Forever Chemicals & The Importance Of Detoxing Our Homes

Artwork for podcast The Biohack Group Chat

Episode 7 • 18th September 2024 • The Biohack Group Chat • Alex & Anna

I got myself a nice little stir fry for dinner. I've been having like hormonal cravings to the max. I was craving like carbs, so I just had some honey on toast, but you've got to satisfy the cravings. I love honey on toast. It's the best. Yes, it's the raw honey. So it has like, the flavor is really like strong, but in a good way. Really nice, very powerful flavor. You're making my hunger craving so much worse. Sorry. Let's get into the episode and then I can get myself a nice big stir fry afterwards. Welcome to the Biohack Group Chat, where we discuss real wellness for real people. This podcast is all about making small changes that can have a big impact, helping you to live a happier, healthier and longer life. I'm Alex. And I'm Anna. And in today's episode, we'll be talking about forever chemicals and detoxing your home and your lifestyle and detoxing everything, all the toxicities out of your life.

if only it was that easy.

So our challenge for this week was to try some non -toxic products. So we're going to be talking about those a little bit and giving you some recommendations on how you can have less toxic things around the home. But first we're going to explain why that's important. And so we're going to talk about why Forever Chemicals and synthetic fragrances are toxic. It's all over like social media at the moment, isn't it? It's like everything you look at, it's like...

don't have these, don't have these, stop using candles, stop using these cleaning products. And I am like personally super overwhelmed because I like, I'm looking in my cupboards and I'm thinking I've got loads of this stuff, but it's like hard to know exactly which chemicals are these like forever chemicals and why we shouldn't have them. And like which ones are like the really bad ones. Yeah, it is overwhelming. And obviously we don't want to anyone. So I think it's just one of those things where we're going to like,

frame it in a positive way of like, here's small changes that you can do that might have a big impact and it's just good to be mindful of it because if you don't know then you can't make those changes and yeah, just do these small things that could help reduce the toxic load overall. So yeah, not trying to be scaremongering or make anyone feel overwhelmed but hopefully this will be helpful, just little bits of information that can make us be more aware and mindful and intentional.

when we're using and buying things that we have around the house. And little bite -sized pieces that maybe we can all start to slowly look into that process and be a little bit more aware of what these kinds of chemicals are and the effect that it might have on us. Exactly. To begin with then, what are Forever Chemicals? So, Forever Chemicals are synthetic man -made chemicals like plastics or phthalates or another one that you'll see being thrown around is PFF.

PFAS or PFA, I don't know how people say that, but that one. And they're called forever chemicals because they do not break down naturally or at least don't naturally break down for hundreds of years. And so that means they stay in the environment or our bodies forever in quotes, but ultimately for a very, very long time. So we discussed a couple of weeks back on our fasting episode, this thing called autophagy.

which is a process in which your cells detox. So the process of autophagy cannot detox forever chemicals out of your cells. So basically what's happening is every day we're using these products and different scents and things around our homes that the science says it's like a very tiny, small, insignificant amount. So that the risk of having that is safe essentially, like in terms of the science and the regulations.

However, what people are starting to realize now is that even though it's an incredibly low level of exposure, the body can never detox it. So over time they're building up and they're accumulating in the body that persistence and that ongoing exposure and that buildup over a long period of time that is the problem. So that's why people are becoming aware of that and trying to do things to kind of lower that accumulation in the body because we can't detox it out.

So it's not like other things where we might kind of like have something and then our body goes to that natural detoxification process and can kind of clear it out on its own. These are different. These are like our body's not in a position where we've like evolved to be able to deal with this kind of chemical or this kind of compound being in our bodies. A hundred percent. So it's just kind of like staying there, which is a really scary thought. But yeah, I feel like there was a lot of stuff kind of saying, don't worry too much. Like it's just like these tiny little insurmountable.

bits of plastic and it's insignificant and it won't impact your health. And now that kind of seems to be reevaluated. So I'm really glad that we're talking about this now and kind of digging into it a little bit more so we can just be a bit more mindful of those different products. So how might we kind of get exposed to these different things, like you said, scents and chemicals, like even like candles and things like that. Yeah, exactly. So it's in the products that we use that have

any synthetic chemicals in them which can be like laundry detergent, washing up liquid, makeup, shower gels, nail polish, cleaning products, like basically anything that has a synthetic chemical in or a synthetic fragrance in. These things have been associated with various health issues which is things like hormone disruption, immune system, thyroid disease.

