EP 21: Detox the Right Way: Minerals, Metals & Microplastics with Eva Hooft

Recorded live from the deck at Maestro Valley Retreat - so if you hear nature sounds, the odd firework, or someone wandering past, that's just part of the magic of this one.

I met Ava here on retreat and the moment she started talking about what she does, I knew I had to get her on the podcast immediately. Eva is a holistic detox coach who blends mineral balancing, nervous system work, somatics and detoxification - and honestly, this conversation answered questions I didn't even know I had.

Eva's own story starts in childhood - food intolerances, chronic CMV, years of being bedridden, gut issues that never seemed to stop. Like so many of us, she tried every diet, every supplement, before finally discovering detoxification and mineral balancing changed everything for her.

We get into the backpack of rocks analogy (you're going to want to write this one down), terrain theory and why your body isn't broken - it's adapting, what your hair can actually reveal about your mineral levels that blood tests can't, the connection between copper, estrogen dominance and anxiety, why taking iron supplements often makes iron deficiency worse, the truth about polyester, perfume and the microplastics already in your brain and placenta, why certain heavy metal detox trends going around social media can actually be dangerous, and why chronic viral outbreaks like herpes are far more common - and far less scary - than you've been led to believe.

This episode is packed with knowledge bombs from start to finish. If you've ever felt like you're doing everything right and still not feeling your best, this one's for you. 

Find Eva on Instagram @eva.hooft 

If you're curious about exploring detoxification and hair mineral analysis - use this link to start a conversation with Eva and her team: https://app.iclosed.io/e/realignmentmethod/realignment-call-new-elly-miles

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, supplements, or detox practices, or before stopping any prescribed treatment.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to the Elvolve podcast where we have interesting and insightful conversations. If you're hearing a little bit of a difference in the sound today, that's because I'm actually coming to you from the deck of Maestro Valley Retreat Facility. So you're going to be hearing all of these amazing nature sounds. You might hear some people in the background. You might hear some fireworks going off. So it's just a part of the magic that's going to be this episode. Now, I'm so freaking excited. I have an incredible guest here today. I've got Ava. She is a holistic detox coach. And we were just in like a group sharing process, and Ava started talking about everything that she does, and it genuinely got all of this energy stirring within me. And I'm like, fuck, I need to get this girl on the podcast. We need to have this conversation because you guys are going to froth what she has to say. And I think it's probably going to answer a lot of people's questions that they may have about themselves and what's going on with them. So Ava, welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Yay. Okay, so tell us a little bit about what you do. I guess from like a broad perspective, and then yeah, we'll go from there.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Yeah, so I would say like to sum it up, I blend detoxification, holistic health, somatics, nervous system work, um, kind of yeah, just like through the different lenses. Like specifically, what I look at is um looking beyond the physical body, right? Like so many practitioners look at one layer of the body, or you have a coach just for nervous system or just for um somatic work or emotional healing, and then a coach that works with you on like your belief systems. And so I found it to be super powerful when we're working with the physical body to actually understand how these other layers influence the physical body and kind of work with it at the same time. So yeah, I work with lots of different modalities, mineral balancing being one of them, um detoxification, and then lots of like nervous system techniques, limbic work. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Oh my gosh. Guys, this is so this is so fascinating. This genuinely excites me. And I'm gonna be working with Ava, like this is how excited I am about everything that she's got to offer. So how did you how did you come about finding this, right? Because I find so many people have really interesting, interesting ways that they found themselves, I guess, being of service and being on mission. And and usually, I mean, what I've observed anyway, it hasn't seemed to be something that's been planned. It's kind of been accidental, right? Or it's kind of just like, you know, naturally evolved. So I'm curious about how that came about for you.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Yeah, so for me, it really started when I was a little child. So like I I always say I'll start over. For me, it really started when I was a little girl. Like I feel like I came into this world very toxic. Um, and so essentially what ended up happening is my my mother was a vegetarian, my parents both smoked cigarettes, they had mercury fillings, you know, I was giving lots of vaccines as a child. And so from a very young age, I had lots of like, you know, food intolerances, like eczema, like lots of like weird things going on. Um, so yeah, they kind of just were always bringing me to thankfully different holistic practitioners. Like I was doing like biofeedback and taking like frequency medicine as a child, um, like lots of different allergies and like sensitivities as a kid. Um, and then when I went to high school is when I got diagnosed with chronic CMV, which is kind of like mono, but it takes like basically two years of my life that I was bedridden and just like couldn't really function, didn't have energy, was like fully fatigued. On top of that, I also had anemia. So like there was just like lots of things going on. Um, and it's kind of been like that my whole life. Like once I healed from the one thing, it was the next thing that happened. So as soon as I felt better, I started getting lots of gut issues and things like that, which now I know that they're all connected. But at the time I was like, wow, like it just like never stops. Um, and then yeah, like when I started modeling when I was about 16, 17, I was so obsessed with like needing to find an answer to my like crazy bloating and digestive issues because I couldn't be on set and like my you know, my agents being like suck in your stomach. And I was like, Well, I actually can't. Like it hurts, yeah. And so that's really when I started just like going rogue and like not listening to the doctors that were telling me, like, oh, just eat more bread and cheese, and you know, like you're just anorexic, and that's probably why. Um, and so yeah, like I ended up really finding my own way, which you know, the first couple years of that were very unsuccessful, trying every diet, every supplement, like always thinking, like, oh, this is the answer, like it must be the gluten or it must be the dairy, or you know, that how that goes. Um and yeah, thankfully, eventually I found detoxification, which changed my life, specifically liver flushes and liver detoxification, um, especially because I was on hormonal birth control for many years. I was on a low-fat diet for many years, um, lots of medications as a child. Um, and so that really helped me move the needle. And then I actually ended up doing that way too far, as I do with everything. Um, ended up in the ER, almost killed myself during a cold plunge. And goodness. Yeah, so like that created complex BTSD. And so that kind of that whole journey led me down the nervous system emotional path. And so then I became a somatic practitioner, learned to work with the nervous system because I was like, holy shit, I'm doing everything right physically, but I'm in chronic fight or flight from this like intense experience. Um, and that of course created more physical symptoms. So yeah, I've been on quite a roller coaster ride myself, and you know, just trial and erring, and then I think just working for clients or with clients for years. You see what works, you see what doesn't work, and just continuing to learn and adapt.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

