18 - Detox Your Home: Simple Swaps That Support Your Gut & Immunity

After the popular episode on detoxing your kitchen (Nourished Living Podcast Episode 11), we’re taking it one step further and talking about everyday items and spaces in your home that could be contributing to your toxic load—and how to swap them out without feeling overwhelmed.

This episode will give you the tools to make simple, powerful changes that support your energy, hormones, gut health, and overall well-being.

What You'll Learn:

• Easy, budget-friendly swaps for laundry detergents, dryer sheets, and air fresheners
• How houseplants can clean your air (yes, really!)
• Which water filters are worth the investment—and why they matter
• The truth about personal care products and how to choose cleaner options
• My favorite non-toxic brands you can trust

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned:

• EWG Healthy Living App: https://www.ewg.org/apps/
• Laundry Swaps: Branch Basics, Truly Free, Molly’s Suds, Seventh Generation
• Water Filter Options: Berkey, Clearly Filtered, Epic Water, ZeroWater
• Shower Filters: Weddell Duo, Aquasana
• Personal Care Brands: Oliveda, Primally Pure, Honest Beauty, Native, Everyone, doTERRA

Special Invitation: Free Live Training!

Ditch the Diets:
🗓 Wednesday, June 25th
I’ll be teaching you how to nourish your body without rigid rules, diets, or deprivation. If you're ready for a more sustainable and empowering approach to health, this one’s for you.
🎟 Save your seat here

(Replay will be available to everyone who registers!)

👯‍♀️ Loved this episode?

Share it with a friend or tag me on Instagram @nourished_living_ with any changes you’re making in your home. I love seeing how you’re taking action!

