15: Reducing Toxins in Your Home With Dr. Samantha Radford (Evidence-Based Mommy)

Dr. Samantha Radford owns Evidence-based Mommy (evidence-basedmommy.com), where she combines science and wellness to help moms and kids thrive. She is a mom of 4 who has breastfed for nearly 10 years straight. She has been through the highs and lows of natural term breastfeeding, including nursing while pregnant, tandem feeding, nursing aversion, and more.

In this episode we deep dive the biggest toxin exposures to your little one in the early years of life and how to avoid them. 


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Transcript

So, you know, I have my PhD in exposure science, which is basically what kinds of toxic chemicals are we exposed to and how do they affect our body, especially either as women of childbearing age.

Or  children, whether you know, before they're born or after. And the thing about a lot of these toxic chemicals, including pesticides or lead or whatever, you know, might be in food, is that they have these long-term effects, like the butterfly effect. You know, a little change here can have a lifetime.  Effect on your child.

So we do wanna minimize that, but we also don't wanna like freak ourselves out and stay super stressed about the whole thing. And anyway, so going back to when I first started doing this, I was, I. It was all very academic to me, so I was just like, oh, cool, there's pesticides in, you know, whatever. But it didn't matter to me cuz at the time, like I wasn't into kids.

I was an only child. Like I hated to babysit. I sucked at babysitting, you know? But then you are, You know, so now, now instead I have four children. I had one and I loved it so much that like, I just kept having kids. So once I did have that first child, like you said, all of a sudden like it became very real.

You know, all these things that, like I was writing journal, ar journal articles about or whatever, like actually affected, you know, me and my kids. So it is interesting to have, you know, this kind of. Like perspective on it, I guess. But with that said, as far as starting foods, I noticed that you mentioned something about, you know, a three or four months, it seems so, so far away.

And I'm so glad you said that because I, now, I don't know the recommendations in Canada specifically, but I know that the Centers for Disease Control here in the United States tell you. That you need to wait till your child is at least six months to start solids. So that includes cereals, that includes purees, whatever it is.

Basically, you want your child to be sitting up unsupported because that's a good indication that their digestive tract is ready to start receiving solid foods. So wait till at least six months. It's the same in Canada.  Excellent. I think that, yeah, and I think that it might be, They, they might be six months, like a hard line, or it might be like between five and.

Seven. It, like, it might be like right around there, but it's, it definitely is the same. And I do know that there's many people that, the reason I chuckled is because it's like, it's so normal to me in working in lactation and doing the things that I did that I, I forget that people are like, oh yeah, like I started rice cereal at two months or three months, or Pablo or whatever they're calling, right?

And  yes. So I, I'm like, oh yeah, oh yeah, that's right. People do that. Like my brain forgot. So I did this whole deep dive. On Rice cereal, and I was like, well, how did they develop it? And you mentioned Plom, and I'm like, aha. Like that's, they started it in Canada and at the time it was like a lifesaving thing, but now it's unnecessary.

It's a whole thing.  But yeah, let's like really briefly talk about why let's not do the rice cereal two months, besides the fact that like your baby doesn't need it and it can cause tummy upset and all of that. Rice, you know, we're talking about toxic chemicals. Rice is actually really bad for having arsenic in it.

So rice is grown on a flooded patty. And back in maybe like the fifties or so, we used tons of chemical pesticides on rice patties, and a lot of them included arsenic in them. And the problem is we can't like go back and undo that. So we can't just like, Suck all the arsenic out of the soil. It's just sort of there.

And so whether you get like organic rice or you get, you know, regular, what I would call conventional rice, whatever kind of rice you get, it's going to have arsenic in it. And that doesn't mean that you can never, ever, ever eat rice. But at the same time, you don't want, for your baby's only food sources to be, you know, breast milk and or formula.

And this thing that contains a lot of arsenic. So yeah, there's no reason to use it at this time. It used to be when, back in the days of plu, that the formulas that they had didn't have enough iron, didn't have enough other nutrients, and so the PLU kind of helps support. But now if you're breastfeeding a course, you're baby's getting everything they need.

And if you're using formula, they've, they've  Made it good enough so that you don't have to have like the rice cereal to compliment it so you can just skip the whole rice cereal thing entirely. Yeah, and I think that that's like a helpful point to, to make that like, it doesn't like that kind of like the poison is in the dose and when you think about it, when your baby's like entire diet is considered consisting of.

