Realfoodology - 10: Toss the Toxins with Allison of Branch Basics

Episode Date: November 4, 2020

I chat with Allison Evans the co-founder of Branch Basics about why we want to use non-toxic cleaning, household and beauty products and the health impact it has on our bodies and our health! Show Links: https://branchbasics.com/ https://branchbasics.com/pages/toss-the-toxins

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. When you think about the cleaning product aisle at the grocery store, really, it's kind of like a bunch of chemicals. It's a bunch of water with a few drops of pretty toxic chemicals, including synthetic fragrances and endocrine disruptors. And unfortunately, every other aisle is regulated, but this one is not. So yeah, we have to really be our own advocates for sure. Hi, guys.

Welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Swan. And, ooh, I just did it. I'm saying and a lot and I'm becoming very aware of it and I'm trying to not do that. Calling my own self out. You know, if I can't, who will? So today's episode is with one of the co-founders of a company called Branch Basics. And you may be wondering why I'm interviewing someone who founded a cleaning product company. You're going to quickly find out how this pertains to our health. We go to the ins and outs of what is in our commercial cleaning products and our beauty products. There's so much talk these days about non-toxic cleaning products and non-toxic beauty products.

There's just a lot of talk in general about non-toxic. I also think there's a lot of confusion around it. So I wanted to bring her on to really break that down and help people understand why this is so important. And even though this is not particularly food, we're still being exposed to these chemicals in our cleaning products on a daily basis, whether we're inhaling them through our lungs or we're putting them on our skin, they're getting sprayed in our house. If we have pets or babies crawling around on the floor, they're going to be exposed to any of that kind of stuff that we spray on the floor. And this has real serious consequences for our health. So I'm really stoked about this conversation. She is so amazing, so informative.

And it's just a, it's a really interesting conversation. So a lot of things that I didn't know either that I learned. So I really hope that you love this episode and leave with a understanding of why it's so important that we start switching to more non-toxic cleaner products in our house. Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals? Yes, that means your nonstick pans, your air fryers, your waffle makers, your blender could possibly have PFAS, and yes, even our beloved crock pots and pressure cookers. I have actually been talking about this for so long. Back in 2006, my mom came to my dorm room and made me get rid of all my nonstick pans

because she was concerned about me being exposed to something called Teflon. Teflon is a coating that is used on nonstick pans and a lot of these appliances that I just named. So I've avoided Teflon, nonstick, PFA coated appliances, pots and pans, you name it for a very long time. And the only option for the, for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like our place came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I have from our place, I legit want to store it on the counter. And I'm the type of person that does not want anything on my counter because I like it to look really just clean and minimal.

But I'm so obsessed with all the our place products that I have so many of them displayed on my counter because they are legit pieces of art. Our place is a mission driven and female founded brand that makes beautiful kitchen products that are healthy and sustainable. All their products are made without PFAS, which are the forever chemicals, and also made without PTFE, which is Teflon. If a company is not outwardly stating that they don't use these chemicals, then if they are using nonstick coating on their appliances, they are absolutely using forever chemicals.

And there's been increasing global scrutiny for their impact on the environment and our health and recognizing this impact. The EU plans to prohibit PFAS by 2025. Our place has always been PFAS free and they offer durable toxin-free ceramic coatings, ensuring a healthy, safe cooking experience. And let me tell you, you guys, they are changing the game with non-toxic appliances. They have a blender. They have an air fryer. They have a crock pot. Not to mention their amazing always pan.

They have a perfect pot, which is just the perfect size for soups. And they also just came out with a cast iron that I'm loving as well. And I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen because I really needed an upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I got some from our place and they are so beautiful. The ceramics are beautiful. The colors are amazing. Like I said, everything is like a piece of art. If you want to try any of the products from our place, go to from our place.com and enter my code real foodology checkout to receive 10% off site-wide. That's fromourplace.com code realfoodology. Our place offers a 100-day trial with free shipping and returns.

This is really exciting. Organifi now has kid stuff. They just released two kid products. One is called Easy Greens, and it's a refreshing green apple juice where kids will never know that it's packed with veggies. And the other one is called Protect. It's a delicious wild berry punch, like the Kool-Aid that we used to have as a kid, but without any sugar. This is really exciting. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Organifi.

And most specifically, because every single product that they make is glyphosate residue free. So you know that you're gonna be able to give these powders to your kids and know that they will be able to consume them safely without any glyphosate in it. So let's break down each one. The Easy Greens is a nourishing and delicious blend of superfoods and veggies that provides essential nutrients, probiotics, and

digestive enzymes to bring balance to kids' growing bodies without fillers, additives, or junk. It helps to fill in nutritional gaps, aids in growth and development, supports digestive health, has a rich micronutrient profile, and includes digestive enzymes. This would be a great way to sneak in greens for your little one without them actually knowing that it's healthy for them. And the second one, which is the wild berry punch similar to Kool-Aid, is called Protect, and it is to support your child's daily immune health with food-derived nutrients that work to strengthen their body's first line of defense. I know just through girlfriends of mine that have children that when your kids are going to school, going to daycare, they're coming home sick a lot more often just because they're getting exposed to different kids

and different viruses when they're out in the world playing with kids. So this would be a great way to help to support your little one's immune health. It's organic and it's also made with real whole food ingredients. It has a delicious berry taste and it's low sugar and it's gentle enough for kids to take every single day. And I really love the ingredients in this one. It's orange and acerol cherry, which is a powerful source of vitamin C and antioxidants. Astragalus, elderberry and propolis. These are all really great for overall immune health. If you want to try the products that I talked about today or any of the Organifi products, go to Organifi.com slash RealFoodology and use code RealFoodology for 20% off. Again, that's Organifi. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash RealFoodology.

Today's listener question comes from Jeff. Send into the podcast email. Please don't forget to send in your questions regarding any past shows or any questions you want me to answer on air, realfoodologypodcast at gmail.com. As always, these answers and this podcast are just for educational and informational purposes only. I am an integrative nutritionist, but I'm not a doctor. And I don't know you personally, I don't know what's going on in your body. So just know that this information on this podcast is not a sub for individual medical or mental health advice, and it doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always talk to your doctor first. So from Jeff, he said a lot of times an organic crop

might be grown next to a non-organic crop of grapes. There has been concern that there is overspray to those crops. How do you ensure that these winemakers aren't getting tainted? So he obviously listened to my episode last week. If you've not listened to that yet, we go all into, we go into the difference between organic and conventional wine and why we should care. So this is a great question and I actually didn't even know how to answer it. So I reached out to my friends at Dry Farm Wines, and this was their response. Our growers are always thinking about this. They usually do two things.

