Cavewomen Don't Get Fat by Esther Blum

nonstick pans slick; in the plastic bags, films, wraps, and containers that clog up your kitchen drawers and shelves; and in the water that flows through your kitchen tap. Toxins are also hiding in the food you’re lugging home from the grocery store. (High-fructose corn syrup, my gorgeous friends, is a leading obesogen.) They can also be found in the bathroom, beauty, and hair-careproducts that you use daily. They’re even in your plastic shower curtain! So much for washing away the grime of the world: you’re actually ingesting it through your scalp and pores pretty much every time you use a brand-name product.
    Obesogens are lurking around your yard too: they’re in the pesticides and weed killers that keep your grass green and turn your tomatoes red. Unless you’re eating all organic foods, they’re also showing up on the fruits and veggies you buy at the local grocery store.
    And don’t get me started on electronic devices. We worry about what those electronic emissions may do to us, but we already know that the heavy metals and plastics that our phones, TVs, and computers are made of are constantly giving off toxic gases.
    Feeling overwhelmed? I know—sometimes you have to be scared straight before you take things seriously. I know I do. It’s a particularly cavewomanish type of tough love, but you can handle it.
    There are obesogens in the medications we take, and in the medications that are fed to the conventionally farmed animals that eventually make it to our dining tables. These compounds make us fat, ruin our libidos, addle our brains (causing headaches, depression, sleep problems), and generally wreak havoc on our endocrine systems. None of this is good for us.
    Let’s face it: we’re not going to give up all of our modern conveniences, but there are some easy things you can do to reduce the obesogen load in your home:
    â€¢Â Get rid of your nonstick cookware; instead, use cast iron, glass, and any other chemically inert cookware, such as clay, stainless steel, and copper pots.
    â€¢Â Toss out the plastic food containers you have and use glass ones instead. Do the same with water bottles, opting for aluminum and glass.
    â€¢Â Minimize eating canned goods. There’s a thin layer of toxic plastic inside most cans. Fresh or frozen foods are alwaysbetter than canned in terms of lowering your exposure to obesogens.
    â€¢Â When you buy meats, poultry, or seafood, ask that it be wrapped in paper rather than plastic. If you do buy prepackaged foods, rinse them well to wash off any plastic residue before cooking.
    â€¢Â Use a water filter to reduce contaminants in your tap water for drinking. A reverse-osmosis filter is best, but pitchers with carbon filters work well too.
    â€¢Â Try to avoid using aerosols, especially room fresheners and hair sprays. Instead, use organic hair-care products and 100 percent beeswax candles with cotton wicks.
    â€¢Â Use mineral-based cosmetics and organic skin-care products. Ditto shampoos and soaps.
    â€¢Â Use “green” cleaning products and laundry soaps. (See page 267 for a comprehensive list of safe skin-care products and page 269 for a list of household products to use.)
    â€¢Â Give chemicals the finger and switch to organic products free of all forms of BPA (bisphenol A), parfum, propylene glycol, methacrylate, benzaldehyde, octinoxate, isopropyl myristate, polymethyl methacrylate, phthalates, EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), all parabens, any product with sodium lauryl sulfate, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propylene glycol, carbomers, and cocamides.
    â€¢Â Get hot and sweaty in a sauna at least three times per week to facilitate the body’s release of toxins. Exercise is another beneficial way to sweat and move out those toxins.
    By implementing even just a few of these suggestions, you will begin to detoxify, and you will give your body a fighting chance to shed some weight.