Living a More Natural Life

Lately I have really been concentrating on living a more natural life. This isn't an easy feat, because just about everything we come into contact each and every single day has additives in it or chemicals that are not good for you.You may be slowly poisoning yourself and your family and may not even realize it and of course wouldn't do it intentionally.

If you look at the nutritional label of the foods you eat, you'll probably notice that there are a lot of words you can't pronounce. If you look at your shampoo or soap bottle, you might notice again, a lot of words you can't pronounce, even in products that appear or seem to be natural.

Would you use a product on a new baby that has formaldehyde in it? Formaldehyde, most commonly known as an embalming agent, is a toxic substance. I'm sure just about anyone would say "No! Of course not! That's crazy!" to answer my question.

Here's what's scary though: If you've ever used Head to Toe baby wash though (made by Johnson's as well as store brands) you've exposed your baby to it. They gave it to me at the hospital when I had all three of my children.

Head to Toe baby wash, amongst thousands of other products, contains a compound called quaternium-15, which is a formaldehyde releaser (meaning it releases formaldehyde). Overexposure to it can potentially cause cancer, as well as asthma and other respiratory and sinus problems.

This is just one tiny example of things we think are safe to use that really aren't. Nobody would expect a soap made for newborn babies to be dangerous. Obviously, this is something very serious.

When you learn that a soap you've been using for years on your kids could be bad for them, it really makes you start rethinking every single product in your home!

I have a long way to go before I start living a more natural life. I am sure I am going to have to spend a lot of time going through my bathroom closet to see what kinds of things I should get rid of. I am even going to need to rethink the way I do laundry, since laundry soap adds chemicals to our clothes that can be absorbed by our skin.

Here are some things I am planning to do over the next few weeks:

1. Only Buy Things That You Can Read the Label and Identify It: From now on I am only buying foods where I can understand the labels. For example, the cereal I eat with my homemade yogurt contains: organic rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, evaporated cane syrup (basically a natural sweetener) and a bunch of other ingredients I read and know exactly what they are. There isn't a single ingredient that I think I need to look up on google to find out what it is.

2. Make Stuff Yourself: Instead of using those dangerous soaps for you and your kids, there's a lot of things you can make instead that can help you not choose toxic products. For example, instead of using a facial scrub, according to this home remedies for acne article you can make it out of salt and milk! I don't know about you, but salt and milk sound a lot safer than anything you might read on an ingredients list on a regular facial cleanser from the store.

3. Shop organically: This is hard for many people, especially depending on where you live. My nearest organic grocery store is a good 45 minutes drive away from my house. However, a lot of products can be bought online. For example, natural unrefined shea butter is an excellent natural skin conditioner that is made by the seeds of the shea tree and is a far safer moisturizer than most petroleum based products for sale - and it can be bought right online.

4. Alert Everybody You Know: This is why I am writing this hub, to help people realize how we are practically poisoning ourselves. I'm not some activist environmentalist wacko - I just found out that practically everything in my house is toxic and I think more people should know. There are things in our foods and personal care items that could be causing cancer or Alzheimer's or kidney and liver problems.  If you've ever lost someone you love to cancer or seen someone you love suffer from dementia and not even know you anymore, wouldn't you want to share with people something that might prevent it from happening to them or their loved ones?

5. Boycott Toxic Products: I am not buying a toxic product again if possible. I know this will probably be a lot easier to say than do. It's not going to be easy to find a lot of these things and I know in most cases natural and organic are a lot more expensive. But by buying products with harsh chemicals in them, you're only encouraging manufacturers to make more products that can potentially slowly poison you and your family. So, most popular household names that I am familiar with I will not be using.

6. Realize Change Might Take Some Time: Like I said about boycotting products, it's not going to be easy to make this switch instantly. But I am going to set a realistic goal that within two to three months my family will only be using all natural and safe products.

7. Read Up on Toxic Products: I have a lot of learning to do about this subject. I know that I am not a chemist or any type of medical expert in this field. But by learning different compounds and their potential negative and carcinogenic effects, I will be better able to protect myself and my family. I'll list some resources below where you can find some reliable and unbiased information.

8. Assess Risk VS. Benefit: Some things I know we will have to compromise on. Medications are a good example of this. But I know I will be researching them very carefully from now on and truly weighing the risks vs. the benefits before making a decision.

Another important thing to remember that I almost forgot is that just because something is "natural" doesn't always mean it is safe.A good example of this are a lot of dietary supplements or herbal remedies. For example, Ephedra is a 100% natural product derived from a plant. However, its use can also lead to death as it increases heart rate and blood pressure. It is commonly found it a lot of diet and weight loss products. Always do research on herbs and anything that is claiming to be natural. You never know what a product is unless you've done your homework on it. Poison Ivy is natural - but obviously not safe.

Bottom Line: If you want to live a more natural life, make sure you research EVERYTHING before you use it. I know that sounds like an impossible task and a lot of work, but its important if you want to live naturally wisely.

Again, assess risk vs. benefit. Yes, everybody tells you everything causes cancer. But some things we are using every day that really give us no benefit at all. What benefit to your health can you see from using Formaldehyde? (None that I've found!) Eliminating these things just might be the key to preventing a lot of illnesses and conditions that can adversely effect our lives and our loved ones lives as well.

It's also important not to live your life in a panic over these things. Most people have lived a life of 60-70 years or longer using a lot of these toxic things - but when you think of all the health problems that nearly everyone has in some degree or another, I think it's worth the time to seriously reconsider some of the products you are using on a regular basis.

If you find this hub interesting, helpful, or eye-opening, please share it with others. People need to know that stuff that seems generally safe may be causing more problems that you realize.