They grow in remote plots away from other modern chemicals, or they plant a row of vines around the perimeter of their land to absorb the chemicals. These grapes are then discarded instead of being used when winemaking. So there you have it. And with that, let's get to today's episode with Alison of Branch Basics. So the reason that I wanted to bring you on is because I wanted to have a conversation just about, because we hear so much now about non-toxic products, like cleaning products, beauty products, you name it. And I love what you guys have done with Branch Basics. It's so amazing. And we'll definitely get into that.

Yeah. I just, I'm so happy to have something like that on the market. But can we, well, first of all, let's introduce you. So I'm chatting with Allison from Branch Basics. Why don't you give everyone just like a little bit of background and maybe how Branch Basics started? Sure. Oh gosh. Okay. I'll try to make it as short as possible. So yes, I am Allison Evans. I'm one of the co-founders of Branch Basics. I started the company, oh gosh, it was, we've kind of had ups and downs in times where we shut down and then, you know, formula iterations, branding iterations. So I never really know what year, but I've been doing it for about a decade. That's all I know. Yeah. So we really started the company right after I got out of

college. So my best friend, Kelly Love, and then my aunt, Marilee Nelson. And I would like to say I'm kind of the glue that brings us together because I was pretty sick. Well, in high school, I was diagnosed with PCOS and had cysts, thousands of cysts on my ovaries and told I would never be able to get pregnant. But then fast forward in college, I actually came down with what most resembled MS. So I was on painkillers and muscle relaxers and antidepressants and sleeping pills. I was like a walking drugged in and no one could figure it out. And I've traveled the country seeing the best, you know, specialists, arthritis, neurologists, all the things. And then my aunt Merrilee comes in the picture who I always thought was a little bit off kilter with her like non-toxic organic ways out in the, you know, Texas Hill country, like using beet juice on her cheeks. And now I think she's the coolest person

in the whole world. But she started talking to me about toxins in our home and in our diet and how the things we put in on and around our body can either encourage us to heal or they can be a hindrance. And so thought I have nothing to lose, literally tossed all my toxins. I'm living in a sorority house, university of Texas, and, you know, explaining to my sorority sisters how we can't use VOCs. And this was like back in 2008, they're like, what? Um, anyway, so you were really on it. It was, yeah, we were a little bit too ahead of the curve. We were, we were starting to talk about things that we were losing people. Um, so I started feeling much better. I got off my drugs and my pain was much, much better,

but it wasn't until we graduated from college that Kelly, who was my roommate at the time, she and I decided to move out and live with Marilee for the summer of 2008. And that completely changed our lives. We were introduced to this idea of a home without synthetic fragrances or toxic chemicals, foods without pesticides, you know, the ideas of EMFs and grounding. And, you know, she was like, okay, do y'all drink juice? We're like, yeah, we love orange juice. She's like, no, like beets and celery. We're like, what? Of course, nowadays, everyone knows about that. But back then that was like radical. So, um, I feel so old, but anyway, um, left that summer and we decided we needed to put Marilee's brain on the internet and we wanted to, you know, we never set out to self-soap for us.

It was always about teaching people to remove toxins from their environment and their diet and their, um, you know, life as much as possible. And then we just wanted to provide a safe alternative. So I lived this clean lifestyle for about a year. And then I went back to that original doctor in high school and all my cysts were gone and I was able to get pregnant naturally with two babies, which I was told I would never be able to do. Um, and I had a period naturally for the first time in my life since sixth grade. I just, it just came. I just woke up one day after living this lifestyle and there was my period. So it was just a testament. Like there was nothing that could convince me that living a clean lifestyle was not worth it because I experienced the power of pure in such a mighty way. So that's really what we're about is,

you know, as a company is just helping people along that journey and providing a kick-ass cleaning product to go along with it. Wow. I mean, that's such a powerful story. And that's really, um, I've found, you know, from talking to so many different people about their experiences, that's really kind of what, um, how most people start getting into a cleaner lifestyle is that they start seeing the effects on their body. And then they're able to make those changes because they're like, well, you know, once you start making implement implementing these changes in your body, you realize how much of a difference that it makes. And that's really why I wanted to have

this conversation with you today, because I feel like we're just kind of scratching the surface of all of this. Everyone, you know, you hear a lot like toss the toxins, start, you know, going for cleaner things and look for non-toxic beauty products and cleaning products, et cetera. But I don't think a lot of people really understand the implications on our health. And that's what I wanted to get into today. So you mentioned something that probably not a lot of people are aware of what they are. What are VOCs? So we can explain that. So volatile organic compounds are things that are released from everything from our cleaning products to our conventional couches that contain fire retardants. And they're essentially emitted

into the air and they can combine with other VOCs and create pretty toxic, you know, mixtures. And, you know, they basically pollute our air. They create a low level up to a very high level, depending on where you live and what you buy, but kind of a chemical soup in your home that your body is constantly being asked to deal with, detoxify, you know, and assimilate. So no bueno. We try to limit them as much as possible. There's no possible way we can live without VOCs. So it's one of those things that's there. And we just, you know, we do the

best we can to mitigate. Well, because I've found with a lot of this stuff, it's, um, it's the exposure all the time, right? So if we can limit our exposure to stuff, cause it builds up over time. So using stuff like branch basics to reduce your, um, I'm like blanking on the word right now, but your exposure. Chemical load exposure, right? Exactly. Yes, exactly. No, and that's the thing. And I think that we really try to encourage people, like we cannot control all the things that we're exposed to during the day. We are going to go to the shopping mall and we are going to get probably sprayed in the face with some sort of perfume or something at some point. Even if we're not, I mean, just going to school, going to the office, going to the park, it could have just been

sprayed with pesticides the night before. We can't control these things. What we can control is we have the power of the purse. We have the power of what we bring inside of our homes, what we put inside of our mouths. And that is an amazing freedom that, and honestly, it's the part that matters the most because the place that we lay our heads down at night, our homes is where our body is naturally detoxifying and rejuvenating and restoring and resting and preparing for kind of, sorry, but the onslaught of the next day's exposures that once again, we can't control. So I think, you know, people get overwhelmed. Well, I have to live in a bubble. It's like, no, you don't. But, you know, if you are have pretty decent health, as long as you create a home that's,

