Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - Non-Toxic Living Basics Without Going Broke! | @alittlelesstoxic Shawna Holman

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

What if living a healthier, toxin-free life was actually simple, affordable, and totally doable? 🌿This week I’m sitting down with my friend Shawna Holman (@alittlelesstoxic) to talk real-life low-tox swaps that actually make sense. We’re covering microwaves, candles, vinegar, crockpots, laundry, bleach—you name it. Shawna cuts through the noise and shows us what really matters (and what you can stop stressing about)!Thank you to our sponsors!TAYLOR DUKES WELLNESS: Use code ALEXCLARK for 10% off your purchaseCOWBOY COLOSTRUM: Use code ALEX for 25% OFFPALEOVALLEY: Use code ALEX for 15% off your first orderA'DEL NATURAL COSMETICS: Use code ALEX for 25% off first-time ordersNATURAL SLOTH: Use code ALEX for 15% OFFUTZY: Use code LOWTOX to save 30% on Microplastic Daily DetoxOur Guest:Shawna HolmanLiquid BluingShawna’s WebsiteShawna's Instagram: @alittlelesstoxicShawna's Cookbook👗 Get Alex’s freshest fashion picks and exclusive guest recommendations—delivered straight to your inbox!Sign up for the newsletter HERE:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEEKLY NEWSLETTER SIGNUP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FOLLOW ALEX:Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @cultureapothecary⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @yoalexrapz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @RealAlexClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Cuteservatives Facebook group to connect with likeminded friends who love America and all things health and wellness!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the CUTEservative Facebook Group!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ‘Culture Apothecary’ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episodes drop 6pm PST/ 9pm EST every Monday and Thursday.

What should women who are hanging on to bleach for dear life know? Bleach is an asthma gen, so it can contribute to asthma and asthma-like symptoms. Anything that says kills 99.9% of bacteria, what happens is we kill a lot of bacteria. A lot of those are good. And the 0.1% that continues to live is the most resilient to these things. And then the most resilient repopulate with each other. And then we've got a higher population of these superbugs and less of the good bugs to help keep it in check, and then that's how we end up getting things like superbug infections.

Why must we never use microwavable popcorn? You open up your popcorn bag and these fumes people were inhaling. We're ending up with a legitimate illness and it got referred to as popcorn lung. What if you could start living a healthier, less toxic life without breaking the bank, throwing out everything you own, or feeling like a crazy person for caring? In today's episode, we're getting extremely practical about how to lower your toxic load at home in your kitchen and with your family without the overwhelm. We're talking microwaves, candles, vinegar, crockpots, laundry, bleach, and what you actually need to do and stop doing to live cleaner. No fear, no shame, no judgment, just real life tools you can use today. Joining me is my friend Shauna Holman,

better known as a little less toxic on Instagram, whose own personal health crisis led her on a journey to ditch the toxins and live with more intention. She's now a trusted voice to hundreds of thousands, making the Lotox lifestyle accessible, grace-filled, and practical for everyday women. Shawna's not about perfection. She's about progress. And today, she's giving us all the tools we need to make cleaner living actually doable. This is a must-watch episode on the real Alex Clark YouTube channel or culture apothecary on Spotify. It's important to have a community that encourages you in this journey. So I highly recommend joining the Kut-Servidus Facebook group, which is for fans of my show. Thank you, Wyrify, for generously sharing your studio with me since a couple pigs are line dancing

in mine. The show is on Instagram at Culture Apothecary and so am I at Real Alex Clark. Please welcome author of my two very favorite non-tox living books, a healthier home and a healthier home cook, Shauna Holman, aka a little less toxic. Does being into health and wellness mean we have to live in fear and paranoia 24-7? Absolutely not. The opposite because fear is toxic and I often tell people that that fear can be more toxic than any of the ingredients or things that we're trying to avoid. That's a really good point. It's kind of like a state of mental health. I mean, if you're constantly living in fear, yeah, that's going to be just as bad for you as, you know,

food die in some cases. Big time. And I see it all the time where people are like sharing about different things. So I get all the DMs like, did you see that there's this and that? And yeah. But, I mean, I think being fearful of all the things is going to end up being more harmful for our health than any of the other things that we're trying to avoid. You are the goat when it comes to teaching people how to be a little less toxic in their homes with their diet. And what I like about you is that you do it without overwhelm and without having to spend tons of money. Right out the gate, you've got four simple steps on how to start living a little less toxic. Assess, let go, level up in time.

Explain what each of those mean. So I came up with that when I was writing my first book because I wanted a really simple approach. and my business is a little less toxic, right? So A-L-T. So it's the A-L-T approach. So A-L-T is for S, and that's when we're becoming aware and actually just looking at what is in the products that we're using or the food that we're eating and just becoming more aware and seeing what's actually in there, looking at ingredients lists. And also in our homes, I'm looking in my cupboards and seeing like, this has been in the back of my cabinet for like three years or even went on a move with me and I'm not using it and it doesn't have the best ingredients. Does it actually

belong in my home anymore because what's happening is even while they sit on my shelves, they're still contributing to indoor air pollution. They're also collecting dust. And those things are making my home less healthy just by being there. So just paying attention to that. And then that's going to lead into the first L, which is for let go. I'm going to just remove some of the things from my life. Because the first part about being a little less toxic besides becoming aware is letting go of things that are harming me. So it's not like I need to buy the perfect filter or food or product, get rid of some of the things that are not helping my health and might be contributing to my demise. And then after I've started to remove some of those things,

I can start to level up. That's the second L. And that's where my approach has always been when something's running low or wearing out before it's completely gone. Like if there's a little bit left of something, I want to save myself a grace period where I can do a little bit of research and find something that is a little less toxic, but it still has to fit my budget and my family's needs and preferences. And sometimes, oftentimes, you have to find those online. So I need time to order things, find the product, maybe even like discounts or whatever it might be. So I won't wait until it's completely gone because people will usually go to the store, get tricked by marketing, say like, oh, this is all natural, contains essential oils or whatever it is, by that or by the thing

they're familiar with or whatever's on sale. So give yourself some time to make an informed decision so that you can level up with something that is a little less toxic. And it doesn't have to be perfect either. just less toxic than the thing you had before. If you can't find something that is less toxic than the product that you're trying to replace that does fit your budget and your needs, then you know that you're doing the best that you can. And then the T is for time because all of these things really add up over time, just like how they can add up to your demise, they can add up to building better health. So it's little swaps over time that really make a big change.

Like a broken record, you see women online saying, I am done with the LOTox lifestyle. Nothing is ever good enough. some products don't even work. I miss having fragrance and scent in my house. What is your word of encouragement to those women? That maybe step back a little bit. You don't have to do it all at once. You don't have to do it in any extreme. I think that extremes can also be quite toxic. You have described how you've kind of done like a big overhaul all at once. That's your personality. And that works for you. And for a lot of people, that doesn't. Even though you get freaked out or you learn new

things and you want to just throw it all out and start over, it's not always very sustainable for people to do it that way. you might collapse your finances or your mental health or just overwhelm yourself with like decision fatigue. So I think that it's good to take a little bit of a step back and approach it in more of a sustainable way with those little steps along the way. You ended up getting a severe MRSA infection and that really jump started your entire health and wellness journey, right? Can you talk about that? Yeah. So I always say I didn't start out living a little less toxic. I'm a total typical product of the 80s and 90s. And you've said that you were like called grimace. I could have been the chihuahua from Taco Bell.

Like my mom, like, lived on nachos Belgronde when she was pregnant with me, and we just had a very conventional life growing up, you know. And I felt healthy and it was totally fine as far as I felt and how I looked on paper. And then it started really with some, I had a sinus infection. That's what it was diagnosed as in 2008. And I took antibiotics for it and went away, but then it came back. And then latherins repeat. It was kind of a lot of the same cycle.