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Nourished Living Podcast, where I'll be diving deep into nutrition, holistic wellness, and practical tips to help you live your healthiest, most vibrant life. I am Courtney Podany, a nutritional therapist, certified personal trainer, type one diabetic and mom. And I'm here to help you take charge of your health with ease and confidence. Together we'll explore how to nourish your body, mind, and soul in a way that feels good and sustainable. So grab your favorite beverage. Take a deep breath, and let's get into the episode. I. Hello, and welcome back to the Nourished Living Podcast. I am your host Courtney Podany, and I'm excited to be here with you. I truly appreciate you choosing to spend your valuable time with me today. Before we dive into today's episode, I wanted to share something personal that's been on my mind, and honestly, it's a good reminder of how smart our bodies really are. Lately I started getting muscle cramps at night, mostly in my calves, but even in my abdominal muscles, which has never happened before. It was super uncomfortable and definitely not normal for me. I rarely, if ever, deal with muscle cramps, so I knew that something was off. My first thought was that it might be the magnesium supplement I had just switched to. It was still magnesium glycinate and the same dosage, but I wondered if the brand change might be affecting me somehow, or how well I was absorbing it. Calcium is responsible for muscle contraction, and magnesium helps with muscle relaxation. So I've always taken magnesium at night to help my body wind down and also for its natural calming effects. But as I kept thinking about it, I realized something else. The weather has been hotter lately. And I have been sweating a lot more during workouts and just being outside more in general. So that got me thinking maybe this isn't just about magnesium, maybe it's about electrolytes. Altogether, I decided to increase my electrolyte intake, and by day two, the cramps were completely gone and I have not had one since. It's been about two weeks now, so I am quite relieved. And I wanted to share this because it's such a great example of how our bodies are constantly communicating with us. We just have to get curious and try to begin connecting the dots. For me, those muscle cramps were a signal of my body's way of telling me I needed more support in the form of hydration and minerals. And I promise, the more you practice tuning into your body, the easier it will become to understand what your body needs. And that is really an empowering place to be when you know what your body's telling you, so you can give it what it needs and start feeling good again. Okay. Also, that could be a good reminder. If you have not upped your hydration and your electrolytes with the increase in temperature, please do so now. If you tuned in to My Kitchen Detox episode recently, first of all, thank you. It's actually been one of the most listened to episodes so far. So that tells me that you guys are interested in reducing your toxic load. So I wanted to add onto that. I started with detoxing our kitchen because I'm a nutritionist, but now we are diving into detoxing your home. There might be a little overlap from the last episode, and I will do just a brief summary why it's important to stay away from toxins, but I'll try to keep it brief and just focus on the new information. But no worries. If you have not listened to episode 11 yet, you do not need to pause this one, you can absolutely listen to this episode first and then go back to that one afterward. Okay, let's get into it. Why is it important to limit our toxin exposure? Well, because over time these chemicals can really wreak havoc on our bodies. They burden our liver and detox pathways, disrupt hormones, irritate the gut lining, and even have the potential to alter the balance of our gut bacteria. So this can lead to issues like fatigue, brain fog, skin conditions, anxiety and inflammation, and also developing new allergies and food sensitivities. And while our bodies are designed to detox, they were never meant to handle the hundreds of chemicals that we are exposed to daily through our air, our water, our food, and everyday products. So reducing this load where we can helps free up the body's resources to function the way they were meant to. First, we will begin with one of the most. Overlooked sources of toxin exposure. Our laundry. To be completely honest, I had not considered this at all until I was going through my nutritional therapy certification. But think about it with me. Your clothes, your sheets, your towels, you are in constant contact with at least one of these at all time. And there's not really anything we can change in that regard. Like not using sheets or something radical like that. So what you wash, all of that stuff in matters. Conventional laundry detergents, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets are loaded with fragrance dyes and preservatives, many of which are known endocrine disruptors. So these chemicals irritate the skin, mess with our hormones and impact our gut health over time by contributing to our toxic burden in the long run, they can also weaken our immune systems and trigger inflammation. So what can you do? Okay, swap your conventional detergent for a non-toxic version. Look for options that are fragrance-free and dye-free, or even EWG rated. EWG is the environmental working group who has a free app that rates are products based on their ingredients. And we'll let you know which ones are the most clean and which ones you will want to swap. Again, you don't need to purge everything right away, but the next time you run out, I would encourage you to search the app to find a cleaner option and then purchase that when you need it. A few brands I love include Branch Basics, truly free, Molly's suds, and seventh Generation. And instead of traditional dryer sheets, try drier wool balls. You can even add a few drops of essential oils like lavender or lemon if you still want that fresh laundry scent without the hormone disrupting chemicals. And these are typically guaranteed up to like a thousand washes, which if you have kids, that might not seem like a lot, but it'll get you through longer than a box of typical dryer sheets would. Next we'll talk about air quality. So we can clear the toxins we are breathing in. If you remember from the kitchen detox episode, even fumes from things like household cleaners get into our system and have the potential to cause serious side effects. So I believe that air quality is an often overlooked source of toxins. A great way to improve the air in your home naturally is to bring in a few air purifying plants. These plants don't just look pretty. They actually help filter toxins from the air, like formaldehyde and benzene. Some of the best choices include spider plants, snake plants, aloe vera, English Ivy, peace Lilly, and Boston ferns. There was actually a study done by NASA that found that spider plants can remove up to 95% of chemicals in the air within just 24 hours, which to me is just like mind blowing. So even adding just one or two into your house can make a huge difference. Next we'll talk about water filters. So of course, what's in your water matters. Water is another area where toxins can sneak in. Tap water can contain chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, and even trace pharmaceuticals, which is actually pretty scary. Of course, we can't let this information get the better of us because that part is not in our control. But luckily there are a few ways that we ourselves can clean up our water source. For drinking water, look into filters like Berkey filters, clearly filtered epic water or zero water. And we also have to consider filters for our showers to help reduce chlorine and other contaminants that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled as steam for shower filters. The Weddell duo is highly recommended. That's W-E-D-D-E-L-L or aquasana, and that is A-Q-U-A-S-A-N-A. Or if you really want to go all in, there are even whole house water filtration systems and that can help you clean up everything from your sinks to your showers. Aqua Sana also does a whole house water filter, and another good one is APEC water, so that's a PEC. Then we also have to consider hygiene and personal care products. So we cannot forget the products that we use on our bodies every day. Shampoo, lotion, deodorant, makeup, soap, the list goes on. Many of these contain ingredients like parabens, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances, which are also known to disrupt hormones and burden our detox pathways. On average, women use 12 personal care products a day, exposing themselves to up to 168 different chemicals every single day. And while men only use on average about six products, that still exposes them to about 85 chemicals, which is a lot. So just like we talked about with the cleaning products in the last episode and the laundry products earlier in this episode, you can check for personal care items on eew G'S app. Just the next time you run out, replace it with a safer alternative. There are so many clean beauty brands out there, but some of the ones that I've tried and enjoy are all Oliveda. Primally, pure, honest beauty, native everyone, and doTERRA. So to recap, unfortunately, there are lots of toxins out there and we can't control how these products are made or where they come from. However we can. Choose what comes into our homes and how we start to decrease that toxin load for our overall health and wellbeing. So I would say start with laundry. Switch to non-toxic detergent and get some wool dryer balls. Then you can improve your air by bringing in a few house plants that will naturally filter out those toxins that we inhale. Then filter your water. Look into drinking water filters and shower filters to reduce our exposure to heavy metals and chlorine. And don't forget about personal care. You can check the products that you currently own through the E-W-G app as well by scanning them, and they'll let you know how they measure up. If they are something that you might not want to continue with, just search the app for another swap and you can purchase that next time. Remember, you don't need to change everything at once. This is not to overwhelm you. Just choose one area to focus on and then you can build from there. Every small swap you make adds up and your body will thank you for it. And real quick before I sign off, I wanted to invite you to join me for a free live training that I will be holding. I will be talking about breaking free from diet, guilt, shame, and burnout. I am so passionate about this because for so long we've been taught that in order to be quote unquote healthy or look a certain way, we have to follow a strict diet. Cut the carbs, count the calories, weigh the food, follow the plan. And if we don't follow it perfectly, cue the guilt, shame, and the, I'll start over on Monday mindset. But here's the truth. You do not need to diet to be healthy. You do not need a set of rigid rules to feel good in your body. You do not need to punish yourself with restriction just to chase a number on the scale you can reach your goals, whether that's more energy, better digestion, balanced blood sugar, or simply feeling like yourself again without following a diet. There absolutely is another way, and that is exactly what I will be sharing with you. A more sustainable, a more life giving, a more holistic way of nourishing your body that works with you and not against you. So if you are ready to ditch the diets and ditch the diet mentality for good so that you can enjoy food and stop worrying. I invite you to join me. The link to save your seat is in the show notes, and I would love to have you if you are unable to attend the live training, but do not want to miss out on this life-changing experience. I will be sending out the replay to anyone who registers. So just follow that link in the show notes, shoot over your email and you will get the replay. Okay. That's a wrap. Thank you so much for tuning in. I hope this episode was helpful. If so, please share it with a friend who is also interested in detoxing or tag me on Instagram at nourished underscore living_ with the changes that you are making. I love seeing how you're putting this all into action. Until next time, keep taking small steps toward that nourished life. Thanks for hanging out with me today and tuning into the Nourished Living Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found something you can start implementing right away to kickstart your nourished transformation. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from these insights. You can also connect with me over on Instagram at Nourished Living for more resources and support. Until next time, stay nourished.