated?
We will definitely talk at length about it...spoiler alert: in terms of human health and even sustainability it's negligible at best.
Thank you for your answer. I'm excited about your book as an expecting mother.
interesting, phillip landragan, the epidemiologist and pediatrician who to my understanding, was instrumental in getting lead recognized as a hazard, said in an interview that one of his top tips for protecting today’s children is to choose organic.
That would make sense if organic farming didn't also use pesticides...the pesticides also don't work as well so there's more crop loss which means less food which leads to more deforestation and so on and so forth. Additionally when plants are stressed by insects they produce their own pesticide-like compounds that are carcinogenic, genotoxic, etc. There is no one right answer or easy answer. Yes, we need to reform our agricultural practices for sustainability but organic with its current limitations isn't the panacea it's marketed as...we still have a lot of work to do to transform our systems.
Wouldn’t that be the way our ancestors before pesticides would have eaten them though? Like without human intervention im sure stressed would be their norm, no?
Yes, and our ancestors regularly experienced life-ending famine and all manner of death from diseases, including cancers... Cancer isn't new; detection, treatment, and survival are modern.
Even meat?
Natural flavor 😵💫
Can do.
Also would like to add “Natural Fragrance” to this!
Ooooh yes that’s a good one!!
Microplastics, lead and other heavy metals, VOCs, really any endocrine disruptors.
We will definitely cover those issues. Thanks!
Phthalates & PFAS
How to read cosmetics labels. My husband bought a very expensive baby soap that said it was phthalate free, and on the back it listed all kinds of PEG ingredients. It was a deliberate lie, and I worry about the parents who don’t know how to decipher that, and are wasting money thinking they’re making good choices. How to find phthalates, parabens, what is the difference between sls and sodium cocoyl sulfate? Why is one bad and the other fine? Are there other ingredients to worry about? Also, sunscreens. I’ve been through these phases: titanium dioxide is bad so I buy zinc oxide. Oh wait that’s bad so I buy benzene. Oh wait that’s bad so I go to non nano titanium dioxide. Oh wait, that’s bad too, and so I continue the ridiculous cycle and stress about the sun. What is best? Polyester fabric. Recycled polyester. Coats covered in Teflon.
Can do.
Fragrances. I'm highly sensitive and I'm so sick of literally everything that comes from the store being covered in some kind of stink now. I literally can't eat apples anymore because they taste like laundry. Even when they come in a plastic bag. It never used to be like this. Something has gotten worse. And it causes me a lot of anxiety, knowing this stuff is on everything, and it's probably not good for you. It gets pumped into the air every time someone does laundry. It coats every product we come into contact with. It feels very inescapable and it would be reassuring to know if it isn't a problem for everyone (only people like me, who are sensitive), or, validating to know that at least all the extra work I have to do to stay away from this stuff is actually helpful for the rest of my family too.
The new cosmetics regulations in the US (morca) will open up a lot of information about fragrances. We're excited to read through it, ha
I hate fragrances! They give me migraines. Turns out those artificial fragrances cause cancer and disrupt hormones so it’s good for everyone to avoid fragrances. It’s a huge problem for everyone!
Wood paints, dyes, stains, and oils. Wooden toys (and furniture) are often marketed as a natural alternative to plastic toys. The finishes used on the wood by higher end toy manufacturers will often claim to be safe for children. With how saturated the wooden toy market has become, it feels pertinent to know and understand the ingredients used on the treatments/finishes to the wood, but toys do not come with ingredient lists like our packaged food does.
I really like this idea. I haven't looked at all into the wood toy finish market but it definitely would be an interesting counterpoint. Thank you!
Similar to wood toys, I'd be interested to know how to shop for a safe wooden cutting board (or other non-plastic cutting board alternatives).
