Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - This Is Messing With Your Hormones

Episode Date: March 31, 2026

How much are everyday products affecting your hormones? In this episode of Just As Well, Gemma Atkinson and Claire Sanderson speak to functional medicine health coach Kirsty Smith about endocrine disruptors hidden in fragrance, cleaning products, plastics, skincare, clothing, and even blue light. They discuss how these toxins may affect metabolism, periods, fertility, energy, sleep, and overall health — plus simple low-tox swaps you can start making today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to Westjetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Hi, I'm Gemma Atkinson. And I'm Claire Sanderson.

We've just spoke to Kirsty Smith on our podcast. just as well, who is a functional medicine health coach. So knowledgeable. It was incredible. It really was. So she is an expert in endocrine disruptors, which are toxins in our everyday products from house fragrances, detergents, creams we put on our skin,

even blue light, and how they impact our hormones, and how actually quite catastrophic they can be to our holistic health. She spoke about how toxins affect your metabolism. They can be linked to obesity. They can be linked to heavy periods. Fertility issues. Fertility issues. And it's things that are so overlooked because many products now are marketed on their fragrance

or on how they feel on the body. And she told us things like, you know, about pragmatic swaps over being perfect. Things like if you don't want to stop wearing your favorite perfume, just spray it on the ends of your hair or your clothes, not on your thyroid glands, which you're told to do, hasn't it? Spray it on your neck. She also gave us her number one tip

when looking at labels. And we won't share what that is because I think it's worth listening. Yes. But this one thing is in so many of the basic products that we use from the minute we get up until the minute we go to bed. And she said you need to look out for that on the label.

And if it's there, don't use it. Be cautious. Yes. But then she offers practical solutions in how you can. can live because, you know, we all need to wear clothes because it's even in our clothes. I know. It's everywhere. Yes. And like she even said herself, she is overwhelming and she said

when she started her journey 10 years ago, she was very overwhelmed. But there are just small changes. She doesn't expect, I mean, no one can be perfect all of the time. I mean, it's a modern day world. There's blue light everywhere. There's toxins everywhere. Everyone's just doing the best they can. But with this episode, I really think you will find ways to make small changes at home, which can make a massive difference long term. So sit back, relax and enjoy the air. This is our podcast, Just as Well, and today's guest on Just As Well,

is the brilliant Kirsty Smith. Kirsty is the founder of Natural Ray's Well-Being Consultancy. She's a functional medicine health coach specialising in hormone and menstrual health. She works with women to better understand their menstrual cycle, helping us all navigate better moods, less brain fog and consistent energy, which here at women's health,

we're all for. Thank you so much for joining us. I wanted to start by asking you, what was it that actually inspired you to focus on women's hormones? Because it's a subject that there's not enough knowledge about it. Yeah, exactly that. So I had my own hormone health journey. So I think a lot of women in similar sort of industries to me, I'd say, is that we've all kind of had our own journey. I worked in the construction sector for 10 years and I developed a thyroid condition. And I didn't know for ages that I had a thyroid condition. But the main thing I was struggling with at that time was adult acne after never having any skin issues as a teenager. So it was pretty rude as a lady of 28. And then, you know, with brain fog, chronic fatigue, low mood, zero libido. And I just thought,

what is going on? So that kind of led me down a path of healing. So trying to understand my body better. So why was this happening? And I think. think because I was dealing with acne, I was using a lot of products. You know, anything that said for acne prone skin, you bet I was doing it. I was having loads of different facials. And then at the time, I was living in Australia. So it was a little bit more holistic. I had more access to different holistic therapies, naturopathic medicine. And that's where I started to learn about environmental toxins and actually maybe what I was putting onto my skin to help with the acne in the long term was actually working against my overall hormonal balance really and actually

working against what I was wanting to heal which was my thyroid issue. So it's toxins in everyday products that were disrupting hormones and And the outcome of that can be quite catastrophic to a woman's health or to a person's health. Yeah, it really blew my mind when I learned about it. So I went to this workshop in Australia with a natural beauty, like, makeup artist. And that's where I learned about all the different ingredients, different chemicals that go into the products that I was using every single day. And it just never occurred to me that there could be things in our products,

whether that's stuff that we're using at home, like our cleaning products, or the things that we're putting on our skin, that could actually have an impact on my health. It was just something I'd never considered. And I think it was just a little bit of a light bulb moment for me. Obviously, there are many factors that contribute to our overall health, but that factor in terms of the products that I was using had never come into it. You know, I was really dialed in with my nutrition.

I was moving my body. so I was sort of like, well, I'm healthy. Yeah, what are doing wrong? What am I doing wrong? So this to me was a little bit of a light bulb moment. So I felt like, okay, is this the missing piece to sort of uncover, you know, what could have been contributing to what I was experiencing, really?

