Realfoodology - Fashion's Toxic Truth + Wardrobe Wellness Strategies for Non-Toxic Fashion Choices | Alden Wicker

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

181: Have you ever stopped to consider what's lurking in the very fabric of your wardrobe? Join me as I sit with sustainable fashion expert Alden Wicker, who brings compelling insights from her book "To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion is Making Us Sick." Together, we unravel the shocking truth about toxic chemicals in our clothing and their alarming health implications. Topics Discussed: 0:07:50 - Chemicals in Clothing 0:13:07 - Health Effects of Uniforms and Fashion 0:21:14 - Organic Certification and Toxicity in Fashion 0:23:18 - Dyes Used in Synthetic Fibers 0:26:25 - Vegan Leather is Dangerous 0:35:21 - Concern About Workout Clothes 0:37:14 - Government Regulations and Safety Concerns 0:42:49 - Detoxification and Avoiding Forever Chemicals 0:47:17 - Improving Fertility and Health Through Detoxification 1:01:14 - Chemical Dose and Endocrine Disruptors Impact Check Out Alden: To Dye For - Book Online https://ecocult.com Sponsored By: Cured Nutrition www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% off Armra https://tryarmra.com/realfoodology 15% off first order with code REALFOODOLOGY Organifi www.organifi.com/realfoodology Code REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% Off Natural Cycles for 15% off go to naturalcycles.com with code REALFOODOLOGY Open Guided Meditation Get 30 days free of Open by visiting withopen.com/REALFOODOLOGY Check Out Courtney: @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database Produced By: Drake Peterson Edited By: Mike Frey

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. There were heavy metals and Teflon. So that was used on the uniforms to give them stain repellency. Some of them had super saturated dyes that would come off and stain the skin of the airline attendants or their bras. One of them had Chlordane, which is a pesticide that has been banned for all uses and sale in the United States since the 80s. It was just like a variety of things on all of these different uniforms. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast.

I'm your host, Courtney Swan, and today's guest is Alden Wicker. She's an award-winning journalist, sustainable fashion expert, and author of the book To Die For, How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick. This is an episode that I think many of us have been waiting for for a long time. I get a ton of questions on my Instagram of people asking me what workout clothes I buy, what normal clothes I buy. Am I concerned about PFASs being found in our clothes? Am I worried about fertility and how our clothes are affecting us? And the answer is yes. And I finally found the perfect person to do this episode with. We dive into everything. We talk about the different chemicals that are being used on our clothing. We talk about what

to look for, what labels to look for, what brands to avoid, some brands to buy, how to know if you should buy it. We talk about what kind of fibers you want your clothing to be made out of. She also talks about the airline flight attendant litigation that was happening a couple years ago. Actually, some of it is still happening right now. But a lot of airline flying attendants were getting really sick and it turns out it was from their clothing. So we dive into that.

We talk about the dose does not necessarily make the poison, how to reduce your exposure, what we can do. And we give you some really hopeful tips. So don't worry, this is not all doom and gloom, but it is something incredibly important that we need to know. So with that, let's just get into the episode. It is such a great episode. Alden is such an amazing guest and she is a wealth of knowledge and I really hope that you guys enjoy it. As always, if you are loving the podcast, if you could take a moment to rate and review it, it means so much to me and it really helps the show. And if you are loving this episode, if you could go to Instagram and post about it and tag Real Foodology,

it helps the show more than I can say. So again, thank you so much. And I really appreciate you guys listening. Did you know that your nervous system plays a role in nearly every aspect of your health and wellbeing? No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or strong you are, none of it matters if you are not breathing properly. This is actually a quote from James Nestor, the author of the book Breath. And I will tell you guys, this is something that I

have realized in my own life. When I'm really anxious, I don't take full deep breaths. I take these really shallow breaths. And as a result, it only creates more anxiety. So really becoming aware of your breath and practicing breath work is the quickest way to shift your state and improve your mood. And you only need five minutes a day. I will tell you guys, this is something that felt super daunting to me and I ignored it for a long time because I just thought, okay, this is too much for me. It's going to take too much time and it probably doesn't really work. But after downloading the app open and using some of their breathwork classes and going through some of the meditations,

I have to tell you that it is completely life-changing. Open is a science-based practice to help regulate your nervous system and it really does change your life. If you're a beginner, the app is really great because it helps you to learn different breathwork techniques to help you get to your desired physical and mental state.

Also, if you're not a beginner, it's also just a great app to keep you accountable day to day. When we regain control of our operating system, we can unlock deeper sleep, better focus, less stress, natural energy, and overall vibrancy. I mean, it's truly life-changing. Where are my Andrew Huberman fans? I know there are a lot of you guys out there. He found that brief, brief meaning like five minutes of breath work, outperformed meditation for improving mood and autonomic regulation and lowering stress. So if you want to reduce stress, get better focus, get better sleep, and you want to get on my daily routine, you can get 30 days free of Open by visiting withopen.com slash realfoodology. Again, that is 30 days free by just simply visiting withopen.com slash realfoodology. That's W-I-T-H-O-P-E-N.com. Did you know that women can only get pregnant around a six-day

window? I grew up thinking that women could get pregnant any day of the month and i know so many women that got on the pill because they thought that they could get pregnant any day of the month this is simply not true and i personally didn't want to put synthetic hormones in my body which is why i use something called natural cycles it is the world's first fda cleared birth control app the app's algorithm uses hormonedriven changes in body temperature to let users know when they're fertile or not fertile. And it's 93% effective with typical use and 98% effective with perfect use. Perfect use means abstaining from unprotected sex on red days. To put this into perspective, it's more effective than condoms alone and about the same effectiveness as the birth control pill. It's also important to note that no form of birth control is 100% effective. So how does it work? It was developed by scientists and is supported

by clinical evidence, and it's based on hormone-driven changes in body temperature. The algorithm lets you know whether you're fertile or not fertile each day. A green day means you're not fertile and you're good to go. A red day means you're fertile and you need to use another form of protection or abstain. So all you have to do is first thing in the morning, take your temperature either with a thermometer or if you have a wearable like an Oura Ring or an Apple Watch, it automatically connects to your app, but you do not need a wearable. You simply just need a thermometer and to take your temperature first thing in the morning. If you would like to try Natural Cycles, go to naturalcycles.com, use code realFOODOLOGY, and you are going to get 15% off an annual subscription plus a free thermometer. Again,

that's naturalcycles.com, code REALFOODOLOGY. This is an ad, and Natural Cycles is for 18 plus and does not protect against STIs. Alden, thank you so much for coming on today. I have been wanting to do an episode like this for a while to talk about all the chemicals in our clothing. I think this is something that people are only just now starting to slowly understand, but it's still such a topic that so many people are unaware of.