So oh my gosh, everything that you said, I'm sure like people that are listening in are probably like, oh my gosh, that's me. Like, I can so relate, like even elements of your story. I'm I'm feeling the exact same way. I'm like, shit, I was on birth control for 15 years.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Right.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Right? I've definitely done all of the diets, you know? Yeah. And it's like, fuck, like there are so many things that we do without realize you know, we're thinking we're doing the right thing at the time. 100%. Realizing what kind of damage we could be doing internally because our systems are so incredible and amazing, and we do have this ability to kind of um cope with where we're at, or what's the word? Um I'm I'm trying to say, like, we're comfortable with where we're at, and yeah, we can kind of we kind of adapt to to where we've found ourselves and then that becomes the new normal. Totally. Right? And it's like, oh, we don't recognize, and this is an analogy that I like to um share with people around like emotional weight. It's like if you've been carrying that emotional weight for so long, it's like a backpack. Think about it every time something shitty happened in your life and a rock got put put in your backpack because no one taught you how to deal with it, right? So over time you've just been collecting all of these rocks in your backpack, and you get to a point in life where you're like, fuck, everything feels really heavy. I don't know what's going on. Like this is kind of how I've always been, right? And you don't realize how great you feel until the backpack's gone. And so this is this is, you know, I think this can be applied here with what you're talking about as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

100%. Like I say that all the time when people are coming to me and they're like, well, I actually feel fine, like there's nothing wrong with me. And then as soon as they start the process, they were like, Oh my gosh, like I've never had energy like this, or like I didn't know what it felt like to not wake up during the night, or to, you know, not react to certain foods. So yeah, we just get accustomed to things and we just kind of are like accepting our fate, if anything. And yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Exactly. Like I know a friend, she had some really terrible gut issues, and she would just always have like really loose stools. Yeah. And it became the norm for her. She's like, Oh, I'm like, that's not just that's not how you are. Your body's communicating to you, right? Totally. But we kind of adapt to these things, and it's like, oh, this is just this is just where I'm at.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

It's the same thing with like, you know, our cycles. Like so many women just accept having cramps and having really heavy bleeding and needing to be home for multiple days out of the month, which was my you know, reality for many years, and having experienced what it's like to have literally like the most easeful cycles that I can go out dancing on the first day of my bleed. Like it you're just like putting things in perspective, and you're like, oh, now I know what it feels like when you know, like I can feel there's like a backup in my system or my liver's a little congested. So yeah, you you kind of have that perspective which is important for people to have. Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

And I think the most valuable thing that we can have is knowledge, right? Knowledge is power, like there's a reason why that's a statement that people say, you know, it's called this cliche, but it's it's not a cliche, it's like it's legit, and you only know what you know. And it's funny, like I had been on the pill for 15 years, did not know what my adult cycle was like, and that was normal.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:43

What the fuck? That's crazy, it's not normal. Yeah, I was very disconnected from myself in in that way, and so like coming off birth control. I was like, what's my body even like? Like, what is my what are the my natural rhythms even feel like? Right, you know, so it's like a reclamation of of that.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Totally, and it's the same thing with detoxification. I feel like it's just like a reclamation of health and vitality where you're like, oh, like I have so for some people have never felt that way, right? Or like maybe haven't felt that way since they were like 15 years old. So yeah, it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 9:16