I kept getting sick over and over and over again. So I started seeing different doctors in my plan. I saw, you know, ENTs, neurologists. I saw allergists. I just all kinds of doctors. And they kept kind of passing me around trying to figure out what was going on. You know, cat scans. I had septum correction, surgery, just all the stuff. And nothing was working. I was just getting more and more sick over time. Where these migraine sinus infections, we never figured out what it was. We're becoming closer together and more debilitating over the course of five years. And that last year of the five years, I was in pain 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And it was on some days kind of debilitating. It was impeding my ability to work and live life well and just, you know, have a good quality of life. And during that time, I was still going to doctors, trying to figure out what was going on. No one had any answers for me besides take this medication. I would ask different things, you know, like, should I change my diet? No, you're not allergic to anything. We did the allergy testing. It's not that. They had no solution for me. And so while it was on antibiotics at one time for this sinus infection migraine that would never go away, it wasn't really helping, but I was desperate that I would maybe cut it back a little bit. I had a hang nail and it felt a little bit infected. And no big deal. Like you've had a cut that feels like a little inflamed or infected before. I cleaned it up and it started pulsating. Like this doesn't feel right. But it was bedtime. So I cleaned it up really well and went to bed. And when I woke up in the morning, it didn't hurt anymore. But I had pain in my underarm on the same side. And

that kind of put a little alarm bell in my head. And later in the day, I had pain on my forearm on the same side. And now there's like alarm bells ringing because there's infection, pain, pain next spots my heart. So I go to urgent care and they're like, yeah, you have an infection. You need antibiotics. I'm like, I'm on antibiotics. So if you need something stronger. And so they gave me a shot of a stronger antibiotic, but said if it gets worse to, you know, go to the emergency room. And long story short, it did get worse. I looked down. There's a red line protruding from the little hangnail all the way up my arm to my underarm. And so I guess that's an indicator for sepsis. So I went to the emergency room that was completely packed and they took me in

for triage and I had tachycardia. My heart rate was very high indicating infection. And they're like, okay, we'll check in on you in a minute. And like I said, it's completely packed. There was a girl next to me that was like bleeding out and they called me right back. And the girl came up even with her cut hand and she's like, I've been waiting so long, I'm bleeding. They're like, it's on a needs basis. And that's when I knew. This is pretty bad. And so I had a sepsis infection, which is blood poisoning of an infection. And then it was resistant to antibiotic treatment. So that's what Mercer is. It's like a kind of staff infection that's resistant to antibiotic treatment. So I'm on antibiotics. I have more antibiotics. Now they have to give me the strongest antibiotics known to

man. I'm on IV antibiotics for a week. And then I had to follow that with 30 days of oral antibiotics. and see infectious disease specialists now. And all the while, I'm still in pain. It didn't do anything for my headache or sinus infection or whatever it was. So I'm afraid I'm going to lose my life. My health is just crumbling at all these recommendations. I'm giving. No one has any answers for me.

And how old are you? I was probably like 29. When was this? 2013. I was 31. Wow. That's like basically the same age as me. Right.

And like I shouldn't be afraid I'm going to die from a cut on my finger. But now I don't even know. Like I'm just, I'm living in fear and I'm just miserable. And my doctors still had no answers for me. Even these new infectious disease doctors. It was just, it was pretty demoralizing and defeating. And concurrently, my mom ended up seeing some nutritionist on PBS talking about chronic inflammation. And she was saying, you know, if you remove these, she called them high five foods from your diet and that are in most foods that we eat, take them out for 21 days.

and then reintroduce them one at a time to see if you react. I'm like, I'll try anything now. I'm so scared. So I did this elimination diet, and I'm not kidding, like maybe seven to ten days into this thing, it might have even been sooner than that. My pain was gone for the first time and over a year, like completely gone. And other things that I had just accepted to be normal, which were not normal for a 30-year-old, you know, like joint pain, brain fog, trouble sleeping, acne, all this stuff was

completely eradicated within like two weeks. What were the five things that she said to eliminate? She had seven. So it's J.J. Virgin. She would be great to have on J.J. Virgin. And her book was called the Virgin Diet. And they were gluten, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, peanuts, and artificial sweeteners. And what was causing issues for you, you think? So three of them, you don't really introduce, reintroduce peanuts or artificial sweeteners or corn. She wants you to keep those out, right? But I took all of them out and then I would reintroduce one at a time. And I can't remember. I think I did soy first. I'm like, I'm going to find the best soy possible to be fermented, all the things, and I had some, and then it took 24 hours for me to get a reaction. So 24 hours later, the headache

came back. I'm like, oh my goodness. So you have to pull that out of your diet and then let your body have more time to heal and you can try it again later. So I've still not been able to reintroduce gluten every time I do, I get a reaction. But the other things I'm okay with. So I've had enough time. This was in 2013, so it's been 12 years since I've been doing this. And that whole thing radically changed my life because before then, I wasn't reading ingredients at all. If I was even going to turn a package around, I was looking at calorie content. That's it. I did not care. I looked at a list of ingredients. I always say it's kind of like, you know, when you get an update on your phone, and it's like 10,000 pages long of all this legalese, and you're like, I don't know,

it's probably something scary in there, but agree, I want to use my phone. Yeah. And I was treating my ingredients list like that, where I was like, I don't know what all these things are. It's probably fine. Eat it, use it, whatever. That's relatable. I was very committed to this. science experiment for myself. So I had to read ingredients to make sure that I wasn't having those things so I could do this experiment well. And then when I turned the package around to see what was in there to make sure I didn't have gluten corn, soy, you know, I couldn't believe what else was in these products and that I was just willfully eating all the time. And I had no idea that it could be contributing to that kind of pain and dysfunction in my health. You're familiar

with those seven things that she said. But then you're seeing things like guar gum and polysorbid 80 or whatever these are. And you're like, well, what's that? And it's probably prompting you to look into that. You're like, why am I eating antifreeze? Like, alarm bells start going off. You know, you think it's going to be really complicated to learn all this. I mean, there are apps for this. You can use chat, GBT, and say, why would it be bad to have this ingredient in my food? It'll tell you. I have like a hundred random questions for you, just a myriad of things from food to non-toxic swaps for your home, which I think is what you're so good at. But before we dive in, I do want to ask you, how can somebody totally change their home to be less toxic without making it an idol.

That's so important because it really can become that way for most people, especially for those of us that believe in God and follow Jesus, it's so important that nothing becomes an idol. And many things can easily turn into that. For me, I think it's the focus is that, you know, I don't see my body as something that I need to control or have be perfect. I don't live in fear. I know that this life is temporary. So my focus is, more about stewarding this body well. So God gave me this vessel, right? And in this vessel dwells the Holy Spirit. And if I really believe that, then I have to treat this vessel with care. And so the way that I approach this is always about that, really. It's about taking care of my body.

And, you know, I had this prior experience, too, where I had really life limiting pain and suffering. And it was causing an impact in my ability to live well, love well, and serve well. And so I have the contrast in seeing what it was like before and after. And when I take care of myself, I'm better able to do the things that God's called me to do. You know, I have a better energy and better mood and less pain so I can do those things that he signed me up for and do it to my best. Yeah. This episode is really designed to be the most practical, simple, foolproof way to lower the toxic load for yourself and your families without overwhelm. What are five simple basics to living healthier that somebody can do today that costs nothing and utilizes things perhaps that are already in their home.

Number one, start reading ingredients. We can all do that and we all should be doing that, just paying attention to what we're inviting into our homes and into our bodies and into our lives. Number two, stop wearing shoes inside the house. And you can have house shoes that don't go outside, but shoes, there's been some studies that shows shoes have more fecal bacteria on them than toilet seats. So shoes don't belong walking around our home. It's not like it just lives on the floor either. It ends up in our indoor air. And indoor air is a big one. So I guess a couple other ones are going to focus on indoor air too. So this will be really hard in Arizona. We're California people and it's very hot here. So I don't know how you'll manage this, but I want everyone to open up their doors and

windows for at least five to 10 minutes every day to get some circulation because we're like living in these little terrariums that are very tightly sealed. And there's more air pollution in our homes than even outdoors, even in metropolitan areas. Up to 10, some reports even say up to 100 times more indoor air pollution. So opening up our doors and windows will allow some circulation so that some of that off gassing from our furniture, our products, or even just dust is also really problematic for indoor air just to circulate some of those things out. Four would be dust more regularly. So dust and vacuum. Dust in vacuum at least once a week. Dust contains all kinds of madness in it, including VOCs and formaldehyde, insect parts, dead skin cells, and that's getting into our air and we're breathing it. And so if you

remove dust from your surfaces more regularly, that's instantly going to make your homes and lives healthier. The small swaps over time. It's just making little changes over time. And it's not free because you're going to spend money, but you'd be spending it anyway. So I'm not saying go out and buy, you know, perfect air filter or water filter. But when your shampoo runs out and you have to replace it, then you're going to make a swap that is a little less toxic. So you're not spending any extra money. How often do you microwave food in your house? Never. Our microwave broke once years ago. I was getting ready for my daughter's birthday party and was microwaving a bajillion sausages for like a pajama party and we're having, you know, breakfast for dinner. And it broke. And then I thought,

okay, well, let's see how long we can live without this thing. And it took a couple of days to get out of the habit of just like wanting to throw something in there. But I realized really quickly, we don't need it at all. And it might be contributing to health issues. So what's the point? So we didn't even replace it. We just, I use it as storage. How can we heat up our food instead if we're not using a microwave? My favorite way to do it is in the instant pot. And it's a pressure cooker and it's stainless steel inside.