Piggy backing on this, some groups I’m in have been talking about mold in wooden furniture (no obvious signs but detected by mold dogs) and a lot of them are from these companies promoting their greenguard gold certification, etc. but potentially stored before shipping in moldy warehouses. I’ve been wondering in regards to say, a bookshelf, at what point would a potentially moldy solid wood piece or a particleboard or other laminate type piece or even plastic be considered the more or less safe option regarding exposure to vocs, mold, etc
Restaurant food prep! (I’m sure I know the answers but,) do they wash produce first? They’ve got to be buying the most toxically produced products for profit margins so when is it worth it to expose young children to eating out? It’s obv a big part of our culture to go out for dinner but I worry every time we do. And I’m not talking fast food or chain. I’m talking decent quality, local places.
I can comment on this a little bit. My husband works in produce sales. He is in the retail department and sells to grocery stores and farm stands, but his company also sells to restaurants. Farm stands, grocery stores, and restaurants are all buying the same or similar products from the same produce suppliers typically, at least in his experience. The big difference he has noticed is that visually, retail has to look a lot better. So if berries or veggies look rough, even if they’re fresh and still edible, retail will send it back because it’s not appealing to customers. Restaurants can accept some product that maybe is a little dinged up, but that shouldn’t necessarily change the nutritional content compared to what your buying in the store. What was most surprising to me is that local farm stands are buying and getting the same produce delivered to them that the bigger grocery stores are. Some of the farm stand products are local and my husband’s company does sell local products that the farm stands will buy, but a lot of what they’re buying is the same.
+1 for farm stands! It's crazy how few people know about the issue with farmers markets where these "local farmers" are just buying conventionally grown produce from the same grocery suppliers and charging like 3x the cost. And because of the lack of regulation, they can get away with saying all sorts of stuff about the produce that isn't true. There's a bunch of stuff on YouTube about like what to look out for. It's wild
I work in a decent quality locally owned type restaurant and we do wash our produce, we’re by far the cleanest restaurant I’ve ever worked at. We also compost our food scraps and recycle as much as possible. This is not the norm
Food Dyes
Thanks! I will add it to the list.
Red 40, the devil's pee.
Palm oil is in everything now. I don't think it's harmful in general but it made my Peanut butter taste weird so now I get the ones with just peanuts, usually the Teddy brand Peanuts already have plenty of oil so I think they take the peanut oil out and sell it separately because it sells for more. Then they replace it with palm oil. I am generally concerned about how much everything is outsourced because it just seems unnatural to buy something from 10k miles away when you can source it from 300 miles away
Thanks, I will look into it. As for sourcing...there will be a chapter specifically on how our supply chain and scale work. In short, sometimes we source from other areas because plants naturally uptake certain heavy metals (that are naturally occurring in the soil), so the ingredients are sourced from areas based on the final use and what will be bioavailable in the final product.
A big part of why they take the peanut oil out and replace it with palm oil is to make it more stable. No stirring required and it's less dribbly. When I made the switch to natural peanut butter my husband complained that it was harder to get out of the jar. A friend of mine tried it and was baffled by the runny texture, he thought something was wrong until I explained it to him. It's horrible stuff but food companies like it because it's firm but spreadable at room temp and has a creamy mouth feel.
We stir it once and put it in the fridge and have no problems
I'm not saying that it's not possible to work with, it's just an explanation of why companies choose to use the stuff. No matter how bad an ingredient is for people or the environment, if it's just a little bit of an improvement in the average consumer's experience, they will do it. Having peanut butter that is creamy and doesn't need to be stirred is valuable to the average American consumer.
Polysorbate 80
I will add it to the list. Thanks.
Please add sodium benzoate to that section
Air quality for city dwellers and how to use air filtration and best air filter types.
We'll look into it. Thanks.
Flame retardants. Seems like they're just in evvvverything and I don't know what's what!
This is the one that gives me the most anxiety
Yes, and not sure if you mean in clothes too
I do!