Formula or breast milk and then simply rice. And when you look at, and I know we're talking about rice cereal, but when you look at those first starting foods, like so many of them are just rice. Like it's all rice flour. It's like the little melty things and  you know, like the little snacks, all those, the puffs and all that stuff.

Yeah. Exactly, yes. So it's, it's like rice, like generally speaking, and I know we can get into this, but like small doses of little tiny bits of things when you're eating a very vi, very diet, like isn't particularly impactful. But then when your baby is literally eating just rice, that arsenic becomes like super, super.

Important to be aware of, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm glad you mentioned like skipping the puffs, skip the teething biscuits because again, you know, they wanna make sure that your kids don't choke on 'em, so they make 'em to wear, they just like dissolve really easily. Rice is really great for that. So if you've ever eaten a rice cake, you know how it just sort of like disappears in your mouth.

Yeah. Same kind of thing. So yeah, that's one thing is. Skip the rice cereal. Wait till your baby is, you know, somewhere in that five to seven month mark to start solids. And once you get there, you know, feed them a varied diet. Whether you choose to do purees or baby lead weaning, that's like a whole nother issue, right?

I did baby lead weaning, just it. That's what worked for our family. But whatever you do, you know, like I said, give them a variety. So like, for example, Some produce like just happens to have more pesticide or heavy metal contamination or whatever in it than others. It just kind of has to do with whenever the plant grows and absorbs, you know, these things through the roots like.

Where it kind of gets shuttled off to into the plant. Like some of them, you know, might store a particular chemical in its flowers, but others store that chemical like in its leaves or its roots. So for example, you know, a really common first food for babies would either be, would be sweet potatoes because.

Obviously it's sweet, so you know, it tastes good. It's easy whether you're doing puree or you're doing  baby-led weening. It's easy to, you know, make into either like something really soft as puree or to like roast it into something that your baby can like hold onto and gnaw on. But sweet potatoes, Tend to store heavy metals in them.

So again, like lead or cavium or you know, those sorts of things, which again, have like these lifelong risks associated with them. So once again, that doesn't mean like never ever eat sweet potato, but switch it up some like, especially instead of sweet potato, maybe go for like acorn squash or butternut squash.

It has a really similar flavor and a pretty similar texture and you don't have that risk of, you know, those heavy metals in it. Right. Yeah. I think that that, like when I, when I was beginning to like learn about these things, I mean, of course you hear about these things like growing up even and whatnot and, and you know, like it wasn't like a new thing.

But when I started really looking at it, I definitely started to realize, okay, the key is not to panic about one particular thing, having something in it. It's because ultimately everything has something that could be a problematic yes. But it's, it's obviously there's certain ones that are much more problematic than others.

And also it's more that if you're eating that same thing all the time, then it's just like you're just consuming so much of it that now it's like, okay, that's a problem. So if ev like if your whole diet is rice, like my mom and my sister are celiac, and so like, that's become like a very important thing because rice is like a huge substitute for wheat flour.

 So, you know, being, being conscious and mindful of that, to switch up the flower sources. And again, rice is often in the like, pre-made gluten-free products. So it's a lot of baking from home to get that like variety of, of flowers. Right. But I, I just think that that's so important too. I love that you're like, sweet potatoes are amazing and if that's like what you're used to, awesome.

Try some other things too and switch it up and add them in.  I think that that's just like super, super helpful information. And not to panic, but to be mindful and aware of it. And that variety is ultimately kind of the key to that, right? Yeah, yeah. And then too, I mean, think about like these things depend on what's available to you as well.

Of course. So like for example, you know, you may have heard of the Dirty Dozen from the environmental working group. So it's basically the environmental working group looks each year at. The 12 types of produce that have the most pesticide in them. And the list stays pretty similar from year to year.

Like strawberries always top the list.  Apples are usually in there. I have all these like spinach and kale, which is unfortunate cuz those are all like really healthy things for you. But also apparently bugs really like them so we use extra pesticide on them. So  what I like to say is that, you know, if your choice is either some sort of processed, something that's not particularly nutritious and a regular apple, you know, give your kid the apple because that's better for them to get the nutrition, even if they are getting some pesticide.