And I think unaware of how much it's actually happening. Similar to what's happening with our food right now, I think people have this notion that everything is highly regulated and our government would never allow this to happen. But then you start looking into it and you realize that there's not really a lot of regulation happening right now.

So anyways, long-winded way of me saying thank you so much for coming on and I'm very excited to have this conversation. Thank you so much for having me. I'm also very excited. Yay. Okay, so I actually found you initially because you had done a TikTok and I want to talk about this for a second if you feel comfortable. You did a TikTok about how you had a

book that was either coming out or had just come out and you were supposed to do a TV appearance and last minute it canceled. And I think it had something to do maybe with a sponsor or they didn't really want to meddle with the information that you were talking about. Do you want to share about that? Yeah. So that was my first TikTok and it went totally viral because yeah, it's my first book. I had this fancy TV appearance on a large broadcasting network lined up. I had my makeup done. I had my friend who's a stylist to help me pick out the perfect dress to wear on TV. I was very excited. And I was also just really excited to get the information in the book out to everybody.

So the book is called To Die For, How Toxic Fashion is Making Us Sick and How We Can Fight Back. And it is a heavily fact-checked book with stories about people, mostly women, and how fashion has made them sick. And then explains what the chemicals are that are making them sick, how they're making them sick, how little regulation we have, how the chemicals are getting on there and why, and calling for a total revolution in how we regulate and deal with the chemicals in our clothing. And it's a new topic. It's something that's been a little bit of an open secret in the fashion industry for probably a couple of decades, but most people have never heard about this.

And so I think a couple of things have been happening with the release of this book, which came out in June of last year, actually. And one of the things is like, because this is such new information, a lot of people have this reaction at first of like, oh, well, I've never heard anything about this before. So this must be some wellness misinformation that somebody is making up in order to scare people. That's not true. It's just been very, very well hidden. I know that sounds a little bit conspiracy theory, but if you read the book, people who read the book come out of it and say, oh, wow, you have a lot of citations. The story that you're telling is true. All of these threads you're pulling together. And it's very, very science-based.

Unfortunately, the people at this television show were afraid of litigation. And the lawyers said they would have to fact check the entire book over again in order to allow it on. And clearly they weren't going to do that. So they canceled it. That is so upsetting because we're never going to get this information out. I shouldn't say never, but it just feels like right now, everything that we're dealing with as far as in our food and in our clothes and our water and everything, it just feels like such an uphill battle because there's all these large corporations that have a lot of money invested and they're concerned about their bottom dollar

more than they are concerned about our health. And we're kind of at this, we're at this interesting place in time, I think right now, where a lot of people are waking up and people are mad and they're upset and everyone is kind of wondering, like, how do we fix this?

Because there's so much money in these industries and it's just really unfortunate that you weren't able to have that platform. But thank God for things like TikTok. And then hopefully you'll get on more podcasts and really get your word out. And I'm so grateful that you wrote this book because people really need to hear this. And you said something that I wanted to touch on really quickly. I get a lot of resistance from my podcast and all my Instagram hearing similar things from people where they're like, oh, there's no way that this is true. This has to be misinformation. And I find a lot of times it's when people are first starting to learn about this stuff. It's like their nervous system can't even

handle that this is happening and they don't even want to go there. So instead they attack you and say like, oh no, this is not true. You're lying or there's not enough information for there. But there is a lot of studies. There's a lot of information coming out about all of this right now. And I want to dive into all of it. First of all, I'm curious, how did you first find out about this? What was going on? Yeah. Well, one of the reasons I was so excited to come on your show today is because this whole journey actually started with food for me. I had... Personally, I had disordered eating, typical disordered eating of a college student.

And when I graduated, I really got into the food movement, whole foods, local foods, all those things. And it totally improved my health and my mental health as well. It improved everything. And so I'm a nerd and I got really into that. And then I started looking around and I thought, okay, if it's important where we buy our food from, it's probably important where we buy all these different things from. And fashion included, beauty, all those different things. So this was around 2009. And over the course of the

next decade, I started a blog, which turned into a platform, which turned into an investigative journalist's career, looking at fashion specifically. And it's where it comes from, who makes it, and its sustainability. But the one thing that was different between, I thought, between fashion and food was that a lot of what I was talking about with fashion was sort of something that happens to somebody else, right? So, oh, if you buy this, a certain amount of greenhouse gases are going to go into the air, and then it's going to affect people who live on island nations. Or there's a garment worker that you're never gonna meet who's affected by bad labor practices. Or all of those dyes and chemicals are going into a river in Bangladesh.

But it doesn't really affect me or you can't keep that information centered because we have competing priorities. And then, so that's what I thought about. We don't eat our clothing, why does it matter what's on our clothing? You look at the label and it says 100% cotton, or it says polyester and nylon or something like that. And you're like, okay, well, that's what it is. And in 2019, the Delta airline attendants were suing Land's End who made their uniforms.

And the things that they described were really, really horrendous. And this happened at four different major airlines who swapped in their new uniforms, where attendants would have breathing problems, rashes that became so bad that they bled or chemical burns, problems thinking, extreme anxiety and racing heart or extreme fatigue. Some of them became incapacitated. Some had to be taken to the urgent care clinic or the ER right off the plane. I mean, some of them lost all of their hair, thyroid issues, menstrual problems. Some of the women I interviewed eventually developed multiple autoimmune diseases that they attribute to their exposure to their uniforms.

And so that led me on this journey where I wanted to know what is going on? What is on these uniforms that is making these mostly women, but some men so sick. And is this also a problem for normal clothing? And I found out the answer to the first question, which is a longer answer. And this answer to the second question is yes, this is happening to normal people, but it's a little bit harder to tell if it's happening to you because the airline attendants, they put on their uniform and they can wear for up to 24 hours, depending on what their schedule is like. They sleep in it. They can talk to each other. There was a before the uniform and after the uniform introduction. But you and I, we have very complicated wardrobes that involve all these different things.

