Non-Toxic: Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World

by Aly Cohen, Frederick vom Saal

Overview

There is no question that our environment has changed dramatically over the past few decades. The influx of thousands of toxic chemicals that seep into every aspect of our lives wreaking havoc on our bodies can seem daunting, but research now shows that by making simple changes, we can dramatically reduce exposures to many harmful chemicals that we eat, breathe, and lather on our skin.

Non-Toxic is a practical guide to living healthier in our modern environment. It teaches how to reduce chemical and radiation exposures by recognizing potential threats and paying attention to what you eat, breathe, and put onto your skin. Written in clear, easy-to-understand language and based on scientific evidence, this book is filled with resources, tools, tear-off sheets, recipes, and practical, cost-effective tips designed to help you:

Understand and decode product and food labels

Create delicious recipes to help detoxify your body

Choose and prepare food and drinks safely and healthfully

Furnish and clean your home for a healthy indoor environment

Safely disinfect surfaces from COVID-19

Create do-it-yourself cleaning product recipes

Choose safer personal care products and cosmetics

Reduce exposure to pesticides in and around your home

Ensure safe drinking water for you, your family and pets

Reduce exposure to EMF radiation from cell phones, laptops and other tech toys

Make informed decisions about toys, baby products, and other environmental issues affecting your children

Written by a board-certified Rheumatologist and Integrative Medicine Physician, and a renowned PhD professor of neuro- and reproductive biology, Non-Toxic is designed to be referred to again and again for its relevant, cost-effective, and practical ways to reduce exposure and thereby lower risk for developing a variety of environmentally associated illnesses.

ABOUT THE SERIES: From series editor, Andrew Weil, one of the most iconic and trusted names in healthcare today, the Dr. Weil's Healthy Living Guides series discusses caring for common medical conditions and optimizing health from an integrative medical approach. Integrative medicine is defined as an evidence-based healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, conventional, alternative, and complementary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190082352
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Series:	Dr Weil's Healthy Living Guides
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	213,517
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Dr. Aly Cohen is a board certified rheumatologist and integrative medicine specialist, as well as an environmental health expert in Princeton, New Jersey. She has collaborated with the Environmental Working Group, Cancer Schmancer, and other disease-prevention organizations, and is coeditor of the textbook, Integrative Environmental Medicine, part of the Oxford University Press Weil Integrative Medicine Library. In 2015, she created TheSmartHuman.com to share environmental health, disease prevention, and wellness information with the public.

Dr. Fred vom Saal is a Curators' Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. After college he taught biology as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Somalia and after the revolution there, he also taught in Kenya and then Paris before entering graduate school. Dr. vom Saal has published over 240 articles and reviews on his research. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals and federal research review panels both in the United States and abroad.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword xi

Introduction: The Story of Truxtun, Aly's Golden Retriever 1

1 Overview of Environmental Exposures: How We Got into This Pickle 13

2 How the Human Endocrine and Immune Systems Are Disrupted by Chemical Exposures 37

3 Chemicals and Kids: What Parents and Parents-to-Be Need to Know! 57

4 We Are What We Eat: Chemicals in Our Food 75

5 What Is REALLY in Our Drinking Water? 105

6 Medications Are Chemicals Too 133

7 The Air We Breathe: Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality 155

8 Is My Antiperspirant Harming Me? Personal Care Products and Chemicals 171

9 Squeaky Clean: How to Stay Clean without Toxins! 199

10 Insecticides, Herbicides, and Other Pesticides: Chemicals Designed to Kill 225

11 Home Furnishings: How to Avoid Flame Retardants and Other Toxic Chemicals 245

12 Radiation: Safer Use of Cell Phones, Tech Toys, and Gadgets 267

13 Detoxification Methods That Work 291

Appendix 1 Detox Recipes 327

Appendix 2 Travel Tips 349

Appendix 3 Gym Tips 353

Appendix 4 Reputable Labs 355

Appendix 5 Abbreviations 357

Appendix 6 Glossary 359

Appendix 7 Tear-Off Refrigerator Sheet 365

About the Authors 367

Acknowledgments 371

Index 375

Editorial Reviews

"As the founder of the Cancer Schmancer Movement and an ardent believer that how you live equals how you feel, I can speak first hand that Dr. Aly Cohen, who is one of our medical advisors, is the real deal! Read this book and learn how to live well, be well, and stay well!" -- Fran Drescher, Actor, Producer, Author, Health Activist, Public Diplomacy Envoy on Health - US State Department

"The idea that our home environment and product choices can make us sick is a powerful motivator for cleaner living. Drs. Cohen and vom Saal reveal the dangers lurking within our food, water, clothing, personal care products, household products, and cellular technology, and share practical, cost-effective, tips and recommendations to battle the challenges of "clean" living in a world without meaningful regulations. This is an important and timely guide to understanding our toxic world and what we can all do to protect our bodies from harmful exposures and their chronic health consequences." -- Mark Hyman MD, bestselling author of numerous books, including Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet-One Bite at a Time

"Non-Toxic reveals the vast extent our ever-increasing exposure to toxins coupled with the failure of governmental agencies to intervene for our protection. The text not only makes it clear that to protect our health we have to serve as our own advocates, but also provides clear strategies enabling us to accomplish this goal. This is a clear and eloquent presentation of where we are, how we got here, and what we can do moving forward to offset some of the most important health threats of our modern world." -- David Perlmutter, MD, Author, #1 New York Times bestseller, Grain Brain and Brain Wash

"If your doctor has never told you how important it is to reduce toxic chemical exposures in your food, water, and home, you might need a new doctor. You definitely need Non-Toxic, a book so indispensable to good health its purchase ought to be covered by insurance. Dr. Aly Cohen and Professor Fred vom Saal lucidly explain how toxic chemicals hurt you and prescribe practical steps you can take to get them out of your life." -- Ken Cook, President, EWG

"Non-Toxic is the blueprint for staying healthy in an increasingly complex environment. You CAN reduce harmful exposures without turning your whole life upside down or breaking the bank. When misinformation abounds, a scientifically based resource with practical recommendations for making safer choices for everything from food to home furnishings is truly a treasure. I will be recommending this book to all my patients and colleagues." -- Tieraona Low Dog, MD, Integrative Physician and Author of Healthy at Home

"What could be more important than the health of our brain! Non-Toxic shares practical information to help reduce harmful brain exposures - from pregnancy all the way through old age - and empowers readers to take control of the chemical world around them." -- Dhru Pirohit, creator/host of the Broken Brain podcast

"Every day I witness increasing concern for both personal health and planetary ecological health, especially as humanity experiences global interconnectedness in real time. In Non-Toxic, the authors provide rigorously researched assessments of what we're faced with as well as practical actions to protect ourselves and others. As more of us make these changes, our collective impact will be a reduced toxics burden for all life. I enthusiastically recommend Non-Toxic as a superb guide to meaningful personal and global action." -- Shana S. Weber, Ph.D., Director, Office of Sustainability, Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University

"An authoritative and accessible guide to how we got into the chemical pickle we are in, what it means for your health, and how you can take positive, practical action to navigate through the chemical onslaught that comes at us every day." -- Pete Myers, Ph.D., co-author of Our Stolen Future

From the Publisher