How many headlines recently have you heard about all the bad things that are gonna kill you? It's overwhelming. I turn it off. I DO NOT need any more anxiety. I have plenty to share, thanks!
But recently a number of studies have come out with GOOD news.
If you are new here….PFAS are in our bodies...they are bad...they are class of over 20K chemicals that are unfortunately everywhere. (Yes, you should definitely still avoid exposure…want to learn more about PFAS? See the old blog post)
Well good news is that one recent study showed PFAS reduction in adults that had taken a probiotic. All the more reason to take a probiotic, or better yet eat your fermented foods!
As we hear more and more about the connection between a healthy gut and it’s relationship to anxiety, depression, and countless other issues, it's essential to avoid those triggers. Inflammation in the gut also can contribute to systematic inflammation. (en route to the Dip retreat Karen and I listed to this Science Vs. podcast episode about systemic inflammation)
What else is good for you? High fiber! Another study showed fiber rich diet can also be helpful in reducing PFAs in your body. While I’m not one to evaluate the efficacy of scientific studies I think this looks promising! Either way, you're supposed to have fiber.
That other bad thing we keep hearing about…Microplastics….(are you still in the dark?)again, found in every human organ (placenta, sperm, brains…), linked to dementia, cancers, strokes, heart attacks…the list goes on. While I definitely advocate for avoiding them (please throw out your plastic cutting board already and stop microwaving in plastic or using plastic cooking utensils)....sadly its impossible. I mean there is literally a 3-5x higher concentration of microplastics in brains with dementia. There is some research that shows the body can clear some of these particles with blood, sweat, tears….so yeah move your body.
(ps. you know what's really important? scientific research!)
So here's the thing….all the nutritionists, or anyone with any common sense…have continually told us to ‘eat the rainbow’, or eat your fruits and veggies, avoid processed foods, eat whole foods, exercise… well turns out it's pretty good to do that for many different reasons. You don’t need another fad diet, you don’t need weird voodoo. You literally just need to eat healthy, sweat (yes, time to throw out your antiperspirant already), avoid the big no nos as best you can. My friend jokingly said the other day, “I’ve never trusted a diet that tells you to not to eat vegetables.” 100% (okay of course there are some medical exemptions to that but that NOT the norm)
I’m a busy mom. I have 1.5 jobs, I have three little-ish kids, I do a lot of other stuff…I cannot do it all. I am not perfect. We do what we can. I’ve definitely been to the drive thru and fed my kids red dye and ultra processed crap. But also, this isn’t everyday. I have been trying to my very best to focus on eating more veggies (shout out to my Memorial Day Meltdown Team!) it's hard when you cook and delicious dinner and three smol humans are like, is this it? (sorry ma).
So keep it simple loves. Don’t go crazy on the Yuka app. Stop wasting your money on fads. Buying vegetables, frozen or fresh, conventional or organic…is better than none at all (psst. Organic isnt always better, and organic snack crap can be super processed too)
Oh and I’m excited that we planted approximately one million cucumber plants this summer because pickles are the one “vegetable” my kids all agree on. Oh and I still hate 5 o'clock when my husband and I ask ourselves WTF is for dinner.