They're linked to certain cancers, they're to liver damage. So this is all of the studies that are coming out now, because obviously these products have been around for a very long time and a lot of them are sold by like massive corporations. think previously there was never any evidence linking to these chemicals. They were always assumed safe, but now there's these new studies starting to come out and we're starting to see early evidence that yeah, the body can't detox these. So even though the current regulations around what's a safe dose of

like the exposure to these chemicals because we know that we can't detox them out and they're accumulating and being linked to all of these diseases. That's why people are starting to think there's no safe dosage and like it's just not worth the risk and just try and avoid them basically. makes me think of that film Dark Waters. Have you seen it? No, what's that? With Mark Ruffalo. So it's like a docu -film. It's a film based on the story where there was a legal dispute with Teflon.

when it came out, maybe like: 2017

Yeah, I definitely want to watch that. yeah, like frying pans and cookware, that's another like category that I missed out. So yeah, there's apparently toxic chemicals in different types of frying pan brands, and also Tupperware. Like a lot of people are trying to move completely to glass Tupperware, which obviously is nowhere near as practical. And it's really expensive if you've ever to buying it. But yeah, the

Plastic is like a contaminant essentially so if you're cooking your food in plastic Tupperware then that is kind of contaminating your food and the chemicals in the plastic are going in and then you're eating it so that's another way that we can be exposed to all of this stuff but particularly with synthetic fragrances you mentioned fertility and this is a big one that can affect fertility is like things like colognes, perfumes, laundry detergents, air fresheners, all of that.

Those have synthetic fragrances in them which are linked to hormone disruption. all of these colognes and perfumes have what's called phthalates in them and they're known to disrupt endocrine function so they can interfere with hormone levels and potentially impact reproductive health. repeated exposure to those sorts of things can be linked to chronic health issues like some cancers.

But it's funny because you just think like, perfume, like Jo Malone, wanna smell nice, wanna walk around and like just be in a puff cloud of this like beautiful scent. But you don't actually think that the things you put on your skin are absorbed into your body. And then they go into your bloodstream and through there they reach the liver and kidneys because your skin is actually like a breathable organ. That's so true. Yeah, it pushes toxins out when you detox and when you sweat. And then it also

takes toxins in when you put toxins and synthetic fragrances on your skin. So people who are taking this really seriously to the extreme are saying a good general rule is that if you're not willing to eat it, don't put it on your skin because it's gonna get absorbed into the body just the same way that your food does. Yeah, it's literally the same thing. We just see it as this barrier, things don't go in our skin, but they absolutely do.

And like you were saying, kind of just think we've got a really positive association with all of these smells. Like smelling nice makes you feel good, makes you like more appealing. But actually what we're not necessarily thinking is what's going on beneath that smell. We're not thinking about why does it smell like that? And that's not an actual natural body scent. So how do we make that scent? And it's really, really interesting when you think about it like that. You're like, do I want to drink this Jo Malone perfume? Probably not.

Do know what I'm thinking right now? I'm just thinking we'll save loads of money if we stop buying these really expensive candles. You can buy candles for like 80 pounds these days. you know. Yeah, I mean, I can't even burn candles anymore even if I wanted to because I have a fish tank and it says on the back harmful to aquatic life. maybe another good rule of thumb is if the fish can't smell it, I shouldn't be smelling it either. Get fish. Is that our recommendation? Get fish.

Well, do you know what? That's a point actually. Things like pets as well. If you've got like cats and dogs at home and you're burning candles all the time, like they're breathing that in as well. So it's not just us, but we've got to think about what's in our environment. I've heard before like house animals, like pets that just stay in the house all the time, like whether you have like cats or house rabbits or whatever, they have the highest levels of...

like toxicity in their blood because they never leave the house and get fresh air. Obviously you can open the windows and whatever, but because they're not going outside and breathing completely fresh air once a day or twice a day like a dog or an animal that goes out, they're getting the highest levels of toxicity basically. Can we just circle back real quick to the house rabbits thing that you just said? Like is that a thing that I've just never heard of before?