But if you are able, you know, to take that next step and if you can buy organic for those certain things, you know, like I mentioned, strawberries. Let that be the thing that you buy organic. And then the Environmental Working group also has another list that they call the Clean 15. So these are produce that don't have a lot of toxic chemicals in 'em, like just the way that they're grown, it's not as much of a problem.

So for example, I think Onion is on that list, so don't, you know, spend all your money on organic onions or whatever it is on that list instead, you know, save that for. Like the apples or the strawberries. Yeah. I think that that's, that's really helpful. And even with that too, like I know we buy frozen strawberries, like of course in the summer we do occasionally buy like fresh, but like more often than not, it's frozen and buy  Organic frozen strawberries is a lot cheaper than buying organic fresh strawberries.

So true. And it lasts longer. Yeah. Yeah. Cause strawberries like you've got like two days and then they're toast. Yeah. And my kids love to, like, I'll just literally let them thaw briefly and my kids will just eat them like, Just frosty, like frosty little strawberries. So, which by the way, that's a good teething tip.

So my friend taught me that and it's been the best thing. So like a frozen vegetable. My kids to this day, they're all the way up to like nine and a half down to three, and they all love to eat frozen peas still frozen because we use those for teething. My kids love them too. Frozen. And I'll ask, I'll be like, would you rather have them heated up or frozen?

And they will all be like, we want 'em frozen. So, well, I throw the frozen peas onto hot meals to kind of cool them down. Yeah. So I, I've done that. But then I would always have a, a bowl of frozen peas, like out, so like, Always, but often with different or frozen corn or, and for like mm-hmm. Things like oatmeal, I'd use frozen blueberries or whatever.

 But yeah, my kids will just, and they'll sneak into the freezer sometimes. I mean, sneak in, but they'll open the freezer. Just start eating frozen peas. Yes. What? Yes, exactly. So there's your. Your true pro parenting tip through this whole thing is frozen peas for for teething, and then later they just eat 'em.

And then you're like, it's a win-win because they're eating vegetables. You're putting in zero effort. Like it's great. Yeah, exactly. And I can throw them into the box mac and cheese and feel slightly better about the box. Yeah. Hey, we had box mac and cheese tonight. Don't tell. See, I think that that is an important piece to bring out the, like that.

There's a convenience element that is like, you know, like important to you, even whether it's frozen vegetables or occasionally using boxed meals or, or like, you know, like those kinds of things too.  Yeah, yeah. We had the variety piece. Exactly. So we had the mac and cheese either, you know, throw the frozen peas in, like you said, we, I got some baby carrots and steamed them in the microwave.

Like this was a day where we had to kind of get things going real quick. But you can make. Like healthier foods or whole foods like that work for you and work for your family. Like when you need to. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that that's super helpful. Okay, so we covered babies and like moving up. So when talking about like making snacks for little kids, talking about packing things in lunches and like that kind of stuff, like do you have any, I mean like obviously there was rice for like babies that was kind of like a thing that we should avoid and then we're talking about.

 You know, considering looking at the amount of pesticides in different produce so that we can have different options and know where to kind of invest in organic options that don't use pesticides or use different pesticides.  And then, so we're moving into, like, now we're talking about convenience food.

I think this is super relevant for talking about our toddlers that, you know, like the kind of, I don't know, stereotype is that they're living on chicken nuggets and  yeah. You know, like that kinda thing. So what, mac and cheese, what are your thoughts? Yeah, exactly. What's kind your thoughts about that?

So when it's gonna be okay.  Just as a broad blanket statement, like, You know, people start to panic about kids. A lot of times when your kids are baby babies and they're first trying food, they'll eat anything because it's like all new and different and amazing. And then when they get to be toddlers, like their palate, I don't know, like narrows down a whole lot, it's gonna be okay.

It'll pick back up later. So don't freak out like. Yeah, let the meat, especially again, you know, if they're still breastfeeding, which is great, then you're gonna be filling in those nutritional gaps. It's gonna be okay. Yeah. One thing I would suggest, you've probably heard like don't let your toddlers drink a whole lot of juice.

