MAY 2020 ROUNDUP

I had been meaning to buy a Berkey for a while and I just never got around to it but about 2 months ago we finally got one. To be honest Corey and I are super OCD and we don’t like stuff on our countertops so the thought of having something there wasn’t appealing to us. I knew I wanted a way to get filtered water easily though so I looked at them again. I was pleasantly surprised to find they had smaller sized ones! This was more up our alley because we can tuck it away by our sink and it’s not too overbearing. We got the smallest size and it’s perfect for the space we wanted to put it. We love it so far! It’s easy to use and the most important thing is our water is being filtered properly.

Go to EWG.org/tapwater and type in your zip code to see the top contaminants in your tap water. For my area, there are 7 contaminants in the tap water that exceed EWG health guidelines plus many other contaminants found that shouldn’t be there. Unfortunately our water is contaminated with lots of crud. 👎🏻Legal limits for contaminants in tap water haven’t been updated in almost 20 years. Swipe over to see the contaminants in my water.

The list of contaminants that the Berkey reduces is very long so I’m going to put the link here for you to check it out to see the full list but in short it reduces pharmaceutical drugs, heavy metals, viruses, bacteria, triclosan, pesticides, arsenic, e-coli, rust and literally hundreds more! Check out the list here by typing this in your browser- Berkey Filters - Filtration Specifications and Test Results.

Properly filtered water is so important because water is something we consume daily. I always say work on things that affect your daily life and water is one of them so I highly suggest looking into your own water contaminants and finding something to properly filter them out!

Most people had their tacos last night but we’re a day late. 🤷🏻‍♀️ If you’re still using pre-made taco seasoning packets listen up! This is such an easy swap to make. We eat tacos once a week and I used to buy the Old El Paso seasoning packets. Yuck! Here are the ingredients: chili pepper, maltodextrin, salt, onion powder, spices, corn starch, sea salt, vegetable oil, corn flour, silicon dioxide, citric acid, sugar and natural flavor… really unnecessary to have some of those ingredients. You don’t know what you’re getting with the natural flavors. There’s no need for sugar in taco seasoning and we all need to avoid vegetable oils.

There’s no reason taco seasoning should be made with anything but spices so here’s what we use- organic cumin, organic chili powder and organic onion. That’s it! There are some companies (like Siete) who make clean taco seasonings but honestly why not just buy your own organic seasonings and have them on hand all the time? You can really use whatever you want. If you want to add salt or other spices go for it!

I don’t measure any of these- I just pour as I see fit and add a little water at the end once the meat is done and let it simmer for a few minutes to all soak in. Super easy. Switching over to clean eating doesn’t have to be hard! Make this one easy step as part of your transition.

Someone recently told me that my posts here give them hope & that meant so much to me. I have said from the beginning that I was going to let my experience help others, which is why I’ve shared our story. I didn’t want my struggles to be for nothing. Making it this far into pregnancy was once a distant thought that I truly didn’t think would happen. I know how hard this day can be for those longing to be a mother.

Last year on this holiday I had lost two babies and was coming out of 3 surgeries in 9 months after never having surgery in my whole life before. I was in and out of doctor appointments, which was foreign and scary to me, and I spent many hours wondering if I would ever be able to carry a child and become a mother on earth. It blows my mind how much can change in a year. I’m now roughly two months away from welcoming our double rainbow. I’m still not on the “other side” yet but I do have much more hope this year that I will get to meet our baby boy soon.

To those of you still in the trenches- don’t lose hope. I can’t guarantee any outcome for you, I wish I could. I can however tell you that it’s worth it to keep taking care of yourself, doing the research and working with your medical providers to support your body. Take care of your mental health as well- whatever that looks like for you. This journey can be draining not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Sending you all love on this hard day! (& because there are those of you who follow me here and like to see positive updates- scroll over to see some bump pictures)

There are several types of pesticides and as a whole they can be dangerous to pregnant women or reproductive health. Many pesticides interfere with hormone levels in the body. Maternal exposure to pesticides has been linked to the following in their babies: urogenital malformations, infertility, semen quality and impairment, testicular, prostate, ovarian and breast cancer. These can also be harmful to children’s brain development and thyroid function. Some pesticides have been linked to fetal loss, even at very low levels of exposure.