Interesting. Where do we take this next? I I was having a question kind of emerge around like even just physical pain and inflammation in the body. And I'm I'm curious about uh, you know, people might be thinking, like, oh, I'm I'm stiff because of this, or I'm just getting old, or I'm like this or this or this. Like, could that be a symptom of having some imbalances within your system, like your minerals and yeah, 100%, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:43

So, I mean, there's so many different things that we can talk about when it comes to inflammation because there's so many different causes of inflammation. But um, yeah, like if we like the way that I kind of explain this is by kind of looking at it from a bigger picture. So when we had the discussion earlier today, um, you know, someone brought up the idea of terrain theory, which is so fundamental to understanding how I look at health and how I like support people. And so it's essentially understanding that if we start to see, for example, like a Salmonella bacteria or an E. coli as like a villain and they can cause us to feel sick. So we have to be careful, right? We're essentially externalizing our power versus if we understand that we actually are in harmony and in relationship with our environment, meaning that like mold was around longer than we were, parasites have been around longer than we were. So it's not just like we're having a mold or parasite epidemic, it's just that our bodies are more susceptible to it now. And so the way that I kind of look at that from what happens to our society now is, you know, let's say that from a young age, we're now put on screens, you know, but like everyone's like on iPads. Like, what do you think that does to like a child's nervous system? And the biggest thing to understand is that when a nervous system is in fight or flight, right? It has tech like to keep it simple. I mean, you probably talk about this a lot, right? We have like fight or flight, rest and digest to keep it very simple. Um, and in rest and digest, our bodies are producing stomach acid, they are healing, our cells can detox, you know, we are releasing waste, you know, our bile is flowing, like our heart, like everything is functioning the way it should. However, if we're in fight or flight, especially if we're like waking up on our phones, we're reading emails while we're eating, like all of those things, the body essentially shuts off the digestive system and the detoxification process because it's not vital, right? We have to be ready to fight a bear or a tiger. Yeah. Um, and so when that happens for a long period of time, what ends up happening is a backup of waste. When there's a backup of waste and undigested food in the system, this can lead to more organisms such as parasites, candida, fungus, yeast, um, molds, even to help bioremediate that waste and toxicity to help break it down. So rather than saying, like, oh, you have H. bylori or you have candida, you need to kill that organism. It's why is the candida there? Exactly. Yeah. And then we become, you know, we become curious about like what allows those organisms to overgrow, right? Sometimes it's even happening if we have like very like plain diets where we eat the same thing every single day. We don't have diversity, so we're not really feeding the good microbes in our gut, or even if we're like very restrictive for a long time, or we're having certain mineral imbalances, the body can't actually create enough bile and stomach acid. So, yeah, there's lots of different things that can happen, but what ends up happening is that over time the accumulation of waste and toxicity can lead to more things like inflammation in the body. And of course, we feel that, right? Like joint pain, of course, also can be Lyme, it can be like other sort of like bugs in the system. And oftentimes that's again just a sign of a weak terrain. So when we start to open up the drainage pathways, as I like to say it, which is like our colon, our liver, our kidneys, our lymphatic system, the body can clear that waste, and then you know, we don't have to have all the bugs clear that waste for us.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

So it's so fascinating. Wow. Do you know what I love about what you have to offer to Ava is the education that comes with it. Right? Like, guys, you're listening to this just thinking, holy fuck. I need to get my I need to get I need to sink my teeth into this because I am honestly. Wow. Yeah. We were talking a little bit earlier, Ava and I, and I was like, I've had this natural um and like intuitive lean towards like making these different like improvements in um my lifestyle, and I've just had like liver, liver, liver kind of come through, and I've implemented a few different things, like eating foods that have um have been steamed and like baked and um changing the timings of my meals, so having my meal, like my biggest meal at the start and the middle of the day rather than the end of the day. Um, starting the day with a warm tea, ending the day with a a cooling tea, um, some movement. Lymph was the other thing as well. That was the other change that I made. Um, and it's been amazing. And I'm excited to like actually sink my teeth into some knowledge and education around it through your program as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, I mean, that's the beautiful thing, right? Like what you're saying is such a good example. Like, you've made such small, gentle, easy changes. It didn't require like a whole crazy detox protocol. And so when you see what can happen when you just do the simplest things, imagine what can happen when you're actually supporting the body with the right nutrients to like go through these processes. And like it's it's so wonderful. Like, typically, like I explained to you earlier, we typically guide our clients through phases, and phase one is really just focused for most people on like calming down mast cells, so like calming down like the overactive immune system and like histamine response, um, and oftentimes healing the gut, which you know, in this day and age, sadly, a lot of people have all these sensitivities. Um, and like even just making subtle improvements like that, like supporting the gut lining and just like taking a couple binders to help support with the toxic load. People can be like, wow, like 90% of my symptoms are gone, and we haven't even touched the liver, we haven't even touched like the lymphatic system yet, right? So it's it's really awesome what the body can do when it is in the right conditions, essentially.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

