WEBVTT - Your home might be making you sick... here’s how to make it healthy again 🏡 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.120 We've spoken to a lot of people on the wood 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:10.239 Life about motivation, cleaner eating, getting your exercise regime, or 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.960 your goals sorted. We've never spoken to someone about how 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:17.079 they can clean up their home and how a clean 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.960 home can really impact your health. So today we're going 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:23.599 to change all that because we're going to speak to 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:26.400 an incredible lady who has coined the term low tox 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:28.760 and she's going to give us some really practical, simple 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.559 tips on how we can low tox our lives. Then 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.839 after that, we're going to talk diets with incredible Sharna. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.080 We're going to take the gloves off and talk about 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:40.560 vegan and vegetarianism. 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.960 I've been thinking about going vegetarian myself, but I want 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:45.720 to know is it okay to take meat out of 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:46.280 my diet? 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:48.720 What should I be wary of if I do change 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:49.240 my diet. 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.080 That's all coming up in the wood Life. I'm Sam Wood, 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.000 and we're kicking things off by making your home healthier. 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:23.120 Our next guest started her own mission by challenging what 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:25.440 is in our food? What is in our cleaning products, 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.600 what is in our beauty products? What are these things 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:32.040 that are continually in our homes around us? That potentially 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.840 are not doing our health any good. She's created a 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:39.399 platform to educate people on the chemicals that we are ingesting. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.640 And I can't wait to speak with you. Alex Stewart, 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:43.720 Welcome to the WOODLFE. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:45.400 Hey, Sam, how are you doing? 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.600 Thank you so much. I'm going to jump straight into 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:51.800 it and you're right between the eyes. What does low 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.760 tox mean? Because it's one of those terms that gets 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.440 floated around, but I don't know if all of our listeners, 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:02.240 me included, would really spee exactly what it's talking about. 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:02.760 Yeah. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.400 Nice, And I think when I came up with it 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.280 when my little guy was having a nap when he 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.480 was about two months old, and I had been researching 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.440 things for a few years from personal health reasons by 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.360 that point, so I'd become pretty savvy and really knew 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:19.120 what had helped me feel better. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:20.240 And I was. 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:22.360 Sitting there thinking what do I want to call this thing? 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.640 And I've always been a teacher, trainer, motivator across two 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.160 different industries. That's always been my jam to help people 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.000 move from where they are to where they want to be. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.200 And once I learned what I learned about the food system, 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:41.720 chemical industry, etc. I wanted to provide really good, solid, 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.639 but soft education in this space. And what I mean 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:48.920 by soft is I grew up in the nineties, you know, 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:52.320 where Oprah had every second guest with a new diet, 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:53.720 and we all had to do it this way. And 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:55.040 if you didn't do it that way and you fell 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.440 off the wagon and you didn't do it perfect, then 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.520 you'd be ashamed. Then you failed. I hated that. I mean, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:02.799 it just didn't work right. And you know that more 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.880 than anything with the way that you support your community. Sam. 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:07.640 So absolutely progress not perfection. 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.200 That's what it's all about, exactly. 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:14.440 And so I really wanted something, some sort of lifestyle 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.840 phrase that would help people feel like they didn't have 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.160 to quit everything, they didn't have to be know this 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.920 zero that free from that, not that guru kind of vibe. 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.920 And then I thought, well, we're trying to reduce toxins, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.400 we can't completely eliminate them. Because I don't know about you, 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:33.639 but I walked past a car getting my morning coffee 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.240 this morning, and there's exhaust and you know, like, there's 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.000 so many things, and if we freaked out about everything, 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.800 we would literally go mad trying to be perfect. So 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:49.320 lowtox life was born, and it's really about the food, body, home, mind, 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.480 and planet elements that make for a life where we're 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.400 just a bit more conscious. You know, we're thinking about 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.360 what that purchase is. I think, do I need this? 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.720 Thinking how is this made? Where does it come from? 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.280 Am I okay with the answers to those questions? And 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.640 is there a better alternative? And really the last twelve 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:13.360 years of my life have been around helping people discover 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.960 those things and just move along in their own pace, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.359 their way. Some people get really passionate about the food 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.040 side of things. Some people really passionate about like making 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.880 all their own cleaning products. Some people get passionate about 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:29.600 supporting brands and buying great products from brands that are 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.760 doing better for people and planets. So it really is 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:35.720 a lifestyle where everyone has a spot. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.440 I love that. I've got to admit I was driving 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:42.440 in today knowing that we were chatting this morning, thinking 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:43.280 about our chat. 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:44.760 You thought I was going to make you feel bad 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:45.800 about everything, didn't you? 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.479 I did. Yeah, I was really a bit worried. I 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.719 felt I was going to potentially leave our chat going. 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:59.479 I now know more. I almost am frustrated that I 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:01.960 know more, you know, like ignorance just kind of bliss 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.040 in a way. And now I'm leaving this conversation going 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.040 now I know more. Now I feel like I have 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.160 to do more, but now I'm more stressed about it, 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.960 or just guilty. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.280 If you read my first book, Lotox Life, I paint 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.080 a picture of this girl who's twenty seven and she's 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:21.240 smoking a pack of day and she has a couple 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.200 of tequilas after work and all this kind of stuff, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.480 and then at the end, I say, and by the way, 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.279 that's me when I was twenty seven, And I just 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:34.520 think people need to stop engaging with stuff that makes 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.880 us feel awful about ourselves, because then it puts us 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.479 in this paralysis mode or the shutout mode, like the 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:42.720 total like I'm just not going to go there because 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.440 I feel bad. But I always say, you can't feel 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.520 guilty for what you didn't know. You can only get 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.960 excited about what you do know now and how that's 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.400 going to make a really positive impact in your life. 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:54.760 And by the way, I'm not a non drinker. 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.520 I don't say that to say you have to start, 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.840 you know, thinking about giving up drinking. Some people do. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.279 Some people don't big fan of a gin and soda 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.800 on a Friday night. Sometimes it's not a purest lifestyle. 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.640 Everyone has a spot, and it's really just about thinking 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.599 what's lighting me up about doing better for myself and 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.080 the planet. And I'm going to start there, and then 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.599 we give people ideas about what that could look like. 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.359 The first thing that pops into my head as we've 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.040 chatted for five minutes is you've got my attention. This 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.200 is something that really interests me. It's something that I 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.640 think would interest most of our listeners. And the first 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.599 question that pops into my head is where do I start? 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:36.640 Okay, so it sounds like a big question, but actually 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.880 it has a pretty simple first answer for me, which 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.200 is simply asking yourself every time you're going to buy 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.400 something or you feel propelled to buy something. You know, 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:50.040 we're all in this dopamine hit consumerist culture like it's 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.400 you know, I feel it as much as the next guy, 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.240 especially if you're in a shopping center and you think 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.359 you've just gone for one thing and then boom you 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.880 leave with three shopping bags and a whole bunch of 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.120 stuff you didn't even realize you needed or wanted. 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.919 Just ask yourself, if you really love. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.279 That thing that you're considering, or if you even need 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.080 it at all, Because the amount of stuff we're buying 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.000 is hugely impactful on the planet. So that for me 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:18.080 is like literally just raising your awareness on how useful, valuable, 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.920 or joyful that thing's going to be for you is 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.920 a fantastic place to start. Second place I would start 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:31.080 is becoming conscious of synthetic fragrances. So I was the 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.600 head of the perfume counter at downtown Judy Free Strand Arcade. 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.040 It was like my big gig in my early twenties. 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:41.000 I was so excited, loved perfume, and ended up working 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.960 for one of the most prestigious companies in the world 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:49.000 after that, and I had every imaginable young woman issue 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:55.560 from period stuff, cycle stuff, headaches, migraines, resistant, weight loss, 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.720 you name it. And years later, when it was actually 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.240 my baby Sharon, I had learned about the food system 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.880 because I'd had to go gluten free and so I 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.280 was really good at reading labels. Started reading the labels 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:08.960 of all the stuff I got from my baby Sharon, 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.880 was like, Oh my god, what are these things? And 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:14.000 it occurred to me that all the time while I 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.120 was training sales teams all across Australia and the Pacific 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:22.440 in fragrances and cosmetics throughout my entire early twenties, never 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.680 once did we talk about two thirds of the chemicals 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:29.080 on the labels. We only talked about the really jazzy 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.560 stuff at the top, So the rare agan algae that 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.079 was gonna, you know, wipe women's wrinkles away, and all 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.400 that stuff, the stuff you see in the ads basically, 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.600 and so I thought, oh my gosh, half of this stuff, actually, 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:47.800 it turns out impacts the way our natural hormone signaling 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.199 is done and the way our natural hormones are produced. 