And I put the little trivet on the bottom and a cup of water. And then my food's in glass storage containers already. So I just move them into my instant pot and I close it and I set it to steam for like a minute or two. And everything's perfectly heated up. Like rice doesn't get all mushy or noodles don't fall apart. I like it even better than the microwave. See, that's my thing. So everybody wants to know why I don't use a microwave.

that is why. Because I think food tastes disgusting and it makes me want to vomit if I'm like biting into something and it's half hot, half cold. That is so gross to me that I'm like repulsed by the idea of microwaving. So and then I just feel like it's zapping nutrients from our food or something like that. Like that's just my hunch. So I always am like it has to be heated up on the stove or nothing or I won't eat it. But I do own an instapot and I didn't even think about that. Yeah, it's my favorite way. You can use like a little toast drive and I have a our top toaster oven that's great for some things too. If you're reheating pizza, just do that on the stove top. Lots of ways, but the instant pot's my favorite way. It's 3 a.m. You've thrown on your orange cloak and you're trudging through the woods. Your breath's thick with the air. Your feet crunching over leaves.

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That's cowboy colostrum.com code Alex for 25% off. This is real nourishment, not hype, not filler, just power-packed colostrum, the way nature intended. Have we wrongly conflated convenience with luxury? Yeah. convenience, I think, started out as a luxury, right? And then there's so many like mind manipulation things that happen with this, even with formula, right? So it was sold to people as like this convenient way to live your life. And then it also infiltrated the culture so much that some people

see breastfeeding as like a poor person's way to live life. And I feel like that same thing has applied to so many different areas of our culture. So that's just formula is one example, but so many things. I know when I was growing up, we couldn't afford the squeeze it. You know, I'm probably too old. But there was this, it's kind of like a caprice son, but it was in this bottle shape. I don't know, the squeeze it. It was like the cool juice that all the kids had. We couldn't afford that. I couldn't afford luncheables. And it seemed like that was like the luxurious thing to have, but that was all a trick and a trap that made you addicted to these products. So you really, we have conflated them. They don't belong together. And it really is costing us our health.

You say that there are three things and you can only pick two. It's a pick two rule. Out of cheap, convenient, or clean. You cannot have all three. You can only pick two. So out of cheap, convenient or clean, what do you think more families should be prioritizing? Cheap and clean. But it can be convenient and clean too. You can live a less toxic lifestyle very affordably. So it can be cheap. It doesn't have to be poor quality. Right. And it can also be. convenient. It actually oftentimes is more convenient because I'm not having to like go out and pick something up. I have the things right here. I can throw together. I'm talking about food, but also, you know, cleaning products and things like that. If I want it to be all three, that doesn't exist.

Now, does that automatically mean if it's not convenient, it has to be complicated? No. And it shouldn't be complicated because that won't be sustainable. So some things will take a little more effort in time. But most things, I have two little kids at home and I work and write books and I don't have time for all that stuff. I just, I need to make it work into our lifestyle. And I want that for everyone, too. This should always be sustainable and approachable and should not break our bank. Why is organic white distilled vinegar? Like the number one, all-encompassing tool that everyone should have in their house. Vinegar does so many things. You can use it to clean. You can use it to cook with. And you can use it for even like some skincare applications. Like I do a vinegar

rinse for my hair that helps to keep my scalp healthy and also seal the cuticle of my hair so that it's from the environment, but also makes it shiny because the cuticle's all sealed up. But white vinegar is great for cleaning all sorts of things. And I always say, when you can go organic, but when you can't, don't panic because we go back to that fear thing that we don't want to worry about it. So just whatever white vinegar you can get. But if you can find organic, awesome. But yeah, it does a myriad of things from cleaning our produce to you can mix it with baking soda to polish your pans and sinks and toilets and tubs. And yeah, it does it all. You can just put it in a little spray bottle and kind of wipe down your table at a restaurant with it, you know, instead of using whatever they've used.

And you also recommend using it to clean your water filters. Yeah, so vinegar can break down mineral deposits. That's also why I add it to bone broth. It helps to pull the minerals out of the bones. So it can break down those mineral deposits. So if you ever see scaling, like in your tea kettle or your water filter or something like that, vinegar can really help with that. How did you teach your children to listen to their bodies? I think it's an ongoing process that I hope it continues to live with them. But they've had a lot of experience because the way we live at home, they're just used to this. This is their normal where we eat food that mommy makes and we read ingredients and we pay attention to that kind of thing. So when we're out in the real world and

people offer other things, they get an example or they get an experience where they can give you a story. So one time we were at a little birthday party and they offered the goodie bag and inside it had a dyed lollipop. And we don't eat those at home. But my little girl wanted to try it. And I told her, just see how you feel. I really didn't want her to eat it. But I also don't want to create fear in them or be super restrictive so that they want to rebel against that. I kind of treat it like stranger danger where it's like we go out in the world. I don't want you to think everyone's going to abduct you, right?

But I also want you to know not everyone's safe. So I do the same thing with food, right? So it's about awareness and education. So I'm like, okay, so that has ingredients in it that I don't buy for different reasons. It might not make you feel very well. You eat it and you tell me. she literally threw up later. Whoa.

It was just a couple hours later, but she threw up. And I don't know if it was directly related to that lollipop or not, but in her little mind and body, she was like, well, I don't think I want to eat that again. Same with my son. We went out to a Mexican restaurant that had, like, the red and green chips. And he ate some red chips and went from like a perfectly calm hanging out at the table kid to stood up on the bench, like during the dinner. And he's like stabbing the back of the bench with the fork going, I'm a rhino.

What happened? It's a red dye. It couldn't have been anything else. That's not him. Holy cow. So they've had some experiences where they get to see for themselves. And we get to see too and be like, yeah, there's a reason we avoid this kind of stuff. Yeah, that's what I've heard from a lot of families who choose to eat this way and live this way is kind of educating your kids.

And then if they're at a, you know, a party or an event where they're offered food like that, it's being like, hey, it's your choice. This is what it might feel like. This is what might happen. But you can try it if you like and kind of letting them do that. and then they kind of end up making the decisions for themselves and they're like, yeah, I don't want that again. Yeah. Which I think is really good. You talked about how a good thing for cleaner air in your house, which is free, is just opening windows, just opening windows or doors, you know, 10, 15 minutes a day at least.