100%. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. The other thing that was super fascinating that I would love to dive into is the mental health component, right? Yeah, like mental health is I think if I I mean you're so blessed if you've never had a mental health struggle. And I was definitely blessed. Like I didn't have it until like my mid-20s. I mean, same. Yeah, same. Which is so great.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

And the thing that I found super interesting when we were talking about the minerals upstairs is that these different minerals almost have like personality traits that you know come along with them. So I I'd love to I'd love to hear more about that and to share that with everyone that's listening.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Totally. So a little bit of context, right? So um I work with a test called hair tissue mineral analysis, where we essentially just take like a biopsy, right? Hair is living tissue. Um, so we look at your hair and we can see the mineral balance at the really at the cellular level, because we're not just looking at what's circulating in blood, and this is where the distinction comes in because people are often like, well, my labs look great, right? Like all my blood levels are perfect, but I feel this way. And the reason is the body keeps the blood extremely tight. Like it will literally sacrifice any other body part to keep what's circulating in the blood good because that's fueling your organs and stuff, right? So your body will pull calcium from your bones when it's short in calcium to maintain calcium blood levels. And so what we then see on a hair test is the true calcium levels on, for example, the tissue or bone level. So um we can actually see, for example, if someone has like a lot of calcium displacement, if they might have like, you know, not like full osteoporosis, we can't like diagnose with a hair test, but we can see patterns that might lead to those conditions later or like calcification of certain tissues and things like that. So um with the hair test, what's so interesting is that there's certain patterns that Dr. Paul Eck, who is essentially the pioneer in mineral balancing, who's done like thousands and thousands of tests, who kind of created the method, um he mapped like certain personality traits to certain mineral patterns. And so um you have like a great pattern, for example, is what's called sympathetic dominance or chronic fight or flight, which if you look at like the stress theory of disease, it's like the last stage of that. So, you know, someone becomes sick or they're going through a big emotional thing, their bodies go through a healthy stress response, their adrenals like start pumping out cortisol and adosterone. You do that long enough, you stay stuck long enough, the body gets depleted, right? Because it essentially burns through minerals when you're in that stress response. And so at the end of that stage, you're essentially at like the burnout stage, which we call like a burnout pattern. So we could see based on someone's hair test, literally things about their personality because people who are in sympathetic dominance have to push themselves to do everything. So it's also called a pusher pattern. So you go to the gym, it's not like, oh, I have so much energy, I'm gonna go to the gym. It's like, oh, I need to go, I need to go work out today, I need to go do my work, right? It's this like pushing of energy because that person is so depleted that they actually don't have energy. And there's even like super fascinating things. If you meet people who talk a lot, who always are talking, talking, talking, usually they are in burnout, and so they actually don't have awareness around how much they're talking and they're trying to get energy from like talking, talking, talking, talking. It's super wild. So, like, there's a whole book on this called Energy by Dr. Paul Eck. I would highly recommend people read it. It's a PDF only, but it's so worth it because it just explains like what happens on like a mineral level and what happens to personalities. Because yeah, you can have someone with a copper personality where you know copper is associated with the same brain chemistry as intense fear. And so people who are retaining a lot of copper, right? Which can be through either a history of vegetarianism or veganism, it can happen through hormonal birth control or copper IUD. I've had both. So, you know, you actually retain a lot more copper because copper and estrogen have a direct relationship. So if you have estrogen dominance, you have copper toxicity. If you have copper toxicity, you have estrogen dominance because they raise together. Um and so what's really fascinating is that oftentimes those women have anxiety, right? Like how many women have been on birth control and sometime in the five, 10 years after that are dealing with anxiety, are dealing with like overthinking, worrying, right? Like having like anxious attachment and relationship. Like I think it's so connected to us being on birth control. Wow. And so, yeah, same thing with, you know, um, super fascinating. I think there's been actual studies on this. I I don't remember where they were, but my my mentor usually publishes these where they used to put lead in gasoline. Um, yeah, like lead was in gasoline, so it's a heavy metal. And during that time, I think they once they removed lead from the gasoline, crime rates in those areas dropped by 90% or 70-90%. And it was the lead that was literally making people violent, right? So we start to create these, yeah. What? It's it's wild. Or like the term mad as a hatter came from hat makers who will l who were literally working with mercury fumes and exposed to those fumes and they would become mad. My gosh.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. It's so it's it's a little bit like disheartening, like thinking about our system and the way that it's set up and be like, oh yeah, I get my annual blood test, everything looks great. And almost like the gaslighting that's there.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Oh, totally.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