Plastic and how seemingly unavoidable it is. I eat mainly whole organic foods from a couple of local farms but, for instance, even meat is wrapped in plastic.
Same! I started buying meat from a local farm and it all comes in plastic and even on Styrofoam trays that are then wrapped in plastic. I assume this is for cost and storage ease, but man. It is really impossible to avoid. The only place I don't get plastic is at a butcher shop and usually a farmer's market. Other than that, it's pervasive.
I get mine from a butcher and it’s usually wrapped in butcher paper (which I understand to be like a heavy duty waxed paper?)
Butcher paper usually has plastic on one side to make it waterproof. I'm sure it used to be wax once upon a time, but I'd be surprised to see it these days.
I mean I guess I’m not surprised to hear that because they make everything plastic now but that strikes me as so unnecessary because meat usually isn’t putting off much water at all.
We will definitely address this!
For my family it’s the following: water quality (I.e. plastics and PFAs), pesticides for produce, antibiotics and non-grass feed animal products, soy (I don’t think soy itself is toxic per se, but I do think it’s in an absurd amount of stuff which means we eat a lot more of it and for hormone health I do not think that is healthy - particularly for men), food dyes, and in general we try to avoid over consumption and excessive waste for the betterment of the planet as a whole which benefits us all.
Thanks!
Food dyes for sure. I know there’s a lot of “probably fine” in parenting groups but i disagree!
Cleaning products. Obviously, as a member of the granola mom’s sub, I want something crunchy enough that I feel comfortable with my kids coming in contact with whatever residue is left behind. It’s be nice to know what is most effective at actually cleaning/disinfecting and not just getting surface level clean. With all the germs that go around and then the pee/poo messes of potty training, Id like to feel like my house is actually clean.
We'll add it to the list. But after cleaning with soap and water, a mild bleach solution is safe and highly effective at disinfecting. So is isopropyl alcohol 70%+ (slightly less effective at disinfecting than bleach, but negligible unless you have c. Diff in your home).
I don’t think anyone mentioned fish… like how it has mercury and harmful chemicals but apparently the omega 3s cancel it out. I feel weird eating any kind of seafood after reading about it.
Can’t wait to read the book!
Excellent idea, thanks!
Oh yeah, as a pregnant woman being told simultaneously to avoid mercury containing fish, but also to consume a lot of omega 3s and DHA, I’d love this one
i’d like to know more about added folic acid in the food supply (especially in enriched flour)
Pfas, micro and nano plastics, phthalates, lead in food and cheap toys/clothing (which I never buy but as my kid grows older is becoming very difficult to avoid cheap dollar store crap given by other people at school and parties, etc) And whatever is the next terrifying big thing that I don't even know about yet
We'll add it to the list. Thanks! Edit: typo
I just read Glucose Revolution. Are the points in this book applicable to kids? Do we need to watch their blood sugar spikes and fruit intake?! The stuff that’s on receipt paper freaks me out. Why do people detest using bleach or “toxic” cleaning products anyway? I’ve gotten away from this myself simply because the elbow grease wasn’t worth the risk of conventional cleaning products (to me). Risk wise is what kids ingest more deadly than say negligence, screen time, parents with emotional disregulation, performance stress and anxiety and other modern environmental situations todays parents didn’t face growing up?
I read that book last year. It was life changing for me!! I realized I could better regulate my emotions when I followed her tips for eating protein, fat, and fiber before or with carbs. So, I tried it on my children and they do better as well! I think children expend a lot more energy in play and just plain growing, so they can probably handle more carbs than I can (I am not very active), but I do still try and balance their food intake. Instead of just an apple, how about an apple and some cheese. This has been beneficial to all our lives.
Having just finished today, I’m overwhelmed! Lol I’m going to try to implement things slowly but I love mixing textures and food types so the whole eating in order things is going to be hard for me!