Would air purifiers be like a step up from that that you recommend if it's in somebody's budget? Absolutely. We didn't invest in an air purifier for many years because we couldn't afford it. And then when we did, I waited until there was sales and I got one at a time. but it has made a big difference in our indoor air quality and even just in our personal lives, you know, with allergies and things like that. It makes a big difference. And when you go to clean them, you see all the junk that's on that filter that otherwise would have been in your air, you know that it's worth it, too. How often are we supposed to be cleaning those filters? I think it depends on the model, right? Okay. Yeah, yeah, but they do need to be changed. Yeah, I need to look into that because I just got mine a couple months ago. But I've been using the Jasper air filters. I've got one in my room, one in my main. like kitchen living area and then I'm going to put one in my um guest bedroom office but I like will have my hair girl doing my hair and she's spraying stuff and you'll hear that thing like kick on and it's sucking it out of the air I mean you could probably fart next to one of them and just bloop it'll

just get it. We've tried that yeah if you have boys at all that's what you should do to get them on board yes is there such a thing as less toxic pest control for bugs or roaches yeah we use a few things. Vinegar is one of them. Ants don't like vinegar. So when we clean our surfaces and finish off with some of that white vinegar and just leave it there to dry, that can be a deterrent. There's also, they don't like peppermint oil. They don't like cayenne. So I've made some different sprays where I put like cayenne pepper and water and spray that on my hibiscus plants outside to keep the aphids away. So there's lots of things. There's another one that I like called diatomaceous Earth. And I put it in like a turkey baster and we sprayed around the edges of my house outside to

help keep spiders and other insects away. And it works really well. We had a flea problem a few months ago. We don't have any pets. So I don't know where they came from. But we get critters in the backyard. And all of a sudden we had all these fleas. And we did that diatomacious earth around the corners and the edges and did a lot of vacuuming and took care of them without any other kind of synthetic pesticides or things like that. What should women who are hanging on to bleach for dear life know? I was hanging on to bleach for dear life. That was one of the last things that was it was hard for me to give up. I really thought you still need bleach. Bleach is an asthma gen, which means it can harm our respiratory tracks, right? So asthma. So it can contribute to asthma and asthma-like symptoms. And it's just really

harmful for health. And it's just completely unnecessary. So I'm talking to you as somebody who lived with a hang nail that almost took my life. So you would think that I would be more fearful of pathogens and infection, but it's quite the contrary. Because the reason that I ended up so sick was because my toxic bucket was not only overflowing, that was already happening, and that's why we were seeing me have all these symptoms with the sinus infections or migraines. But then I had a completely depleted immune system because of killing all my microbes, all my good microbes with the repeated use of antibiotics. So that opened up my eyes to see how important it is to keep healthy microbes in our environments and on our bodies. And so when we use bleach or anything that says kills 99.9% of

bacteria. What happens is we kill a lot of bacteria. A lot of those are good. And the point one percent that continues to live is the most resilient to these things. And then the most resilient repopulate with each other. And then we've got a higher population of these superbugs and less of the good bugs to help keep it in check. And then that's how we end up getting things like superbug infections, like my sepsis and MRSA from a hang nail. I often hear complaints that non-toxic laundry detergents aren't doing the job, that women feel like their clothes still. smell or whites aren't really that bright. So what's the solution there? Yeah, I had that concern, too. There's lots of ways. So vinegar is great as a rinse aid. I use oxygen brightener, not like

oxyclean. What are they called? The oxygen boost. Add that to your laundry. From branch basics? They have a great one. There's a few out there now. You can get them sometimes that I think, I can't think of the brand, but at some local stores, you can find it to an oxygen booster. Okay. And that really helps. And for whitening clothes, I do something weird, but it's kind of like passed down from my grandparents' generation. There's something called liquid bluing. Have you heard of it? Never. So it's blue iron filing suspended in water. And so it's completely non-toxic. And what it does is it adds a little blue to your laundry. So I do this for loads of whites. And this is what replaced bleach for me. So instead of using bleach, I use a good non-toxic laundry detergent. And I change those up all the time. There's lots of good brands out there. And then I do, you can use peroxide, which is chlorine-free bleach is peroxide.

So you can use peroxide much cheaper. You don't have to go buy that special. And then the liquid bluing, you put a little bit like a quarter teaspoon of this liquid bluing into water and then you add that to your laundry. And what happens is it makes the whites have a little bit of a blue appearance to them that your eye perceives as white. So when you buy brand new clothes that are bright white, it's because they've been dyed with a little bit of blue. And over time, that gets washed out or it gets dingy with other things. And so they start to appear more dull. So you get back that optical illusion of bright whiteness by adding a teeny tiny touch of blue back into it. Okay, hold on because I want to memorize this. So what is the product called? Okay, so there's a bottle of it. There's a little old lady on the front. It's called Mrs. Stewart's. It's called Liquid Bluing. And it's like six bucks on Amazon and this bottle will last you for years. And you just add a quarter to you.

teaspoon. That's it to a whole load of laundry. You're going to dilute it in some water first, and it's going to help keep your whites bright white. We'll put a link for that in the show notes. So when you say put it in water to dilute it, because I'm like, you know, I'm not very bright, pun intended. So you put the water like in that little container of the wash so that it slowly goes in, you don't dump that in your laundry, right? So I have a top loader. So it might be, they have different instructions on the Mrs. Stewart's site. It tells you exactly how to do it. And I have in my laundry highlight on my Instagram, I show the exact steps or how to do it. But I keep a quart jar, like a quart mason jar, in my laundry room.

And so when I'm going to do a load of whites, I will put, you know, a squirt of that liquid bluing into the bottom of the jar and then let the wash fill it with water, shake it up just so we don't get blue spots and then pour that jar into my load of laundry. But if you have a front... Directly on the clothes. Well, into the water before I add the clothes so that it's evenly mixed. Okay. Otherwise you can get blue spots, but that can come out.

you'd have to use something like ammonia or a lot of washes to get the blue out. So you don't want it to stain your clothes either, but that's fixable too. And little old ladies used to use this stuff for their hair to get the yellowing out to keep their gray, nice and bright, white, and not yellow. Oh, my gosh. I'm obsessed with this. Oh, and pets. What? White dogs? If mochi starts yellowing. Yeah. Literally people use it on their pets, do they have all instructions for on their website. Oh, well, little white crusty dogs, you know, that have the eye goop and stuff. I bet it would look good there where it gets really dark on their fur. Yeah. That's a really good idea. Are there any non-toxic dryer sheet alternatives that will still make your laundry soft and smell nice? I use

wool dryer balls. Same. And you can add essential oils to it. I know some people get concerned about that being flammable. I have not had that experience. I've been doing it for like 12 years. But I'm not, so I'm not, I can't blanket say I'm not going to start a fire in your home, but that's just what I do. I have a little thing of lavender essential oil and I just put it all over the balls and then I throw them in there. And then I think I have from Roe Casa, they have some kind of dryer spray, which I wonder if it's some kind of vinegar thing or something like that. Oh, and that truly free has a little dryer angel that's kind of like a scented thing you can throw into. It's non-toxic. You can throw in the dryer and it acts like a dryer sheet for many uses. What is the best Lotox way to clean a mattress?

Oh, I don't know. We air ours out. So I personally, we use a, mattress protector, especially we got like a fancy non-toxic mattress in like 2019. Man, it's getting old. But I didn't want it to get ruined. So we use a mattress protector, also non-toxic. But I also had two really little kids at the time and I just didn't want to get destroyed. So I think protecting it would be really good. And then I also like to air it out. So we'll remove that for laundry day and wash that out and let the sun in through the windows and fresh air to really air it out and help like deodorize and freshen it up. What is your less toxic solution for? chlorinated pools. Oh, so I make a little chlorine spray. We don't use it all the time, but when we do,

it just has a little bit of escorbic acid in it. It's a synthetic vitamin C. We use it for every bath, too. So before going into the pool, you can spray down with this little escorbic acid water solution, and it helps to neutralize chlorine. So when I talked about using it in the bath at home, every bath that we do, I put in a teaspoon of escorbic acid, and it neutralizes chlorine. It's better than those bath balls that people buy. Those usually are just using a scorbic acid too, but charging you a lot more. So instead you can buy a whole bottle of scorbic acid for like 15 bucks and it'll last you like a year or more. Just use a little teaspoon in your bath and you can use it to make those chlorine sprays too. Is there a homemade bug spray that actually works? I have made some that work. Yeah,

using things like citronella, peppermint, what else? Eucalyptus. There's lots of things that can be deterrent to different types of pests. And I have a recipe for one of those in my first book. I heard that doing a little bit of vanilla extract and water is good for mosquitoes. Yeah. Is you put a teeny bit of that in water and then you spray that on your body. Yeah. And that smells amazing. Right.

It's like perfume. Yeah, it really is like perfume. But something about vanilla extract and mosquitoes. But maybe I'm wrong, but somebody should look into that and tell us in the comments. Okay. I haven't tried it. You have heard it. I have.

So I'm not crazy. No. All right. Okay. Did you see all the stuff that I put on my story recently about light bulbs? Yeah. I am on this lighting kick. What are some lighting hacks to have a healthier home?

So incandescent are the best lights for our health. And I know people have switched to LED for, you know, cost saving or maybe even environmental impact. But I don't know how those are actually going to fare over the course of time, right? They are pretty toxic. We've been sciop. This is another sciop. This is the stupid LED bulbs. Literally get rid of it.

