Hello, I’m Elizabeth and I used to be a Johnson’s Baby Oil junkie.
All through my teens I slathered my freshly showered skin with mineral oil before toweling off every day, and each summer I covered myself in the oil to bake in the sun on a lawn chair in the yard. I cringe now to think of myself back then.
Those were in the days before I realized that Johnson’s Baby Oil is actually mineral oil, a byproduct of refining petroleum linked to organ system toxicity. Even worse, the fragrance added to Johnson’s Baby Oil is considered highly hazardous and can lead to immunotoxicity. I shudder to think of how much toxic petroleum I’ve absorbed through my skin and added to my toxic load just from my mineral oil addiction. Maybe it’s not such a surprise that I developed an auto-immune disorder at thirty.
Our state is known for its dry air, and going without daily moisturizer makes me start to itch, but now I am aware enough to choose safe, natural skin care products that enrich my skin rather than the petroleum industry. Mineral oil is simply not safe to use on skin for adults, or for babies, either.
Lately, I’ve been splashing pure sweet almond oil on my wet skin after showering and am loving the smooth, silky feeling it is leaving me with all day. Unless you are allergic or sensitive to almonds, almond oil can be a good choice to moisturize skin and hair, particularly curly hair. Pure sweet almond oil has a toxicity rating of zero in the Environmental Working Group’s SkinDeep database of personal care products and cosmetics, but beware of blended products as they may also contain other more toxic ingredients.
Every person has a toxic threshold: that level at which their body can no longer handle the toxins it absorbs. It’s when you cross that toxic threshold that things start to go awry and the body that used to function perfectly now starts to show symptoms ranging from hives to asthma to migraines to neurologic disorders or other symptoms.
To protect our health, we want to limit our toxic exposures as much as possible because, even when you are aware and proactive about it, you will still be exposed to some level of toxicity every day through the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
The Environmental Working Group did a study analyzing the cord blood of newborn babies around the U.S. They found that the average baby is born with 200 contaminants already in their cord blood. Two hundred chemicals, including carcinogens, hormone modulators, perfluorochemicals,petrochemicals, pesticides, plastics, BPA, pharmaceuticals, and more.
From birth, our kids are already behind the eight ball and well on their way to crossing their own personal toxic thresholds. It’s no wonder that we are seeing a dramatic increase in kids with allergies because their bodies just can’t cope anymore.
The other night I watched the new movie about Liberace, “Behind the Candlelabra,” starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. In one scene, Liberace describes how he became sicker and sicker, and eventually deathly ill, until he realized that the dry cleaning fumes emanating from his elaborate costumes were killing him.
Sometimes something as simple as a course of antibiotics can push someone over their toxic threshold and into a downhill health spiral. You never know what your body can’t handle until it shows up and demands your attention in a negative way.
A friend recently told me that she had started a new medication that gave her hives. She ceased taking the drug, but the hives continued for a while and her doctor started her on daily corticosteroids and an antihistimine. Despite all these efforts, she is still finding hives every so often. She has crossed her toxic threshold and, in my experience, her cascade of health issues is beginning.
I tried to impress on her the importance of acting sooner rather than later to calm her body, before the symptoms escalate. Once you cross that toxic threshold, it takes almost superhuman efforts to bring your body back beneath it. I suspect that, once crossed, the threshold drops significantly, so that now the person must take extra care in their toxin exposure and try to allow the body to heal.
What should you do if you cross your toxin threshold?
1. Eliminate all artificial foods and food additives. Get rid of The Scary 7, GMOs, and processed foods.
2. Eliminate synthetic fragrances and colors from personal care products, laundry soaps, and cleaning products. Stop using dryer sheets.
3. Use all-natural cleaning products, including dish soap, dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, and surface cleaners.
On Saturday I offered a free cooking demonstration at the beautiful new Le Creuset retail store in posh Cherry Creek North in Denver. Thank you so much, Le Creuset, for bringing me into your store… and for literally changing the course of my life with a little cast iron French (Dutch) oven. Keep your eyes open for the next Glorious One-Pot Meals event at this location!
Reader question: I have just gotten the cookbook and have cooked one recipe with orzo but it all stuck together is there any way to stop this from happening? Also I have a ceramic dutch oven does it have to be cast iron? Thanks. ~ Karen W., Pittsburgh
Thanks for writing, Karen! I’m sorry to hear that your first attempt at a Glorious One-Pot Meal cooked the orzo unsuccessfully, and I’m sure the reason is because you were not using a cast iron Dutch oven.
Cast iron has unique heat conduction properties that allow it to absorb, distribute, and retain heat differently than any other material. While you can make passable versions of Glorious One-Pot Meal recipes in stainless steel, ceramic, or glass Dutch ovens, only cast iron will work correctly with recipes that include dry goods, such as rice, quinoa, or orzo.
When you’re including a pasta like orzo in a Glorious One-Pot Meal, it also can be helpful to add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pasta water to keep the noodles from sticking together.
1. Baking soda. Be sure to get an aluminum-free baking soda, dampen a toothbrush, dip it into the baking soda, and brush away. This is most effective when you use small circular motions with the brush on each individual tooth. Rinse mouth well afterward.
2. Eat strawberries and oranges. According to Dr. Andrew Weil in a recent appearance on the Dr. Oz show, these fruits contain enzymes which can whiten teeth by eating away at the plague and stains. Who would have thought that eating fruit could help whiten your teeth?