And there's toxins everywhere, though. I mean, I was saying to you earlier, the reason I used to love them plug-ins when I bought my first house, it was put a plug in every room because it smells warm and cozy. And the reason I stopped using them, was when we got our dogs, Norman Olly, they've passed now. But I stopped using them because I remember thinking, oh, I bet it's quite overpowering for Norman and Olly.

And they're at the head height, you know, as a little spaniel dog, their head height is where the plug would be. So I stopped for their benefit, not thinking it would affect me at all because I was a human, I was taller, it wouldn't affect me. But things like that that were sold or were marketed to buy because it makes our house seemingly a clean environment can actually do the complete opposite.

Yeah, exactly. And without this conversation seeming overwhelming, this is all about education so that we actually just have an understanding of what's going on. But yeah, fragrances is one of those terms that could potentially hide up to 3,000 ingredients under that one term on, say, your candle that you have. If it's got, like, you know, all the wax and different things,

then it'll say fragrance. that could be many other different chemicals under that one term. And that's where the concern with having lots of fragrances in our home sort of comes from. It's like, well, what else is in there that they don't need to tell us about? Because fragrance is a trade secret. So, you know, they don't need to tell us what they put in there. It's a proprietary blend. And that's what I would say, as somebody that's concerned about hormone health,

is always looking out for us like, well, what could potentially be in that fragrance? Can we break it down then? So what are the negative impacts of toxins on your body? So fertility, mental health, hormones, which is just a catch-all phrase because it dictates everything about us. Can you break it down? What are the negative impacts these toxins can have on our day-to-day well-being and life? style. Yeah, so there's a number of different ways that they can impact, but exactly what you said. So they're known as endocrine disrupting chemicals. So what does that mean? They disrupt the sensitive, delicate

balance of a number of our hormones and the chemical messengers that are constantly happening between the brain and the ovaries or in men between the brain and the testes. So with certain chemicals, they can mimic our natural estrogen. So a lot of them are known as what we call like ex-no-estrogens. So the body can't tell the difference between is it an actual estrogen hormone that's on the receptor or is a synthetic one? So bring this back to women's health, what does that mean?

It means that we could have all of the symptoms of excess estrogen. So think heavy periods, clotty periods, hot flushes, all of those types of things, other sort of estrogen-driven conditions, endometriosis, fibroids, it will impact fertility. We know that over the last 50 years, the rate of sperm and quality has declined. So that's, I suppose, in a snapshot, is impacting it. And also, we know that these chemicals can cross the barrier between mum and baby. found in the umbilical cord they've been found in breast milk so you know when we say like oh

how bad is it you know it is it can get quite bad so it's just to understand okay where are they and how can I empower myself to make different choices that are going to have positive impacts for me and would it be things like obviously we've spoke about candles and fragrances I mean I love incense in my house I'm kind of I love that But things like I do a lot of food prep, so I'll cook on a Sunday and a Wednesday. I made the switch from plastic Tupperware to glass Tupperware because again I was reading, even though the foods are already pre-cooked and it's not being cooked in the plastic, plastic can still seep into it. Is that true?

Yeah, so that's down to typically with plastics. You've got like bisophenyls, like BPAs. So we see now a lot of products like BPA-free, which is great. But then the chemical industry are catching up. so quickly that it might not be BPAs that are the problem. It might be a different version. So it could be BPSs. So ideally when it comes to food prep and storing food, exactly like what you've just said there, Gem, switching to glass containers is a really great option. The main issue comes with plastic and food is one if we are heating it. So, you know, if anybody

listening is using the microwave to heat anything in plastic, please just stop and just either put it on a plate or you know and switch to glass containers because that the changing in the heat so it's the same when it's frozen as well will just impact how the food inside there whether the plastic is going to leach into it so it's that change in temperature so many soups come in plastic container i was just thinking the amount of healthy yeah they all they all do sold as a healthy soup and you lift the plastic lid off rest it on top and microwave it yeah yeah oh my gosh so if we're doing that it's not to then think, oh my God, I can't buy anything that's in plastic. Let's be real. And this is why, you know, what we're talking about here is like the advocation of like a low tox life, not a zero toxin

life because that's not possible. We've got to live our lives. So, you know, if we do go out and we buy those things in plastic and then we want to come back and heat them up, just put it into a different container. Put it, there's no reason you can't just put it into a bowl, put a place on top of it and heat it that way. So that's the reason with plastics that that can be an issue. It's the it's not only the change in in the heat, but also foods that are acidic can make the plastic kind of leach into them as well.