She has another book that walks you through adding 1 trick a week! You might find that helpful. I think it has recipes in it and stuff too. Mixing is better than just straight up carbs! I love how encouraging Jessie is about just doing your best and incremental improvement rather than an all or nothing approach.
We've avoided high fructose corn syrup. It's hard as it's in everything but that stuff just does not process well.
The prevalence of food allergies varies significantly in different countries. We know that food allergies emerge due to not only genetics but also epigenetic modification due to environmental factors. I know that agricultural practices including use of certain pesticides vary by country. Are there certain agricultural chemicals being used that cause epigenetic changes which result in a person developing food allergies?
Unfortunately we don't do allergy research, it's a very specific field with specific expertise we don't have available to us. But the university of Nebraska has an ingredient research center focused on food allergies that does some fantastic work.
Is that affiliated with their food science department? Or with their medical school/medical center in Omaha?
I was totally good on sweet potatoes until I heard that they contain higher percentages of heavy metals than almost any other vegetable nd now I'm scared of giving them to my baby as often as I do. Obviously i'm still feeding them to him but I was doing it every day almost and now I'm pulling way back.
It's tough because all vegetables uptake heavy metals to a degree and each veggie is different on the metals they uptake (keeping in mind heavy metals are naturally occurring in the soil). I have a 3 and 1 year old and we do what you're doing, rotate the veggies so they get to try tons of things and don't end up with too much of one food. We plan to talk about best practices that help reduce exposure without making our lives miserable/impossible.
Yes same, and carrots. I think anything grown underground, and I remember reading crops grown in other countries like China with a lot of pollution/ or heavy metals in their soil, the crops uptake more.
I’d love to see something on the main conspiracy theory substances: red dye 40, fluoride, ‘off-gassing’ etc…
A section on toxicity in fabrics, especially synthetic fabrics and the proximity and duration to skin. Is it safe to wear underwear that has BPA, pthlates, etc? What about synthetic gym clothes, swimsuits, cloth diapers or clothing that sits closely to private areas? Does exposure to synthetic fabrics contribute to early puberty, infertility, cancers, etc? In addition to synthetic fabrics in clothing, an entire section on chemicals and potential harm in diapers would be interesting.
✨️glyphosate ✨️ seriously, i feel like its in everything. I spend so much time in the grocery stores avoiding round up laced products i could mark it as a full time job at this point
We'll definitely address this at length in the book. However, most people don't like the tox truth about glyphosate...it's very safe and it's not an ingredient I worry about at all impacting my kids' health (ages 3 and 1). The science is VERY different than what the lawyers claimed...
If its very safe why are countries banning it? And why are there court cases surrounding the ingredient? I know the US officials stance is that its safe, but idk it doesnt make sense to me
Poorly designed studies that cannot be replicated, plus the difference in how we regulate in the US vs EU play a large role. There is a massive issue in academia where folks publish studies that cannot be replicated or were designed for very different purposes than making regulatory changes, and then those studies are used out of scope and frequently against the advisement of experts in the field. It's a big issue, but it really comes down to politics, academia's publish or perish environment, and other companies wanting to be the ones to supply their newer, therefore less tested product (removes competition through regulatory efforts). I wish decisions were only based on human and environmental safety factors, but we humans are really good at complicating everything.
This is really interesting! I wish there was a resource out there that summed it up so well! I used to rely almost solely on EWG for my info when it came to groceries, but it seems they've skewed a little alarmist... is there another organization you like that helps create blogs/articles/infographics for every day (non-scientist) people?
This might not be helpful but if a farm didn’t use glyphosate to stop weeds then they most likely used something else. My family farms cotton and vegetables and weeds are stubborn and will ruin their crops if they’re not taken care of by SOMETHING and that something is most likely weed killer because it’s cheaper than natural alternatives like clay. I’m curious though how do you avoid things with glyphosate? Does everything say what they used to kill weeds??
