Check out some of my favorite go-to non-toxic products and brands below.
These are items I use in my home and on my body, without having to worry about what's inside them.
I carry Paleovalley beef, pork, venison, and chicken sticks around with me all the time, especially when traveling. They're portable, delicious, and clean. I also often use their supplements, especially the vitamin C (whole food based) and Neuroeffect.
CLEAN BEAUTY SPOTLIGHT!
Since 2010, The Detox Market has been obsessively curating the best of green beauty, combing through thousands of products so they can offer you safe products that work. It's like the Sephora of clean beauty! To check out their selection, visit their website at: www.thedetoxmarket.com.
Check out their Banned Ingredients List here:
https://www.thedetoxmarket.com/pages/banned-ingredients
If you’re trying to reduce sugar intake (and who isn’t?), these drops can be super-helpful, especially when it comes to baking. Stevia is a natural sweetener that comes from the Stevia Rebaudiana plant. I actually tasted a leaf off a plant in Costa Rica, and it tastes just the same as the product you buy in stores. Stevia is much healthier than artificial sweeteners (like sucralose or aspartame) and has been approved in Europe and Japan for a long time. Note that you want to buy a high quality brand that hasn’t had additives mixed in. When baking, consider cutting back your sugar quantities and adding 6-10 drops to a recipe. Sweetleaf makes these stevia drops in many flavors (I like the vanilla crème), and just a few drops goes a long way. Like with any stevia, too much can leave a cloying aftertaste, so go easy until you find the quantity that suits your taste. To read more about Stevia, click here. To buy it on Amazon, click here.
It does matter what kind of eggs you eat! Pasture eggs mean the chickens roamed free, eating grass, insects, and other things chickens naturally crave (instead of corn and soy). Pasture eggs help lower systemic inflammation because they're higher in Omega-3 fatty acids. If you can find organic eggs that are ALSO pasture-raised (beige carton above), grab 'em. It means that not only were the chickens allowed to eat grass and insects, but they were NOT fed any GMO or pesticide-laden food. If you have a choice between eggs that are only pasture or only organic, choose pasture! Organic eggs usually mean the chickens were fed organic corn and soy--which means little to no Omega 3's inside. These eggs from VITAL FARMS are a great choice.
Deep Steep makes great hand washes available in more than 15 different scents, like brown sugar vanilla, coconut lime, and rosemary mint. My favorite is the grapefruit bergamot. Another great thing about Deep Steep is that their website includes an ingredient glossary, so you can look up each ingredient to understand what's inside. Check it out!
My friend Kelly recently discovered Family Friendly Farms and I am thrilled with their products. The farm is run by a couple with 7 kids and all are active on it. Every animal is humanely raised with consideration for the environment. They offer grass-fed grass-finished lamb, beef, and pastured pork (bacon, sausage, plus the usual cuts) and chicken (whole). It arrives frozen and they ship directly to homes throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico - including the Greater Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego, plus Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Albuquerque. Family Friendly Farms also provides neighborhood deliveries to the San Francisco Bay Area (from Marin County to San Jose), and Oakland, Livermore, Tracy, Stockton, Sacramento, Nevada County, Placer County, and Lake County. They eat what they grow so they eat what you eat. Their motto: We care about how we live. We care about what we eat. We care about what we share. Need I say more? Check them out here: www.familyfriendlyfarms.com.
Truly Free Home is a great resource for non-toxic household cleaners. I use their OxyBoost stain remover, their enzyme stain remover, their fabric softener rinse (I love the smell), and their dishwasher detergent.
It's hard to find a clean deodorant that works, is the right consistency, and smells good (but isn't overpowering). This is my fave. My husband and I have been using this product for years, and so far I've never found another deodorant that I like quite as much as this brand. It comes in several scents (and unscented), but the liken plant herbal scent is my choice.
Bona Furtuna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Bona Furtuna Extra Virgin Olive Oil is hands down the best olive oil I've tasted. It has a soft, fruity flavor with hints of artichoke, green tomato and almond. Made by local aritsans in Corleone Sicily, this olive oil is made from hand-harvested olive varieties including Nocellara del Belice, Biancolilla and Passulunara. Because this oil is exceptional, I save it for raw applications, like salad dressings and drizzling onto vegetables. What makes this oil even more wonderful is the story behind it. Bona Furtuna is a labor of love that honors generations past, present, and future. The farm is sustainable, employs local artisans, and donates all excess profits to help Sicilian students as well as those with mental and physical handicaps. To read the whole story, click here. Now you know why I love this particular olive oil. To find out why you should be eating a ton of good quality olive oil, click here.
Butter has gotten a bad wrap over the years. Turns out, not all fats are created equally. Yes, you want to stay away from unhealthy fats like partially hydrogenated oils and seed oils. But butter contains Butyrate--a short chain fatty acid that makes your gut bugs happy. Butyrate also benefits the colon cells by increasing energy production and cell proliferation, and may even protect against colon cancer. By choosing butter from pasture raised cows (translation: the cows ate grass, not corn and soy), it will be higher in Omega 3 fatty acids as well (translation: anti-inflammatory). The culturing process removes much of the lactose, and organic = no pesticides. This butter from ORGANIC VALLEY is the one I buy and eat.
Consuming bone broth--soup stock made from the bones of pasture-raised animals (as opposed to bouillon cubes or msg-laden powders--is one of the best things you can do for your gut. Not only does bone broth help to seal tight junctions of the intestinal lining so as to keep particulars from leaking out and setting off an immune response, it is also chock full of health promoting compounds that strengthen your bones, joints, skin, and nails. Collagen, Glycine, proline, Glycosaminoglycans, and tons of minerals top the long list of benefits. Bonafide Restorative Bone Broth is one of my favorite brands because not only is it made with top level ingredients, the taste is like homemade. Drink it plain or use it as a soup base. Either way, you'll thank me. To read more about the health benefits of bone broth, click here for Chris Kresser's summary. For another great brand of bone broth that is portable (comes in a tetra pack), check out Kettle and Fire brand.