It is, yeah, I have some friends with house rabbits. They just mooch around. Yeah, some people have like a whole room for them. that's so cute. Yeah, they're very cute. I know what I'm getting for Christmas. Dear Santa, house rabbit, please. Please get a house rabbit. That would be great. I a house first. Back to the topic. Something else I wanted to say was that there's

We have microbiome bacteria on our skin and there's a connection between the microbiome on our skin and the microbiome in our gut. So they like talk to each other. It destroys the microbiome in your skin. You can have an adverse effect on the microbiome in your gut because you don't have that kind of like connection going back and forward. So it's not necessarily good for the microbiome in your gut. So that could lead to other...

problems and I think particularly as women we're using so many like beauty products and scented products on our skin because it's like beauty norms like you were just saying like all of these things positive associations but it's really out of balance with our body. Like our natural smell it's like putting a like a chemical or something like an antibacterial or like a

something to kill like weeds on our body. Cause we're kind of just getting rid of like you say that natural bacteria which creates our microbiome. We're kind of just going in with a bomb to like neutralize it all. It's like a kill it all essentially with these chemicals. Like you wouldn't go back to your fish, right? You wouldn't pour like a fancy perfume into your fish tank because it's going to kill the fish. And that's essentially what's going to be happening with all the bacteria that's creating our microbiome. So strange when you think about it like that. It is. It's like obviously no one intended.

to create that, do that, but they just didn't have the science and the understanding that this was creating like a toxic accumulation within our bodies. And now to the modern world has developed where we're completely surrounded and our toxic loads are so high. That's so true. even with like, you know, we're talking about perfume a lot, but even with things just like drinking out plastic bottles, like obviously microplastics, that's a huge one.

So even if you are living like generally, know, healthy life and you might think, I don't want to put perfume on. I use all natural cleaning products. I don't use any like rubbish chemicals in like, you know, my skincare, but even drinking out plastic bottles, we're still going to be exposed to those microplastics. So they really are everywhere. Well, the one I've got in here is it's not a matter of if you have plastic in your body. It's a matter of how much. Okay.

There was a 90 % one, don't know what that one is, sorry. I'm going to Google it. Okay. There was a study shown on the average of how much microplastics we consume. And when you break it down into an actual mass, like a weight, it's 250 grams of plastic every year. So that's like quite a lot when you think about if you were to pour 250 grams of sugar or whatever into a bowl.

That's how much plastic is every year. So think about how many years have we been consuming microplastics, these different chemicals. And if our body just really struggles to get rid of that, then it's a real problem. if it is, yeah, we definitely need to be more aware and hopefully there'll be some kind of new thing that will come out. Like I know you can do these blood transfusions where you like take all your blood out and then put it through a filter and put it back in again. And apparently that can help take out quite a lot of these.

like filter out a of these microplastics from your blood. Obviously it can't get them all, but there are things that do exist like that, which can help. So it might be that more things do start to develop along those lines to help us kind of clean our blood essentially. But yeah, otherwise your body just can't really get rid of them. That's crazy. I mean, there's two more things I want to say, but then I'm really dying to move on to what we can do about it. We're all doomed. Have a day.

It is really overwhelming like a couple of the podcasts that I've been listening to about this are calling this like the evolutionary mismatch, which I think is a really articulate way to say what we were just talking about a minute ago, like with the modern world being so out of balance with natural bodily functions. But yeah, this is like the evolutionary mismatch that we have with our current lifestyle because the modern world that we live in has taken us so of course with our health. But obviously we still

have a lot to be grateful for and there are things that we can do just being aware and intentional. So the only last thing I want to say before we move on to talk about that, just because I think this is a big one that again, a lot of people are aware of and afraid of and have family members who suffer. And it's one of those things where it's like, you just want to do as much as you possibly can to avoid this disease, which is like Alzheimer's and dementia. So going back to

synthetic fragrances, the hippocampus, which is the seat of Alzheimer's and dementia. So I guess where that starts to develop, the hippocampus is where the olfactory nerve is or innervates. And that's obviously the sense of smell, essentially. And so when we smell something toxic, it's going straight up into our hippocampus and that then can start to create degeneration in those neurons. So there's a link there that we...