So it's a little bit harder to suss it out. But it turns out that fashion and its chemicals and the effects that it has on your health have many, many parallels with the world of food. Yeah. And it's so concerning. Like you said, there's so many other factors involved in my day-to-day life, your day-to-day life. Like I don't wear a uniform. I didn't have a group of friends where we all bought the same clothes and started wearing them around the same time. So it's really a lot harder to pinpoint this stuff. So you found out about this Delta thing. Did they change the clothes, by the way? They did. So three of the airlines who had this happen have changed out their clothing. First, it was Alaska Airlines, then it was American Airlines. American Airlines used the same uniform maker as Alaska Airlines, Twin Hill. And they actually,

this isn't in the book because this just happened. Four American Airlines attendants won a jury trial and got over a million dollars collectively from Twin Hill. And there's probably gonna be more suits coming because there's 400 American Airlines attendants waiting to go after Twin Hill for these uniforms that made them sick. So there has been some justice there. Delta Airlines also switched out their uniforms without admitting that the uniforms were a problem.

Southwest Airlines still has the same uniforms that have made its attendance sick. So that is still ongoing. And so it was different companies that they were making these uniforms for too? Yeah. So there was Twin Hill, which is just like a uniform maker. Land's End, we all know Land's End. And then they also make children's school uniforms. And then Cintas, which is like a corporate supply company. So yeah, four different airlines, three different uniform makers, a dozen different supplying countries, probably dozens of different suppliers. So this isn't a one-time mistake,

a one-time contamination, one supplier, one company. This is a systemic issue. Wow, that's crazy. Did they ever find out what was in the clothing that was making people sick or making the women sick? They did. So it was this big mystery, the industrial hygienist for AFA, which is the union who represents several different airlines' attendance. And so she really went in and was trying to figure out what is happening here. So all uniforms got tested and they all came up with different answers. There were heavy metals and Teflon, which is what goes on nonstick pans that I'm sure most of your listeners know at this point that they shouldn't be using Teflon-coated nonstick pans because it's carcinogenic and reproductive toxic and forever chemicals and they get in your blood.

So that was used on the uniforms to give them stain repellency. Some of them had super saturated dyes that would come off and stain the skin or bathtubs of the airline attendants or their bras. Some of them just had contaminants. One of them had chlordane, which is a pesticide that has been banned for all uses and sale in the United States since the 80s, but it was on these uniforms. So it was just like a variety of things on all of these different uniforms. And for a while, the uniform makers avoided culpability by saying, well, tell us the chemical that is causing all of these symptoms. And a lot of these chemicals, they have synergistic effects. They work together to make each other more potent, or they work on the same organ. And so you just don't, it's really hard to suss

out, oh, what's the one chemical out of all of these endocrine disruptors, these hormone disrupting chemicals that is doing this, which of the heavy metals is doing this? Is it the PFAS, the Teflon chemical? It's probably a lot of them working together and sort of attacking all these different systems of the body in acute ways, ways that manifest immediately and more subtle long-term ways. So not one thing, there was a bunch of different things. And what that pointed to was we just have an overall problem that is going to be harder to fix than just, you know, firing one supplier or getting one chemical out of the uniforms. Yeah. I mean, I talk about this a lot on the podcast. One of the concerns about all these

different chemicals is that we don't know what they're doing all together in the body. You know, we know individually what these certain chemicals are doing, but then when you mix them all together, that's a whole other beast that we have to worry about. And that's a huge concern. So let's help the audience understand. So what are all these chemicals doing in our clothes? What are their benefits? Why are we using all these chemicals?

That's a really good question. Some of the chemicals are deliberately applied. So you have the performance chemicals. You have anti-odor technology provided by NanoSilver, you have antifungal technology because clothing is shipped from Southeast Asia, they don't want it to get mold on it. You have some pesticides can accidentally end up on the clothing because the fabric is being stored in a warehouse or it's on a ship where they are using pesticides. Or if they're using cotton that's non-organic because they're spraying it on it.

Yeah, actually, that's a really interesting thing because cotton is so incredibly processed from the field to a t-shirt that there's actually no pesticides left even if they are applied. Yeah, the bigger concern is what kind of chemicals are used deliberately in processing the cotton, for example.

So you have scouring chemicals to clean different fibers. You have chemicals that are used to process it and weave it. You have chemicals that are used to strip other and weave it. You have chemicals that are used to strip other chemicals off that have been used. Then you have finishing chemicals. You have the performance chemicals that are put on. So actually, and I'm working on a story right now about how organic certification doesn't actually tell you much about the toxicity of a garment, which is so incredibly disappointing

because that's been such a movement for people. But I have spoken to... I have a very dear friend who had mold poisoning a couple of years ago. And she ordered a very well-known large organic cotton brand. And she had a reaction when she opened the box. And when I talked to a professional who works at an organization that governs toxicity in fashion called ZDHC, Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals, he was like,

oh, I don't think of organic as governing toxicity. Like that's not a label that we label that I would trust to tell you that something's non-toxic. So that's really disappointing and a really common misconception around what kind of chemicals are on there and how you can avoid them. Okay. So once we, I want to ask you down the line, what labels do we do look for then? But I want to close this part out first. So, and also, so there's like dyes and clothing, correct, right? And so I guess I always thought, you know, buy organic cotton.

They're not going to be using the pesticides. They're not going to be using the chemicals. So that doesn't really matter then. The organic certification itself doesn't matter. Now, I will say that natural fibers tend to have fewer hazardous chemicals used on them. So if you're buying organic cotton, it is less likely to have hazardous or sensitizing chemicals on it. You mentioned dyes. So I think what's been really interesting in my research is there's all this new research coming out of Duke Nicholas School of Public Health. I might have gotten that wrong, but it's Duke research. And there was a team of people who were looking at the kind of dyes that are used on synthetic fibers. So synthetic fibers are basically just plastic shaped like fiber. And they're made from fossil fuels. That's not great in itself. But there's a lot of people

who've been telling me for a long time, like, I can't do polyester. It makes me itchy. I have a reaction. I get a rash or hives or something like that. And I was asking people like, well, is polyester toxic? And I wasn't really getting good answers. And I realized after looking at all this fresh research coming out of Duke that it's the dyes that are used on polyester and other synthetics. If you imagine what it would take... Can you imagine taking a plastic water bottle, right? And that's what is used to make polyester, right? It's the same plastic. Can you imagine trying to dye it? And you realize why you need this like crazy chemistry

to imbue that plastic with a chemical that's gonna stick. And so they're very well known at this point, sensitizers. So if you go into the dermatologist and you say, I'm having terrible skin issues, I'm having rashes all the time, I'm eczema, all this stuff, the dermatologist is going to give you a patch test. They're going to put little patches all over your back with common sensitizers. And they will include disperse dye blue and disperse dye black because they know that this could be something you're allergic to. So a lot of people come up positive for that. And I think, you know, I kind of compare it to milk, right? So some people can totally handle milk, right? It's healthy for them. They get what they need out of it.