This meditation headband is a great idea for those who have trouble making meditation practice stick. Using Bluetooth technology, this headband connects to a free app on your smart phone and tracks your brainwaves while you meditate. When you get distracted, the Muse app gives you feedback using sound (eg. heavy rain if you’ve chosen the rainforest motif, a storm if you’ve chosen the beach motif), so you’re reminded to focus on your breath. While you’re successfully in the meditative state, the app gives you feedback with chirping bird sounds. After meditation, you can see and save all your sessions, and track your progress using fancy generated graphs. It’s a perfect gift for any meditation-minded friends, or for yourself if you love techno-gadgets and haven’t been successful with consistency. For more info, check out: www.choosemuse.com.
If you tend to like the taste of beef sticks (remember Hot Rods from the old days?) these are a great portable snack, and a good protein add-on if you're eating a salad for lunch or dinner. These beef sticks contain no MSG, no nitrates, no antibiotics, no hormones, no sugar, no red dye, and no gluten--they're super clean. They're also portable, filling, and because the beef is grass-fed they contain lower levels of saturated fat, higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids (important!), high doses of conjugated linoleic acid (thought by many to fight cancer) and are ecologically friendly. They can be pricey, so check them out at vitacost.com for a good deal.
This spice mix is one of my favorites for flavor and for cleanliness. It contains only spices you might have in your pantry (Himalayan pink salt, chili powder, black pepper, onion powder, white pepper, cumin, and cayenne) without any preservatives, colors, or artificial ingredients. I use it on meats, but you can use it on anything. Check it out at: www.paleopowderseasoning.com.
These high-end skin products are made in Sicily and are formulated with ingredients gathered on an organic regenerative farm. Their Biphase Moisturizing Oil is a huge success, and I love their Eye Revitalizing Cream and their Olive Lip Butter Balm. My husband loves their After Shave Serum. Their inspiring story can be found here.
BeautyCounter's Sheer Genius Conditioning Lipstick in Pearl is my new favorite product. It's not too heavy, not too light, and adds just enough shimmer to make your lips look slightly glossy. To check out their safety standards and ingredients, click here:
These frying pans by Ozeri are german-made, with 100% APEO & PFOA-Free Stone-Derived Non-Stick Coating. They come in 3 sizes, 8-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch, and are so reasonably priced that you can buy all three (I own the 8-inch and 10-inch, and will buy the 12-inch once my current 12-inch pan is ready for retirement). These pans are light, easy to clean, and the non-stick coating works as well as Tephlon, without dangerous chemicals.
The Instant Pot seems to be all the rage lately. It is, in my opinion, primarily a pressure cooker, though it also functions as a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a steamer, and more. It was recommended to me by Sarica Cernohous of Naturally Living Today, (in my opinion, when Sarica recommends something highly, it's usually really good) and though one significant benefit of the Instant Pot is that it speeds up cooking like crazy, I use it because pressure cooking food significantly reduces its lectin content--which means food like beans and grains becomes less inflammatory. I use my Instant Pot primarily to cook chickpeas, beans, and quinoa, but I also use it to make bone broth (20 minutes). An old fashioned pressure cooker will do the job, but I didn't own one, and I like the safety and ease of this one. They are also quite inexpensive (price search online. I think I paid $75 for mine). Only downside, they do take up space in your kitchen. For more info on how to use this, visit: http://instantpot.com.
Consuming bone broth--soup stock made from the bones of pasture-raised animals (as opposed to bouillon cubes or msg-laden powders--is one of the best things you can do for your gut. Not only does bone broth help to seal tight junctions of the intestinal lining so as to keep particulars from leaking out and setting off an immune response, it is also chock full of health promoting compounds that strengthen your bones, joints, skin, and nails. Collagen, glycine, proline, glycosaminoglycans, and tons of minerals top the long list of benefits. Kettle and Fire makes both chicken and beef bone broth using the bones from pasture-raised animals and all organic vegetables. Both flavors are super healthy with different nutritional profiles, so feel free to mix and match. The benefit of Kettle and Fire brand is that it comes in tetra packs, which means you can store it in your pantry (freeing up freezer space), take it with you on the road or to the office for a healthy snack, or a boost that won't break your fast if you're an intermittent fast-er. For another great brand of bone broth, check out Bonafide Provisions too.
If you’re trying to eat a whole-food diet, but just can’t live without pasta (like me), and have no intention of making your own (like me), Cappello’s brand is a great choice. You can order it online or find it in the freezer section of many upscale grocery stores, and you store it in your freezer so it’s there for a quick meal when you crave it. What I love about this pasta are the ingredients—all pronounceable and items you would cook with at home (but no grains): Almond flour, cage-free eggs, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, sea salt. I don’t eat it every day, but once in a while it’s the perfect treat. The flavor is quite good, but be aware that the noodles and gnocchi are a bit heavier than flour-based pasta. They also make pizza’s using sheep cheese, which is less inflammatory than cow cheese, so that might be worth checking into as well. To learn more about Cappello’s products, click here.
This seasoning mix is super versatile. You can use it to season meat, fish, or vegetables, or to make a vegetable broth to flavor soups or recipes. It contains only real dried vegeetables like onion, turmeric root, parsley, leek, nutmeg, garlic, celery, rosemary, and more.