It's really, it's like fuck.

unknown 20:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

And that's why I was like super pumped to have this conversation to be like, ooh, there's something interesting here. There's something, yeah, there's there's something that feels it feels like you're taking a bit of power back, right? By by having this available to you to be able to like, oh yeah, take some of my hair. Let's see what's going on with my minerals, let's look at my history, let's look at what I've you know, experienced in life, yeah, what I've maybe put myself through. And that's probably where you're gonna get some answers to some um unanswered questions.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah, and I think one helpful distinction to make here is that you're gonna see a lot of practitioners say they're doing hair tissue mineral analysis. The majority of them actually don't practice this method. So basically, almost everyone can order a hair test. Almost no one knows how to actually interpret it because people like we're taught, and I'm sure you know every single one of your listeners has heard this if you have low magnesium in your blood, take magnesium. If you have low magnesium on a hair test, take magnesium. That's like the way that society looks at it. Whereas like what we look at is how the entire mineral system operates together. So if you are low in ferritin or iron, right? Like how many girls, that was my struggle for years. Yeah. And we're told to take iron, right? That doesn't work. In fact, it's gonna just add fuel to the fiber because it's adding to oxidative stress, it's actually feeding pathogens. So, in order to raise your iron, you have to actually look at the entire mineral system that is needing to be in a certain place to support iron regulation, uptake, and transport. Right. And for me, that was the case. Like I had super low serum copper, which is interesting because you can b both be copper toxic and copper deficient at the same time. You can be like with everything, right? You can be iron toxic and iron deficient at the same time. It just depends on the form of that mineral or metal that you have. Um, and so for me, I had tried to get my like ferritin and iron up for years. Like that was always my thing since I was like 14 years old. And the only thing that helped it was mineral balancing. And I never took iron, I was just focusing on actually balancing out my entire mineral system. And then eventually another thing that interferes a lot with our iron is um aluminum. So certain toxic metals can displace certain minerals. And so in my case, you know, I went through a massive aluminum dump on my hair test, and the next retest I did for my labs, my ferritin came back normal, right? So and like I've spent literally a decade trying to fix it with like with iron supplements and things. So yeah, it's really Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

And so many people have been in the same place of like, oh, I'll just go get a transfusion. Oh my god, that's the worst.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Like if you can avoid it, like if you're listening to this, avoid the transfusions. Because it's just adding like it's the same thing as cooking in cast iron. We're being told that that's good for us, but it's actually adding elemental iron into our diet. And we're most of us are already having too much iron, right? Like, there's a whole um a whole science around like therapeutic bloodletting where we actually like let go some of blood or blood donation, which is too depleting on the body most of the time, but it's so that we can actually get iron out because it's really hard to get iron out of the body, especially when it's in an oxide form. Um, and so for men, sometimes therapeutic bloodletting or like donating small amounts of blood can actually help offset some of that toxicity. So, yeah, quite often it's not actually an iron deficiency, it's just like an issue with it getting to the right place because we're missing all the other cofactors and minerals. So fascinating.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

So, like what Ava really does is it's like helps you to get the foundations stable and built properly. Totally. Right? Because like, you know, we consume information that's out there and we think we're doing the right thing, and it's not gett if it's not getting you the results that you want, it's like, okay, there's there's gotta be something else.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

100%. Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Right? And a lot of the time, like our foundations are built on like shitty soil, or you know, the joinery's not done properly, or they've not used the right material to make it sturdy, and so things get out of balance, and then it creates a wealth of problems like throughout the entire system and this entire structure.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Totally.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Hey, what are some uh it was interesting what you were saying about um cooking in cast iron? I would like to know some of like your tips about what people can do like within their home to make their home more supportive of um detoxing and and mineral health and everything.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Great question. So, number one place I would start is just like any sort of endocrine disrupting chemicals. So, like anything scented, scented Kindles, scented lotions, unless it's like pure essential oils, and even then, like some people react pretty strongly to that. Um, colognes, perfumes, um we don't realize it, but like we're spraying it on our largest detox organ, right? Like it's we're spraying it right onto the skin, including any makeup that you wear or like lotions that we might think, like, oh, it's a little bit, it's okay. Like we're absorbing it straight to our skin. Um, plus, like we're usually wearing perfume right on top of our thyroid, which is the most sensitive organ to like hormone-disrupting chemicals um in our entire body. So if you're gonna wear perfume, like, you know, if you really, really need it, if you can't find I mean, I wear like natural essential oils that I make, but if you really want to wear it, like spray it on your clothes, not on your on your skin. Yeah. Um what about in your hair?