Some people cannot handle milk. They're like very intolerant to it. They have an immediate stomach ache or reaction. Some people find that when they get milk out of their diet, their skin improves, like some other things improve. And they didn't even realize that milk was affecting them in this way. And I think of the dyes that are used on synthetics in the same way. Some people, totally fine. Some people get itchy right away. And some people don't realize that their mild

skin issues or even more serious skin issues are coming from wearing synthetics with bright or dark saturated colors. I almost wonder if it's one of those things where we're all being affected on some level and we just can't attribute, it could be the smallest little of symptoms. I mean, similar to what you just kind of said about the milk where you cut it out and then you're like, oh my God, I didn't realize that X, Y, and Z was connected to that. And that's what really worries me about this. Way more than the food. It does feel like it's a pretty uphill battle, especially for someone like myself. I will admit, I take a lot of pride in the clothing that I wear and I want to look a certain way. And it's very hard to find the type of clothes that you want

while also checking off the boxes like, okay, is this made with real leather instead of synthetic leather, which is actually something that I was thinking about when you were talking about the synthetic fiber being made out of plastic. I find it so funny and I've been talking about this for years. People are so excited about this notion of vegan leather. And I'm like, do you guys realize that you're just wearing plastic? Like vegan leather is not good. You know? Yeah, I know. And I totally agree, especially if it's super cheap. It's crazy to me. So there's basically two types of vegan leather at this point. I mean, there's a third, which I'll talk about,

but there's PVC, polyvinyl chloride, and then there's PU, polyurethane. PVC is super cheap to make. It's vinyl. And it's very, very toxic. It sheds phthalates, which are hormone disruptors, which is crazy because it also shows up in a lot of kids' stuff, clear jelly shoes and clear backpacks and little kid raincoats. You see it in there and it's very bad for growing bodies, especially as well as pregnant women and all these things. But it's super cheap. So if you buy an incredibly cheap

pleather miniskirt from whatever ultra fast fashion brand that you see on social media, and you wear it out to go dancing and you sweat in it, which draws out those toxins. This research just came out recently showing that when you sweat in something, the sweat will bring everything that's in that fiber or that material out onto your skin where it can be absorbed. Then you're like, it's so bad. It's just so bad for you. The other type of vegan leather is polyurethane. And almost every time you hear about some fancy plant leather, cactus leather, grape leather,

apple leather, mushroom leather, they all have- Hemp leather too? Sorry? Isn't there hemp leather also? Oh, I haven't heard of hemp leather. I think I could be making that up. Okay, yeah.

Yeah, oh, pineapple. There's pineapple leather. What? I've never heard of hemp leather. I think I could be making that up. Okay. Yeah. Oh, pineapple. There's pineapple leather. What? I've never heard of half of these. Yeah. So pineapple leather, it's pretty good. It's like mostly pineapple. It does look like pineapple leather.

But the rest all have a significant portion of polyurethane with like a little dash of whatever fancy plant is mixed in. Polyurethane is better. It's still a plastic. It's not as toxic as PVC. So if you really just can't even fathom putting real leather on your body, polyurethane would be better.

But yeah, it's still plastic. And then there's one 100% plant-based vegan leather called Miram by Natural Fiber Welding. That's great. I love the founder. He's a smart chemist. He used to work in the Navy. They do a really good product.

It's more expensive, obviously, but you can find it on the market today. So yeah, but I totally agree. I see these super cheap brands rebranding as vegan. And I'm like, man, it really hurts my heart. Is it just me or is colostrum just totally taking the internet by storm? I mean, I'm so happy about it. And it's so interesting how certain things

will just become a massive trend. I've been taking colostrum for probably at least 10 years now or so. My mom got me on it. It's an ancient practice used for immune function. It really helps to strengthen and bolster the immune system. And I will say Armra colostrum

has really taken the internet by storm. And for good reason, it is a really good high quality colostrum. I get so many DMs from you guys just specifically asking me if I use Armra Colostrum and yes, I do. I've been taking Armra specifically for almost a year now. I travel with it everywhere I go.

I bring the little individual packets with me and I especially take it while I'm traveling because that's when we are most susceptible to getting sick and you know what's really cool? There's actually a study that's been done comparing the effects of the flu vaccine and colostrum and colostrum performed better in protecting the body from the flu. Isn't that wild? And this is a peer-reviewed study posted in a very well-renowned medical journal. So what is colostrum? It is the first nutrition we receive in life and contains all the essential nutrients we need in order to thrive. Armour is a proprietary concentrate of bovine colostrum that harnesses these 200 plus living bioactive compounds to

rebuild your immune barriers and fuel cellular health for a host of research-backed benefits. Armour colostrum strengthens immunity. It ignites metabolism. It fortifies gut health. It helps activate hair growth and skin radiance. And I actually have seen all my little, I have all these baby hairs that have been growing since I started taking it. And it helps to power fitness performance and recovery. And what's cool is we have worked out a special offer for you, my audience, my listeners who I absolutely adore. You're going to get 15% off your first order. So go to tryarmra.com slash realfoodology. That is T-R-Y-A-R-M-R-A.com slash realfoodology, or simply enter code realfoodology, and you're going to get 15% off. Again, that's tryarmra.com

slash realfoodology. Armra is A-R-M-R-A. Do you struggle with anxiety like I do? I have been pretty open about my journey and my struggles with anxiety throughout the years. And therapy is one of the things that has really helped me out a lot. EMDR therapy specifically has helped me through a lot of my traumas that I went through. But another thing that has really helped me throughout the years with my anxiety journey, if you will, is CBD. I really like Cured Nutrition's CBD. I love that you can go to their website and you can actually see their third-party testing that they do from their lab. So you can actually go to the website, see how much CBD is in all of their products, and they update it all the time. You can hear more about