And if they do keep it watered down, part of that is just, it's a lot of sugar that they don't need. You know, you're better off eating the whole fruit than getting that much sugar. But the other part is again, you know, so when we think about which foods have the most pesticide in them, you kind of have to think about like which ones, you know, taste the best.

And like fruit. Fruit has a lot of sugar. Insects also like sugar. So fruits tend to have more pesticides used on them. And then once you juice it and concentrate it down, fruit juices just tend to have. A fair bit more pesticides than like most foods. So that's another reason, you know, to kind of lay low on the juice.

But I mean, besides that, you know, like, just like we were talking about before, you continue that variety, you know, try when you can to use Whole Foods, whether they're from the produce section, which tends to be more expensive. It might not be accessible all the time if it's not. Try frozen. Even canned for some things will be great.

You know, if you can get it lower sodium, get what works for you and yeah, I mean, sometimes it's a chicken nugget night and it'll be okay. Yeah, I think that that's so important too. And something I see a lot with like specializing in parents who are breastfeeding toddlers, is that picky eating and then the uptick in breastfeeding and the the mm-hmm.

Kind of. Lowering of the solid foods, they start to panic and feel like breastfeeding's almost to blame for it. But I really like that reframe of like, actually this is normal. And the fact that your breast breastfeeding means that you are filling in those nutritional gaps for them that might be happening from, you know, like just less variety of their solid foods or you know, less eating of it and that that's not, that's.

The Breastfeeding's not the problem there. It's actually no, and I mean, that's not something that's exclusive to breastfeeding children because I saw it's been five or six years ago, but I remember seeing a commercial and being appalled. There was a commercial for toddler formula, like especially marketed for toddlers.

And I was like, why? And then I was like, oh yeah, because they're not being breastfed. And so they're, you know, the whole thing we were talking about, like worrying about those nutritional gaps, like, That's why. So I mean, it's gonna happen, you know, whether you're breastfeeding or not. And there will be someone there, you know, ready to try to catch you when you fall and market you a thing to fix it.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I really liked that that that like kind of thought about juice too. I think that a lot of times we see the made with real fruit juice and we think that's gotta be healthier. That's what they're using to at least market to you to say that it's healthier. But it's really interesting to think, oh yeah, but it's concentrated so it's going to be, especially if they're using that for sweetening.

So. Perhaps the imperfections or the things that we wouldn't love about a fruit are gonna be concentrated as well. Like potentially. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. And even, I mean, you kind of have to watch like a lot of things that say, you know, they don't have any like, No sugar added or something like that.

Like say applesauce packets. It'll say that they're no sugar added. They'll also have like condensed apple juice in it, which has a ton of sugar in it. So instead of using, you know, like high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar or whatever, They might just be like concentrating down apple juice to sweeten things.

And so these things can have a really high sugar content. You know, we were talking earlier about like those rice puffs or whatever. I remember there's a like baby food type brand who has these like yogurt drop things that are like weird free shred. Those are pure sugar. Like there's no need. I've seen they have.

Like these puffs that I remember reading it, they're supposed to be like cheese flavor. And I was like, these are Cheetos. I know. Like these are Cheetos marketed for babies. Like why? Yes, I totally Gerber has them. Not that I'm, yes, that's who it's, I wasn't, I wasn't name the brand, but it's totally Gerber.

Do. We're not famous enough for anybody care right now? Not yet. Give it time. Not yet. One day they'll come for us. But I totally know the ones you're talking about. Yeah. I, I'm feeding them. I was like, oh, these are good. Yeah, those yogurt, those yogurt drops are pretty good. Not gonna lie, but yeah. Yeah. No, totally, totally.

And yeah, and I think that that's just important as well to consider, not even that you're like freaking out about the sugar consumption of your kid that you need to be like panicking, but just to think like, is that necessary? Like, could they, I mean, you get like a plain cheerio, like it's. It's pretty much just as convenient and the kid's not really gonna know the difference.

They're probably less likely to choke on it with the, the hole in the middle. And it's like, okay. Like less sugar there. Yes. And you know, whatever. It's right. Like, or to simply just, You know, feed them what you're eating, which is what I did with ab lead Wean. So maybe I'm just biased, but, you know, like just add into the plate in front of them.