that want to make sure people are aware of. If you really need some motivation to stop wearing your Jo Malone, save it for special occasions. That might be one that you want to think I've never worn Jo Malone, so I'm all good on that front. However, I did this strangest thing the other day. I was looking through the different products that I had and I found this laundry thing and it was like this pot that was meant to help clean your clothes better when you wash them.

I opened it, like this part, shoved my face into it and just sniffed it. Stupidest thing I've ever done. It was pretty much pure bleach. My nose was burning for about 10 minutes. I was like literally crying. Just, I was like, how can I get rid of it? I was breathing out my nose as much as I possibly could. Like putting water at my nose. I was like, I've just got to do as much as I can to like get this bleach out my nose. But obviously there wasn't even any bleach in my nose. It was just the actual scent.

of like the it was just the chemicals that were released from this laundry stuff. You'll be pleased to know I've thrown that away now. you saying this now, like you're really hitting the nail on the head for me because that is exactly what happened to me. Like I felt the chemical go straight up my nose, straight into my brain. I had like an emotional reaction to it. I had a physical reaction to it. And that is comparable in some ways to

these other products, but they're just disguised and obviously a much more watered down way where they don't smell as strong, but that accumulation effect is still there and that is still happening. Yeah. And don't sniff bleach. No, that's bad. That's horrible. Can you please tell me some things we can do to move away from this? Cause I really need to counterbalance that terrible experience with some positive detoxification. Yeah. So there are so many things we can do and

As part of our challenge, like we said at the start, we have tried and tested some things and we have some recommendations. So one of the top things you can do is to choose fragrance -free or unscented products, especially for like personal care and cleaning products. Like we've just discussed all of the issues around synthetic fragrances, but there are also things with like essential oils or just natural fragrances that you can look for as well. So that would be considered like a natural.

alternative to the less or less toxic alternatives to synthetic fragrance. Sorry, so with things like candles, that would be like candles that are made with essential oils and like natural wax that we spoke about in a previous episode like beeswax or soy wax, obviously, there's environmental concerns for all these different things, but trying to find a balance, a which is very natural or like a shampoo or body lotion or something that only has essential oils for the scent or is unscented.

Yeah. Perfect. So usually you can look at the ingredients list of something and you can tell immediately like, is it a very long list of all of these words you can't pronounce or is it a shorter list and it's things like rose, geranium, extract or things that actually you'll look at it and you'll have some idea what it is. And that's kind of how you can tell. And also people are getting really good with their marketing around that as well. So you can always look at a brand's

about page or like our values page and if it is a brand that's really committed to just using natural ingredients then that should be stamped all over their marketing basically. Yeah it's so positive that that shift is happening like they're obviously asked all these huge companies which I feel like will never change unless they're absolutely forced to but a lot of the market is kind of naturally going in that way, it naturally goes.

I love that pun. See what you did there. Totally unintentional, but they're naturally making that shift anyway to a more sort of environmentally conscious approach. And through being more environmentally conscious, they are being actually healthier for us without even necessarily trying. Exactly. Like the two go hand in hand. Yeah. There's an app. I think there's a few apps out there actually now, but the one that I use is called Yucca. Y -U -K -A. And basically you can go...

into Tesco and you can scan the barcode of every single product that's in there and it's going to give you a rating out of 100 as to how toxic the product is essentially. It's an independent app so you know that everything's independently reviewed. There's no endorsement that gives them any complications about rating any product fairly and if you do want to sign up you can pay for like £10 a year for a yearly subscription and you can also actually search any product so anytime.

and influencer recommends something and it looks interesting and you want to try it, you can search in there and see its rating out of a hundred. Yeah, it is such a game changer for anyone trying to detox all the products in their home. Things will have an excellent rating or even a good rating and if you see something with a bad or a terrible rating, you just want to try and avoid that one completely. I was looking at this when