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.640 So this is what we call endocrine disruptive chemicals or 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.679 hormone disruptive chemicals that can affect sex, hormones, thyroid or 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.920 dream norls, you name it, anything that's part of the 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:07.640 hormone systems in the body. And I realized that for 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:10.680 years I had been peddling stuff that was fiddling with 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.640 people's hormones. And any chick listening today to our show 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.800 right now is thinking God is hard enough to balance 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.160 my hormones on like the most perfect, relaxing, easy day 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:23.960 of the month, let alone any other day, and yet 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.200 we have all this stuff around our homes and on 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:30.160 our skin that is actually impacting that as well. And 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.320 I was just listening to this incredible panel with four 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.400 of the top fertility experts in Australia and they were 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:42.120 talking about the most recent research and synthetic fragrances. I 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:43.840 don't know about you, Sam, but when you give someone 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.040 a hard after workout the gym, you've had a great 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.240 time and then you can smell their after shave or 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:52.640 perfume like five hours later. Still, so that stickiness of 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.320 the fragrance, the thing that makes it last long is 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.559 a group of chemicals called thalates. And for the nerds 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.800 who like to look stuff up, that's ala tes. 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:04.400 Don't worry. 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.120 I'm not going to stay technical for too long here, 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.079 but it's to say that the stickiness of the thollates 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.800 is what makes fragrances last a really long time. And 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:17.000 those thalates are one of the biggest hormone disruptive chemicals 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:21.120 that are in our world today, largely unregulated, and some 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:27.880 pretty shocking research around fertility and around men's fertility specifically. 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:30.320 So I think a lot of guys think, oh, yeah, 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:33.360 my chicks into all this environmental lotox stuff, you know whatever, 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.960 and we don't realize that it's actually harming our men 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.360 just as badly, if not more, to wear these really stinky, 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:45.960 heavily perfumed fragrances and deodorant sprays, and I remember prying 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.800 one from my husband's house. Are like, we literally can't 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.880 breathe when you put that stuff on in the morning. 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:56.160 So if you could think about synthetic fragrances, the scentered reads, 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.080 the freshness, the plug in sprays, the thing that you 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.240 put in the car dash board, the little Christmas tree, 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:05.280 things that are hanging in the cabby's cars, all of 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.880 those things. The fabric SOFTNA and don't quit it yet. 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.560 If you're thinking, oh my gosh, like that is huge. 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.160 I have all this sort of stuff everywhere. Another one 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.920 is scented candles. Just put it in a box, chuck 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.040 it in the garage and live without it for a month. 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:22.960 So fabric softna all your things that are air freshener 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:27.480 oriented and even your personal fragrance, and then after two 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:29.800 weeks to a month, bring it all back in, plug 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.839 it in, light it up, chuck the fabric softener on everything. 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:38.560 You will be shocked at your body's response to the 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.040 toxins in these products. I'm just going to let you 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.280 do that yourself, but it is honestly one of the 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:44.920 most powerful experiments you can do. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:46.640 Well, there you go. There's a great little bit of 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.280 homework for our WOODLFE listeners to try. I mean, my 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.240 wife says she loves scented candles. 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:52.720 I mean heaps of us do. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.120 Yeah, it's just the thing. I'm not really a massive 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:56.679 fan of them. So this is great because I can 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:58.079 go home and now I've got a reason that we 0:11:58.200 --> 0:11:58.880 get rid of them. 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.840 So this is a thing that comes up though, Sam, 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:06.360 So one partner in the outfit like goes right, We're 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:07.959 got to get rid of this stuff. It's toxic, and 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:09.880 they're the other ones, Like I didn't get that memo. 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.120 But one of the things you can do is create 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.200 change through a gift. So you turn up with a 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:21.360 beautiful bees wax hand rolled scented candle, just with the 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.480 natural bees wax scent, and you just say, oh, I 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.679 just saw this candle online and I just thought of you. 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:28.360 I wanted to get it for you because I'd done 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.480 this interview. And turns out there's some pretty dodgy stuff 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.160 in the other ones. Then that is like a really 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.679 nice way to approach change. 