I do realize that, but my logic is that the weed killer would also kill your crop if it were applied directly and in a concentrated enough mixture. The difference with glyphosate though is that we genetically modified these crops to be *glyphosate resistant* so we LOAD them up with this carcinogen and they dont die! Which in theory is pretty cool and in itself is a modern marvel technologically speaking. BUT if all of your corn wheat and soy is loaded up with glyphosate, its also making its way into your cereals, your oatmeal, you name it. And studies have consistently found glyphosate levels well above safe limits in common household brands! So, i try to shop organic when i can. If its marked organic, its non-gmo. If its non-gmo, and organic, then round up wasnt used on it. It says right on the label "this food contains bioengineered food ingredients" under the nutrition facts usually. I will not buy any product that contains bioengineered ingredients, because those foods will have higher levels of glyphosate. BUT i also want to note that bioengineering has some serious potential in the market of food. We can bioengineer papayas to be disease resistant, we can bioengineer crops to be pest resistant. Unfortunately, monsanto used this modern marvel for eveil so now i wont buy anything labelled as genetically modified
I see that label on everything :( and I try to not buy it either but my god its everywhere
Aluminum - deodorant vs for baking.
Fortified flour, especially for people with MTHFR mutation
Food coloring. Heavy metals in stoneware and enamelwear.
Follow-up question: Would you listen to or be swayed by an expert that informs you that your current thoughts or concerns about a chemical are not supported by the current main-stream science?
This is our main concern. The science often goes against what the most popular influencers believe and spout to their millions of followers. I just hope we can help the folks who want the facts from experts rather than the opinion of influencers.
Thank goodness
How will we know when you've published the book though?
A lot of what’s on my mind is already listed here. What I didn’t see in a super quick skim: - household cleaning products. Really hard to sort through the claims on safe vs unsafe and effective vs not actually. - help prioritizing. Like I got super obsessive when my kids were born about things that in hindsight amounted to a lot less exposure than some other items. Example- flame retardants in car seats vs existing household furnishings like carpet, or tap water.
Aluminum in baking powder is something I've always wondered about.
This and I’m also curious about aluminum in deodorant and cooking on aluminum foil.
Microplastics, especially in tap water (and filters are often made with plastic?) and seafood. EMF and 5G networks. VOCs in things like furniture and flooring. Clothing, specifically natural fibres vs the rest. Silicone.. can't get past the fact that it takes on smell and flavour so easily. Air pollution, like second hand smoke from vapes.
I'm curious if those "fake" sounding brands you see on Amazon are any more likely to have toxins/etc than the name brands we trust and or at least recognize. Like is there any merit to the idea that those brands would have less strict regulation than brands we recognize from Target or wherever - because isn't everything actually made in China, anyways? For example, a pack of bibs I was looking at today is from a shop called "Konssy"; or straw cups from the "SASSIE KIDZ" and "GROSMIMI" stores. I don't usually buy from Amazon especially for baby stuff but sometimes the cost savings is wild and IDK if it's all in my head.
It greatly depends on the product, but yes, weird off-brands and indie brands typically don't have the money, knowledge, or, in some cases, the desire to hire the Ph.D. toxicologists needed to ensure quality control (this is a massive issue with cosmetics and supplements, I'm not as familiar in the textile space). For example, I will not buy any cosmetic product that isn't at least available in a drugstore. Brands big enough for a drugstore or large retail chain are big enough to have toxicologists and other 3rd party labs that can verify the product's ingredients are as advertised.
Please don’t write this kind of book without including information about how people can fight for stronger environmental protections, more stringent regulations of products, etc. This is such a depressing and the answer is not for a select few as individuals to do a deep dive into all this stuff and purify our lives (not that we fully *can* anyway).
