by Sande Bargeron
At Clean Living Basics, we have a dedicated focus on healthy, aggressive, and properly-ordered detoxification as the basis of good health and for healing diseases, particularly in our most vulnerable populations: our children. But clean living is not just about intentionally building detoxification into our lifestyle. It’s about learning to reasonably limit our exposure to toxins and chemicals. The process of developing a clean-living lifestyle is a gradual one of first becoming aware of where toxins commonly lurk in our daily lives, and then choosing (where and when possible) to exchange those products with cleaner, purer products.
My own journey towards clean living began over 10 years ago, while struggling to find natural solutions to address ADHD in my family. In the course of my research, I came across a remarkable little book written by a physician, Dr. Hoffman, “The natural approach to ADD”, which summarized the foundation of good health perfectly: children need clean air, clean food and clean water to thrive. In this little resource, he also delineated the stark reality that clean air, clean water and clean food was not a standard anymore, having become polluted across the board. Dr. Hoffman actually goes further to make a bold statement to medical providers against medicating children for the complex issue of ADHD: “The notion of applying the same therapeutic drug to all children with behavior problems is an abdication of responsibility.”
An example of the root cause of behavior issues in children is chronic allergies. Children do not behave well when they feel poorly. Do you behave well when you feel bad? For parents and physicians alike, the greater question has become “What are they allergic to and why do they have these allergic reactions?”
Decades of research show that everyday exposure to pesticides, chemical adjuvants in medications and vaccines, petroleum dyes, mold, and the more than 80,000 other chemicals found in water, can all trigger dysregulation of the immune system, leading to a host of allergies. Furthermore, this constant low grade exposure to toxins weakens the immune system making it more susceptible to chronic infections.
These issues affect our children the hardest. By creating a condition of chronic illness in young children, you are enslaving them to a lifetime of physical hardship, chronic prescription use and overall reduced quality of life. It is clear that the foundation for good health and healing disease begins with clean living – clean air, clean water, clean food.
These are the clean living basics. But there is indeed so much more to learn beyond the basics – and sometimes it can all feel overwhelming! Future blogs will delve into each of these categories in bite-sized detail, to help us examine the chemicals and toxins unique to each, and help us consider reasonable approaches we can take to reduce our overall exposure. For now, let me simply say “Welcome to the journey!”
The journey to health and healing through clean living may be different for each of us. For some, it may be a gradual journey; you may be just beginning to develop a curiosity about well-care instead of sick care, and starting to explore how YOU can be in charge of your own health. For others, you may be ready to jump all-in, and yet, it may still take time to discover root causes that will affect positive change.
For those struggling with chronic health issues, it will be important to revisit the basics of clean air, water, and food as you work through your healing. I have commonly seen clients who have tried the best (and most expensive!) approaches towards healing, and yet only seen mild improvement. But with a little detective work, we discover that they’ve had a consistent and debilitating exposure to a toxin in one of the three categories. As soon as we eliminate the source, we begin to see massive turnarounds in healing and health.
So again I say, “Welcome to the journey.” Good health – well-care – begins with the simple, foundational basics. Clean living may not always feel as glamorous as the fancy diets, expensive body care products and fad gimmicks, but step by step, over time, you can achieve mastery of these simple basics and reap the rewards of healthy living -in an increasingly toxic world- for a lifetime. Remember that you cannot begin to compose a literary masterpiece without first learning the alphabet. Learning the tools to regain control over your health does not have to be overwhelming, it can be as easy as learning your kindergarten essentials and honestly, it is equally fun! Nothing is more satisfying than mastering the basics, particularly when you can measure the success in your own lasting health improvements!
What price do you put on the quality of your life?