you know, as free of these things as possible, it's amazing how resilient our bodies are. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And that's why your your story is so powerful, because so many people are going to hear that and be like, wow, if that's not a reason to change, then I don't know what is, you know. And I think, too, as people hear these stories more, they may start making these connections in their own lives. Because what I've found personally is, um, you know, sometimes you'll, you'll have all these symptoms of different little things that like the doctor can't necessarily explain. And once you start cutting out these toxins in your life, like perfect example,

like migraines, allergies, and you may not even make the connection to what is going on in your house or like the chemicals that you're being exposed to in your cleaning products or beauty products, what have you. That's something that I've always found ridiculous is that I think we assume that they're vetted and like regulated and safe just because they're on the shelf. But can we talk a little bit about that? So a lot of these cleaning products aren't even required to have an ingredient list, right? No, no. It's so sad because even though they're going into our bodies, you know, our food and our skincare, they're all regulated. I mean, you have to have the ingredients. If you're putting something in your mouth or you're putting something

on your skin, those industries require full ingredient lists and typically in the order of which they appear in concentration in the bottle. But when it comes to cleaning, when you think about it, though, you're spraying these things and they even, you know, especially aerosols, you know, God forbid, because those are getting, you know, lodged in your lungs. I mean, they can accumulate in our organs sometimes even more so than in our digestive system, which let's be frank, a lot of it gets pooped out. So, you know, um, it's really important. Our skin is our biggest organ. I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but we're absorbing that through our skin. Exactly. I mean, you can't clean without

touching your body in some way. And I mean, we don't just clean once a month. A lot of people, especially during this, these crazy times are cleaning many times, even in a day. So yes, we have to remember that it is not regulated. And you know, unfortunately the European union or unfortunately we are not like them where products are guilty until proven innocent, which is called the precautionary principle. And we, our products are completely innocent until somebody is hurt. And unfortunately that's what it takes to get a product taken off the shelf. So when you think about the cleaning product aisle, the grocery store, you know, really it's kind of like a bunch of chemicals. It's a bunch of water with a few drops of pretty toxic chemicals, including synthetic fragrances and endocrine disruptors. And unfortunately every other aisle

is regulated, but this one is not. So yeah, we have to really be our own advocates for sure. Wow. Do you have any idea why they don't regulate all this? Is it because we didn't understand the implications to our health or is it something else? Gosh, I don't know. Now you're kind of getting political on me, but I feel like, you know, trade secret and it's going to come down to money. Um, you know, if it doesn't have to be, then why do it? You know, if you're, if, if my competitor is not showing these toxic ingredients in the label and they're just putting the word fragrance or parfum, but really that can be a compilation of dozens of, you know, a mixture of 31 up to 3,100 chemicals can be classified as a fragrance. Um, so if my competitor is not doing it, why the heck should I put these scary names on my label when I can use the word

perfume? Yeah, exactly. It's such a good point. And I think too, like maybe in the beginning, um, they had good intentions, but I kind of wonder, I feel like now what you were saying is that now people are waking up to the importance of ingredients and these companies don't want to disclose it because then they're going to lose business. Absolutely. And honestly, Courtney, if you think about it, these, these ingredients were never supposed to be used inside the home. They were made for hospitals. They were made for heavy disinfecting. I'm talking about conventional cleaning products. They don't belong under our sinks and in our laundry rooms and accessible to our children or, or part of the low level chemical soup that I was just talking about. So, um, I think it was when the industry really started, it was like, well, these aren't going

to be handled by households anyway. And now it's gotten to the point that there's just these everyday use products, like a loaf of bread. And, um, you know, fortunately I think it's, it's coming to a time where these companies are having to stand up and really explain and be more transparent. So that's good. Yeah. Wow. And he made, he made such a great point with that because before it probably wasn't so much of an issue because we were getting exposed a little bit here and there when we were out and about in the world. But now, you know, we're spraying it every day in our homes. Our pets are being exposed. Our kids were being exposed as well. And then not only the cleaning products, but you mentioned earlier, like the VOCs and the

couches, I believe VOCs are in mattresses as well too. Yes. And everything, anything about in our clothes as well. I mean, we could go down like a rabbit hole, but yes. But again, I think it goes down, it goes down to that same point I was saying about not feeling overwhelmed and okay. So let's take our clothes. Yes. I mean, most of our yoga pants are made of plastic. Let's face it, you know, and we're, we're tightening them to our skin and I still wear them. And then we do yoga. And then when we sweat and our pores open up and we drink it. But the point is if they're then laundered with dryer sheets and sprayed and treated with detergent, I mean, all the things that are embedded in the fabric, those are the actual things that are going readily absorbing into your bloodstream. So, okay. I'm not telling you to toss out your yoga pants, but I'm saying, look,

while we wear our yoga pants that are synthetically derived, let's at least launder them and not add to the chemical mix and launder them and, you know, clean chemicals. Oh, that's such a good point. Yeah. Cause that's actually a really big one. So let's talk about this fragrances. There's a ton of fragrances in laundry detergent, obviously in all the stuff that we're spraying and the cleaning products. Yes. Why are fragrances the, in my opinion, I, I see them as the, like the biggest offenders. A hundred percent. Like I want to like jump through my computer screen and kiss you. Um, because I think that this is so misunderstood and I just, I get so heated. Look, I'm literally, I wish you could see I'm on the edge of my seat. Um, because I think it's one of those things that is comes across as

so innocent and sweet and it's a fragrance and it makes us feel happy and it connotes all these feelings of cleanliness and childhood. It smells good. There's pumpkin pie in the air. Um, or, you know, your cleaning product has a picture of a peppermint or a lavender or whatever. And that's what's, you know, the smell coming out of the bottle. It just, it just connotes happiness and joy and cleanliness and purity. But in the end, if you smell lavender, you need to turn that bottle around and it should say the word lavender, lavender oil. If you smell peppermint, if you smell a citrus, it needs to say that name, but it doesn't. It typically says fragrance slash parfum. And that

automatically tells you that it was concocted in a lab with, like I said, you know, one up to one to 20 of 3,100 different chemicals that many of which are not allowed in the European union, but we have them here. So what's the big deal. The big deal is that fragrances are endocrine disruptors, and this is not like a, Oh, they're, you know, the science is still out. We're going to see, it's like, no, this is a fact. And they actually mimic our hormones and they attach to our hormone receptor sites. They can throw off our endocrine system. I mean, as crazy as it is crazy as it sounds like those candles that people are lighting every day could be making their monthly cycle really painful, you know, or keeping us from,

you know, taking off the extra 10 pounds we've been trying because they're actually known as obesogens. They're carcinogens, obesogens. Think about all of the young children that are girls that are having their periods too early or hormone related skin issues, infertility, endometriosis. I mean, all of these things are endocrine-related issues. I'm not saying that pregnancy is causing all these, but I'm saying I can't tell you how many people we've worked with where we don't know. Exactly.