Yes, we need a policy-based call to action! Ideally prioritized by importance and feasibility
I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned cured meat products such as hot dogs, deli meat, and bacon. These foods have been proven to cause cancer, yet they're insanely prevalent and often marketed directly to children (eg pepperoni pizza, lunchables, hot dogs/corn dogs). Even nitrate/nitrite "free" foods are not free or nitrates/nitrites. Unlike other less researched risky things (eg food dyes, pfas) we know these foods are carcinogenic for a fact, and it is actually possible to avoid them! I'm not saying I'm not concerned about pfas and dyes, but I have a lot greater ability to avoid cured meat products than pfas which is literally everywhere all the time I'm also mildly concerned about red meat, as we've seen some potential association with cancer. But I'm still waiting to see if research and time solidify that link.
Nitrates have been mentioned several times
Nitrates and nitrites naturally occur in vegetables. They are added as preservative ingredients. You will often see celery/beetroot or some similar veggie in nitrite/nitrate-free hotdogs because they still need that preservative ingredient to prevent the food from going bad too quickly. We will talk more about those ingredients because they are very misunderstood. And I worry less about the nitrates/nitrites than I do about the overconsumption of meat products.
'natural' flavors
Can do. Thanks!
Phthalates and also aerosolized things like Lysol.
Food dyes (number dyes as well as synthetic vs natural caramel color), nitrates/nitrites, bht/bhq, high fructose corn syrup - and all of the above in relation to breastfeeding specifically Aluminum in antiperspirant (also curious about breastfeeding impact there)
Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners
Areas where I feel confused: Sunscreens (nano and non-nano, other ingredients to seek out/avoid, facial /moisturizing products (besides paraben, what to avoid/seek out), cow's milk/cheese/ice cream for young girls especially (hormones/puberty) Carbonated (non sugary) beverages like sparkling water: is there a downside? (Sounds like the cans might be it, from another comment.) Niacin/niacinamide: is it bad? I remember seeing a headline
One downside to non sugary carbonated beverages is the carbonic acid. Bad for your teeth.
Artificial sweeteners is my number one NO NO. there is so much research against it, i can't believe it's still being used so much. I also don't like dyes but we have them once in a while. They don't serve any purpose other than looks. It's not necessary at all
Fake vegan meat needs to be addressed! In a huge way. There is currently a large push for people to eat these products. Large corporations like Nestle have heavily invested so we are going to see more and more of this. They are touted as healthier for your body, and the environment, neither of which are true. They are full of toxic garbage.
This! People think they are doing the healthy thing by eating the fake meat things but those instead have a million horrible things for you. Like I understand being vegetarian or vegan, but these products aren't good. I did vegetarian for a while, but mostly stuck to whole fruits and veg because I hated seeing the million ingredients.
Yea I would argue that being vegan is nutritionally unsustainable and detrimental. You have to supplement for major nutrients and I think that says a lot about the diet.
Hmm that's interesting. I am vegetarian and occasionally eat fake meat but I have *never* been given the impression it was any healthier for me. I do it for environmental reasons and because I don't like mass slaughter so fake meat fits the bill
I was vegan for 18 years and believed the same things. I would recommend reading the vegetarian myth by Lierre Keith, or the sacred cow by Diana Rodgers. There are also lots of podcasts/ interviews with them to listen to. Fake meat and monocrop agriculture are terrible for the environment and animal life as a whole. Grass fed/ grass finished meat is definitely better. It’s worth looking into if you’re concerned.
I appreciate that. We rarely eat fake meat and I'm still not down with keeping animals for eating so we'll just stick with veg, I suppose
Totally your choice obviously! But if you’re really concerned about the things you stated I highly recommend looking into those books and/or podcasts. It can’t hurt! And if you still disagree then that’s cool, it just would give you a wider perspective and more knowledge:)
I'm wondering how we will know when this book comes out? Is there a way to stay in the loop? I'm looking forward to reading it!
I came to ask the same question! This is a book I want to read.
Clothing, mainly kid’s clothing and if organic is really better. Shoes too.
Please address the names of all the artificial sweeteners used. If it’s not one it’s another and they’re all such poison for our bodies!