And then there are people that are like, well, my husband's an electrician. And he says that your house is going to explode. if you have incandescent bulbs. No. Yeah, there's been a lot of, I don't know if it's been propaganda against the incandescent, but we recently switched back to all once we were able to buy them again because I couldn't buy any for like the last couple of years. And then this year, we've been able to buy incandescent again. So I just redid our whole house with either incandescent or no flicker LEDs that have like different tones to them. Have you seen these? Yeah. So it's like got a campfire glow and like so it's like a red light basically. So a couple of our bulbs in the house have this where

it can be red light at night. And then the other ones are all incandescent. And I like dimmers, too. What are you doing to get your incandescent bulbs because you live in California and it's illegal there, right? Or banned or something. Not now. Starting this year, we're able to buy them again. There's a couple of brands that sell all kinds of incandescent bulbs and different wattages. And then also, you know, different, they have these other color options and things like that. But yeah, it got really easy to buy this year. Yeah, because the thing with the LED lights is it's creating this like really strong blue light. It totally zaps your circadian rhythm. There's a reason why we are inundated all day long in our office spots. I mean, look at me filming right now. Like all of this light that is

so bad for us. And then we wonder why we can't wind down at night. Or you wonder why your kids are bouncing off the walls between the blue light screens, the blue lights in your house, blue lights at school, blue lights at work. Like we are not supposed to live like that. Like human beings, you know, when we're looking back ancestrally, it was, you know, lights by fire. It was always warm, orange lights. And I did an amazing episode all about light and circadian rhythm with Thaddeus Owen, which blew up this spring that you have to go back and listen to if you've never listened to. It's one of my most popular episodes I've ever done. That's why it's crucial to wear blue light blocking glasses at night or don't use the big lights and just do candles. First of all,

it is so romantic and it's so warm and cozy. Talk about like creating, like making a house a home, having no big lights on after sunset and only using candles or warm incandescent bulbs and little lamps and stuff, that in and of itself creates such a warm, cozy effect. Yeah. That I think is just so nice, especially with like little kids in the house or whatever. I don't know. It's just cozier than having like big lights on. You can feel the difference. Yeah. In your nervous system, like we all feel a little more relaxed and comfortable. And everybody wants me to like drop a link for incandescent bulbs. I can't do that because different lights in your home have different wattages that you need. So just look for incandescent.

And like I said, I put this on my story recently, if you missed it, is that you have to go to your local hardware store and you've got to ask one of these little pot belly old men, what am I doing for incandescent light? This is my light. What should I get? Show him the link from the website of the lamp you bought. He will be able to tell you which bulb for the product because I bought a new lamp and all this and I had no idea and they help.

They are there to help. This is why it's so great. Like to go in person, shop local, support local businesses. and they're way more educated than like, I'm sorry, but these like 15-year-olds at Walmart do not know. Like, you've got to go to your mom and pop actual hardware store. My bedside table lamps, for example, because I'm a reader, I bought incandescent bulbs that are like 11 watts. It is so dull, cozy, like barely a little orange glow so that it is not too bright as I'm winding down. Like, so you've got to assess, like, is it a fan or a light on my ceiling where I want it to be brighter when those are turned on?

Is it just a little bedside table lamp? Different wattages, people. The electricians are like clenching their butt sheets together because they're like, this broad does not know a thing. Whatever. But I'm just telling you, I'm learning. So listen to the Thaddey's own episode, but you agree with me. Absolutely. I wrote a little bit about the lighting situation in my first book, too, because it's like that room-by-room guide.

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Code Alex for 25% off your first order. If you have some more toxic cleaning products, but you never use them, but like you just feel better having it under your sink, are those even while capped still emitting toxins in the air? Yeah. Have you gone into an Airbnb and smelled their products without even opening them or walk through a Target or Walmart and you're three aisles away, but you know you're approaching the cleaning aisle. Even those are sealed and have never been used, they're off-gassing into the air. So even if you're not currently using it, it's sitting in a cabinet, it's adding to your indoor air pollution, and especially if you're using it. And if you're not using it, it doesn't belong there anyway. So if you're not ready to get rid of it, you can move it out of your main living

space. But really, there's so many other options and a lot of them are more affordable. Some you can make it home and you just don't really need them. This is why, I mean, mean, some families that have kids with like severe cases of eczema or asthma or something like that and they cannot figure out why their kids are sick. They're like, well, we're using all nontasics, whatever. And I'm like, do you still have that conventional carpet cleaner? Do you still have bleach sitting around? Yeah. Okay, try putting it in your garage or outside and then see if your kid starts, you know, having his symptoms alleviate or whatever. And a lot of times they'll tell you yes. Totally. I think we're like, we're afraid of wasting money, but you're not going to get that money back. So we're

going to dispose of it in your home and breathe it and experience the effects of it or just get it out of your life. The money's gone. You're not getting it back, but you can regain some health right now. Why is clean superior to sanitized? Oh, the same thing with the microbes, right? So that same thing I was talking about, like, I want to clean my hands. But if I sanitize them, then they're going to be no good bacteria on them. And they're my little warriors. They're little soldiers that help keep me healthy. And it's not just our hands. It's all these surfaces. I hate seeing the like, laundry detergent, this is supposed to sanitize your clothes. It's crazy to me. We're killing too many good guys and we're killing too many of the ones that might be harmful too. And really, there are

just so many more beneficial bacteria in our microbiomes than there are bad ones. And I think that we need to focus on promoting a healthy environment for the good bacteria more than we're thinking about killing all the bad guys. What is your hack for a healthier scalp? Is it just white vinegars or more than that? I actually use apple cider vinegar for it. So everyone's scalp's going to be a little bit different and as I'm in different in age season, I'm having to wash my hair more frequently than I have in the past. But yeah, having a clean scalp brushing it regularly too, right? You want to like have a good brush at least twice a day, just like in little house days. And then I love to use apple cider vinegar rinse. So it's like a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in like 16 ounces of

water. And I use it in like a squeeze bottle. After, after labors, it called a peri bottle. It's like to rinse your perennial area. So now it has apple cider vinegar. in it with water and then I just squeeze it all over my scalp after washing and conditioning. And everyone's worried you're going to smell like a pickle, but you're not because vinegar absorbs odor and then dissipates. So once it's dry, you're not really going to smell all vinegar anymore. Plus, it's very diluted. Don't put straight vinegar on your scalp. You're going to burn your skin. So, okay, that's a good trick. Somebody might just be like, I'll skip that step and just put it on there. Dilute it, please. What about like an armpit

detox when you're switching to non-toxic deodorant? Yeah, I've done some of those too. Not in a long time. But yeah, sometimes you can take like a little apple cider vinegar in like that bentonite clay or even just the apple cider vinegar itself and to help like kind of balance out and stabilize the bacteria that's in your underarms. But that's going to happen over time anyway, too. So I'm not like a big fan of doing all these detoxes for my skin if it might irritate it. Just give your body time. But it can help in the adjustment period. It seems like a lot of young families are living off of DoorDash, living off of eating out. But we also know that that's not the cleanest food. So how can somebody get started cooking healthier meals at home who's really never done it before?

Yeah, that was me. So just keep it really simple. Use things you're familiar with. You can take shortcuts when you're just getting started out. But there's so many ways to keep it simple. Like almost anyone could make some rice, right? And you make some rice and you make a little protein. You throw in a vegetable. Don't overcomplicate it. You don't have to read all these crazy Pinterest recipes or make everything perfectly. Just start making real food, get more comfortable with it and get really comfortable with seasoning. Because sometimes things just don't taste as good because we're not using enough seasoning. So get more comfortable with, I always say, taste and see that the Lord is good and adjust your seasonings as needed. And that's specifically a call out to us whites. It is. Yeah. It really is. We have a problem with not seasoning enough. Oh my gosh. And like talk about being so ignorant and clueless. I was

watching this YouTube video or something of like some like Italian nana cooking pasta. She's dumping like hordes of salt in the pasta water. I was like, whoa! What is happening here? And apparently when you were cooking pasta, like

we put like a teeny smidge, like white Americans put like a teeny smidge of salt in our pasta water. We are supposed to be like putting heaps of salt in there. It makes the noodles and everything taste so much better, not stick. It's like we're just, we're not doing enough. No. So I'm being funny, but like, yeah, white people do not. We need to get better about the seasoning. Yeah.