It's not helping. That's for sure. struggling with any sort of endocrine related issue, which is there a girl out there that doesn't want to have a better endocrine system, then we really need to make sure that if we want those fragrances in our home, that they are derived from a high quality essential oil. Imagine having a metabolic coach in your pocket that you could access at any point, any time in the day, whenever you want. That's what Lumen is. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, and even stress management. I have so many podcast episodes about metabolic

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I mean, we're seeing more and more women dealing with hormonal issues, you know? And I believe that it's a combination of, of exposure, all these chemicals and the pesticides being sprayed on our food, because those are also endocrine disruptors. Thousand percent. And honestly, if I had to rank it, if I had to force rank the two pesticides, take them out first and then go for your fragrances, because there is no room for pesticides anywhere in the home. There's never an excuse to have them in the home. We don't need them. There's amazing alternatives to pesticides and they seek our fat, you know, they're, they're fat lovers. And so they seek, well, our brain is mainly fat. So they're neurological invaders and cause, you know, a slew of neurological issues.

So right there with you about pesticides. Oh my God. Yes. Oh, this is so, I mean, I just find all of this so interesting. It's scary, but really interesting. And I know like, I don't want people listening to this to be like so freaked out and just feel like, well, you know, F it. Like, I guess there's nothing I can do about it. Cause there's a lot of things that we can do about it. Um, and this is why I wanted to bring you on because branch basics

offers so many amazing, or an amazing solution to all of this. Uh, yes. Well, but I will say before even thinking about like our product, we always tell people like, it is more important to us that you remove toxic chemicals from your home, including pesticides, synthetic fragrances, than it ever will be that you buy our product. You know, we don't want you to buy our product and think, oh, I'm going to clean my house with this non-toxic product and then set it next to your bleach or ammonia or synthetic fragrance candles or pesticides, or, you know, it's like, if you're having a regular pesticide service, service your home, like we'd rather you cancel that person product. Um, because when you know better, you do better. And honestly,

it's a finite process. It does not have to be scary. Once you learn the products that work for you and your home, um, and know how to clean it safely. There's not a bunch of research and agonizing. I mean, it's, I haven't had to think about this in 10 years, you know, we just live the lifestyle. So, yeah. And that's a great point. And that people should listening should understand that once you make those, those changes, um, you don't really, you're not really going to have to think about it so much anymore. Oh, there was also, there was something that when you were talking earlier that I wanted to mention, and then I kind of got off topic, um, about, okay. So you were talking about how like with fragrances, for example, they don't

list everything that's in there. It'll just say fragrance or perfume. And one of the main issues with this is because there could be so many different chemicals in there making up that perfume. We don't even know what the exposure to all of those different ones are and what the reactions are going to be to these different chemicals. And if you think about like, okay, so you're using your perfume and then you have a candle going and then you have a plugin and then you, you know, spray with something throughout your house and you spray your hairspray or whatever it is. Then all of a sudden paper that's sent in now and you, then you go to the trash can and then your trash can is in it. You're like,

but there's so many scents in the house. And the scented tampons. I literally cannot. I'm like, you are putting that like basically in your bloodstream. Yeah. Oh, it makes me so upset, but that's, I think it's such an important point that it's not even necessarily that the dose does not always make the poison because we forget that like, okay, fine. If we were just using this one perfume and that's the only exposure we were getting all day, that would be like, I would argue like, okay, you know, it's not the worst thing, but then you're getting all these exposures from all these different chemicals. And we don't even know. Um, and there's not even really a way to track. We don't even know what it's, what it's doing to our body when we're exposing all these chemicals together and what the reaction is. Right. Right.

Which is essentially what they're calling this toxic load. And when they did that study on, you know, the umbilical cord blood of babies and found that there were so many chemicals there, it's because we just, it's, it's a cumulative effect, like you said. And we used to think that, um, the dose made the poison, but that's not the case. And in fact, a small amount can turn on and off a cancer gene. I mean, they're finding just tiny amounts, especially in children, you know, whose brains triple in their first year of life. And they're just clinging on anything to help their, you know, development as humans, like we're born undeveloped, you know, and so we really have to remember that when we're exposing ourselves, if we're preconception, or we're born undeveloped, you know, and so we really have to remember that when we're exposing

ourselves, if we're preconception or we're thinking about having kids all the way to, you know, our kids who are disproportionately breathing in more air than an adult and we're, they're closer to the floor where everything ends up, you know, VOC wise. So yeah, it's all very important. And it's not about just one product here or there. Just like you said, it's about, you think about your entire day from the second you're breathing that pillowcase with dryer sheets and synthetic fragrances. You know, if you just think about your laundry, I get so heated once again about laundry too, because you never escape it. It's you're breathing your pillowcase all night. You're the clothes that you're wearing, your skin is soaking it in, you're breathing that in.

Then even when you're naked in the shower, usually have, you have a washcloth, you know, you just can't escape it. Wow. So true. And then whatever body wash you're using and you're exposing that your body to that as well. Yeah. Oh man. So many good alternatives. That's what's so great about this. It's not hard. It's not hard. Exactly. And that's why I wanted to have this, this episode. So people can hear, um, not only about the effects of all of this, but what they can do to change, um, how they can change that. And you touched on something else too, that we talked a little bit about, but, um, you know, women trying to get pregnant. And then you think about how these are affecting the endocrine, they're disrupting the endocrine system.