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:41.440 So the synthetic fragrances does that then transition into body 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.120 wash and shampoo. 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.040 And yeah, it's pretty pervasive. Like you know, you think 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.360 of all the products you use that have synthetic smells 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:52.480 and just like start asking yourself. I remember once I 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:55.040 realized how bad they were, and that was like a 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.000 good fire in the belly to start not wanting them because, 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.960 as I said, like I was from that industry and 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:05.040 loved all of that stuff. But once you see something 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.200 for what it truly is, it's not as pretty or 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:12.240 as appealing. And so you now have really great supermarket 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:16.520 brands even and then some fantastic pioneering brands, great small 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:21.040 businesses that are doing products using natural essential oils or 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:22.240 fragrance free. 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:23.120 And they're gorgeous. 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.200 Like when I went low tox fifteen years ago, trust me, 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:30.280 it was not easy and like products just didn't perform 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.280 the way they do now. But green chemistry has come 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.320 a really long way, so we've got tons of options. 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:36.520 It's great to hear that it has come a long way, 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.319 and it feels like it's only going to ramp right 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.920 up in you know, with awareness that you're providing. And 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:45.000 it's one of those things I am starting to hear 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.560 more and more that probably even five years ago, it 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.960 wasn't something that people were speaking about, you know, not 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.560 too different to being gluten free and going and getting 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:53.640 breakfast at a cafe. 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.160 It's oh, I know, right, I had to go gluten 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.000 free seventeen years ago. 0:13:58.160 --> 0:13:59.160 That would have made a challenge. 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.000 But you know, one of the things that it did 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.760 for me, Sam, and this is my next tip, is 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.800 it got me reading labels on food. It got me 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:12.560 realizing that packaged food is like mostly a disaster sometimes. Okay, 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.800 there are some really great brands that have cleaned things up. 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:20.200 But to move from products to produce is my next tip. 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.520 And you would teach this in your the lifestyle components 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:25.960 of the work you do. So it's really about just 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.760 those fresh ingredients and as much as you can it 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:33.880 doesn't have to be all now, all you know, perfect today, 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.440 but just start looking in your shopping trolley and go, oh, yeah, 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.280 there's actually quite a bit of processed food in here. 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.200 Could I swap that with some carrots and hummus? You know, 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.480 could I swap that one with like teaching myself how 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:52.800 to make a nice lunchbox bar with like seeds, oats, nuts, 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:53.720 and cocoa powder. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.560 I'm aware all about eating real food and I absolutely 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.280 love that. But you're saying, so look out for particular 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.320 products and particul ingredients, and I then go, well, so 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.800 what are they? Because they're so clever at confusing you. 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:11.640 You know, the longest word you've ever seen with you know, 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.240 x y Z one triples, you know seven like and 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.920 you kind I have no people just read them, I'm 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.440 sure like I do, and go, You've achieved your purpose 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.000 by just throwing me off the scent, by confusing me. 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:28.040 Yeah, So on the labels, as far as that goes, 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.760 you want to look for the words fragrance or perfun Okay, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.800 if you m because that. If it doesn't then have 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.240 an asterixk to say natural essential oils or made with 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.800 essential oils or something like that, then you're pretty sure 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.880 that it's synthetic. And we still have a situation where 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.160 about ninety nine percent of mainstream products that do use 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:53.720 synthetic fragrance do have these thalates in them which alter 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:58.800 our estrogen signaling and production, so that for me, is 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.400 the easiest thing to look out for and then just 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.040 common sense. So you buy a fabric softener, let's say, 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:10.360 and it says apple blossom like as it's fragrance, had 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.480 they get like a apple blossom is the gentlest, like 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.360 you can barely smell it. You have to go like 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.080 right close to it, and it kind of smells like 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:22.240 something like a normal natural smell. But apple blossom fabric 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.080 softener smells like it hits you like a ton of bricks. 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.440 And so if you have to ask yourself, what does 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:32.760 the natural equivalent of that fragrance smell like, and are 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:37.240 they similar and they're not, then you know that it's synthetic. 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.840 And the stronger the fragrance is, the more likely there'd 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:43.280 be thalatees in there to make it strong and make 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:44.040 it last long. 