So those are just some key things to consider. So when it comes to storing food, say you would just transport in a salad that's not really changing in temperature. Is that the worst thing? No. But if you're going to, say you're doing your meal prep and you've got your containers lined up and that food is hot going in, ideally not.

Or if you're doing it to then put it into the freezer, again like it's an investment i i just went into like a home wish or shop recently and pretty much bought like so much pyrex um but it's it's just so helpful and then i've got a stainless steel lunchbox that i take for traveling because obviously a lot of people don't want to travel with glass so there are different options as well you just mentioned acidic food can you give me an example like something tomato based for instance we meal prep a lot so much bag balls yeah yeah exactly so that can cause the leaching of the plastic as well because of the acidity. And what about the fact that we've just mentioned soup contain,

you know, you buy soup is in a plastic, but I would say 95% of the food you buy from the supermarket is in plastic, even berries come in plastic. You know, you can go to some sort of whole food type stores and they'll come in carbure, but it's not your regular supermarket fodder. Is there still contamination coming from those types of plastic? What I would say is that it's more, be concerned more about the change in temperature. So if it's things that are probably like with raspberries, it's probably gone in at a normal temperature and it's continued like that.

Obviously there's a slight difference in frozen berries, but we've got to be real about what we can actually do as well. So I think there's almost look at these things as like a hierarchy. Where should I start? And it would always be, what are we cooking food in? What are we freezing food in? Not to be concerned about everything in the supermarket because honestly, that will cause you so much stress that then is pointless even being on this journey

because as we know stress can be even more detrimental to our hormone health. So it's very much about just trying to do the best that you can with the options that you can. Like for me, you know, one thing that was bothering me is that you go to buy a pack of mints, for instance, and it's vacuum packed in plastic. This is my biggest bug there.

Even when I try and go to the butcher's, they'll try and fog me off with like, oh, would you get the one out of fridge? And I'm like, no, no. can you give me the one fresh out of this? So that's one way that I'm trying to get around that. But sometimes it's not possible. Sometimes I do buy the vacuum-packed mints at the supermarket.

Again, it's like try to just do the best that we can. Yeah, because it's everywhere, isn't it? I mean, I'm just thinking there's loads of different brands of water, all in plastic bottles. And they're sold based on the spring fresh quality, mounting fresh water. But ultimately, you put in every single one of them in a plastic bottle anyway. Exactly. And again with water, yes, I drink out of a plastic bottle. What I'd be more concerned about is leaving it in the car.

In the heat. And that warming up. Do you know what I mean? So again, like typically they'll be kept in a refrigerator. I see people, I go to the sauna quite regularly. I see people bring in their plastic. And I just say, you might want to just leave that outside because it's so hot in here. That's going to start to, you know, I can, I know what's going to happen. And I'm like, you might not want your water to get warm in here anyway. But you just say, but you might not want your water to get warm in here anyway. But you just. just things like that. So, you know, bottled water. Yeah, everything is in water. But again, I think be mindful about when that's kind of changing in temperature. So you've got the plastics and food. You've mentioned fragrances in the home, beauty products or creams. I mean, I feel like I just don't know what I can do now if I can't use my creams and my shampoos. We will come on to more practical tips on how to low-tox your life. But what about the sort of under the radar exposures that might be exposing ourselves to without realizing things like blue light, etc. Yeah, blue light is huge in terms of when we're talking about hormone health and, you know, we are exposed to light all of the

time really from the moment we wake up in the morning, especially in these darker days in winter, for instance. We are constantly then in the light until then we go to bed or devices and that can have a really big impact on our melatonin production. So that's the hormone that should be elevated due in the night to help us sleep. It's really anti-inflammatory. It does a lot of like cleaning up throughout the night. So we want to as much as possible have like a wind down routine as well. Or maybe that's why you see people wearing blue light blocking glasses like the orange tinted glasses. Or maybe you know, people have, I have a app that changes the color of my screen throughout the day, depending on what time of day it is.

So I think exactly that we don't realize how much our modern environment, as amazing as it is to have light and heating all the time, how much this is actually having an impact on our health. Because if we think about it, you know, 100 years ago, not everybody had lights at home. If you think of where we are now in terms of the inventions that we have,

facial recognition, you know, all of this kind of stuff, that's what happened over that last, hundred years our biology hasn't changed we haven't adapted to this to this modern technology which is amazing but our bodies are like don't understand the difference between the light from inside versus the light from the sunshine so this is why melatonin production can be impacted because the the pineal gland here that's receiving the message is like well still daytime so

no wonder so many of us feel tired but wired in the evening yeah I That's one thing I am really strict on in our house is that I, the first thing I do when I wake up is open my curtains and look outside. And in the summer, it's lovely. In the winter, it's kind of still pitch black. It doesn't really do anything there. But I have the blue light block of glasses that you say as well. Go, because I look like Jeffrey Dahmer when I wear them.