And I would argue that this is probably why we're seeing a rise in infertility because a lot of these endocrine disruptors mimic estrogens in the body and will raise the estrogen levels in the body. And you think about it too. I know this is a really wild statement, but breast cancer oftentimes is an overload of estrogen in the body. Yes. No, absolutely. It was interesting that the, the, the answer to my being diagnosed with the worst PCOS that my doctor had ever seen,

the answer was to put me on birth control. So that's what I did for, you know, four or five years. And then when I started working with Marilee, she said, I'll work with you, but you can't be on that synthetic estrogen. And I thought, really, this is like the only, this was my only answer. You're taking it away. Sure enough, I took that away, but I also took away my, you know, I wasn't a hundred percent organic, but I did the best that I could. And I definitely didn't fudge when it came to like animal based products and stuff. And the dirty doesn't, I was conventional. I mean, I was eating organic then. And then just the pesticides, like you said, and synthetic fragrances, and then all of a sudden all my cysts disappear, you know, I'm thinking, well, I just got rid of

all of the excess estrogen and then my body was able to balance out. So that's just my story. I'm not, you know, projecting that on others, but I do think that there's definitely a connection between the rise of our exposure and endocrine disrupting chemicals from pesticides to synthetic fragrances and infertility. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and you said, it's just your story, but it's a really powerful story for people to hear, you know, cause maybe this is the answer people listening, um, who maybe are struggling with hormonal issues. Maybe this is the answer for them, you know, and you'll never know until you try for me. Yeah. And you have nothing to lose for sure. I, we have a few stories I can think of in

my head of people who have done the toss the toxins, which is what we, um, you know, call this kind of campaign, but honestly, it's really our core mission about teaching people how to identify toxic products in the home and then remove them. And I can think of three people just right now in my head who have done that. And within a few months have been able to overcome fertility issues. Um, you know, whether it was, they had, they weren't able to keep the pregnancy and then they finally were. And again, not, this is not any sort of scientific study. I'm not making any claims, but the correlation was pretty crazy. Yeah. Well, when you start seeing that many people seeing such a huge shift in their life, you got to start making that connection, you know?

Yeah. It's really interesting. Yeah. I mean, so we kind of went over this, but I wanted to talk a little bit more. So what do we see as a result of people getting rid of these chemicals in the home? Like no more migraines and more asthma, um, women, you said were able to get pregnant when they weren't able to before. What are some other things so that maybe people can start connecting the dots if they're dealing with this? Absolutely. No, I would say migraines and respiratory issues are probably the two and skin. Skin is a really big one, especially when you start using branch basics for laundry or more importantly, getting rid of the toxic stuff and choosing a safer alternative. So in terms of our testimonials and feedback that we get, we're constantly getting, um,

the migraines or, you know, headaches are gone or much better. Allergy medications are not needed as much. We've had people say, oh, my husband, you know, once we switched to all range basis and we got rid of all the toxic chemicals, we tossed the toxins, he's actually able to get a shorter time on his mile, like he races. And so his respiratory system is obviously working better. And it's the first time he's ever been able to get that short of a time on his mile, which is so cool. She's like, it's the only change we made and he's able to breathe better. But then, yeah, we have a lot of people that have had even kids with the, sorry, behavioral disorders. We have one testimony in particular, it's actually on YouTube and it's like a or 15-minute video, but it has brought me to tears every time I watch it.

But this mom heard about our Toss the Toxins from Merrilee speaking at a conference last year, a year and a half ago, and her daughter was essentially dying. They couldn't figure her out. They were taking her to all these different medical professionals. She was losing her hair, her nails. I mean, they couldn't figure it out. And all of a sudden, she got rid of all these toxic chemicals,

and she started gaining weight. Her hair is growing back. I mean, this mom's crying. She's just like, and it's not about our product. It's about removal of these things that we have never been told that don't belong in the house. And they just don't. Like I said, pesticides never have a place there. And if I had to guess, that would probably be the biggest thing that this, her daughter, you know, biggest change for her is her lack of exposure to these neurotoxins. So yeah, we get a, we get a lot of stuff. It's awesome. That is so powerful. Also, I think too, and you barely touched the surface of this because we see a lot of these chemicals being called what we call obesogens. A lot of people won't make this connection, but just reducing your exposure to that and then healing your endocrine system and getting your

hormones back in balance, it may help you drop the extra couple of pounds that you're trying to lose. You know, and look, this is not about weight loss. This is not about like, you know, trying to fit into a one size and whatever. This is about like getting rid of extra weight that you're carrying that will just fall off just simply by making cleaner, healthier decisions in your life. Yes. And I mean, where do most toxins, um, like to hang out in your fat tissue? So a lot of times people miss the whole point too, of losing weight or during a cleanse, you think, Oh, you know, I'm, I have more energy. My eyes are clear. My high school, you know, um, blue jeans fit, but also you just dropped a ton of toxins. So, you know, there's a positive in that too. But yeah, I read

an article once that was titled, is your shower curtain making you fat? And it's interesting because it was all about how these plasticizers, you know, we're, we shower and we're heating up the room and then, you know, the, the particulates from the droplets, you know, we're breathing them in next to this, you know, endocrine disrupting laden shower curtain. Anyway, it was just kind of a funny, um, you know, correlation. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting. And there's, there's validity in that actually, because there is something about heating up plastic that releases more of those, the BPAs and all of the other chemicals that are in there. That's really funny. Um, so this is something that is really relevant

right now because with everything that's going on in the world with this virus, I see so many people trying to, you know, get rid of whatever, like everyone is so hyper concerned about like viruses, bacteria, germs more than ever. We are just spraying the crap out of everything now and sanitizing. And can we talk a little bit about that? Because I have to be honest, like I'm worried about the implications of this on our health because now we're spraying more chemicals than ever and we are sanitizing and killing off good and bad bacteria. Yes. And I'm concerned about the implications of this on our health. And I don't know what the answer is because I'm not saying to not take this virus seriously or anything like

that, but I think it's a conversation that needs to be had. Absolutely. And I, I could not agree more with you. I am very concerned about where this is going to leave us now, but also the next generation when mom's microbiome, you know, which is essentially the health of our gut and our gut being balanced with the correct amount of, you know, good bacteria and bad bacteria. But that microbiome is what we pass on to our babies. And so I think too, about just the next generation post coronavirus, where we are disinfecting and sanitizing at every turn. And then all of a sudden these gut issues are being passed on and the gut brain connection there. So, I mean, a lot of times that can

have an effect on how our children are learning and growing and behaving. But yeah, like I said, the disinfectants, I don't believe they belong in the home. 99% of the time, I think if someone is really dealing with extreme sickness, there's been raw chicken splattered everywhere. There are definitely times to be disinfecting. Let's say the whole family just got over the flu or one of the kids has it and they don't want to make sure it doesn't get spread. But there are ways to do that, like, you know, 70% hydrogen peroxide or, you know, there's the, sorry, 70% alcohol or the 30%, 3% hydrogen peroxide. There's ways to safely disinfect. And I think a fact that people don't realize is that disinfecting actually should only

