6: Commercial Cleaning Products

Avoid commercial cleaning products in order to prevent the negative effects of the use of harmful chemicals inside them, and use other basic ingredients instead.

For instance, the combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide is a remarkable sanitizer and disinfectant. The lemon juice is a natural whitener, some water, and vinegar will perfectly clean your windows, and baking soda is excellent for scrubbing your bath and kitchen.

The following list will show you how to use common and natural cleaning products:

Baking soda                |  White vinegar  |  Lemon juice
——————————————————————————
Hydrogen peroxide   | Liquid castile soap  |  Optional:Some organic essential oils, like lavender and tea tree oil, have powerful anti-bacterial properties
——————————————————————————

Mixing bowls             | Spray bottles |   Microfiber cloths

7: Sedentary lifestyle

The chair you are using may be one of the harmful influences as prolonged sitting has been found to represent an independent risk factor for early demise and chronic disease, even in the case you are fit or exercise regularly. Namely, exercise cannot neutralize the negative effect of the long hours of sitting.

Sitting, along with obesity, is one of the worst habits and risk factors as it raises the chances of lung cancer by over 50 percent. It has been even found to be more detrimental than second-hand smoke.

Sitting has been shown to raise the risk of death from all kinds of health issues, like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality. Moreover, note that the less you exercise, the worse the effect of the sedentary lifestyle will be.

Therefore, try to stand up as much as possible, and replace your chair with a standing desk. Note than an hour sitting is too much, so try to be active more of the time.

You should make 7,000 to 10,000 steps daily, and aim at doing much more over time. Yet, the first step is to stand out of the chair and find a motivation to be more active and exercise every day.

8: Electronic Devices

If you cannot toss your computer or smartphone, you can consider the way you use this kind of devices, as the long use of these gadgets can lead to numerous health issues.

A report issued on May 31, 2011, by the World Health Organization (WHO)/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) confirmed that cell phones can indeed lead to cancer and classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.

This report followed a research which showed that wireless phones raise the risk of brain cancer. Therefore, you should limit the time you carry the phone with you.

It is of high importance to become aware of the fact that cell phones emit radiation intermittently, even if you are not talking on the phone. Hence, even if you wear in on the hip for 15 hours daily, the area will be subjected to continuous radiation.  According to Time Magazine:

“Mounting research indicates that information overload—what happens when you use smart devices constantly—is linked to depression and anxiety.

Recent studies suggest that this is particularly true for people who are overly attached to their smartphones and tablets, and for those who use multiple devices at once (which experts call media multitasking). Power down and stow your devices in a drawer at least a few times per week to give your brain a break‚ ideally on a set schedule (for example, weekdays after 9 p.m. or weekend mornings before noon).”

9: Personal Care Products

Our skin easily absorbs chemicals, so the regular use of different personal care products, as well as makeup, can be a source of harmful chemicals and heavy metals.

The report Heavy Metal Hazard: The Health Risks of Hidden Heavy Metals in Face Makeup, stated that Environmental Defense tested 49 different makeup items, including powders, blushes, foundations, concealers, eye liners, lipsticks, mascaras, eye shadows, and lip glosses, and found that all of these products were contaminated with heavy metals, as follows:

• 90 percent included beryllium
• 96 percent included lead
• 51 percent included cadmium
• 61 percent included thallium
• 20 percent included arsenic

Moreover, the regular use of conventional makeup may lead to an absorption of 5 pounds of chemicals into the body annually, without considering the use of conditioners, deodorants, body lotions, shampoo, and other personal care products!

Hence, it is highly advisable that you start using organic brands of toiletries and cosmetics, or even better, start making them on your own. For instance, a jar of coconut oil with some essential oil can replace your potion, lotion, and hair mask and treatment.

10: Stale Spices

Cooking spices and herbs include numerous vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and increase the nutrient density of the meal. On a per gram fresh weight basis, herbs are ranked even higher than vegetables and fruits regarding their antioxidant. The powerful medicinal properties of some spices have been confirmed by many studies. The following 4 spices are extremely powerful in fighting inflammation:

1. Ginger
2. Cloves
3. Thyme
4. Rosemary

Moreover, note that their freshness is of great importance, so refresh your stock from time to time and thus avoid the ones which have gone stale and lost their potential benefits.

Undoubtedly, the world we are living in is extremely toxic, so try to change your diet, and avoid all kinds of products which are rich in chemicals.

Namely, the skin functions as an efficient delivery system, directly into your blood stream, bypassing numerous filtering systems in the body. Therefore, avoiding products that may harm your health and reduce the toxic burden they impose to your body will definitely improve your wellbeing.

It is a fact that environmental pollution is a huge issue, but you should start by addressing the immediate environment around you, your home, office, and devices you use every day. Therefore, try to change some harmful habits in order to optimize the health and lower the risk of chronic disease.

Source: articles.mercola.com
Other included references linked in Dr. Mercola’s article:

• ^1, 19 Time Magazine January 29, 2015
• ²  Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 2013
• ³ CNN.com July 10, 2013
• ⁴ Drugs.com July 10, 2013
• ⁵ EmpowHER
• ⁶ Scientific American November 26, 2014
• ⁷ PBS News Hour September 17, 2014
• ⁸ The Verge September 17, 2014
• ⁹ Hypertension December 8, 2014 [Epub ahead of print]
• ¹⁰ The Guardian December 10, 2014
• ¹¹ Time December 10, 2014
• ¹² WHO February 19, 2013 Press release
• ¹³ Environmental Health Perspectives DOI:10.1289/ehp.1104748
• ¹⁴ EWG, Heavy Metal Hazard: The Health Risks of Hidden Heavy Metals in Face Makeup
• ¹⁵ Organic Consumers Association June 22, 2007
• ¹⁶ EWG.org Skin Deep Database
• ¹⁷ J Am Coll Nutr. 2012 Aug;31(4):288-94
• ¹⁸ Electromagnetichealth.org
• ²⁰ BMJ January 21, 2015
• ²¹ Ann Intern Med. 2015;162(2):123-132
• ²² CNN January 21, 2015

Featured image source: articles.mercola.com