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Or does it go up in your hair? Um because that was always a thing. It's like, oh, spray some in your hair, and you have to flick your hair around, you're like, oh yeah, I'm just getting people with my scent.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Well, the one thing we have to realize is that like there's phthalates in most perfumes, which actually make it stick to whatever you're spraying it on. And so that's why, like, um, for example, like me, I'm very sensitive to like smells and perfumes and stuff. Like, if I'm around people that wear it and like my hair literally will absorb the smell, and like I'll have to wash sometimes twice to get it out. Like, if you know, I get a hair treatment like once a year and like I have a headache for three days straight. Like, and so I'm like, it's just not worth it for me personally, but like, yeah, if you really want to do it, hair is probably better than skin.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Um and then Okay, essential oils are great. Yeah, guys, definitely you guys know I'm an ambassador for Eco Modern Essentials. Get your hands on some. I've become obsessed. It's like my new favorite thing. That's the other thing I've done. I've got rid of all my lotions. Great. My perfume. I'm it's like an oil-based um perfume now. Yeah, that's great. And I use like coconut oil with essential oils mixed in for like, you know, moisturizer.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Yeah, yeah. So the one that I have um made, it's like I blend cacao oil with jojoba oil and then add like rose, and like it's amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

What's like a vanilla? Yeah, it's so good.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Do you like citrus in there, like a bit of sweet orange or something? Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it's so it's so good. So you know, you can just make and it's such a fun little project, you know, to like make your own little like roller like thing.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

So it's like a little potion, like a little witchy. Exactly, exactly. Like when you're little girls, you'd make like mud pies and stuff. Yeah, it's like you're using oils and you're gonna like anoint yourself with them.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

So that's one. Um, you know, kitchenware is another big one because we obviously consume a lot of that. So like anything aluminum you want to throw out, so like aluminum foil, ideally aluminum cans. Like, if you're gonna drink a canned beverage, like every now and then it's okay, but like it's still aluminum. Um, most baking sheets and most pans, even the ones that are like non-toxic, like a lot of them still are aluminum at the core. So this as soon as they get like a little scratch, you're still getting aluminum through that. And I mean, I've seen hundreds of people's hair tests, and like everyone has a crazy aluminum burden. Like, I think it's we we say they say that we have about like 50 milligrams of aluminum in our body, which is so much. Like, you know, I've seen clients go through crazy aluminum dumps, and then you are you're like, wow, we're still only like a tenth in of like what the actual body burden is like between 50 to 100 milligrams. So yeah, ideally avoid that. If you're just walking outside, you're already getting enough from like the sky and from what they're spraying and car exhaust and stuff. Um, so that's a big one. Another massive one is cutting out tuna. Um, I know this is Oh shit. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Shit. I catch tuna.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

I go tuna fishing.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

Okay, but yeah, I have like five pieces of tuna in the freezer, and I'm just like, nah, nah. Yeah, yeah. Nah. Like, I wonder whether that's like an intuitive thing, like, don't eat the tuna.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yeah, no, it's it's it's pretty bad because they're like, they're such big predator organisms. They accumulate so much of the mercury that's in the food chain. In general, like I avoid most seafood besides low mercury seafood, which is like sardines, um, anchovies. There's one that I'm forgetting. And then there's this company, if you're in the US, there's this company called Sea Topia that does regenerative aquaculture that actually does mercury safe ish. So they test, they lap test everything. So like we know that it's mercury safe. Wow. Um, but yeah, like one of the reasons that they tell women, you know, to not eat seafood during pregnancy is because of that.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

So you know, mercury's extremely harmful. There's like no safe amount for that. So ideally avoiding seafood.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Um in the hair test is gonna tell you how much mercury you've got going on.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Yeah, for sure. Okay, for sure. Everybody booking for a hair test. Um with Ava. And let's see what else we got in our homes. Um I mean, if if you can switch to like non-polyester clothing and like bedding sheets, that's awesome, you know. Like, and it's gonna take people a while to switch that out because who has budget to like you know, overhaul their entire home within like 10 days. So I I like to just like donate the pieces that I can let go of, replace them with like new pieces. And you know, like I still have my two polyester pieces that I can't let go of, like in my entire wardrobe, but everything else is like natural fabric. So, like, even just cotton, organic cotton, linen, um, all of those are amazing, and same for bedding, right?