this in depth in my episode that I had with the founder of Cured Nutrition. And my favorite ones, I would say, I really like the CBN Night Caps. And then I also like the Zen CBD Caps as well. They also have a calm oil, which is really great and a topical. So if you're dealing with any sort of injuries or maybe muscle soreness, they have a topical that you can put on. They also came out more recently with some Serenity gummies, which is like low THC relaxation gummies, which are really great. And if you follow me on Instagram, you know that my dog Turkey loves their CBD dog treats. He like freaks out every single time I open the pantry, he follows me in, he immediately goes for the bag and he starts begging for them. And they're great. They're

really high quality ingredients, all organic, have really high quality CBD. My boyfriend just got a golden retriever puppy more recently, and we have been giving the dog treats to both of our dogs when we go for road trips. And it's been really helpful. And the dogs love them. They taste really great. So if you want to try any of the products that I talked about today or anything on the Cured Nutrition website, make sure that you go to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology. That's C-U-R-E-D nutrition.com slash realfoodology. And you can also use code realfoodology and it's going to save you 20%. I have a different viewpoint than I think many have really thought through, which is if you want to make an animal's life really worth it, use every single portion of that animal. And part of that means like using the leather to make clothing. And I know it's a sensitive topic. I was

vegetarian for five years. I'm very empathetic to the people that are very concerned about killing animals because I am too. But it's also like, if it's already happening, we might as well use every piece of their body. I know it sounds, but that's just the way I see it. And with vegan leather, we're now just causing more harm to the environment. We're just causing more harm to the environment. We're also causing more harm to the workers that are involved in it. It's creating an issue in our health because we're now wearing it and like you said, sweating in it. And then it's causing infertility issues.

And so there's just like a whole other side of that that I think people are not aware of and talking about. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you remember the train that derailed and released that incredibly toxic chemical, that was vinyl chloride. So vinyl chloride is part of polyvinyl chloride. So you can see how incredibly toxic and impactful it is, not just for workers over there and other countries, but people who work near or live near these vinyl chloride and polyvinyl and PVC factories in the South. Yeah. Yeah. It's a huge concern. I've also been hearing this about workout clothes and it reminded me when you said about sweating in these clothes, because then it's releasing all those chemicals. How concerned do we need to be about workout clothes? I'm very concerned. Yeah. So there's one

organization out of California that has been testing a lot of different fashion products. And they've been testing polyester, spandex, blend workout clothing, t-shirts, leggings, socks, sports bras, and finding BPA, bisphenol A. And bisphenol A is a hormone disruptor. People will recognize it from BPA water bottles and the fact that BPA was in baby bottles about 10 years ago. And yeah, and then when you're sweating in this clothing, your sweat is drawing that hormone disrupting chemical, that endocrine disruptor, again, out onto your skin. So it's really, it's kind of horrifying if you think about it because people are just trying to be healthier. I mean, people today are hitting the gym for their New Year's resolutions.

And then they, without knowing it, they're exposing their body to these hormone disrupting chemicals. And I mean, you know, the endocrine system doesn't just govern your ability to have children. It's like your skin appearance, your weight, your energy levels, your brain function. I mean, it's everything. It governs your ability to thrive. Yeah, it's vital. I mean, I say this all the time. Our period is just our monthly report card

of our overall health. Yes, of course, it is our fertility marker, but it's also so much more than that. Like you said, it really is one of our most vital signs. Yeah, it's so concerning. And so what's happening with as far as, because I'm sure people will be listening thinking like, okay, this has to be regulated. What is the role that government regulations having right now with all these chemicals in our clothing? There are very,

very little government regulations. At the federal level, the government only regulates three chemicals in clothing and only for children's products. Three? That's it? What are they? Cadmium, lead, and some phthalates. But beyond that, so I actually visited the Newark Marine and Airport where millions and millions of packages come in. And I just wanted to see if they're checking. Do they ever open a shipping container or a box and go, whoa, that smells really bad. Maybe we should test it. And the answer is they only do that if it's a counterfeit.

So if it's from a legitimate brand, even if that brand has no chemical management policy whatsoever, they waive it through. They also wave through any package or shipment that is under $800 by law. So they are not looking... Think of how many Shein tops you can fit into an $800 shipment. They're waving all of that through without checking. So if your teenage daughter, for example, is like your 12-year-old daughter orders something from Shein, nobody is looking at that package

in between it leaving the factory, wherever that factory is, whatever that factory looks like, which might not be good, and her opening it in your home. And I remember Shein was actually under the limelight a couple of years ago for having really high levels of lead. I think it was your home. And I remember Shein was actually under the limelight a couple years ago for having really high levels of lead. I think it was a lead. Lead and phthalates. Yeah. Oh my God.

Yeah. In their children's products. So there was like a cute little princess dress and a little raincoat and a bag and they all tested Shein and Zafl together, yeah. It's so terrifying that this is happening. So, okay, let's start diving into more of the hopeful side of things. Absolutely. First of all, how can someone reduce their exposure? Like maybe what are certain clothing brands they should be looking for?

Maybe labels to be looking for on clothing? How can we move away from this as much as possible? Absolutely. Well, okay. So the federal level, very little regulations, but California is like single-handedly protecting the rest of the United States because you've seen those labels on,

it seems like everything that say like, according to the state of California, this has endocrine disorder, reproductive harm, carcinogens, all these things. So there are like certain product categories where it's kind of hard to avoid that and people just sort of like, oh, it's on everything. But clothing makers don't like having that label. So a lot of them have been sued or put on notice for not having that label and then organizations testing and finding things. And they've had settlements where they've gotten toxins out of their clothing. So that applies to bedding and mattresses and

things like that. So if you see a Prop 65 warning label on clothing, do not dismiss it. This is a really good sign that you should not buy it. So that's the good news. And those labels, even if you're not in California, you can often see them or you could go to the website. And so that's a good thing to avoid. You can look for Okotex. It's spelled kind of weird because it's a German organization, but it's O-E-K-O-T-E-X. They certified factories, they certified chemicals as safe and dyes as safe, and then they also test products

and certified the products themselves. It's not fail safe, but it's one thing to look for. People can also look for Blue Sign. So some brands, it's usually not on the clothing itself the way Okotex is, but you can go to a brand sustainability section and they might say, we partner with Blue Sign or we source this from a Blue Sign factory. So that's another good thing

to look for. Unfortunately, as I said before, GOTS Organic doesn't really tell you much. So I used to say like kind of that, but now I don't recommend it as a fail safe. Also, people should look for natural fibers. They're less likely to have hazardous finishes on them and people should avoid performance products. So if it promises to be stain proof or stain resistant, water resistant, if it promises to be anti-odor, easy care, wrinkle free, all of these things are achieved by putting a chemical finish on fabric, almost always, unless otherwise stated. And so, and also there, it's a way to like, okay, so you were talking before

