Clean: Part of a Book Review

I started reading, "Clean: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body's Natural Ability to Heal Itself" by Dr. Alejandro Junger.  He was another expert from "Hungry for Change" and while I knew his book was about a detox program that I wasn't planning to do, I thought I would read the book and see what he had to say.  I didn't exactly finish the book because of my plan not to detox, but I think I got what I needed out of it for now.

First of all....EVERYTHING IS TOXIC!  OMG.  I was already pretty comfortable with the idea of organic, live foods and staying away from GMO's, foods with pesticides, grain fed animals, and so forth, but it goes way beyond the food we eat.  He talked about toxins in our environments, our tap water, our lotions and shampoos, our clothes, our carpets, cars, air, rain, etc etc etc.  Now, if I were to think about everything I have learned throughout my life, I could have probably come up with the same number of toxins that Dr. Junger talks about in this book, but man, reading about all of them at once was a little alarming!  Do I need to just stand naked in the middle of a remote field the rest of my life?  Now, I don't think he was listing all of them to scare us and to make us stop using everything.  I think he was just trying to point out how hard it is to get away from toxins in our daily lives and that maybe we should rethink the toxins we CAN control.

Joe and I have already started reconsidering our soaps and cleaners in our apartment.  As we begin to use up our other products, I will start looking into other more friendly options for everything from toothpaste to detergent.  There are just so many products that we use.

The thing that kind of got me thinking was our water.  Our Denver tap water certainly tastes better than some of the other cities we've lived in, but it's not great.  As I sit here drinking my big tumbler of water, I can't help but think that it isn't 100% satisfying.  I can almost taste the chlorine they use to treat it.  Also, Dr. Junger pointed out the surprising percentage of water our body absorbs from the shower.  So even if I filter my water, I'm still getting those toxins in my body through my shower.  Oh, and don't get me started on my love of the pool.  :0)

So what is my plan?  I have never been a big fan of filter pitchers in the fridge because I hate refilling them constantly, so I think I will look at getting a sink faucet attachment filter for now.  When Joe and I buy a house, we may seriously consider installing a water filtration system.  As for the pool, I will continue to shower before I hop in the pool because then my body won't absorb as much chlorine from the pool.  And for showers....well...I'll continue to risk it.

While the detox program Dr. Junger discusses sounds intriguing.  I think I will pass for now and simply focus on all of the other healthy habits I am working on.  I don't want to overload myself and start getting confused.  Each book I have read has given me a little more insight and something to think about.  I think reducing my toxins when I can and visualizing like Jon from the Gabriel Method taught me is a good combination from both books that I could maintain.

Tomorrow, I'll start reading "Slim for Life" by Jason Vale...another "Hungry for Change" expert.  His focus is on juicing, something I already do once a day, so we will see what he has to add!