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.240 I'm so glad you said at the start of our 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.160 chat go at your own pace in your own way, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.760 because my brain and I'm just being really honest with you, 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:54.840 I'd love to sit here and tell you that I'm 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:57.720 thinking absolutely, as of tomorrow, I'm going to make all 0:16:57.760 --> 0:16:59.720 these changes. But there's a part of me that's saying 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.040 I got up this morning, I went for a run, 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:05.919 I had a shower, I put on my deodrent, I 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:10.040 put on microlone, and I'm thinking that actually freaks me 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:10.720 out a little bit. 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:12.440 Changes in morning, hasn't it. 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:16.600 We'll also often kind of use the same decrence and 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.240 you know, one or two different cologns probably for twenty years. 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:25.120 I mean, that's not something that I've questioned or challenged. 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:26.720 You said at the start, you know, you've got to 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.000 just have a bit more, have an open mind, and 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.000 you had to challenge and question these things. 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.240 I mean, there is so much science now to back 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:35.840 it up. When you speak to the people at the 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.840 forefront of the research, it's mind blowing to me that 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.560 it's not making front page news and we're not legislating 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:43.840 for it, to be honest, because I mean, you know, 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.080 like it's very expensive to look after yourself. It is 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.960 with all the painkillers. And then think about the job 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:54.560 ROI for companies of people off with migraines and painful 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:58.199 periods like stop great. So we have a lot to 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.159 gain by taking a long, hard look at synthetic fragrances. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:04.520 I mean, the annoying thing about it being the main 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.359 thing that I wanted to share with you is that 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:09.960 it is so pervasive, like you said, across so many 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:14.200 different categories. But if you just today think I might 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.720 just do the deodorant, but I might not put the 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.040 fragrance on on top. Let's start there. Or I might 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.840 use half a cup of bicob soda in my laundry 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.639 to make everything soft and add a teaspoon of my 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:32.360 favorite essential like peppermint or lemon, one of the inexpensive ones, and. 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.760 Just start there. Really just want to go bit by bit. 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.359 And one of the things that one of my first 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:42.480 students in my E course said was phase out, don't 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.400 freak out, and I just thought it was the most 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:45.760 fantastic little phrase. 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:47.120 I love that, And it. 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.240 Just means as you run out of stuff, you're like, Okay, 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:52.720 what could I replace it with that's better, and you 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.800 do a bit of research. There's so many beautiful brands 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.080 that we can buy now. So it's actually not that hard. 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.120 GLaDOS that you brought up cost too, because another thing 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:07.879 that popped into my head was this perception that to 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.520 go for the better option is going to be far 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:12.440 more expensive. 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:16.679 It's a reorganization of funds basically. You so you just 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:18.359 have to think big picture It's kind of like when 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.520 you're trying to switch to whole foods. If you swapped 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.880 out all the snacks, the vacuous snacks that you didn't 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.320 have to eat, and invested that into really good whole 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.840 food meals that you had three a day of instead, 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.320 and then forgot the snacks, then you can end up 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.720 cost neutral switching from products to produce. It's a mindset 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.800 of oh, I've been taught that this is good value 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.960 my whole life, and so I think it is. And 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:46.760 part of it is actually peeling back those layers. And 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:49.760 you know, switching from a body gel that costs like 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.920 ten to fifteen bucks to a bar of soap there's 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.879 no plastic, still just as effective. That's a huge saving. 0:19:58.240 --> 0:19:59.919 I mean, the thing that pops into my head is 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.840 just because it's how you've always done it doesn't mean 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.080 it's how it should be done. I can't thank you 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:07.879 and Alex for coming on the Woodlife today. 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.000 Well thanks so much. Sam, great to chat with you too. 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.520 So there you go. Like me, twenty minutes ago, you 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:18.520 might not have even been familiar with the term low 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:21.159 tox but now you are, and it's definitely been a 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.439 good eye opener. Got me thinking, which I'm sure it 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:25.840 has few too. I'm going to put a link in 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.119 the show notes through to some more material from Alex 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.920 that if you're really interested in this subject, will definitely 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.520 be able to provide a bit more context and a 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.480 bit more information for you, so make sure you check 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.760 those out. Next, it is diet time and we're talking 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:43.880 vegan and vegetarianism with the one and only Shanna shaby. 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:48.800 So. 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.240 I always love it when we get food and diet 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.120 related questions sent in because that means that we get 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:58.240 to bring in our favorite nutritionists, Shanna who joins us 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:01.360