at the beginning of our conversation about how like brand, food brands can make a lot of money through selling ultra processed food with these marketing promises, you know, like fruit, like fruity flavor and like also added vitamins. It's the same thing with fashion. They can make a larger profit margin by making marketing promises around the performance of their products, which may or may not be true. And then they charge more for them. And then

they have these hazardous chemicals on them, which are like sort of proprietary marketing thing that they can charge more for it. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny when I, when I really started to dive into these forever chemicals, the PFASs, I started really paying attention to the clothing that I was buying as far as like water resistant. And cause you know, I heard that like you said earlier about Teflon being found in clothing. And so I really, for the last couple of years, I've been pretty on like avoiding that kind of stuff. I have found though, like, so I really like to snowboard

and I've been doing it since I was really little. And I feel like that's the one area that I don't really know how to avoid that because you can't just go out in like jeans, you know, like you have to have some sort of protective layer. So I wonder if there's like, so let's say maybe in an instant like jeans, you know, like you have to have some sort of protective layer. So I wonder if there's like, so let's say maybe in an incident like that where you're just like, I know I'm being exposed to these.

Is there any research about detoxifying your body from this? Maybe doing things that can lessen your impact exposure to them, like going in the sauna? Does any of that matter? I actually haven't seen, I mean, we're so, like, we're new days on all of this research. So there's like, the research coming out in the past five years has been like, we, proving that the PFAS actually comes off of your clothing, like,

for a while, they were like, no, don't worry. It sticks to the clothing. Like, you don't have to worry about it. So it's just been like very proving that this is a problem. So the detoxification thing, I mean, there's a reason why they're called forever chemicals, right? Because they do not break down. Things like phthalates and BPA, you pee them out. So as soon as you reduce your exposure, you have less of them in you. PFAS is different. It just hangs out in your blood. The last research done on this is that 97% of Americans have two of the most toxic types of PFAS in their blood. There are over 12,000 types of PFAS as well.

So I'm also a snowboarder. I have a lot of friends who snowboard. And so what I would say is a couple things. There are some brands that are PFAS free. And we have a list of them on ecocult.com. Outdoor brands as well as specifically snow ski, snowboard brands. So yeah, so there are options. If you already have your probably very expensive snow gear and that you don't want to get rid of it, I would suggest you zip it up into a plastic bag

and store it somewhere so that it's not shedding into your home's house dust where you or your family can ingest it or breathe it in or anything. And like when you take it out for the season, like hang it up outside for a little, like take it out outside and hang it up. I wish there were a better answer to this

because I also get the question of like, okay, I got PFAS free snow gear. Like, what do I do with my old stuff? And I'm like, I don't know because- I know. Rubber chemicals, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I would say I hate to freak people out about what they already have in their closet. But if you have snow boots, if you have raincoats, if you have things from brands that have not specifically been PFAS free,

some of them call it PFCs free for over five years. I would store them inside a bag or in your garage or outside of your living space until you get to the point where you're ready to buy new and you buy from one of these brands. Yeah. I mean, it's really good advice. And you saying you don't want to scare people out of this. I mean, it is a scary topic and conversation, but it's also a really important one, you know, because we're dealing with so many health issues right now. And that was actually something I was going to ask you. It's something I've covered before, but I do kind of just want to remind people of like symptoms that they'd have to worry about as far as like the PFAS exposures. Because I know, you know, so many

women are dealing, for example, with infertility issues right now, and they're desperate to find answers. And we know that these chemicals are having an effect on our endocrine system. And what happens when we have endocrine disruptors, it can affect our fertility. And so while it is a scary conversation, it's also incredibly important because my heart goes out to so many women that are just like struggling to find answers, you know, and this could be the missing puzzle piece. Absolutely. I mean, yeah, I try to make it more empowering than scary, right? Yeah. If you've been, so there is like, I always recommend a book to my friends who are going,

either saving their eggs or going through IVF to get pregnant, which is called It Starts With The Egg. I also talk about it in my book. Yeah. And the premise is that the three months before you go through this process, you can improve your egg quality by detoxifying. And that book mainly focuses on getting plastic out of your kitchen and what you're eating, cleaning products, but fashion. And when I talked to a fertility doctor who recommends detoxification for her patients, a couple of things came out of that conversation. One, she was like, oh my God, I didn't know. I had no idea. And she was embarrassed that she didn't know,

even though nobody knew until I started putting everything together. And then the other thing she said is that when her patients go through this detoxification protocol, even if they don't get pregnant, they come out of it with better skin, managing their autoimmune disease better, managing their, like everything about their health improves. And so fashion, if you're doing all the other things, if you're buying organic food, you've gotten plastic out of your kitchen, you're using baking soda and vinegar to clean your house, and you're still not seeing the results that you want,

consider adding in cleaning out your closet as well and changing what you're wearing. I've been consuming collagen for about six years now. I like to put it in my morning drink, whether that's coffee or matcha. I usually prefer coffee, but lately I've actually been doing coffee and then having a matcha a little bit later. I love to mix the collagen in with my nut milk that I put in my coffee. It's usually almond milk or coconut milk. And I'm so excited to announce that Organifi has their own collagen now. As with all Organifi products, it's glyphosate residue free, really high quality. It has hydrolyzed bovine hide collagen peptides that are derived from

pasture raised cows. It also has eggshell membrane collagen. It's taken from the thin layer between the egg and the shell. And this is collagen rich, and it may be beneficial for strong joint health. It also has hydrolyzed fish collagen peptides derived from wild-caught fish. Because this collagen source is of a small particle size, it makes it easier to digest and more absorbable. And then there's also chicken bone broth protein concentrate in there. This collagen type is actually found in your gut joints and cartilage, and it helps support greater health both inside and out. Collagen is really good for lubricating the joints. It's also

great for healing and sealing the gut. Often now because of our diets, people are dealing with leaky gut syndrome and collagen actually goes in there and helps to seal the gut. So if you're having any sort of leaky gut syndrome symptoms, collagen may be your best bet. It's also great for just replenishing collagen stores that diminish as we age

and may help with wrinkles and keeping supple skin because collagen also is what keeps our skin elastic. So this is why I consume collagen. I love Organifi. I love all of their products. If you guys want to try any of the Organifi products for 20% off, you can use code realfoodology or go to organifi.com slash realfoodology.

