Making Simple Swaps to Reduce Toxin Exposure in Your Home
In our clinic, we often talk about how what we eat affects digestive health, immunity, and toxin load. But just as important is what we put on our bodies and in our homes: the cleaning products, personal care items, and even cookware we use every day. These seemingly small exposures accumulate over time and add to total body burden. The good news: you don’t have to overhaul everything at once. Choosing one area to swap now, and another next month, makes it manageable and sustainable.
Why “low-toxin swaps” matter
When you replace everyday items with cleaner-ingredient alternatives, you’re interrupting repetitive exposure to potentially harmful chemicals: things like parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and other endocrine-disruptors or irritants. These exposures can impact gut health, liver detoxification capacity, and chronic inflammation - factors we routinely work with in functional nutrition and gastroenterology.
For a practical way to do this: look at what you normally buy in your pantry, bathroom or cleaning cabinet. Next time you need to replace something, instead of grabbing the same brand, pick an option with cleaner credentials. Over time you’ll build a home environment that supports your body rather than working against it.
Tips for choosing cleaner products
Look for formulas free from parabens, phthalates and sulfates.
Rotate which brands you buy. Repeating the same product over and over can allow build-up of a particular chemical or ingredient class in your environment.
Use trusted databases to check brands or ingredients. For example, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) offers the Skin Deep® database for personal care products.
Remember: this is not about perfection. It’s about progress. Even swapping one product this month is movement in the right direction.
Cleaner household cleaning & laundry product suggestions
Here are some of our recommended brands. Note: These are by no means the only clean brands on the market, they are a selection our nutritionist has researched and used. Her personal favorites: Blueland (for dishwasher, toilet cleaner, multipurpose cleaners) and TrulyFree (for laundry).
Laundry detergent
Altitude Liquid Detergent
Molly’s Suds
Truly Free
Blueland Tablets (these also reduce plastic waste)
Blueland Starter Kit
Dish soap
Ecover Liquid Zero
The Honest Company
Ever Spring
Dishwasher detergent
Blueland Tablets
Dropps UltraWash
Seventh Generation
Multi-purpose cleaning products
Method
Attitude Nature
CleanCult
Blueland
Personal care products
We often don’t realize how much our skin absorbs, and how much our detox systems handle as a result. By choosing cleaner personal care, we give our bodies a break from processing unnecessary chemicals.
Shampoo & conditioner
Everyone 3in1 soap
Attitude Super Leaves
Avalon Organics
Herbal Essences Bio Renew line
Clevos
Body wash, face wash, soap
Vitasa Body Wash
Dr Bronner’s All-in-One Castile Soap
Everyone 3-in-1 Soap
CeraVe Soap & Lotion
Lotion / Face lotion
Attitude Super Leaves
Pacifica Glow Face Lotion
For kids
Everyone 3-in-1 Soap
Attitude Baby and Little Leaves
Planto Baby Shampoo
Food exposures (mycotoxins, pesticide residues)
Beyond cleaning and personal care, diet plays a pivotal role in toxin exposure, especially when we talk about mycotoxins (toxic compounds produced by molds), fungicides, and pesticide residues.
Here are some practical tips to help reduce your exposure:
Choose organic foods whenever possible (look for the United States Department of Agriculture USDA Organic label).
Especially on high-risk items: look for mold-free, fungicide-free labels - this is critical for coffee beans, nuts/grains, dried fruits.
Buy organic, high-quality nuts, coffee, grains, dried fruits, spices.
Store foods in cool, dark, dry environments in airtight containers.
Buy grains, beans, and nuts as fresh as possible and soak + rinse before cooking.
Rotate your diet - diversify the foods you eat so you’re not repeatedly exposed to toxins from a single source.
Brand ideas: Purity Coffee and Natural Force Clean Coffee for coffee
For spices: buy organic especially for chili peppers, black pepper, coriander, turmeric and ginger.
Environmental toxin exposures
We live in a world full of low-level exposure: plastics, non-stick coatings, fast-food packaging, air pollution, water contaminants, and more. While we can’t eliminate all exposure, we can reduce it meaningfully:
Blueair purifier
Buy organic, GMO-free, free-range whenever possible.
Minimize fast-food intake (highly processed restaurant meals increase toxin exposure).
Avoid Teflon and other worn non-stick cookware - when coatings deteriorate they can leach chemicals. Instead opt for ceramic-coated, stainless or cast-iron if properly maintained.
Cook food (especially meats) low and slow - steam, poach, or slow-cook. High-heat frying or grilling produces more advanced glycation end-products and toxins.
Try to avoid packaged foods as much as possible - even taking a 3-day break from packaged foods has been shown to lower toxin levels in the body (Kim et al., 2020).
If possible, get an air filter for your home (especially your bedroom) and use a water filter.
Rotate which brands/grocery stores you shop at, and which foods you eat - variation helps avoid accumulating a high load of a specific contaminant.
Brand suggestions: Caraway cookware (non-toxic ceramic), Blue Air purifier, Zero Water filter.
Again: you don’t have to do all of this at once. Maybe this month you get a water filter; a few months later you upgrade cookware. Small changes build up over time.
Don’t forget stress!
Stress is one of the biggest contributors to toxin burden, because when you’re stressed, your body uses up detox-pathway nutrients, your sleep and recovery are compromised, your gut barrier may weaken, and your nervous system goes into protective/alert mode.
Here are some stress-management ideas - try a few and see what works:
10 minutes of daily meditation (apps like Calm or Headspace can help) or free YouTube videos.
Practice box-breathing or diaphragmatic breathing to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Walk outside, get into nature - fresh air and natural light help reset your system.
Hydrate well - consider low-sugar electrolytes with water to support cellular function.
Listen to music, spend time with friends, watch a funny show - laughter is medicine.
Practice daily gratitude, journal, read something inspiring.
Stretch, do yoga, get sufficient sleep (sleep is when much of detoxification and repair happens).
Try aromatherapy with essential oils + diffuser (for example lavender) and consider a massage for added system reset.
Final words of encouragement
You don’t need to rebuild your entire home overnight. Choose just one or two things to swap this month: the detergent, the dish soap, or that one faulty non-stick skillet. The goal is progressive improvement, not perfection. Over time, your environment will become more supportive of your gut health, your detox systems, and your overall well-being.
Feeling overwhelmed or curious to dig deeper? Want help creating a personalized “low-toxin home” plan tailored to you? Make an appointment with our functional nutritionist. We’ll walk through your current exposures, priorities, budget, and create a realistic roadmap that supports your health from the inside out.
Here’s to cleaner homes, calmer minds, healthier guts, and less burden on your body’s detox systems. You’ve got this!
Reference:
Kim, S., Lee, I., Lim, J. E., Lee, A., Moon, H. B., Park, J., & Choi, K. (2020). Dietary contribution to body burden of bisphenol A and bisphenol S among mother-children pairs. The Science of the total environment, 744, 140856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140856