 And I think that that actually is too, when you're talking about like the marketing and you know, somebody's there to kind of like fill in that gap. I think that that's kind of what we've come to when it comes to toddler snacks and all these Oh yeah. Things. It's just, it's like a whole, it's a whole industry and.

I think that in some ways it's convenient, but in a lot of ways I think that they are playing on parents' fears and they're marketing like, oh, but this is natural. Mm-hmm. And you know, like you need your child to be eating, like in the pouches, they just put every possible. Food into the baby food pouches and the toddler food pouches.

Right. Like, they're like, here. This is, you know, all the things and, and I think that And it's more expensive. Exactly. And you know, because it's like marked it for babies, it must be better for them. So we can jack up the price. But yeah, you're better off. I mean, honestly, I feel like other than maybe the food diet, if you could get like Cheetos that weren't like that weird yellow orange.

Like you would be pretty much just as well off giving your baby Cheetos as you would like, the Gerber Right. Cheese puff things. And it would be a lot cheaper. I didn't say that out loud, but I, I, it's, it's a, it's an important conversation to have, to be honest, because I think that we can feel panicked  about.

Like, you know, make, just analyzing what we're giving our kids so much. And on the flip side, just unaware and just kind of like mm-hmm. Flow. Going along with the flow and just doing what everybody else is doing or what we see on tv or, you know, when you're walking through the grocery store and you walk through the baby food aisle or whatever, the snack aisle, like, it's, it's everywhere, right?

Like, it's just full of these things that were being  you know, Marketed to, right? Like sold to. So it's helpful to kind of come in with at least a little bit, you don't have to be like super crazy, like afraid or like overanalyzing, but also just being aware, right? And saying, okay, like is this really necessary for me?

And I think too, a lot of moms who are talking about like, what's available to you and whatnot, and you know, taking the pressure off of having to buy the marketed baby. Thing when it is expensive, when it's like, but that's a significant part of my grocery budget.  And I don't know how things are where you are right now, Sam, but grocery prices are through the roof here, so Oh my goodness.

Yes. So, you know, like, let's, let's be aware of these things and not feel guilty or bad for buying the frozen fruit or the canned vegetables or whatever it is. And  you know, because they're wonderful. There's great things there to be having. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So  yeah. Do you have any final thoughts that you kind of wanna add into this conversation?

I mean, if you're, if you're still at that beginning stage where you're trying to figure out what you're gonna do as far as starting solids, I have, I have my simply starting solids checklist, so it kind of helps you balance that like, Getting a variety of foods, knowing which things to avoid, but which things are really helpful, what kinds of shapes are good and like densities are good for, you know, babies just starting solids.

So I can give you the link for that if you'd like to share it. Yeah, totally. I'll definitely make sure it's in the show notes. Okay, awesome. So yeah, I mean, like you said, the biggest takeaway I think is. Don't stress, it's gonna be okay. And because I mean like your stress, you know, kind of rubs off on your baby too.

Like I always say, stress is in a way, it's also like a toxic exposure. So do what you can. And then we know that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean there are studies that show long-term effects, which I'm afraid to even say that cuz then people are gonna be like, oh God, no, I'm too stressed and now it's gonna upset my, you know.

But no, the point is just, you know, do what you can. It's gonna be okay. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think that that's super important. I mean, like that, I, that's a huge part of the work that I do, and I feel like that's where we compliment each other really well is that I come at things from the emotional side, from the, you know, emotional support.

So when I say that, I'm like, Come work with me, I'll help you with all that stress. We'll, we'll get through it, right?  Yes. And so I think that that's where I lean almost to like, let's, let's not talk about foods too much. Cuz I, I, you know, like that's not my expertise. And I'm like, but if I can help you with the stress, then like, that's where we're, we're going.

So I think that it's, it's such a great compliment to have kind of both of our expertise here to be able to  to do that because it's still an important conversation to have, right? Like, Oh yeah. Yeah. I'm so excited. I'm like, there's so many things we could talk about, but in the future we'll get there.

We'll get there, we'll get there.  Yeah, so thank you for, thank you for having me today. Yeah. Thank you so much for being on. I  I'm super, I love being able to add variety to the topics that we cover too. Like I said, this is not my area of expertise, like let's talk about it. Let's bring people on. So I am just really grateful that you are, you are willing to come and be on the podcast.

Yeah. Thank you so much.