That's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash realfoodology. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great, I think it's a great tip. So are there any brands, like specific brands that you really like that you feel like are doing a good job as far as having cleaner options, having good styles? Because I will tell you, I've been on all of this other stuff for, I mean, like 15, 20 years. Like I got all the plastic out of my house. I got all the toxic cleaning products. I changed to non-toxic skincare. This is the one that like, I will get messages from people asking for brands. And I, I haven't even really fixed this part because it feels so daunting to me. Yeah. Yeah. There are some brands that are specifically non-toxic. There's a couple different

ways to look at this. And again, we have all these lists on ecocult.com. And we'll put that in the show notes just for everyone listening. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. But there's two ways to look at this. So there are brands that are like laser focused on non-toxicity. And these are the kinds of brands where it's like, if you have chronic health issues, if you're trying to get pregnant, if you have skinny shoes or you react to chemicals, these brands have got you. Only natural fibers, natural dyes, or some of them even do completely undyed, unbleached bedding and other clothing like that.

And so we have a list of those. But like one that comes to mind is Mate the Label out of California. Yes, I love them. Yeah, they're great. And so these kinds of brands, like they do tend to be a little bit pricier. And they have an aesthetic that comes out of what they're doing, right? Like more muted colors, natural fibers. I wouldn't call them hippie crunchy granola. We've come a long way since 2000 on that. But you're not going to find Shein or misguided dupes dupes on these websites. However, there are also brands that are pretty cheap, mass market.

You can find them in your mall, your local mall or order them online. And they have really, really robust chemical management programs. And right, they're not perfect. They still sell some synthetic things. But if you can handle synthetic things, okay, fine. And so those brands, we also have a list of those on EcoCult. So those brands are like Levi's, H&M, Vans, United Colors of Benetton. All of these brands, you can buy a three pack of cotton underwear for $7, $10, right? So there's a whole range of the kind of brands that are focused on this in their own way in terms of price points, aesthetics,

like whatever you want to buy. And there's also that other brand, have you heard of Pact Underwear? Are they good? Or have you heard of them? No. I'm so sorry to say that they're the brands that my friend opened up a box of and had a really strong reaction to.

Wow. Okay. Well, I'm glad I asked because I was actually going to order some stuff. I haven't ordered from them yet. So I'm glad I asked. So it's good. It's important people know this. I mean, it makes me really sad because they're like an OG organic cotton brand. And I think that they've just changed ownership and the quality has just gone down and down and down. And I'm really confident in saying that. We're actually, one of my contributors, the EcoCoal is working on a story about this right now, but she's already excavated all of these online reviews

from other people talking about how they had a reaction, how it smelled like reaction, how it smelled like chemicals, how it's not as high quality anymore. So yeah, it makes me really, really sad that this has happened to them. I know. That's such a bummer. I also realized too that we've been talking about this mostly from a lens of women, but I do want to remind the listener that if you are struggling with fertility, don't forget to check your man's clothes too, especially underwear. Yeah, absolutely. And even beyond that, so I had a really interesting interaction about a month ago.

My husband and I were having dinner with a couple and she was really interested in this, because she has chemical sensitivity. And so we were talking, talking, talking. And I shared with her about how... Because I kind of went on an accidental elimination diet for my clothing where... I just noticed that on long plane rides or bus rides or train rides that I would get a little bit itchy in my synthetic black yoga leggings. I started buying mostly cotton ones. And over the past six months, I realized that whenever I put on black synthetic bottoms, and especially if I go work out or have hot yoga, I break out. And so I told her this and she was like, this light bulb went off and she was like, oh my God, my partner, he has terrible back acne.

And we've done every, like we've cut out his sugar. Like we've been, he's been eating healthy and like all of this stuff and like, you know, what products he's using. And I never thought about what he's wearing. And I said, show me what he's wearing. And he has like, he wears nothing but sleeveless, black, synthetic workout shirts. Yep, that'll do it. Yeah, absolutely. So this definitely affects men as well as women. I mean, it does affect women more

because we're more likely to get autoimmune disease. When we have infertility problems, like we have to go through the expensive interventions. We're normally the caretakers of children who have eczema or other health problems. Like we have to go through the expensive interventions. We're normally the caretakers of children who have eczema or other health problems. So this is definitely something that affects women more, but it's just because I'm using the word fashion doesn't mean it should be blown off as a girly, unserious topic. Yeah. Yeah. It's in all of our clothing. And you think about too, like I think about with

my boyfriend, he wears a lot of workout clothes. Like that's like his entire, like even when he's not working out, you know, just as what he wears during the day, a lot of these like workout type shirts that now I'm like, I'm going to go check all the ingredients and not like what, what fibers are those made out of? Which actually, by the way, I wanted to ask you, so you keep mentioning natural fibers. What are the natural fibers that we want to be looking for? Yeah. So cotton, linen, silk, merino wool is a really good one. So a lot of workout brands make base layers

or other workout gear out of merino wool. I actually really love a lot of my Icebreaker merino wool underwear. I know that sounds crazy, but it's the most flattering, comfortable stuff that I have. Also, there are some that are like plant-based man-made fibers. So you have Lyocell and Tencel. You have Modal. You have Bamboo Rayon, Rayon and Viscose.

All of those are actually natural fibers. And I've heard anecdotally that people who are extremely chemically sensitive or have problems with eczema or other skin issues really get along well with Bamboo Viscose. Okay, that's good. That's a hot tip. And then alternatively, what are some of the biggest offenders that we want to look for as far as like the really not natural fibers? Yeah. So I mentioned PVC, so pleather, especially if it's like unlabeled or super cheap. Polyurethane's okay. It's not ideal. But especially if you're wearing it against your skin but also like leather especially super cheap leather

can have high levels of chromium which is a toxic heavy metal so again like cheap the cheap version is something to watch out for I always tell people to avoid ultra fast fashion brands and when I say ultra fast

like I don't mean H&M, I mean like Shein, Zafl, Temu, that gibberish name, like brand, I have air quotes, brand that you only see on social media, on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and all those places. Like the cheap Amazon brands too, I'm assuming.