Glyphosate is probably one of the most popular ones. It is the active ingredient in RoundUp. Scientists say this is “ probably carcinogenic to humans”. Glyphosate can impair the function of glutathione. It also harms healthy gut bacteria and promotes the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the intestines. It hampers your gut and liver function which is not good ever, but especially while pregnant. It can also alter your body’s ability to absorb beneficial nutrients.

Soy is one thing to be extra careful of because it is more harmful when combined with glyphosate. If you do consume soy, it should be organic.

Tips to minimize exposure:

Buy organic produce.

Local, small farms often use fewer pesticides even if they aren’t certified organic so maybe find one near you.

Avoid genetically modified foods as they are higher in pesticide residues (especially corn, soy and canola). Eat pasture-raised meat, eggs and dairy.

Buy USDA certified organic coffee or Rainforest Alliance approved. Many harmful pesticides that are illegal in the US are still used in countries that grow coffee.

Buy organic grains and beans.

Avoid soy.

Steer clear of vegetable oils.

Do not spray pesticides in or around your home.

Avoid the use of chemical insect repellant and insecticides.
Source: Real Food for Pregnancy

Do you make your own milk? I’m not sure how common this is but I recently did it for the first time and was shocked at how easy it was. I got Kristin Cavallari’s True Roots cookbook and she had the recipe in there as one of her “staple” items to have at home.

I love MALK almond milk but my HEB recently stopped carrying it. 👎🏻 All of the other non-dairy milk options are full of bad ingredients like gums and carrageenan as well as added sugar. Check your labels! I can Malk at Whole Foods but I typically go to Whole Foods like once a month and do a big trip to stock up on certain items instead of every week so I’m not able to buy it every week because I don’t want to have to go there all the time.

This was super easy though so I might as well just make my own milk. I actually used organic cashews for this instead of almonds. You don’t have to do any straining. I just soaked them overnight, popped them in the blender the next day and blended with water. I didn’t add anything else but the recipe in Kristin’s book says you can add vanilla or maple syrup if you want. I plan on storing it in mason jars.

Side note- I definitely didn’t read the description closely enough when I got my mason jars because they are tiny! I have like 5 little jars full of milk 😂 so I need to get some bigger jars.

This tastes good though! I like that it’s a bit thicker so it is more like regular dairy whole milk. If you haven’t tried it and you drink non-dairy milk this is definitely worth a try!

When I first started using oils I honestly didn’t really do much research into the science behind them and how they actually work. #justbeinghonest I now am way more informed and have done a lot of research to learn more about them so I can use them better. This book was PACKED with tons of information. I highly recommend it! I’ll have to do several book recaps for this one because there was just a lot of good info. As always, none of this is my own research. These are just random tidbits I found interesting- not all related!

We know more about nutrition and health now than we ever have before yet we (Americans) are unhealthier than ever. Your food, thoughts, drinks, supplements, medicines, finances and stressors all contribute or diminish your life experience.

Accutane (drug, I see people take it for acne) has been linked to birth defects, depression and suicidal ideation.

We all have different biochemical makeups and you need to find what works for you. Ex: For most people, Lavender EO is calming but for some it can act more like a stimulant. You need to find what works for you.

Throughout the author’s life, being sick was a constant and he was a victim of misguided medical advice. He felt his only problem was that he needed more antibiotics or pharmaceutical drugs- he expected drugs every visit to his PCP.

Essential oils are extracted directly from bark, flowers, fruit, leaves, nut, resin or roots of a plant or tree and just one drop contains a complex network of molecules that affect the body. They have been used medicinally for thousands of years.