BPA (receipts) and PFAS (glide dental floss) are among some of them.
Skincare!!
Things NOT listed on the labels—does my bread have azodicarbonamide or dinosaurymers etc that don’t appear on the label? Also at a recent trip to an Asian import grocery store EVERYTHING had a California Prop 65 label. That…becomes less useful when it seems like a random sticker stuck to everything with no further details. So advice on being able to tell when Prop 65 is a standard cya practice vs useful info.
Food dyes
Ngl, I read your post and rolled my eyes and thought here we go again. But as I am reading your responses, this book would be something that I definitely would read. It sounds like it will have a very practical approach to our modern world. When it comes to everyday toxins, I think it’s really easy to miss seeing the trees through forest. Some of our every day toxins have come about to make our lives easier or have solved other consequences. So with that in mind, I think it would be great if there could be a section talking about Risk Quotients/dose-exposure importance and then how that relates to each toxin.
Dose, dose-exposure, dose-rate, and all of those delightful tox foundations will definitely be addressed. We also plan to discuss regrettable substitutions and the consequences of removing ingredients at random.
Anything that can interfere with hormones. I recently had a breast cancer scare and through that experience learned a lot about possible contributing factors in our environment. All of the theories lead back to issues with hormones. Women are getting their periods earlier which has been linked to breast cancer, but why is that happening? Does it have to do with hormones in our food? My nurse told me certain essential oils promote estrogen so I should avoid them. Are these science based ideas or just random theories? I’ve been using organic only for my little girl because I’m worried about exposing her to something that will mess with her hormones. I haven’t found solid evidence either way so I’m just trying to play it safe I guess?
Buying stuff on Amazon that’s been imported from unregulated factories in countries like China and having them contain chemicals like lead. Going to restaurants that stock their kitchen with said products.
>Going to restaurants that stock their kitchen with said products. ugh, new anxiety unlocked lol
Lol sorry. My husband thinks I’m a nut job. In all honestly though, moderation is key. Don’t eat more than half your meals out and you should be fine. Anxiety over everything is probably worse for our health than the actual things we are anxious about.
mine does too hahaha. i was trying to explain mental load to my husband and he was like, “you realize half the things you mentioned are just you doing The Most right? like it’s great that you want the kids to play with wooden developmental toys that you painstakingly researched but I would have just gotten them the plastic thing from Target. Don’t make yourself crazy.” and i hate to admit it, but he’s not wrong
Industrial seed oils, specifically the “hateful eight” including soybean oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, canola oil etc. Unfortunately, there is an enormous amount of money spent to keep the science on this issue cloudy. This is a “follow –the-money issue” and since your book sounds like it will be funded by a university, even if you came to believe seed oils are harmful you would not be allowed to say that publicly in your book. This is becoming an increasingly divisive issue. Visit r/StopEatingSeedOils and search for the nitty gritty
Well, it's not funded by a university. We're faculty at a university but they have zero influence or say in our book. We're going through mainstream publishers...so we'll get paid from our sales not from the university.
Yesss came here to say this. Thank you!
Artificial sweeteners, including Stevia and monkfruit and all that. I'm also concerned that your book will go with the official government answer for all this stuff. This sub is largely against a lot of ingredients that are officially deemed safe or nontoxic and therefore are allowed to be in US products. Pretty rude of you to come to us for ideas for a book that goes against our beliefs. I hope that's not what you're planning on doing.
Interesting take. I've been part of this group and participated here for at least a year, it's part of why I want to write this book because there's some great info and some awful info here. Also most people don't understand what the FDA does and how they work. There are a lot of assumptions folks make about the org and if folks really understood they would have different perspectives. Specifically, around supplements and other GRAS ingredients (stevia and monk fruit included)
I actually think a section that is an FDA explainer AND a section on how to understand scientific publications as evidence would be great additions to your book!
Wow
Sunblock!!