Yeah, so bad. And then other synthetics. So polyesters is synthetic and it can have those dispersed dyes, those immunosensitizing dyes that I talked about, as well as nylon, acrylamide, um, uh, acrylic, which is like, uh, like cheap sweaters that aren't actually wool or alpaca is another really good one that you can wear. So like cheap synthetic sweaters will be made of acrylic. What else? Those are the main ones. What about spandex? Yeah. So spandex is interesting because usually, like for example, most of my yoga clothes are something like 95% cotton and 5% spandex or 5% elastane. And we have a contributor to EcoCult. I mean, you're just not going to get the stretchiness that you want out of natural fibers. You can do some knits will get you a little bit of stretchiness. But if you're looking for

butt-hugging yoga clothes or a sports bra, you're going to need a little bit of spandex or elastane. What I found is that my contributor, the EcoCult, who is sensitive to synthetics, she does fine with the around 5% spandex or elastane additions. Also, some of the tests have shown that 95% cotton socks with a little bit of spandex or elastane are okay when it comes to things like BPA. It's the fully synthetic products or the 50% synthetic products that are a problem. Okay. Yeah, that's really interesting. This is so fascinating and really helpful. Thank you. Like I said earlier, this is something that I've been wanting to address, but it just felt so... It just felt like a big uphill battle, you know, and I just, I really wanted to address it and go through a whole podcast episode and really help people understand what to look for,

what to avoid. So it's really helpful. There was actually a question I wanted to ask you earlier about the chemicals and I forgot. There's this notion that the dose makes the poison. Can we talk about that? Because I hear that a lot on Instagram comments. People will be like, oh, it's a small amount. It really doesn't have an effect. But I don't think that's true with some of these chemicals. No, you're exactly correct. So it is true for some chemicals, right? So formaldehyde, for example, it's a carcinogen at high amounts, a known carcinogen. At small amounts, you can find it everywhere, in your body, it's just around.

So that dose makes the poison. But when it comes to endocrine disruptors, the dose does not make the poison. These chemicals can do damage at parts per billion levels. So that's like a drop in Olympic-sized swimming pool. And they're chaotic evil. They mimic your hormones, they plug in, and they have this cascading effect on your body. And especially if your kids are exposed or you're pregnant, there's evidence that if you're exposed and you someday get pregnant, that your future children could be affected by your exposure to endocrine disruptors today. So there's just no... Researchers pretty much

agree at this point that there's no safe level of exposure to endocrine disruptors. And they come in so many different forms. So let's say there's a little bit of BPA in your leggings, and then you have a little bit of PFAS in your stain resistant shirt. And then you have a little bit of phthalates in your leather raincoat or whatever. You're getting all these endocrine disruptors from multiple different sources. And then you have your beauty products.

You're going to the salon. You're getting your nails done. They might be in your home, coming off of different things in your home. So the dose mix of poison, yeah, sure off of different things in your home. So the dose makes the poison. Yeah, sure for some things, but like, how do you even know what your exposure level is when there's so many different things around you? Yeah. And that has always been my argument as well. It's like, okay, yeah, sure. Let's say even if just the dose makes the poison, what's in your food? What's in the containers that your food is being held in? What's in your water?

What's on your couch and in your sheets that you're sleeping in and your workout clothes and in your mattress and your beauty product? Like we could just go on and on and on and on. And so this is why my argument has always been, do the absolute best that you can, research the brands that are doing right by our health, buy the brands that are creating cleaner products. And just, you know, I kind of want to end on this note to remind people that, you know, it's not all doomsday. There are a lot of companies that are creating really clean, healthier for you, non-toxic products.

And it's just on us, unfortunately, to research that, find those brands, make sure that we clean out our homes and get the, you know, the cleanest brands. And then the rest, like you can't stress about it. You know, you just have to have comfort knowing that you're doing the absolute best you can. Do things like exercise, do sauna if you can, or even just do a hot bath with Epsom salt if you don't have access to a sauna so that you can at least get your lymph flowing, detox as much as you can. And then we just have to say, you know what, I'm doing the best I can. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I totally agree. I think of it as a process, less of adding in a

bunch of stress and more like simplifying, right? I mean, you know this about food. It's like if you go on an elimination diet, at first you're super annoyed about it. But the clarity that you receive and then you end up just like, oh, my diet has gotten so much simpler, right? I'm not overdoing in all these ways. And I think it's the same thing around beauty products, right? You're subtracting all of these expensive overpriced beauty products. And then same with clothing, like you get out of that addiction to like tap, tap, buy, tap, tap, buy. And when you get dressed in the morning,

you have fewer things to choose from. So you're just not taking up all this mental space trying to match everything. And I just know that like overhauling my closet was part of my overall journey towards a more relaxed, nourishing, healthy lifestyle where I'm buying fewer things of higher quality. And that applies to my food and that applies to my fashion and that applies to my beauty products and my furniture and all of those different things. And secondhand, like secondhand shopping as well. So I don't,

this doesn't have to be so scary. It can be a journey of self-discovery. Yeah, I love that so much. So before we go, is there anything we didn't cover that you feel like is really important for people to know? No, I think we actually,

yeah, we covered quite a bit. Yeah. And I would encourage people who have more questions to pick up a copy bit. Yeah. And I would encourage people who have more questions to pick up a copy of my book. And it's got a lot of different things in there. Fertility, chemical sensitivity. I do a deep dive. It sounds denser than it is. You can knock it out in a couple of days. Also, before we go, I like to ask all my guests this, what are your personal health non-negotiables?

So these are things either you do daily, weekly to really prioritize your own health. Absolutely. So I always have a cup of tea in the morning. It's the one habit where I can do it wherever I am in the world. I can always find a bag of tea and an electric kettle or some hot water. So that's one non-negotiable. I always try to get in at least a very quick sun salutation as well in the morning, get myself stretched out. And I don't drink soda. So I got off of soda a few years ago and it's just like,

now it just feels caustic when I'm near it. So that's something that I've cut out of my diet and I'm much happier for it. Caustic, I love that, describing that about soda. That's amazing. Well, please let everyone know where they can find you if you wanna be found. And also the name of your book is To Die For, right?

Yeah, D-Y-E. Perfect. And where can they find you? They can find, people can find out more information at, in my book at ecocult.com. That's E-C-O-C-U-L-T. And they can find my freelance work for places like the New York Times and Vogue and Wired at aldenwicker.com. Amazing. Alden, thank you so much for your time. This was an amazing episode. I loved it Amazing. Alden, thank you so much for your time. This was an amazing episode. I loved it.

I totally agree. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. If you liked the episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a resonant media production

produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie. Georgie is spelled with a J. For more amazing podcasts produced by my team, go to resonantmediagroup.com. I love you guys so much. See you next week. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.