How Toxin exposure can impact your hormonal health, fertility and the health of your children and grandchildren.

I’m joined with Naturopath extraordinaire Tabitha McIntosh in this episode of Guts and Girl Bits (formally ‘Health & Wellbeing Podcast’). We chat about how the chemicals* in our food and environment can impact on our health in more ways than we know.

We also chat about how chemical exposure can impact on fertility, pregnancy outcomes and can impact on the health of our children, and even our grandchildren. We also talk about how certain chemicals and pollutants can affect hormonal health and wellbeing.

But just chatting about how these chemicals can impact on our health isn’t that good unless we also talk about how to reduce your exposure and help your body to heal. Tabitha shares some of her recommendations to reduce toxin exposure to toxins and pollutants from many different sources.

Some points we cover include:

• What sort of impact is toxin exposure having on people?
• Is there an increase in defects in newborns? How common are these?
• Are these defects related to nutrition or chemicals? Can we prevent them?
• Are these chemicals having an affect on a couples ability to conceive?
• What are some sources of toxins that we need to be avoiding?
• How long does it take for chemicals to be eliminated through the body?
• What was Tabitha’s Ah-Ha moment, that led her into this journey of spreading chemical awareness.
• What are the safety measures put in place in Australia with chemicals?
• There are many chemicals permitted in Australia that have been banned in Europe. How many chemicals that have been banned there are still used here, why is the such a difference?
• Not everyone reacts to chemicals the same way, some people may experience symptoms or hormonal imbalances, but some people are symptomless. What are some of the reasons this might be?
• What are Tabitha’s suggestions for taking the first step in toxin reduction.
• How fast food is having an impact on our environment and adding to future food security issues.
• Tabitha’s tips on reducing chemical exposure, in particular by improving air quality and reducing toxins around the home.

Listen to the podcast here:

Or click here to listen via soundcloud.

*I would like to address the often presented argument that “everything is a chemical”. I agree that this is very close to the truth (with the exception of sound and light which is actually matter). However, in this instance we are using the term chemicals for the sake of convenience, and actually referring to toxic and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, substances which are known or suspected to be capable of interfering with hormone receptors, hormone synthesis or hormone conversion which are in commercial use and have been proven or suspected of contributing to disease and dysfunction in humans, and chemicals which have shown to cause damage in ways such as mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodevelopmental toxicity, immune toxicity, oxidative stress and various levels of inflammation.

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About Tabitha

Tabitha McIntosh is an experienced and respected Naturopath, clinical Nutritionist and educator. After attaining her Bachelor of Medical Science (University of NSW, 2001), she went on to pursue her passion for Integrative healthcare by completing an Advanced Diploma Naturopathy & Diploma Nutrition (Nature Care, 2005), and Post Grad Diploma in Nutritional & Environmental Medicine (Swinburne Uni, 2006).

Absolutely passionate about improving the health of everyone she comes in contact with, Tabitha’s impressive resume includes presenting at conferences and professional development seminars around Australia, lecturing in Nutrition at both Nature Care College and Endeavour College of Natural Health, International Community Health work, and contributing to Publications and Natural Medicine textbooks.

Tabitha is founder & director of Awaken Your Health in Woollahra, Sydney, where she has run her own private clinical practice for 13 years: integrating Naturopathic healing principles with the latest scientific research to educate and empower her clients, and implementing therapeutic diets to help clients reach their potential.

Tabitha is also a published author releasing her first book in 2016, co-authored with Dr Sarah Lantz, on nutritional and environmental health solutions, called One Bite at a Time: Reduce Toxic Exposure and Eat the World you Want. This book helps it’s readers to better navigate consumer and industrial chemicals found in our every day environment, to understand their significant impact on the human body and health; and outlines practical strategies and effective solutions for protecting our health so that we can live happier, heartier lives.

See www.onebite.com.au to learn more.

With both her book and her recently launched e-course I Quit Chemicals, Tabitha feels privileged to be able to inspire her clients and peers to maximise health outcomes by making conscious choices for the health of the planet, and the health of the future generations.

Check out her website www.awakenyourhealth.com.au for more information or to make a booking.

Related posts:

• What is preconception care?
• Why you should choose chemical free products for you and your baby
• Interview with Therese Kerr
• Choosing the right products for that time of the month
• A gut feeling – the gut brain axis

The post Reducing Chemicals to Protect Future Generations appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

It may alarm you to realise that in countries such as Australia and America there are very limited regulations on the safety of which chemicals* are used in household and beauty products, and that this lack of protection can have a significant impact on not only your health, but also your babies and even your grand babies.

Chemicals that we are exposed to can be pass through our to offspring, and can even cross generations. This can unfortunately have a mutli-generational effect on health and fertility. Fertility rates are declining through generations and while there are many factors responsible for this, chemical exposure that passes through to our babies and affects their fertility and their children’s fertility is something that we need to become educated about and take responsibility for.

In a article I have written for Casa de Karma I discuss the benefits of reducing and removing chemical exposure from your diet and lifestyle, for both yourself and for your children. You can read a preview below, or click the link to read the full article which also discusses the relationship between chemicals and genetics, which chemicals to watch out for, the effect of chemicals of sperm health and some ways to reduce chemical exposure.

Read the full article here: http://casadekarma.com.au/why-choose-chemical-free-products-mum-baby/

Chemicals found in newborns

A study by the Environmental Working Group in 2005 examined the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies and found a total of 287 chemicals, with an average of 200 chemicals present per baby. 28 of these were waste byproducts such as Formaldehyde, PCBs, Mercury, Petroleum and Dioxin 1, 4. 47 of these were consumer products such as Bisphenol A, Dioxins, Pthalates, Triclosan, Brominated Flame retardants, Pesticides and Preservatives.  Of these, 212 chemicals and pesticides had actually been banned or restricted in use 30+ years ago, giving us a scary insight into how chemicals can be stored in our bodies and be passed onto our offspring despite not having current exposure to them.

Other studies have shown that many of these chemicals were passed down the line from the grandmothers generation, however the chemicals were present in higher amounts in the children, suggesting that they are transferred across the placenta and breastmilk.

A precautionary approach

What does this mean? One of the lessons I take from this information is that chemicals which are currently viewed as safe but are not inert, are still best to avoid, as many of the harmful chemicals detected in this test were at one stage viewed as safe.

In Australia, the approach to chemical regulation is different to countries more progressive in this area – an absolute evidence of harm is required before a chemical is removed by use in Australia, compared to the EU where a more precautionary principle is in place – they believe that “When human activities may lead to morally unacceptable harm that is scientifically plausible but uncertain, action shall be taken to avoid or diminish that harm.”

In order to navigate this lack of protection we must take more responsibility ourselves.

Penelope Jagessar said in her Ted Talk: The Toxic Baby “It is only a parent’s awareness that stands between chemicals and our children”…

You can read the rest of the article here: http://casadekarma.com.au/why-choose-chemical-free-products-mum-baby/

*I would like to address the often presented argument that “everything is a chemical”. I agree that this is very close to the truth (with the exception of sound and light which is actually matter). However, in this article I am using the term chemicals for the sake of convenience, and actually referring to toxic and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, substances which are known or suspected to be capable of interfering with hormone receptors, hormone synthesis or hormone conversion which are in commercial use and have been proven or suspected of contributing to disease and dysfunction in humans, and chemicals which have shown to cause damage in ways such as mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodevelopmental toxicity, immune toxicity, oxidative stress and various levels of inflammation.

The post Why You Should Choose Chemical-Free Products For You & Your Baby appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.