Using essential oils requires patience, study and practice and should never be seen as a quick fix for your health problems. You need to learn how to use them properly. If you don’t know the foundational principles, you might give up on using natural solutions far too soon or fall into the prescription medication trap.

The amount of oil in each plant varies considerably- it takes more than 300 pounds of rose petals, 30 pounds of lavender flowers or 45 lemons to fill just one 15 ml bottle of oil.

Something I think is important to mention when switching over to a more non-toxic lifestyle is that if you’re constantly stressing about toxins, you’re not doing yourself any favors! The reality is stress is NOT good for us and it can cause harm just like toxins. Stress has a way of manifesting in our bodies physically.

Toxins are everywhere. That’s just the reality of things. You can’t continually be stressed about every. little. thing. That will drive you mad! Here’s what you do instead- you make small swaps, one at a time! Most people don’t overhaul their whole lives all at once. I sure didn’t. I started this lifestyle 3-4ish years ago and I’m still making swaps and learning every single day. I didn’t try to change my whole life at one time. That’s not feasible and will do nothing but cause stress!

It definitely can be scary to realize what the reality is with our products and foods but it’s okay to take things slow. For some people, if you try to do too much you will burn out and end up quitting, which isn’t what we want!

If you want to switch shampoos but you just bought a new bottle of what you were already using, don’t just throw it away! Use it up and then replace it. Don’t just go and throw everything in your house away. (I mean if that’s your style, go for it! Ha but you know what I mean.) Focus on switching out products you use the most often and that have the most impact first. Things like cleaning products, detergent, deodorant, perfumes, makeup, lotions, etc… the things you use on a regular basis. If you wear lipstick 4 times a year, don’t worry about swapping that out right away!

If you eat out 5 times a week, don’t try to all the sudden cook at home every night. Maybe try decreasing the amount you eat out and go from there. If buying organic is cost prohibitive for your whole grocery list, focus on meats and the dirty dozen first and don’t stress if not everything in your cart isn’t organic.

Wasn’t on here much this weekend because we had family in town. I’m so thankful we got to have my baby shower that was originally supposed to be last month! 💙 I feel so grateful for all the love we felt this weekend. I’m exactly 34 weeks today so we’re getting closer ! Amidst all the craziness of the last few months it was nice to have a weekend where I got to do a “normal” pregnancy thing.

I’m not doing a recap of this whole book. You can see my previous post on it for more info but there is a whole chapter on toxins so I’m going to put some tidbits here. This is not my research so please refer to the book if you want to know more. Also, these are just random bullet points- for more info read the book because there’s A LOT more info I’m not putting here that’s really helpful. This is Part 1. I will also do a Part 2 because there’s lots of info.

It’s not hard for parents to realize Drano is toxic and it needs to be kept away from kids but it’s harder for them to understand that even small amounts of certain everyday chemicals can devastate kids, especially their developing brains.

Toxins that may be implicated in ADHD, ADD, Anxiety, Autism and other Development Delays: Acetaminophen, Aluminum, Aspartame, Endocrine Disruptors, Fluoride, Methanol & Mercury.

Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) can wreak havoc on living cells and deplete glutathione which your body needs to bind to toxins to export them out of your system. If you choose to vaccinate you shouldn’t ever give Tylenol before or after because this depletes that and makes the toxins in the vaccines worse than they already are. Use of acetaminophen during pregnancy was associated with higher risks of attention deficit disorders in offspring. Acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S. It’s easy to get too much of it bc it’s in so many products. This drug should not be taken during pregnancy or infancy. Ibuprofen can also cause ulcers, bleeding or holes in the stomach and intestinal lining.

Instead of this you can try massage, better sleep, stress management, more hydration, lavender oil on a washcloth or magnesium/Epsom salt baths or turmeric to help with headaches and other aches and pains.

Aspartame should also be avoided because it is broken down in the human body to methanol and then converted to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. There is some research that suggests a strong correlation between higher levels of methanol consumption and subsequent brain abnormalities.