But I'll take that because it does help me sleep better, especially if I like, because when you're a busy mom, the only time I get to watch any of my series is when I'm in bed, when everyone else is asleep. But I do find if I watch it. just watch something with the glasses on, I do still find myself nodding off or as if I'm watching it with the glasses off,

I'm wide and I'm wide awake watching it. So there is definitely something in that for sure. And it's intense. When you take those glasses off, if you're like, whoa. Just normal glasses with a different lens. Different lens. They're normally, they've got, you can have different ones for like different times

of the day, but typically the most common ones for blue light blocking are those kind of orange, tinge ones that you see. I wear glasses. most of the time so you can get the lens built into the prescription but I don't think it's as strong red light but there's settings on our phones now that we can have to actually do the blue light reducing function on it you know that's why a lot of people now have like the black background on their phones and on their laptops so there are lots of ways that we can mitigate that impact as well

but I think for me understanding okay the biology that I'm working with hasn't been designed for all of these modern things that we have access to. So how can I try and live more in accordance with that, obviously without like being a candlelight in the evening and stuff? But I think that wind down routine and get in daylight as soon as you, as soon as the sunrises is super helpful. You even put a light in your fridge, don't they? It's so bright that light as well.

For those late night snacky snacks. When I was pregnant, I was going in the fridge at all hours and I could see everything. I was like, oh, wow, like a kid in a sweet shop. That light is so bright as well. Is it true? There's been links to obesity and hormone health through these toxins. Yes. So this was one of the things that absolutely blew my mind. So some of the chemicals are known, where they're called, Obesogens. And if anybody here is like, this seems really far-fetched. Just a quick Google search of it. And there are loads of recent studies on it as well. So our body is incredible in the fact that there are, you know, it's constantly just,

searching around, okay, is this meant to be here? Is this toxin meant to be here? Obviously, our liver and our kidneys and everything are working to release those toxins. But then if the body identifies that something shouldn't be in there, it'll take it out of the bloodstream and it'll put it in our fat tissues and it'll store it there. It's kind of safe there out of the way. But then the fact that it is there can drive metabolic issues.

Again, it can drive excess estrogen because our fat in itself, is an organ as well as is muscle. So that is where, you know, the chemicals can become Obesogens and they can drive things like cravings as well. So they impact our, those hunger Q hormones. So it impacts us in a myriad of different ways. So I think this is really important and it's something that I'm very passionate about helping women understand, especially when it comes to weight management because as women are very hard on ourselves of like, why isn't the calories in versus calories out approach working for me and it's not always just that simple. There's a hormonal component but then there's also okay what is the environmental impacts as well. Yeah.

Are some people more sensitive or susceptible to the disrupting elements of these toxins than others because when I think of obesity for instance some people struggle with their weight and in a constant battle with it. I would describe myself as that person and then other people seem to not have that issue. So does that mean that I may be more sensitive to these obesigens and the impact is having on my body than someone who is naturally someone who goes through life being slimmer?

That is a really great question. I can handle how to say I wouldn't know for certain. But obviously we have genetic components as well. And through functional medicine, and training. We were kind of trying to understand the root cause of what is happening for a lot of people. We learned a lot about the genetic components. So obviously 20% of what we experience is down to genetics, but 80% is down to our environment as to whether we switch those genes on or off. So I think it comes down to, you know, our lifestyle is a soup, isn't it? And we're all doing different

things in our lifestyle. So it really depends on what else is going into that soup as well. And just because somebody isn't holding fat on their body, we don't know what's happening on the fat on our organs either. So, you know, that's where this term like skinny fat comes from as well. So you might be like, oh, I'm okay because I'm not holding any fat, but we don't know where is that being stored internally as well. So, yeah. And I think coming back to a key point as well around this is that our hormones are so sensitive. Like we can all have probably experienced like, you know, when we have PMS, we're like things yeah I'm really sensitive but our hormones are really sensitive to our environment so

it doesn't take much of these things you know I think there's a big school of thought around environmental toxins that it's like the dose makes the poison so it's the amount that you have so as long as you keep it low dose things will be fine when it comes to endocrine disrupting chemicals that's not the case a small dose can have an impact because of how sensitive our natural hormones are to those changes. As women, we go through a hormonal roller coaster in life from teens, you know, and all the, all the picks and troughs that goes on when you're going through puberty in your 20s, then you're probably, or more likely then to have children at, you know, late 20s, 30s, then you hit your 40s where we are now. I'm in my late 40s, so very firmly in