be done after the surface is cleaned. So if we think that disinfecting is cleaning, that is not correct. Disinfecting is killing of the germs and the bacteria on that surface. But if that surface has a bit of dust on it or still has some, you know, particulates from the air that had fallen, it's actually the disinfecting part is not valid. It's not going to get done. So there's a difference between removal of germs and killing of germs. And we at Branch Basics are huge advocates that most of the time, all we need to do is simply remove. And you can do that with soap and water or a natural disinfectant like our product. There's others

out there that whereupon you spray a surface and you, by a mechanical action, you have a rag or a paper towel or whatever, and you are actually removing those, you know, germs from the surface versus cleaning the surface and then spraying a disinfectant whereby the toxic chemicals in that disinfectant, a lot of times they're EPA registered pesticides, are, you know, killing the germs. So you're kind of in a sense, burning down the barn to kill the rats, right? Because you're not just killing the bad stuff, like you're killing the good stuff. So. Yep. And that's a great point. I was just going to say, ironically, you know, 70% of our immune

system lies in our gut. And what does that compose of? It's our microbiome, which is our combination of our good and bad bacteria in our gut. And if we that compose of? It's our microbiome, which is our combination of our good and bad bacteria in our gut. And if we're killing out all of that, we're wiping out our immune system as well. And we need our immune system in order to fight off viruses, bacteria, you name it. So it's really, in my mind, I'm just like, Oh God, this is, this is not great. You know, it's not. And as we become a more, you know, industrialized nation and all of these sanitizing and disinfecting things get, you know, heightened even more, um, the increase in allergies, autoimmune diseases like asthma, Crohn's, you know, irritable bowel,

MS, type one diabetes. I mean, these are all increasing as well. So we just need to kind of be aware of the, of the trends. Yep. Yep. And the implications of killing off all that bacteria because we need it. We've had bacteria around forever, you know? Yeah. It's all, all over us in and outside of our body. And exactly. We've been living with it for a long time and we just need to learn to continue to live with it and yeah, and figure out better ways. Yeah. Well, and the, I, the ironic part is that it's the good bacteria and it's the healthy microbiome that is actually keeping us from catching things like coronavirus, or even

if we caught it to be able to then fight it, um, more powerfully. So it's, you know, it's just, it's sad because I think that a lot of times we think, oh, we need to bring out these toxic chemicals. Well, those are then actually leaving us and our bodies in a weakened state where we are more prone, um, to actually getting sick. Well, it reminds me of the germ theory versus the terrain theory. I don't know if you're familiar with that at all, but essentially what they found is that it's not really necessarily about the germ or the bacteria, the virus, it's about the terrain that

it attaches to. So in our case, the terrain, meaning our digestive system, our gut, our body, our immune system. Um, and if we're in good health, if we're, if we have built our body to be resilient to certain things, um, then it's not going to affect us in the same way as that. It's going to affect a different terrain that may not be in great health, you know? So I think about like, yeah. So I think about if someone is, is walking around, you know, in inflammation and they maybe have some underlying conditions going on, um, and they're not eating particularly well, or they're getting exposed to all these toxic chemicals every day, their immune system and their body is not, it's going to be a little bit inflamed. It's not going

to be in the position to fight off as well as it could if it was in a healthier terrain, you know, if you were less inflamed and eating better and. Exactly. No, that's, and I think that's key. And I think, I think most people still have never heard the germ versus terrain theory, and it really changes the way we view sickness. Unfortunately, we're living in a society where we are more exposed by everything from, like you said, conventional foods to EMF. So we are more weakened. So I think that these theories apply even more in terms of wanting to strengthen our terrain. It's like Hippocrates has a quote that says, it is more important to know what sort of person has the disease than to know

what sort of disease a person has. So it's like, you know, yeah, it's so powerful. It's like, let's not think about, oh, that person just must be so, you know, so exposed. It's like, no, they keep getting things because like attracts like, and those germs are going to be more attracted to diseased tissue than to a healthy, you know, strong microbiome. Absolutely. I've been saying for the last like eight months, we got to build our resiliency and we need to really focus on taking care of our health from the inside out. So that whenever we're exposed to anything, I'm not even talking about COVID necessarily, of course that plays a role as well, but anything that comes our way that we're exposed to anything, I'm not even talking about COVID necessarily, of course that plays a role as well, but anything that comes our way that we're exposed to our body

is going to be able to have a healthy response and fight it off. Yes. Yeah. It's like it, it, it applies the same applies even to like mental health, you know, and we, you know, there could be days where we are so, um, happy on top of the world, but if it's like, we have to input that time, the meditation practices, the breathing practices, the exercise. But if it's like, we have to input that time, the meditation practices, the breathing practices, the exercise, the good, you know, even on the good days, because there's going to be a time that we're exposed. It's going to want to break us mentally. But if we can go back to that strong foundation, um, then, you know, we're more prepared for that. So, yes. Oh, I love that. Okay. So for everyone listening, let's give them, you know, some hope

here. What, what can we do? Um, is someone listening and let's just say like, they're really starting at square one. Where do we start? You mentioned something earlier talks, toss the toxins. Yes. Um, what are things that people look for? What should they be tossing out? What should they be bringing into the home? Yes. No, I love that. So number one place to start. Um, we already said this, but getting rid of all your pesticides, everything from herbicides to fungicides to, um, you know, like I said, regular mosquito treatment, you know, if we're in the South, you have the mosquito tank misters that are all around your house. Oh God. We have that all over Houston. Yes. Um, yeah.

