Are lurking toxins making your family sick? Some of the hidden health dangers are all around us and we are exposed daily without even knowing. A mom shares her journey on toxins and health….
“For a long time, my daughter suffered from autism, eczema, and lung problems,” Crystal Bethea, CEO of C3 Wellness Spa, says. “Despite using a nebulizer, as well as receiving steroid treatments four times a day, her condition didn’t improve. Indeed, it even got worse, and she started regressing socially.”
Bethea knew something had to change. That’s why she started leading her family on a holistic wellness journey to reduce the toxins in their lives. “We eliminated household products that contain harmful chemicals, such as fragrance plug-ins, bleach, other cleaning products, perfumes, and lotions,” she explains. As a result, her daughter’s health improved dramatically.
Before setting out on this journey, Bethea had no idea how many toxins she exposed her family to on a daily basis. Ever since, she’s been on a mission to raise awareness about the harmful chemicals in many everyday products. Below, she shares the swaps her family made, as well as the beneficial effects they gained from making them.
A journey into holistic wellness
At first, Bethea and her husband targeted major items in their household for substitution. They removed the carpet, replaced the air ducts, and put in a new air conditioner. “This was expensive, and unfortunately, it didn’t work,” she says. “My daughter’s symptoms didn’t improve.”
After that, she decided to go all natural. “When I swapped out the prefabricated fragrance plug-ins for essential oils diffusers, my daughter could sleep through the night for the first time without coughing,” she says. “The silence scared us a bit! I kept checking in on her, but she was sound asleep and breathing deeply.”
Those results encouraged her to continue in this direction. “While the initial reason we switched to natural products was my daughter’s health, it was easier to follow through with this intention when I started treating all of us together as a family,” Bethea says. “As Isaiah 11:6 says, ‘And a child shall lead them.’”
After doing a lot of research, Bethea removed everything under her kitchen sink and in her bathroom. One by one, she traded her previous go-to products with alternatives that avoided harsh chemicals. Removing perfumes and lotions that contained fragrances, for instance, calmed her daughter’s eczema.
While these changes helped, another significant breakthrough occurred when they tried salt therapy. “At first, I simply kept salt lamps all over the house, but it was much more effective to go to a salt booth,” Bethea says. This treatment involves sitting in a room lined with salt and inhaling particles of NaCL. “We were astonished by how much inflammation was removed from our nasal passages, throats, and lungs,” she says. “Salt therapy has had a long-lasting impact on our lives.”
These substitutions had benefits for Bethea and her husband as well as for their daughter. “We became less stressed, slept more soundly, and enjoyed brighter moods,” she says. “Our skin looked great!”
Bethea’s top recommendations for products to swap
Many common household products in the U.S. aren’t actually healthy, natural, and clean – they’re just marketed that way. Indeed, several ingredients allowed in American formulations are banned in other countries.
But if the idea of eliminating these toxins from your life sounds daunting, then Bethea has good news. “Going natural doesn’t have to be a chore,” she says. “If you switch and ditch as you run out of things, you will go green and make your home healthier before you know it.”
Based on her experience, here are the most important substitutions you can make to detoxify your home.
First, she recommends replacing antiperspirants that contain aluminum with deodorants that don’t. If overused, antiperspirants with aluminum may increase the risk of breast cancer. It has also been shown to affect the endocrine system.
Instead of using conventional cleaning products, she recommends mineral salts for removing stains from clothing and washing pots and pans. She also recommends witch hazel, which can be used to mop floors, clean windows, and keep chrome fixtures gleaming. “People sometimes worry that these natural methods won’t work well, but they’re actually quite effective,” she says. “Plus, they keep things clean for a long time.”
“Swap out lotions, which are often full of toxins, for body oil and shea butter,” she advises next. “Remove perfumes and replace them with your favorite essential oils and a carrier oil mix. Allow your essence to come through with a sweet aroma that blends with your body chemistry, rather than blocking it.”
To keep toxins out of the products you buy, Bethea advises not to believe what you read on the front of the package. Scrutinize the ingredients list on the back, avoiding anything with the term “fragrance.” “While ‘fragrance’ might sound good, this term acts as a mask for hundreds of unnamed chemicals, some of which are hormone-blocking inhibitors,” Bethea explains.
Start small, start today
“Using essential oils takes 22 seconds for constituents to reach the brain, 2 minutes for them to enter the bloodstream, and 20 minutes for them to reach every cell in your body,” Bethea says. “If essential oils can do that, imagine the damage toxic products are doing in this same fashion. Bleach, perfume, deodorant, and fragrant lotions — we douse ourselves in these products every day. Then we wonder why we have health problems.”
To improve your family’s well-being, make sure your household is free of toxins. Start with just a single swap, followed by another. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can purify your entire home, as well as the results you’ll see from making these changes.