the perimenopause. Are there periods in life where we're, we, women seem more susceptible to the impact of these toxins based on their hormonal journey? I would say probably not. We are probably more at risk when we are younger to having certain chemicals, like the impact of them. But also something to consider as well is, you know, girls are having their periods so much younger. Like I can't even imagine being in primary school having my period. I was not ready for that and this is actually becoming quite common now

so you know that is a contributing factor our environment is a contributing factor to that and I think all as you've mentioned all the way along there are various different hormonal fluctuations so it can impact

us in a myriad of different ways it might show up in different ways at different times you know if we're talking about the perimenopausal experience when we think about excess estrogen at a time when estrogen is already fluctuating so wildly anyway, could it be a contributing factor to those heavy periods, the flooding, those types of experiences, hot flushes, it's definitely all contributing. But in terms of like sensitivity to them, obviously the younger we are, but it's going to stay with us. You know, it's important, I would say, for all ages to consider.

And for anyone listening now who's obviously sat in perfume, scented moisture, with an incense stick, which I probably would be, it's probably overwhelming. I mean, I've learnt a lot anyway. But in terms of pragmatic swaps over perfection, because like you say, it is a modern life, people are trying the best. What simple steps can people start doing like from today? Yeah. So I would always look at what are the things that you are using a lot of and sort of like every

single day. And if you're thinking about a family, what's the impact of everything? So I always say, if somebody is asking me, where should I start at home? And I was like, right, just look at your laundry to turn. Look at what you're cleaning your house with because with cleaning, we're spraying it in the air, it's staying on surfaces, that type of thing. So look at what's running out and what can I replace it with. So we don't have to, you know, we're all different personality types.

When I started on this journey, I went home and I threw everything away. Just that's my personality type. But also we don't have, you know, that's wasteful. We don't have the resources. So it could just be what's running out next. Let me buy something different. That's one school of thought. But I would say start with laundry detergents.

a really good way, cleaning products, so things at home. So, you know, look at your home as like the high watermark. Like you get to control what comes in and out of your home and you can start to make those swaps. Like you've already mentioned, like those plug-in air fresheners, scented candles that maybe you're not sure are they made with essential oils, what is the wax that you're burning, those types of things. So just look for the opportunity. And especially with the home fragrance in, like for me, you know, I've had people noticing changes with their migraines. So it's not just the hormonal component.

It could be allergies, it could be migraines, headaches, those types of things that could also potentially improve as well. What if I'm going to go home tonight and look at that? What am I looking for? And then what should I swap it for? So the biggest thing that I would say to look out for on ingredients labels is that term fragrance. Because like I said, within that term fragrance,

there could be up to 3,000 undisclosed ingredients. And the main one of concern within fragrance is something called phallates. You will never see it on a label. But if it's in fragrance, it's potential to be there. So using your example of fabric softener, how does fabric softener stay on your clothes to enable your clothes to smell fresh? You know, we've all seen the adverts for days, weeks. Phallates is a plasticizing chemical that essentially makes fragrances sticky. So that's how fragrances can stay.

to us. So for me, I would just look at the ingredients label. If it says fragrance on there and it's not got a little asterisk next to it that says fragrance with essential oils, then look for an alternative brand. So like a fragrance free one? You could go fragrance free. I have one that's then just, it uses essential oils. Okay. So if you still like to have a fragrance, or like lavender or eucalyptus, you can still have fragrance, but it will say on there, it will clearly asterisks that is from essential oils. And if you're not, you're not, you know, not sure because sometimes the marketing you know so clever just

DM them on Instagram I DM brands all the time can you tell me what's in your fragrance is it natural or is it synthetic they respond they do mostly yeah it is really really interesting I have a beauty brand and we're currently with ours

we are moisturizers fragrance free suitable for all skin types there's been a few people wanting a fragrance and Angie's one of our lead product developers and she said to me if we put a fragrance in, it's no longer suitable for all skin types. And she says, and there's a percentage of alcohol that has to then go in there. There's all these things. And she said the only safe way to do it is to use an essential oil, which we did. But then I didn't like the texture with the essential

oil. It changed the texture of it. So for me, I'm like, I'm just keeping it fragrance free. It's not everyone's a cup of tea. But having you confirm as well, it's the safest way to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Like some people will say, like, especially with skin care, so I think is this going on our skin. Some people are sensitive to even essential oils. You know, because even nature has chemical compounds, right? This is why when people are saying about low-tox living, or you can't remove all chemicals, because water is a chemical. So get that. So for some people, fragrance-free is a good option because they have sensitive skin even to like natural fragrance. So I think that's why a lot of even natural brands would prefer to not even

have essential oils. Essential oils, yeah, as well. Something about fragrance, though, that makes it smell more expensive. And it's more more. It's a nostalgia to certain sense. What about, I love a candle. I love candles at Christmas. Is soy wax? Yeah, soy wax or like beeswax.