You know, so that is number one, the most toxic chemical that we can be exposed to is an FDA registered pesticide does not belong in the home. We should never be exposed. Um, and, and let's face it again, we're going to be exposed. Let's just not make it inside of our homes. Um, so getting those out. And then, um, we, I personally love to start in the laundry room. Like I said, what you choose to launder your clothes with is actually following you around 24 hours a day. You will not escape it. And if you can, if you're, if you're currently using conventional products, a lot of times you're not even going to smell because you're so it's actually those chemicals are really like in your bloodstream and so ingrained in just your everyday life that you're desensitized to them. But if you do like a 10 day,

you know, challenge where you actually switch to like a pure, um, laundry detergent, get rid of your toxic dryer sheets, um, and use safer alternatives, which again, there are, there are quite a few to choose from. Um, you will notice that that smell is so strong and you'll barely even be able to be around it. I mean, I can pretty much hug someone right now. Sometimes I don't even take a hug. I could be on a hike and I pass somebody and I'm like, I could name their detergent. I mean, cause I'm just so, um, desensitized. I mean, sorry, I'm so sensitized to it, which is a good thing. It's your body's natural, uh, kind of defense mechanism and red flag saying like, this isn't good. Get out. Yeah, that's true. Also,

um, isn't there a difference between unscented and fragrance free? It doesn't unscented still like have an unscented scent. Yes. In fact, you can actually, yes. Sometimes it's even more toxic because they add these masking agents that are actually masking the smell of the, yeah, whatever chemical it was. So yes. So definitely making sure it is misleading, making sure that you are completely fragrance free. And then in terms of cleaning products, because a lot of times they're not going to, the ingredients are not listed on the label. We tell people that if it has a caution, warning, or danger, that word appears caution, warning, or danger, that word appears, caution, warning, or danger, it'll only be one of those three, then it doesn't belong in

the house. You can get it out. It didn't, it's just, those words are very much regulated. They kind of sound like something that the brand, you know, is choosing, the product is choosing to put on or leave off, but it actually, those words are triggered by the presence of certain ingredients. So yeah, caution, warning, and danger can all leave. And then as far as, you know, beauty care going on the EWG and finding body and beauty care products that are safer. And so there's just, like I said, there's, oh my gosh, sorry. I'm currently using my dad's office and it's like, I feel like I'm in the 1950s here in the background. I'm so sorry.

No, I kind of love it. I was like, it's a little blast from the past. It's been so long since I've heard that sound. Oh my gosh. Yes. I know it never goes off. So I'm so sorry. But yeah, again, there's just lots of things to do.

First place to start is removal. So removal of the toxic chemicals before you go out and spend a bunch of money saying, oh, you know, I'm going to start living a healthy lifestyle. I'm going to choose these clean products. Do that after you have really assessed, you know, what you currently have and you've removed the toxic stuff. That's important. I think it's also important to note, we kind of mentioned this earlier, but the candles, the room sprays, you know, uh, label on your cleaning products.

Um, and then I just love starting with the laundry because if you're going to make a change and you want it to be the most impactful, then that's the room that I would start with. Ooh, I have to admit, and maybe some people can relate to this. So I have, I've dumped everything toxic. I mean, I use only branch basics for everything cleaning. I have to say though, the last thing that I have not been able to give up is my laundry detergent because I am, I like my, my bed smelling like, you know, my sheets smelling really good when I get in bed at night. I like my clothes smelling like something and I don't use the worst offender or maybe you can tell me, I don't know. I don't want to put you on the spot, so I won't make you if you don't feel comfortable, but I use Mrs. Meyers,

which is like, yeah, I would assume is not the worst, but it's not the best. Yeah. Well, yes. We never talk about other brands. All I will say is that, um, yes, they're, they're known for their like amazing fragrances and they are not coming from essential oils. So that's something that I would just look more into. I'm so bummed about it. It's the one thing that I'm like, wow. And that is the one product I see most on everyone's, you know, kitchen by their kitchen sink. And it does make me sad because I, there's a lot of synthetic fragrances in society today that people aren't realizing are getting in. Yeah. So if someone is using, for example, your laundry detergent, um, is there a way, like, can I add essential oils to it to make it smell

better? So many people add essential oils. Yes. That's, and that's exactly what you can do for, I don't know. There's other brands out there as well that are good, but, um, when it comes to laundry, honestly, there's not that many. That's why I'm kind of hesitating. You can, Sal said, Sal said this good. Molly said this good, um, pure soap nuts. I mean, heck, let's just go back to soap. Soap cleans better than anything. So soap nuts is great. If you can find a source for those. And yeah, just for Branch Basics specifically, it's a liquid in case people listening don't know what it is. It's a liquid concentrate and you can use it for your laundry. You dilute it with water to put it in different spray bottles. And this, we sell empty spray bottles. So there's like an all-purpose, a bathroom, a laundry, and

you fill the bottles according to fill line. So you have a certain amount of water with concentrate, but it's all the same concentrate soap. Um, and you can always just add, um, an essential oil to that concentrate. We have so many customers that do that. I'm going to start doing that. Also, I just want to take a second to give you a little bit of praise for a branch basics. We haven't really given it a spotlight today.

And I think it, like I said in the beginning, well, really like what you guys are doing is so incredible because not only has it made it easier because like you mentioned, you just get, so you have three different spray bottles. I use the glass ones because I'm trying to limit my plastic as much as possible, which is also why I love what you guys are doing because you get one bottle of concentrate. And I mean, that thing lasts me a long time. It does. And I use it across the board, you know, from my like hand soap to all my spring, um, cleaning products soon, probably to be my laundry detergent. Do you talk about this today? Um, and I think also like, besides everything we've already talked about, like getting, helping people to get rid of

all of their toxins and everything, but it's also really helping our environment a lot because think about when we're buying all of these single use plastic bottles for all of our cleaning, you know, uses, we are using so much more plastic than we need to be. Yes, absolutely. And we just fly through it and throw it out. And that's the beauty of this is that you never have to buy another plastic bottle. You use the same one. So if you get the starter kit, you have the, you know, your plastic bottle lineup and, um, you just rebuy the concentrate.

So yeah, we're saving a ton of plastic. Cause like I said earlier on this show, you know, the cleaning product aisle is essentially a bunch of water in plastic bottles with a few drops of chemicals. God. So then instead you can use your branch basics concentrate and add a little bit of essential oils and you're not exposing yourself to all these harmful chemicals. By the way, I'm going to, I'm going to have a little plug here really fast for those listening. They gave me a code. It's real foodology and you'll get 15% off a starter kit on their website, which is, um, well you can explain what the starter kit is while you're here. Yeah, no, we, it includes, um, the concentrate. And so it also comes with an empty,

Oh yeah. I forget. We're not visual. I was about to grab it. All purpose bottle, bathroom bottle, um, window and glass was straight free bottle. And then there's a foaming hand soap bottle. Um, I think that's it, but all of them, bathroom, laundry, window and glass, yeah. All purpose foaming hand soap. Yep. Um, and then an oxygen boost powder, which is amazing. The oxygen boost is our other kind of like, it's like the dynamic duo, the concentrate and the oxygen boost. Cause it helps remove stains, pretty much any stain under the sun. It's crazy. Um, and then like, yeah, it really is. I will say it's like magic. It really is.