Most of my culinary training came from watching the food network in my early 20s. Yeah. But they, I learned from someone that your pasta water should taste like the ocean. I was like, what? Exactly. Yes. Yeah, I'm telling you, so I started doing that. It has made such a big difference in my cooking pasta. So just started doing that. Your pasta water should taste like the ocean. I think that's a really good tip. Is there one grocery store trap that that women need to know to avoid? Packaged foods. I mean, I don't know if there's a bigger trap than that. I guess you could get really specific in the nitty gritty of all that. Maybe it's like condiments or salad dressings. Like, why are we buying salad dressing? You could make this at home in less than three minutes. It's going to have ingredients that. are good for you and you can control how it tastes. And it's really inexpensive. Grocery salad dressings, especially the ones with less toxic ingredients, they can be like $10 or more for dressing that you can make it home for literal pennies. So that's a big one. But I think packaged

foods in general because what you're doing is you're outsourcing, right? So you're paying for somebody else to decide what's going into a product you're eating. And they have to consider how it's going to make it through their machines and how long it's going to last on the shelves. And if they're going to be able to keep their flavor consistent. So they have a bottom line to think about, which is their profit. And it's not necessarily going to have anything to do with how it's going to affect your health. So I think that there's limiting packaged foods and making more things at home. Obviously, not to extremes. But doing that more is going to be really benefit, not just to your health, but also to your bank account. Why must we never use microwavable popcorn?

Oh, the inside of those bags are lined with all kinds of junkie stuff. There were some studies going around. This is way before I lived anything less toxic. I knew about something called popcorn lung. Have you heard of that? Yeah. Yeah. So it's like you're breathing in these fumes. You open up your popcorn bag and these fumes people were inhaling, especially people that were eating this kind of regularly, were ending up with a legitimate illness and it got referred to as popcorn lung. So these fumes are getting into, not just like our bodies because we're breathing in the bag, but even into our homes, getting back to that indoor air quality. And it's really unnecessary. The first time I popped corn on the stove top, I was like, this is so easy. It did not take me any longer than the microwave. It's coming out more

consistently popped and it was really fun. Why must we never use the liner in our crock pots? Anytime that we're putting our food in plastic, there's going to be some leaching. We're going to be getting some of these microplastics in our food. Then when you add heat into the mix, it's going to really accelerate how quickly those plastic materials end up in the food that we eat and in our air. So anytime you're cooking in your crock pot, I know it seems like a really, convenient step. Also the baking a turkey in a bag. We just got to stop it. Just no more plastic with heat. The microwave, if you're going to keep using your microwave, don't do it in a plastic container. Please use glass. And then, yeah, don't line your crock pot for crying out loud.

That's disgusting. Do you have a little less toxic tip for bee stings, cuts, or scrapes? Baking soda has been really helpful for that. I don't know why. There was a season where both of the kids and me and my husband, we were just getting all these bee stings and my kids were swelling up from these stings. I think something's happened to our bees that they're like mutant. They're revolting. Yeah. But that little baking soda paste goes a long way. Kids are sick. We are not giving them that purple drank, red drank, cough syrup. You're making your own. It's cheaper and it's way less toxic and better for them. What is your homemade non-toxic cough elixir? I call it the pineapple cough elixir because the main ingredient is pineapple. Pineapple has an enzyme in it called bromulane,

which can really help with coughs. And so if you're going to use pineapple, I used to use pineapple juice, but those have been pasteurized. So the bromulane's been destroyed. So I keep a bag of frozen pineapple chunks in my freezer at all times. And this has been really convenient, too, because, you know, when kids get coughs, oftentimes it happens like at bedtime or in the middle of the night. I don't want to run out to the store. And I don't want to have to store things in my cabinet for years they might not use. And I have found this to work a lot better. And so have a lot of other people have used it too. So the main ingredient is the pineapple, but it also has things in there like olive oil, which is going to help to coat the throat and raw honey,

which same thing is going to be very soothing. It's got lemon in it. A little pinch of cayenne, not too spicy for the kids, but the more cayenne you can do, the more it can help. It's an anti-inflammatory. And then it's got ginger in it too, which is also anti-inflammatory. Oh, and a little pinch of salt, got electrolyte and add to the flavor. And it's really yummy. We like it. We like it. Some people turn it into popsicles, and that can be really soothing too. I like that idea. It's really good. You just take like a little shot of it, like an ounce of it. and it really helps to settle down the cough. But coughs can be really helpful too.

They're productive and help to move things out of your body and they're there on purpose. So I don't want to completely silence the cough, but I do want to help support the body while it's doing its good work. And so this has been our go-to for that. Every time I was sick when I was little, my mom would make me a little chicken bouillon cube

look like it was a NASA science experiment and she would put that in the microwave in a mug and it would dissolve it. I would drink that. Now, what is a wood? a way healthier version of a chicken bullion cube for someone that's sick. Yeah, I make bone broth at home and we usually keep some in the freezer. So anytime I make a whole chicken or I make any chicken that has bones, I will save those in the freezer. And then when I'm ready to make a pot of bone broth,

I just pop all those into the instant pot with water and like salt pepper, bay leaves and a splash of apple cider vinegar. And then, you know, within two hours, I've got like gallons of bone broth and I freeze some of it in like silicone cube trays. Oh yeah. And so they're already measured in. to one cup cubes or you can get whatever different size. And I keep those in the freezer. So anytime we need broth, I can just plop out a cube. What are you doing for fevers? I like to look at the person more than the number on the thermometer, but I think the thermometer can be a really helpful tool to kind of assess what's going on. But I don't let that number dictate how I treat the person. If my kid has a fever and they're still active and eating and comfortable, I'm not going to really

intervene too much besides give, you know, fluids and rest and support so their bodies can do their important work, but fevers can have a beneficial part in the healing too because your body's reaction to fighting infection. So I don't do a whole lot to intervene with fevers unless I feel there's a true need to, and I have found that that's very rare. What can we do if we want our home to smell nice, but we don't want to use toxic candles or sprays? Yeah, so there are less toxic candles now that just use things like essential oils, and those are really great. There's also room sprays. You can make your own room spray with essential oils. And then I like doing, you know, like simmer, Those are really fun too. So you just put like a pot on the stove with water and you add things into it that smell nice. One of my favorites is adding a little bit of vanilla and lemon and rosemary. And it's kind of William Sonoma vibes inside. Okay. Right. Yeah. But you can do all kinds of things. But you can do all kinds of things. And it can do all kinds of things. And especially like in these drier climates, it can add to a little bit of the humidity in your air. Oh, that's a good. I

idea for me. I wouldn't have thought about that with the humidity. Yeah, I should be doing that. I am huge on beeswax candles. Why are beeswax candles really the most superior candles? Yeah. So number one, it's really clean materials. You're not burning paraffin wax into your air and making indoor air pollution. But also there are some studies that show that the bees wax releases negative ions and those can cling to things in the air and then help them to drop to the ground and then be removed. So any kind of pollutants that are in the air. So some people believe that it might actually help clean the air while you're making your home cozy. Yeah, it's cleaning, it's purifying the air. The negative ions help you relax. It's like such a nice little thing for nighttime especially just to get sleepy,

obsessed with beeswax candles. Yeah, the like waves crashing emits negative ions, waterfalls emit negative ions. And if beeswax candles can emit negative ions too, think about those similar kind of relaxing vibes. I think I need to do an entire episode on like benefits of bees and You should. You need that Texas bee lady. I know, right? Yeah, I need to do a B episode because there's so much there. What are some things that you could send your kid to school with to make sure that their school environment is a little less toxic? So we homeschool, but my kids currently are doing a little homeschool enrichment program. And they have a little travel pack with them that have little handsies hand wipes. They have their own little lip balm. They have what else in their active skin repair. They've got their own little spray. Obsessed with that. It's the best because it can sanitize. your hands if you can't wash them because this hypochloric acid is a sanitizer. It's like a hospital grade sanitizer. Oh my gosh. Shauna, there is like not a product that I've ever had because they