Right, okay. Yeah, yeah, beeswax and candles as well. So, yeah, those would be, if I was looking at a criteria if I'd have in my house, I'd go beeswack first. Okay. I would be mindful of like those, I know those melts are really popular as well.

those can be highly fragranced. You can get candles even with essential oils as well. We also, it's like never ending list, but like the wick of the candle, just to know what that's made of, because some of them could have lead and different things like that. Yeah, because some of them have yet black smoke, don't they? Really dark, musty smoke. And I sometimes think, what the hell's in that to make it like that? So you'll find with, I would find, with most natural brands, say they're making their candles with beeswax. They're more naturally minded, I would say. So they might actually say what their wick is made of as well if they don't again just ask and they can they can sort of tell you is it not as simple as

i like a very nice candle brand i'm not going to name it but she does lovely perfumes as well which i also wear the candles are very expensive and you know it have to be like on your christmas list rather than buy it yourself but it doesn't necessarily mean more expensive is better and that's to go that's that's to go with everything as well yeah you could compare like the most expensive moisturiser on the market versus one of the cheapest on the market and their ingredients would be very similar.

So, you know, a lot of it we're paying for clever marketing versus ingredients that are better for our health. If we like really nice smell in homes, you know, that's why the diffusers are so popular now. You know, you can get really nice diffuses

with like a candle flicker set in as well. So it doesn't mean that we can't have those things in our homes. It just means choosing the option that might be more. support it for us and it doesn't cost loads as well. Like you can buy lots of different essential oils fairly cost effectively. Where do you see this going in the future? Obviously with people like yourself raising so much awareness. Yeah. Is our change is being made or is it a case of these companies of putting pounds before people's health still? I think a lot of it now is consumer driven and this is really good.

I've been on this journey for 10 years and I am like far from perfect. There are some big things on my bucket list that I've still got to buy. So it's just very much like small steps is where the action is. But I definitely feel since when I started this journey to where we are now, we have got so much more choice. You can walk into a supermarket and there are options to have fragrance free or ones that use essential oil.

That wasn't the case before. So I think that with everything in the market, if we change the way that we spend and we choose those brands that not only care for our, health, but the health of the planet, they become more popular, then that's when then brands, you know, a lot of brands now, like the big brands like L'Oreal, they'll all have some of those smaller companies within them that are a bit more naturally minded, shall we say. So it's definitely driven that way. In terms of like government policy, I'm not going to get political, but if we just

see what's happening in America, a lot of the environmental protections are being revoked. So we're actually going back. So I'm not, I personally don't believe it's going to be policy and government driven. I think it has to be consumer driven by empowering ourselves and voting with our pound. That is the most powerful vote that we have is actually wanting to buy from those brands that care about our health. There was a reversing policy recently in the UK where brands are going to be charged by the weight of the packaging and I saw a segment on for the recite to recycle and I saw a segment on the BBC speaking to I think it was a garlic company said we use glass because it's more sustainable and it's clearly they didn't mention this but it's better for what you're talking about

but this new government policy is going to cost them 80,000 pounds a year more to recycle their jars and therefore they might be forced to go back and use plastic so if there's a step backwards in policy even in the UK yeah and that I think that feels like not everything is joined up thinking is that you probably feel like you're making progress in one area and it's you don't imagine that it's going to have a knock on impact on those businesses that are maybe trying to use better quality material in their products so yeah and is it like with the food industry whereby if you want to eat healthy you have to pay more money which is ridiculous.

But is that what it's like in products as well? The better it is for you, the more expensive it is. I don't necessarily think that is the case because going back to what we were saying earlier about how there are some really high-end brands that pay more for marketing than they do for what the ingredients are. I actually think what I found personally on my journey is that my routine is so stripped back now.

I'm so basic when it comes to my routine that I think in the long term, I'm saving money to then be able to do some of the best. bigger ticket items that I want you know there's things like we haven't even touched on it like clothes the clothing that we wear the bed in that we lie in you know the materials in our furniture so you know for me I'm like okay where are the bigger ticket items that I've been wanting to do for a while that I haven't been able to yeah so like going back to nature is it just simple keeping everything stripped back simple in food and products and we can't go wrong well can we can we talk about clothes then because

we all need to wear them. Yeah. So what? Yes. This is a little bit of a mind field and I would say like I, I've just died on this journey because for a little while I was like, oh, I don't want to think about it. It was. It was too much.