I was someone who had a baby, I was looking at different products that might be good for them with a newborn, just to make sure that the products they were using were as natural as possible. And it's so surprising how things like wipes, like water wipes and things, you might think, it's a really natural product just based on the branding, but when you actually look at it in these apps and they break down the different ingredients and they give it a rating, you can really clearly see one of them's got like 99, one of them's got like 47, but they are both branded in this way, which is like...

we're both really natural and we only have four ingredients or whatever it might be, but actually when you look at what those ingredients are, sometimes they can disguise it really well. So having an app like this is super handy just to take out that ambiguity in the process and just, like you say, unbiased, honest science. Yeah, so helpful. It's really helpful. So yeah, with plastics, we talked about a few things around that. So like water bottles,

I mean, I have a water filter in a plastic jug. It's not ideal, but then I pour it into a metal Stanley. So at least it's not plastic on plastic on plastic. That's all I can do for the time being. Yeah, I also have most of the water filters, except for the super expensive ones are plastic. But yeah, we both, we've both got our Stanleys. Got it right here. Love those so much. The problem is glass is so heavy when you chuck it in your bag and you're out and about.

So I feel like they're, I don't know, I need to try and find one that's like a really thin glass or something. So it just takes away some of that weight. Yeah, definitely. Tupperware, I'm still using plastic. Maybe one Christmas I'm just going to be like, right, that's it. No new clothes. Everyone just buy me like a whole new cupboard of glass tupperware. Or you know what you can get as well? The aluminium ones. yeah, they look good. Yeah, they're again, so expensive, but they're literally built to last like all time.

And they don't go really crappy like, the plastic ones after a while, you put them in the dishwasher or whatever, and they just go a bit crappy. The obviously glass ones and the aluminium ones, they actually do last you so much better. They clean much better. So you don't get that annoying staining on them. And they just all round are much nicer to use. So even though they are more expensive, like I do think it's one of those wise investments where you will actually get your return on it, even though it does feel like a lot upfront. clothing, this is an interesting one, like

a lot of clothes made with polyester and that's the clothing type that can release microplastics and they come out in the wash, they come out when you wear them. Natural things like cotton, 100 % organic cotton, linen, wearing those types of products, they're not toxic to you for one, but I think there's also some early evidence around the frequency of those.

clothes made out of that material and how like that frequency is like actually in alignment with our body frequency. So choosing, being aware of the clothing material that you're picking as well. But I think gym stuff is just one I'm like, well, I mean, how are you going to go to the gym in? Cotton. Wool. Exactly. Yeah, there'll be something out there if we research like some sort of coconut derived.

gym clothes. Yeah, bamboo maybe. Just two coconut shells and then... Maybe we should pivot and start our own coconut bodywear. Coconut armour for the gym. Coconut armour. I love it. Well, we tried some of our own natural products, didn't we? So as our challenge for this week, we kind of explored some skincare, which was...

from tropics skincare. they don't have any artificial preservatives or toxins, they're all vegan products and they use wild tropical botanicals and a very like cutting edge scientific approach to how they develop their skincare. So a lot of it is very natural and just derived from tropical climates. That's kind of their whole ethos and they've tested everything. So it's all clinically proven to be natural and not just like marketing thing.

So we thought we would try some of their stuff out and see what we thought. So we tried the skincare, what's it called? The discovery kit, yeah, skincare discovery kit. And then also I tried their balm. It's called like a pebble balm. So it's made of like, think it's like coconut and shea, shea, shea, shea butter? Shea butter? No, I've always said shea. I don't know if it's right though. Everyone gets what we're saying regardless.

And I absolutely loved that. The pebble is just so luxurious and it's like mildly exfoliating as well. So I definitely recommend that as an alternative to like body wash. I felt like really clean but also soothed and kind of like moisturized at the same time with that hint of exfoliation. So it's kind of like a three in one. Really, really loved that. That sounds so nice.