I literally tell like all my friends about it and they're like, why are you like going? Why are you so excited about this? Like, yeah, even my husband last night there, he has this like favorite pair of AG jeans and they had some oil stains from our toddler. And he was like, I mean, this, there's just no way it'll come out. I was like, yes, it will. It always comes out. Sure. Not this morning. He lifts it up out of the sink after it had soaked overnight with oxygen boost and concentrate. And he's like, that's amazing. I'm like, yeah. But anyway, so yes, it comes in one kit and then you just, all you have to do is purchase. We have

a subscription model for people that want to just have it at their door and not think about it, but then you're just rebuying the concentrate and the oxygen boost, and then using that to refill your bottles. So it takes the, you know, it takes, it streamlines the whole cleaning process. Yes, exactly. Yeah. It's really cool. Um, one more thing before we go. So you'd mentioned in passing EWG and I want for everyone listening who has never heard of that, that's environmental working group. Um, Google it. I'll also leave the, the link in the show notes, but they have a great resource. Um, they actually have like an entire section on their website where you can just type in any sort of like beauty product, cleaning product, you name it. And they have a ton of brands on there and they will rate, they rate it and they tell you, um, what all the harmful chemicals are in there. And they'll also tell you like, yeah, green light, this is actually a really good

product or, you know, this is a really bad one and you should toss it. Yes, exactly. No, they're a great resource. Yeah. They're really great. Well, I covered everything I wanted to go over today. Is there anything else you wanted to leave listeners with today? Um, sure. I never, I would typically just say, no, I'm good. I think that's it. But I feel really compelled because I know that we've, we have covered a lot of things that may sound scary and daunting and you kind of think, oh my gosh, this seems like such a huge process. But I just want to encourage listeners that even small changes, like if you think about how your body is exposed to X amount every day, and you think

about like the rain barrel analogy, you know, any change you make is lowering that rain barrel and keeping it, um, from spilling over, you know, and, and the lower it gets over time, just take tackle what you can. If your pantry totally freaks you out and you, the idea of changing your diet totally freaks you out. Okay. Shelf that for a second, no pun intended and go to your laundry room. Um, if, if the idea of your laundry, like you said, that's the last thing for you to really think about. That's like your thing, you know, like for me, that was like the biggest change for me, but for other people, I think there's like a big connection with laundry. And so then, okay, let's talk about the chemicals in my shampoo or my lotion or the Glade plugins, or the guy that comes to my house

once a month and treats the parameter of my house. How can I, we have an amazing pesticide document, by the way, on alternatives to pesticides, every pest under the sun is on the document. So if y'all ever want any information on that, but my point is it's all, it all matters and every change matters in the body is an amazing healing machine. We have this incredible magical, um, power to actually heal. And we have this propensity to heal. We just need to get out of our own way. Merrily always said, you know, if you wake up every morning, if you have a, if you have a scab and you wake up every morning and you pick at it, it's never going to go away. But if you leave it alone, it's going to heal. And that is our body and every organ in our body wants to heal.

It's designed to do that. And, and if, you know, as Marilee was teaching me when I was in college, she's like, Alison, all these things you've used your entire life and you never thought that they were toxic, but now your body's in a weakened state and you're not going to be able to get over that hump, that healing hump, unless they're removed. And these are things, like I said, I'd used my whole life. I'm like, everyone uses these. What's wrong with my dryer sheets? What's wrong with my Splenda? What's wrong with my, my hairspray, you know? But it wasn't until I removed these things and my body truly responded just amazingly. And I was still living in a toxic cesspool of swarty girl, who knows what, you know, so yeah, you don't have to go live on a farm like I'm currently doing

right now. Um, but yeah, it all matters. I just want to encourage people that you don't have to just become like the crazy person in your family, or even if you don't have a family where everyone's like, Oh my gosh, you know, mom or whoever's getting rid of everything, my girlfriend, my wife, um, and really just stick with the thing that, that is most exciting and less least overwhelming to you and know that that change is a change that your body is benefiting from. Oh my gosh. I mean, I couldn't have said that better myself. That was incredible. And I just want to remind people listening that, you know, if you're just starting out, like just give yourself kindness and grace around that. Cause you know, Alison and I have been doing, I mean, like you said, you've been doing this for 10 plus years, same, you know, and it didn't happen. Yeah, exactly.

It comes naturally now. And it also didn't happen overnight. I mean, I admitted I'm still using the toxic laundry detergent. So it's, I think that's such a great point to mention, try not to get overwhelmed and just do what you can and just give yourself grace with where you're at and slowly, but surely like one day you'll wake up maybe in a couple of years and be able to look back and be like, oh wow. Yeah. I did that over time. And now here I am. And I was able to get rid of a lot of stuff and you'll find what works and what doesn't work and you'll be able to figure it out and implement into your life. No, for sure. And one thing I can promise, if you do some of these things, when you do wake up in two years and you look back, you will definitely be more sensitive to some of the things that you thought you were totally fine. You didn't even notice

them, you know, whether it's switching out your glade plugin for an essential oil diffuser in your home, you'll walk into a home with a glade plug and you'll think, Oh my gosh, it grabs my head or I'm starting to get an itchy throat or your body is waking up and warning you of the things that it doesn't like. Yeah, absolutely. And what a beautiful thing to become more in tune with our bodies. Yes. Yes. A hundred percent. I love that because that really is what it is. You're peeling off these layers and you're really able to tune into what your body is telling you. Yes, this is good or nope. This is not serving me. Yeah. That's amazing. Well, thank you so much. This was incredible. I'm so excited for people to hear this. I loved it too. Oh my gosh. Again,

I wish I could just like come. I wish we could just go have wine now. Me too. I just feel like I'm talking to a friend thanks again for listening to this week's episode of the real foodology podcast the show is produced and mixed by Drake Peterson and Christopher McCone of Peterson McCone Productions hit them up if you guys have any podcast needs they are amazing my theme music is by the singer Georgie please subscribe subscribe, rate, and comment on either Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any major podcast platform. If you want to find me on IG, my handle is realfoodology. See you guys next week. ស្រាប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់ I know that.