sponsor the show that literally does everything. I'm like this in everything, your kid's backpack, your diaper bag, your pet bag, your first aid kit. It's like one size fits all sunburned diaper rash acne, hand sanitizer I didn't even know. Like it does literally everything. And it's so inexpensive. Yeah, it's the best. So they both have one of those they carry around with them. You can sanitize, you know, you go on the airplane. You're like, I don't want to touch this stuff, you know, whatever it might be. But also, yeah, for like bug bites of bee stings, any kind of rashes or scrapes and things that happen. So they have that too. What else they have their own little band-aids they take. My son only likes Olivia hand soap. So he takes that with him. I'm a big fan of Olivia. Yeah, they used to sponsor the show. And it's just, you know, contracts end or whatever. But I'm still great friends with them. And they're phenomenal body washing. hand soap. That's cute. It's our favorite. I brought it with us to our hotel. Oh yeah. Well, they have their little travel ones. I don't have that yet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think those are so great because you can also just refill that travel size with your big one at home. You know, so I with as much as I travel, I like to keep that in my purse to use as my hand wash as well. Yeah. What kinds of food do you give your kids for

snacks? You know what? I think snack, the word has been bothering me because most people associate the word snack with highly processed packaged foods. Or we look at those and go, oh, it's a snack food. But why is that a snack food? Snack just means like a mini meal in between meals. So their snacks include things like fresh fruits and vegetables. We do package stuff too, but I like to pick things that use ingredients that are ingredients I would use in my own home pantry. So we like, you know, like scout bars or something, you know, what do we have on the way here, like popcorn, seaweed, things like that Mossa chips, all that stuff. But yeah, so when we do packaged foods, I like ones that have ingredients. Like, I have my own home pantry that I would use if I were making it myself. But otherwise,

they don't need to have all these packaged things. They can have berries and carrot sticks and snap peas, you know, a meat stick. What are you making your kids for lunch to keep it fresh? And keep it fresh as in, like, give variety. They get sometimes, like, I'll make a pasta salad or like their own little travel charcutory plate. That one's easy because you can mix them, match that a million different ways and keep it always changed and, yeah, variety there. And then it's easy on mom too because it's just like, okay, I've got some protein, I've got some fiber, I've got colorful, I've got something fermented, and then it's done. It's basically a lungeable. Yep. Yeah, yeah. Well, I actually started making those for my husband before we had kids. It was like his grown-up

lunchable. So it was just like a basically traveling charcutory. I like that idea. I think anyone that has like working husbands that you pack a lunch for, I like that idea. And let's talk about relaxation folks, because right now, if you're like me, you're probably two minutes away from setting something on fire just to get a moment of peace. But hey, before you do that, let's try something a little healthier. Natural sloth beeswax candles. Yeah, I said beeswax. And no, it's not some weird hippie thing. It's the greatest type of candle out there scientifically. Here's the deal. When you light a beeswax candle, it releases negative ions into the air. And negative ions, they're like tiny little warriors that fight off all the junk in the air.

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What's your response? People often ask me, how do you get your kids to eat healthy? And I often reply, I don't get them to eat healthy. I just feed them. It depends on what they're used to. So if they're coming from a background of highly palatable, processed, packaged food, it's going to take more time and more exposure for them to get used to these other things. I know for me, when I was coming from my ultra-processed background, I didn't like the taste of fresh real foods. I thought

they tasted really bland in comparison. So that can be a factor. For me, I had to remove all of those things so I could really start to enjoy the flavors of real food. Same with like fragrance. Like I didn't really notice how potent fragrance was until it wasn't in my life anymore. And now I walk into an Airbnb and I'm like, what are you guys doing or my Uber here? Like, what is happening? Yeah. But I think the same thing can be with food. Our taste buds have been manipulated and hijacked. And so they might not like other things because they just are really kind of under the control of big food with their taste buds still. I think everyone has their own unique preferences and could have to do with texture. So we might have to get a little creative. What are some of the favorite dinners that you make your family that your kids really like?

We make a lot of the same things on repeat, but there's some space in between. But they, let's see, Ezekiel's favorite dish that I make currently is my bacon wrap meatloaf. That sounds good. It's really good. Yeah, with crispy smashed potatoes or he likes twice baked potatoes. So I'll try and make that more regularly. I have this addiction for this Oregon meat meatloaf that's a Weston A Price recipe. And it is like the best meat.

meatloaf I've ever had. I never ate this. I would never eat this as a kid. I was an extreme. So talk about picky eaters. I was an extreme picky eater. Like lived off chicken nuggets and chicken noodle soup and that's all I would eat. I would have never eaten meatloaf growing up until like this last like year of being in my 30s. I'm like in my 30s and all of a sudden I'm like, I love meatloaf. True Food Kitchen in the winter months has a great meatloaf that will be on their menu. And then, yeah, I love this Westin A Price recipe I found. I'll have to. If you guys listening, remind me in my DMs when this episode comes out because I'll totally forget. I'll post the recipe to my stories. It is so good. Yeah, I want that. Yeah. How did it change for you? If you were picky,

how did you become so much more open to different things? I don't know how this happened. I tend to believe it's because I am bougie and high maintenance little spoiled brat. And so I'm like, I want to be eating oysters. I want to be having ribby steak. Like, this is like cool. You know? So I think that's my problem. And like going to nice restaurants and things like that. It's like, well, you don't eat McDonald's at a nice restaurant. Yeah, chicken fingers. Yeah, I want to feel special.

And so, I mean, this is a trick that you could even do at home. Yeah. And also, I'm not a parent. Newsflash. Because everybody likes to remind me that. Let me just, again, yes, I know, I'm not a parent. But just from my own experience being an extreme picky eater growing up, I wonder if, like, making your meal, and obviously this is not feasible to do every night.

But once in a while to introduce new foods, it's like we're going to do a fancy dinner night. We're going to put a tablecloth on the table. We're going to light candles. And we're going to put a special theme music on because we're going to try a French foods. We're going to have French music playing. And it's like a themed party. If I was six years old, I would have been like all in. I would have been like, yep, let's do this.

I want to try the special green beans and whatever because I was like I'm doing a special themed event. And, you know, everyone has a special. outfit because we're trying French food and like, I don't know. That's a very extra way to go about it. But I think sometimes kind of tricking kids and to just be like, it's this experience. Yeah. Just to get them to try a new food, I think it would work for personalities like mine that are highly susceptible to marketing and vibes. And some of us have, some of you have kids like that that are susceptible to marketing and vibes. I was one. Yes. Well, there's an important part of that too, which is bringing them into the process. So my kids have always, you know, sat on the counter with me

while I cook and just been a part of it since they were very, very little. As soon as they're able to sit on the counter, they see how the meal comes together. And they get input too. Like, oh, let's add this. They become much more curious and adventurous about foods when they get to choose them themselves. So one way is to have them involved in the actual creation of it. And sometimes, too, it's serving things like family style can be one way to get kids to try more things too because they want to be autonomous. So they've got all these things on the table and you're not putting a lot of pressure on them, but there's, like there's this, I get an opportunity to try this new thing. I haven't seen. I've seen a bunch of times. One day they might feel brave enough to try it and put it on their plate, especially when

they're making the choice themselves. Yeah. And I really try and keep a neutral tone about it too, because again, it's like the stranger danger thing, I don't want them to fear food. I also don't want them to feel pressure. I feel like kids have like a spidey sense about pressure. So if they feel like, like, I really want you to eat this thing. They will push back on it, even if they don't realize that's what they're doing. So I've always tried to stay really neutral since the first bite of food that gave my kid a bite of avocado, makes a crazy face. And I go, that's avocado.

Like, I don't say, oh, is that yucky? Like, I don't give them these kinds of words or language to help support this. Oh, maybe it's yucky. I don't like this. Or one of my kids took a, I said, I call it taking a break. He just decided I'm not going to eat peas. After liking peas for so long, it was like, I do not eat peas. but I just never really fed into that thinking.

I was just like, oh, you're on a break from peas? No big deal. They're still on the table. I don't custom make meals. So everybody, I'm not like a short order cook. I just make the meal. And I always remind them, you know, eat what you like, leave what you don't. Yeah.