SPEAKER_02 30:02

So let's talk a little bit about the problem with polyester, because I think this that this is actually gonna be new for some people. Some people are gonna be like, What do you mean? Like, what? My I gotta get rid of my Lululemon tights or right, right? Right. So I think there's definitely gonna be some people that haven't heard about that yet.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Yeah, so microplastics, first and foremost, right? Like polyester is a plastic, and these microplastics actually end up in our bloodstream and in our bodies. Like, we are all full of it. Like, I think I think a hundred percent of all human placentas that were tested were full of microplastics. Yeah, same with like testicles, like it's it's crazy. Our brains, you know, we have about like a credit card of plastic in our brain. I think it's it's insane. Yeah, I know it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 30:45

Oh my brain.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

It's wild. And so okay, let's talk about the effect that has on the body and then like why that's bad.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

Totally. I mean the the one thing is like it's not as bad as heavy metals. So like it's bad, like it can be like endocrine disrupting, it can be estrogen mimicking, so like it can mess with our hormones, our thyroid, um, it can have an effect. Um I haven't watched it, but there is a documentary that just came out on Netflix about plastic. I think I yeah, look it up. I don't know the title, but from what I've seen on social media, I'm pretty sure breaking people up. Yeah, and there were like tests in there that I think like I think they're following like anywhere from like four to six couples that are trying to get pregnant. They couldn't get pregnant, and then they ditched like all their plastic in their life and they all got pregnant within like a couple, yeah, yeah. So, you know, it has a massive effect on our fertility and you know, who doesn't want babies and healthy babies? So that's one thing. Um, inflammation, I think it can also contribute to like, you know, degenerative diseases of like the brain and such. So yeah, the good thing is is that microplastics aren't as hard to detox as metals. So when we actually just like replenish the body, open in the drainage pathways, like support the natural detoxification process, that's a little bit easier because metals actually displace minerals. So they essentially hijack the mineral transport pathways and they will sit on those receptor sites and basically mimic as if they are like a mineral, and the body will actually utilize them. So it's really hard to take them out. Um, and that's why we have to actually use minerals to push them out. Okay, cool. Like flushing the system, exactly. And so, you know, a lot of those pathways. Yeah, because like a lot of influencers you'll see them say, like, oh, just take a heavy metal detox spray or do a heavy metal detox smoothie. Like, if you're listening, please never attempt that at home. I get so many clients who try to do those like gimmicky detox tools, and it literally like like I've had people being hospitalized, having kidney failure, like it's it's bad. Um, okay. Yeah, so like micronice or nano-size zeolites, which are like the detox sprays, are no-go. Um, and then also like the heavy metal detox smoothies from like medical medium with like lots of cilantro juice, and like those things are awesome if you are extremely healthy. If you're not healthy, which like the majority of us are full of metals, you're gonna start pulling things out of the body that it's actually utilizing. So, like your body can function maybe at like, I'm gonna give a random percentage. Let's say that in the phase of mineral deficiencies, your body doesn't function, right? Like it needs the minerals to function. If you're putting metals in place of the minerals, maybe it function at like 10%, but it's gonna function better than when there's nothing there. So if you're now trying to pull the metals out of an already depleted system, you're gonna create crazy adrenal stress. Like your system's gonna be out of water. Yeah, totally. So and the whole system is like gonna do a lot worse. Yeah. So you wanna avoid doing that.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

Okay. Zeolites shit. I did zeolites.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Well, it depends on the type. I love zeolites. Um, I have powdered zeolites, it's different than micronite, like so. It depends on the particle size, depends on the stability. So there's all sorts of different zeolites. So the two brands that I swear by that I love and trust, and that I've like done multiple case studies with, one is Zeo Charge, okay, which is like a macro one that you would macrodose, so it's micronized, but not small enough to like enter into the brain and things like that. Um, but you rather than taking a small dose, you take like between one and six tablespoons, so it's a lot of clay.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Um, and then there's this other company called KI Science by Dr. Klinghart, which was mentioned earlier. Um, and they use Zeobind, which is an awesome non-micronized zeonite, so so so it only starts stays in the gut, essentially. So it doesn't like interfere with your body. It's really good for like gentle detox. Um, but the thing is with most zeolites on the market is they're not stable and they actually have aluminum in them. And so they actually like as natural part of like their structure. Yeah, yeah. Um, but if you have like a stable type of zeolite that's also remineralized, it actually doesn't leach the aluminum, but it will leach the aluminum if it's not remineralized. So yeah, there's most zealites. I'm like, just don't experiment with it, just trust the the two that I mentioned. You know, I have a great network of practitioners that have worked with these. Um, so yeah. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Oh my gosh. Wow. I'm so excited to start. And I think there's gonna be so many people like listening into this, being like, shit, I need to get onto this. Right. This is a really important message. Like what you're doing is really important, Ava. Thank you. Yeah, what a gift, like crazy. Like when we were talking about like your story at the start. It's like everything you experienced, it you know, was a stepping stone to get you to where you needed to be. Totally. And to be able to offer what you do. And I think, yeah, there's probably a lot of people out there really relating to you and your story and being like, fuck, I've just been oh, there's another thing, or there's another thing, and I've tried everything, right? Yeah. And so I think it's really, really amazing for us to have had this conversation and to to know the next step. Yeah. To know the thing that's gonna get you some really um get you some answers and give you some clarity around what's next. So I guess before we kind of close this conversation out, I'd be curious to just like give you an opportunity. Um, is there anything is there anything else that uh could would be of value to share with the people listening?