And like I love to train. I love certain leggings, you know, that I've loved for a number of years. And, you know, they've got these forever chemicals in them, the PFAs, you know, because they're sweat-wicking, waterproof, stain resistant, all of this kind of stuff. These are forever chemicals that normally stay in us. potentially forever but stay in our environment and most common brands um will have them so i've slowly been trying to transition what i'm wearing so trying to choose you know linen or cotton workout clothing is really tricky because it's really tricky yeah no i know so like bamboo

is another option but again when you're used to wearing a certain type of leg in the transition feels you know it's quite jarring i would just struggle because I love the scalped in high-wasted yes make your bum look great those type of leggings yeah is there something in I bought spray I've not actually yet used it but it was a detoxification to remove all the lead and microplastics and stuff is it worth us all in this busier lifestyle perhaps maybe two three times a year giving our body a detox in terms of it with this one I can't remember the brand of it's a white bottle and you're supposed to spray it in the morning under your tongue and before bed and it's supposed to strip your body of

heavy metals and stuff. Is it worth us trying to, I mean even in terms of liver detoxes for ourselves, would that be something that we should be doing? Like it's really tricky with heavy metal detoxes and I would always say like work with somebody if you're going to do it because it can be quite intense what you go through as well and that's definitely not as a health coach, it's not my area of expertise but in terms of what we can do to support the body to detox is obviously sweating, moving our body, so we're moving the lymphatic system, supporting the liver, so make sure we're hydrating enough,

there's certain herbal teas we can drink, castor oil packs, I'm a big fan of as well to support the liver. You wrap them round, you don't know, yeah, I've seen them. And there are binding chemicals that you can take that are meant to, you know, scoop up some of that stuff inside. So like charcoal. Yeah, charcoal. I have that as well in water sometimes, yeah.

You can even do like, deepened. detox baths as well. So you could have your Epsom salts, your bentonite clay, those types of things. So those types of practices can be really helpful. I would just always advise a bit of caution with these heavy metal detoxes you can buy online and just, you know, if you're wanting to go down that route, if you think the heavy metals might be an issue for you, maybe consider working with a practitioner so they can actually test. You can get like hair and mineral analysis done and then they could put you on a protocol. I'm a little bit nervous. I've just buying something and using it.

Yeah, well, that's why I've not done mine. I've had it on my sideboard for a long time. And I've just not done it yet. I've done the activated charcoal when I got really poorly once. And I had activated charcoal. And it could have been placebo, I don't know, but it felt good for me. But my mum saw it in my cupboard and she said, what's this? What is it?

And on the back it said it's used to treat overdose, people who's had an overdose. And she said to me, why do you need this? What are you doing? And I said, I'm obviously not taking drugs. and overdosing mum I said it was just when I was ill yeah I read that it combined all the bacteria and get me better quicker and it did and again I don't use it all the time but it's just occasionally a couple of times a year I'll have some and it must be doing something it changes you poo yeah it does like I remember when I was living in Australia I read about it and I was like I'll

drink I'll have it when I've been out drinking yeah so to be like just you know trying to get rid all those toxins as soon as possible so you know again like we need to support the liver so anything you know Google liver supporting herbs, like anything bitter, milk thistle, that type of stuff can support the liver to detox. So I would just say like, yeah, a bit of caution with those types of supplements. Can I take you back to your personal journey before we finish? So how soon after you adopting this lower tox lifestyle did you notice that your thyroid issues improved, your skin improved, your fatigue, your libido increased, etc. Yeah. So I wish I'd have documented it. better but it was I would say a good few months and one of the key things that I did when I was on

that journey was I swapped the acne you know skin wash all those quite I would say quite harsh and abrasive kind of products to actually an oil based product which is insane as somebody that struggles with acne are like you want me to put oil on my face but it was all natural oil based types of products and I would say within a few months it really started to improve. I'm not going to say that environmental toxins was like the silver bullet because I think when it comes to this work, there isn't just one thing in particular. It was probably a combination. I actually, as well as that, started to make sure I was eating enough because what I was doing was a lot of intense crossfit with no breakfast, no fuel after. I was just relying on caffeine.

So there's a lot of intermittent fasting. And the thyroid is very sensitive to stress. So I think that also had a positive impact as well. So it was a bit of a cumulative impact. But I would say there were some really positive changes that were able to happen within about 90 days. Wow. Yeah. And that's going back to, I think we would chat about this offline,

where the fragrances, you know, this can feel quite overwhelming. But if we start to remove fragrances, chemicals like phthalates can be detoxed by the body very, very quickly. So there is that part of those steps that we can take, the body can deal with them quite quickly, in particular with phallates, which is what we'll find in fragrances. Palates and bath bombs. Can I still wear my perfume though? So what I would say with anybody who loves a particular perfume, where do you spray your perfume? Neck and wrists.