And a couple things that other guests have shared on the show when we've talked about, like, how to get your kids to eat healthier. I did a great episode with Corey Dunn. I also talked to Hillary Boyton, who runs school of lunch out of California, who's like the coolest lunch lady ever in California that's like revamped her entire school's lunch program. But a couple tips that they had said was, one, if you're transitioning your family

from a very high ultra-process food diet to real food, cooking those types of kid-friendly foods, like we're having macaroni and cheese and hamburgers and hot dogs, etc., chicken nuggets even, but it is made in a real food way. So instead of, you know, going to McDonald's, you're making your hamburger. from home and it's all real ingredients sourdough buns made from scratch etc or you know homemade chicken

nuggets things like that the second thing was having at least one thing on the table that you know each kid will eat so you've got this one kid who like i don't know that they're going to want any of this but there is this one like protein that they will eat or whatever so that that child if they choose not to eat any of the other foods there's at least something they'll get you know on their plate so i thought those were really good tips as well yeah like one kid of mine won't eat melted cheese because something's wrong with him. Melted cheese is the best. But so I wouldn't serve him a plate covered in melted cheese and then get frustrated that he won't eat it. Yeah. You know, but melted cheese is still going to be part of the meal somewhere, you know. But yeah, I think it's important to really

just respect where they're at. Everyone's got their own unique texture and taste preferences. And I respect that and support it. But I also am not going to be a short order cook. Totally. Do you cook with aluminum foil? No. So aluminum is a neurotoxin. And when we're cooking with just like with plastic, it can be leaching into our food more. So I do even, I still, after all these years, I have a couple of pans that are aluminum, but I'll put a barrier in between the aluminum and my food. And I don't use aluminum foil, except when I do use aluminum foil, but it's like when we're grilling and I can't just wrap my corn in parchment, but I'll wrap my corn in parchment and then I'll wrap it in aluminum foil. So it's not in contact with the aluminum, but it's also not burning

over the fire. What about Ziploc bags? So plastic, again, and we're usually using it in contact with our food. So I like silicone bags or wrapping things in parchment or using glass containers. I still have some plastic bags like from my food delivery orders and I'll reuse them for other things, but usually not for my food. Is there a good storage option for breast milk that isn't plastic? Ooh, I don't, you know, I've seen people do glass mason jars. Okay. Little glass mason jars.

That's how I used to do the kids food when I was like first prepping all their food for first foods. do a little glass mason jars and keep those in the freezer. What is a low tox thing that your husband now does automatically? Oh, a lot of things, which I think is really encouraging because this was not his ship. He was not sailing this thing. He's been very supportive and he will try lots of things, but some things just he's not ready for or like when I first started starting to get him on less toxic deodorant, they were making him smell worse. Like not just not wearing deodorant. Like I was like it was poisoning him or something. But then we found. some that he likes. And so he'll do that automatically. And one of the first things that was kind of

more him driving the ship was meat because it tastes better. Like the pasture raised meat, he was like, this actually tastes better. So I don't even care what it costs. Like we should be getting good meat. So that's one of them. Yeah. And the other ones that just been like over time, me introducing things or, you know, I'm usually when doing the shopping for food and products. So if he likes it, it'll keep going with it. You talk a lot about grace over perfection. What is one area of your life that still isn't perfect and that's okay. So many. Yeah, I talked about the aluminum pans. So many areas of my life are not perfect. But we're talking about living less toxic. Yeah, I have my aluminum muffin tins and I'm not going to replace them until there's a better alternative.

I don't want a six muffin cast iron that's heavy. I don't have room for that. So I will wait until there's a 12 muffin cast iron or stainless with a good core that's a heat. You know, I'll wait until there's one just like all my swaps. It has to meet my needs and meet my budget. And so that's one of them. Gosh, there's got to be a ton more. I need my husband here to tell us. I get my nails done. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. I get my nails done too. When people ask like, well, you expect everybody to be perfect because you're perfect. I'm like, no. I would say I'm basically perfect on all my food. And then cleaning products, body products. Where I'm not perfect is is hair care, skin care, makeup. And then, yeah, nails.

Like I dye my hair, you know, get spray tans, which are like there's some that are better than others. I don't know that anything's totally non-toxic. That really works. And then clothing. I don't, I'm not only wearing natural fiber clothing. Underwear, yes. But otherwise, I'm not like trying to be a stickler on that. Some people are and then they're fine with it. But I also like want to wear more colors than just like beige. Yeah. Yeah. Same. Yeah. I've switched all my exercise and sleep stuff to natural fibers. But daytime stuff, it's the priorities. Bedroom's a big priority because you're in your bed for a third of your life, at least, right? And in your bedroom. So those kinds of things. And things that are in contact with my body and especially more sensitive areas.

What are you wearing for workouts? Cotton with stretch in it. So there's like packed and mate the label. There's another one. I don't know how to pronounce it with an N. I haven't bought theirs yet. But there's more and more options becoming available, which is really nice. I need you to tell everybody about your two books. And I need to just say, in my opinion, nobody has written a better introduction to non-toxic living and cooking than you have. Your books are phenomenal. That is my go-to gift for wedding showers, birthdays. It is such a beautiful coffee table book, which I love because then you can indoctrinate your guests when they come to your house onto all this lifestyle stuff. So this is the book. Everybody's like, well, where can I learn more about how to do this and be better? Like, it is

Sean's book. So tell them about your two books. Thank you. Alex is making me cry. So my first book is a healthier home and it's a room-by-room guide to make any area of your life a little less toxic. And I wanted it to be a resource guide along the way because I don't believe in a quick fix or a magic pill. I believe this is a lifestyle that we live with for the rest of our days. So I wanted it to be something that will hold your hand no matter what, like we talked about light bulbs, or maybe it's bedding, or maybe it's your clothing or cleaning products that you can turn to an area of that book to help hold your hand while you make informed decisions for that next swap or level up that you're going to do.

So it covers literally every area of the home from the living room to the bedroom to the bathroom, even some in the garden, like we talked about some of those insect repellents and things like that and sun care and bug bites and things. So it covers it covers it covers it all. And then my second book is a healthier home cook and that's where I really dial in on the kitchen. So it has 75 or more recipes that are all gluten-free just because I am and they're all whole food, real food ingredients that are also really simple. Most of them are very, very simple. And there are a lot of those fun foods that I've recreated so that they can nourish my family. So we have chicken noodle soup in there, but it's Damien's mineral-rich chicken noodle soup that has all, this is the best chicken noodle soup

I've ever had. Okay, I'm sad. I am hype. Yeah. So good. It's like a little less conventional, but it's so, so good. But other things in there are like taco boats or like the bacon, wrap meatloaf, lots of things. So it's got all the recipes and a little bit of a handholding there, but it also has a whole kitchen chapter where I get into the more nitty-gritty about like your pots and pants and all the different materials you might use in your kitchen and a shopping guide and a pantry guide to help you make those decisions along the way too. Where can people find you on Instagram? I'm at a little less toxic everywhere. If you could offer one remedy to heal a sick culture, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, what would it be? I thought a lot about this because

I hear you ask this every episode and I always love everyone's answers, but I tell people all the time that there's no one-size-fits-all anything outside of Jesus. And they're usually talking to me, about like, what if that shampoo doesn't work for me or like, how do I heal this? And a lot of times people really want like a prescription or a solution or a format, a remedy that will work for everyone. And I just don't think that exists outside of Jesus. So we're talking about healing a sick culture. So what's culture? It's like a reflection of a heart issue. And in holistic wellness space, we talk about root cause. So how do we heal sick hearts? It's Jesus. He's the only way. He rescued me He has helped me to heal and he's offered me eternal life.

And I want everyone to know that. I just love you so much. I'm so glad that we became friends. We've been friends online, but this is actually our first time meeting in person. And I'm hoping to see you in a month at a little dinner I'm hosting. So I'm just ecstatic to have you and have been wanting to have you on the show forever. It's been like a lot of back and forth trying to get you on. Shauna is like the best person to follow for really easy, simple practical tips.

Everybody is like, I'm sick of being overwhelmed. This is like the least overwhelming person you could follow on Instagram when it comes to this world. Thank you, Shana, for just being a friend and coming on culture apothecary. Thank you. I am so proud of you in what you've built here, and I cannot wait to see what the Lord does with you next. She is the best. Please leave a five-star review. Tell others why they must, must, must, must be making culture apothecary their number one podcast. I put out new episodes every Monday and Thursday, 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern. We're healing a sick culture, baby, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I'm Alex Clark, and this is Culture Apothecary.