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Yeah, I think like one question that I get a lot from people like in my DMs or after podcasts is like, well, we're will this work for me because I have so and so condition, right? Like, because we're very the way that we typically think about health is like very much about these boxes, like, oh, I have cancer, I have I have like an autoimmune condition, or I have this. Like every single disease leads back to the same foundation that's out of balance, right? And so I I get like the whole range. Like I'll I'll get c you know, cancer patients, I will get people with crazy autoimmune diseases, I will get people with like just extreme gut issues, skin issues, like all of the things. And I like to joke like we don't discriminate because like you know, it's like everyone can benefit from this type of work. And you know, we've had help people with like the craziest things, you know, Lyme or like candida or like chronic viral infections. Um, the one thing that I think is important for people to know is that chronic viral infections like herpes.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

Oh yeah. Oh guys, I've got herpes. Okay, but I don't I don't get it often, like it's it's very um, it's very sparse. And I do have like people that listen in that have been like, oh my god, thank you for talking about herpes. Yeah. And um, like I get a lot of women that have said to me, like, it should like, do you get it this much? And I'm like, fuck sis, I don't actually.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Great. Well, let's talk about viral stuff for a moment. So like it's not fully my domain to talk about, but um, there's this a couple people that I think are really awesome to follow on social media when you're like dealing with something like that. Um one is Alex Zek. He has an amazing podcast, he like shares a lot about this, and then how do I spell him Zek? Z or Z-E-C-K. Okay, cool. Yeah, Alex Zek. And the beautiful thing with like, I think they even it's like there's some information I saw the other day, but like I think about like 80 to 90 percent of the people on this planet have herpes in some form. Yes! And very comic. Yeah, and it's actually like it's not something that we need to be afraid of. Like, I I mean they go even into like how viruses aren't real and there's this whole thing, like it's just an expression of the terrain. And so you having outbreaks isn't like, oh my gosh, like there's some SD, like that, you know, like or like I'm dirty or whatever thing is. It's like, no, like clearly my terrain is weak. Like, for example, my dad, um, he recently got through like a cancer diagnosis and he chose to do um radiation therapy. And right after that, he got herpes outbreaks. Well, of course, because you know, you're nuking the entire system, there's imbalances, there's like shortages of minerals, and that's gonna affect the entire body. And so you might have those outbreaks because a lot of those things are just dormant in our system. Yes. And when they right, they are opportunistic when they have the opportunity, they come out. And so, um, yeah, I've had multiple clients who like tested positive for herpes and then tested negative after going through it. Um again, that would mean that I have to like buy into the whole virus, it's our real thing, which like is a it's a different discussion. Like, I'm kind of neutral on it, but um, yeah, I just like to look at things as like, yeah, the body is and it's communicating. And what's it trying to tell? Right. So yeah. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Uh there's gonna be some girls like listening into this being like, Hallelujah, thank you. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, oh wow. I think like thank you for sharing that last piece because I think that's also probably answered some questions that would have been emerging, like, oh, is this gonna work for me? If and it's like again coming down to the fan foundational aspect, it's like, yeah, disease all comes from a disruption of something at the very base level. So wow, Ava, thank you so much. Can you please share with everyone that's listening like where they can find you?

SPEAKER_01 39:58

Yeah, absolutely. So I share most of the things just on my main channel, which is Ava Eva dot h o f t on Instagram, um my website, avahove.com. And yeah, like I have lots and lots of free information for people who like want to learn more. Like I have like free masterclasses. Um I'm about to launch like a school community that's low ticket so that you know people can just like learn a lot there with like free Q ⁇ A's and somatic work. Um, I like I said, you know, my entire philosophy is very holistic. So I really help people understand the root cause of their like physical things, which are almost never physical. So, you know, we kind of look at like, oh, okay, this happened when you were five. We have to go back into that memory and reprogram it. And so um, yeah, we do lots with like somatic work. We have amazing practitioners on the team, and we just have like different tiers of like support investment for like literally anyone. So yeah, you can definitely hi buddy. You can definitely find some something that works for you. So yeah, I would recommend for people who are like really curious to either watch the free masterclass that you can find in the link in my bio or just book a call with my team and learn more. Perfect. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Yeah, it was so sweet. So sweet. I'm even more like excited about this after having this chat. Thank you for your time. Absolutely, you too.