What's here? My thyroid. Glans, yeah. So I also have a particular perfume that I like to wear when I go out. I will spray it on my clothes. Good. And you hear some people spray it in. On the ends of the hair can also be helpful.

So, but can you not wear it every day is what I would say as well? Like, keep it more for special occasions. Like I've got essential oil blends that I wear that still smell really lovely. Yeah. And there are more and more natural perfume brands starting to come out now as well. So we do have more choice. Yes. I might just go full on cavewomenes.

I'd go up or not even notice anyway. If I stopped wearing perfume and stuff, I don't think he'd notice. So I might just give it a try. Yeah, but then he can smell your actual, like, pheromones. Yeah, exactly. Gawker's a special chap, though. Gawker is just so not phased by all the stuff you come out with. Like you said earlier, oh, I'm stinking, and he just laughed.

Yeah, he's just probably like, I know. He's not bothered. Thank you so much for that. It's been real eye-opening. There's going to be people listening. Obviously, we've run out of time who want more information. Where can people find you? What's your handle in Instagram and stuff?

Yeah, thank you. So it's Natural Raise Hormone Harmony on Instagram and the website is just naturalraise.com. So yeah, if you've got any questions, because I know that was a lot, but just know that small steps can have such a positive impact. So that's the takeaway. It's you can't achieve it all, but everything makes a difference. Yeah, small steps over a long period of time will have a positive impact. So don't go thinking, oh my God, I've got to do everything now to start. to make that one small step and it will have that really good impact mine's going to be the plastic tappaway i'm genuinely going to go home tonight and get rid of it yeah i'm really fussy with that with meas me as lunchbox she has stainless steel and yeah everything and i know probably kids look at her and think she's strange but i'm like no you're taking it in that and that's it so before we finish we have some quick fire questions you've not been given the heads up so we need your gutting stink answers so jemma and i are stacking up our dinner invitations and we're coming up our dinner invitations and we're coming

Coming down to you in the Gower in South Wales, which is an absolutely beautiful area to live, I'm so jealous. But what are you going to cook us? I'm going to make you a nice, medium rare steak with some sweet potato fries, mushrooms and some sort of greens. Sweet potato fries. I love sweet potato fries. Yes, that's my favourite. So you'll go into a desert island for 12 months and you can only take one thing. What is it?

My water filter. That comes on holiday with me. Obviously, if I'm going in the UK, I wouldn't be like in my suitcase. But if I'm like in the camper van, that water filter comes with me. First time we've had that. Coffee or wine? Coffee. I'm currently 10 months alcohol free.

Really? Yeah, I've seen if I can do 12 months. So I love coffee. I love coffee. Coffee's my savior. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we have a little break in between podcasts, don't we? Yeah.

I'm going to have one after this. It's a treat. It's such a treat to go out for a coffee. Yeah, it's nice, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. What's the one thing that made you barely laugh? Recently.

So my partner sends me videos of our elderly dog. He doesn't have any teeth, so his tongue posts out all the time. And I was away, and he was sending me a morning video of just him in his bed with his really dry tongue that was essentially like wrapped under his chin. Oh, bless him. So that's making me belly laugh right now, just thinking about it. He's so sweet. What's he called? Kevin.

Kevin the dog. Oh, Kevin with his long tongs. Honestly, he's a little. legend. How old is it? I'm going to have to see the picture of Kevin with a long tongue after this. So good. 14.

What trooper. If there's one thing people listening today can do to make themselves feel a bit better, what is it? Just get out for a walk. I find that whatever is going on, if I'm stressed, if I'm in my head, if I can just get outside for a walk and see some trees, I normally feel so much better. We have that answer a lot, don't we?

Because it's free. Everyone can do it, you know? All the sea, you live to be found i come out of my front gate and i can see three cliffs bay yeah you're from different places in wales well i'm from the valleys oh okay yeah of course and then the gower is where i go on holidays every year with my husband and true under three clips bay campsites that is such a nice campsite so you're pretty much over there looking at my house wow it's lush beauty so nice so you're very lucky my plan is to retire to the gower so i can i can picture where you are talking about

Well, thank you so much for coming all the way from South West Wales today. Thank you. Thank you. You. I've got on the train of five o'clock this morning to come and see us. I did. So we're really privileged that you did that, aren't we? Yeah.

And you're going to help so many people start making changes. I'm for one, I've got things in my head, list in my head of what I'm going to do when I get home. So thank you so much and have a safe trip back. Thank you. Thank you.