Damn it, I'm sad I didn't get that one now. You've sold it to me, might have to do another order. Have you tried yours yet? Yeah, I had the skincare discovery kit as well. And I also got this thing called a tamarind balm, which is like, I don't actually know what, I guess it's from the tamarind plant. Not that I know what that is, but it's like this - I thought that was a monkey, tamarind, monkey. I might be saying it completely wrong.

I think I've said the complete wrong word. No, no, is a plant as well, but I think it's also a monkey. okay, but it's not tamarind, it's tamanu. So yeah, it's the tamanu balm, which is like an all -in -one skin saviour. So it's like, wait, let me actually read before I speak. So the people in French Polynesia call it green gold. It's like a natural cell repairer. So they...

like historically used to use it to heal battle wounds for soldiers and things like that. So you can basically use it for anything like as moisturiser or put it on any little nicks, you know, like when you get like damaged cuticles and stuff, you could, or some people are also using it like for eczema and things like that. It just smells so natural. It's a very strong smell. It's not a bad smell, but it's just a very natural smell. Like it's such a different experience to putting on.

a moisturizer or a balm that's a synthetic fragrance. I felt with all of their products, the skincare discovery kit as well. was just like sensual experience. was like everything just smelled so natural. Like it took me right to the tropics. Like I was picking all the plants off the fruit. It's so good though, because that was a subtle reminder that it is actually a natural organic product and all of their stuff is certified organic from this Cosmos.

certification, so they've got no toxic chemicals, no artificial preservatives, it's all organic, it's made in the UK. So it's real small batch production. You know that it's going straight to the bottle, straight off the shelves, it's not sitting around for years or from some big factory. And that natural scent that you're talking about, that's just coming through because it really is the most streamlined organic process to get from its origin to us.

Yeah, it's so funny what you were just saying about a small batch production because we started out literally making these products in huts and then using them and then going out and foraging and making them again. And then we became companies and we started producing these products probably in that same very natural way at first. But then over the years, companies have had to prioritize economies of profits and shelf life and logistics. And then that's how we've ended up in this situation where everything is pumped with chemicals so that

It has a longer shelf life and it can be easier for the company to sell it. But now all of these new companies are coming out and it's like, we're going back to those natural roots. Yeah. And like make on demand, not order on demand. Yeah. It's so true that I feel like there's only one exception to that, which is tinned food. If you put it in a tin and you seal it, that shit is good for a while and it's still fresh. Which is really weird. It's true. It's like fermented foods as well. Or like a lot of people are doing

like homesteads where they like just live on a farm, they're completely self -sufficient. Grow everything. Yeah, they grow everything but then they'll freeze dry it or they'll tin it or like ferment it or whatever it is that they do so that it lasts a year but they're just not putting in those chemicals or anywhere near as many chemicals as you would if you got the same product like the shop shelf. Yeah. So did you like the skincare discovery kit? Did you use a lot of the stuff in there?

I haven't tried it all, but I tried the little oils. I really liked those and same vibes. Like I just, yeah, very tropical and I'm going on holiday tomorrow. So it really got me in the mood for holiday vibes, being in the sun. And I'm going to take it with me because I felt really positive about it. I felt like I've got a nice little glow going on. So I'm going to take it with me. And I'm quite fussy usually with skincare products. So that's a good sign. Because if I didn't like it, I'll be honest, I would have just been like, no, and just left it at home.

but I want to take it with me on my travels. So thank you very much to Tropic Skincare for existing, not for, we didn't get anything for free, just FYI. I'm not saying thank you for the free products, because they didn't give us anything. We're unbiased. But yeah, thank you for existing. And we paid you for the products you gave us. Yeah, no, totally unbiased review. And you'll know for sure it's unbiased when I tell you about this next one. Because I know you tried it.

Yeah, so I conducted a bit like my own beef tallow experiment. So if you haven't heard of it, beef tallow is a cream, which is basically they're using it now as a skincare product and it's made from rendered fat from cattle. And I really wanted to try it because there's this girl that I follow on Instagram who has her own homestead and she makes her own beef tallow and she's posting all the time.

the reviews that people leave on it after they've brought it from her and they're saying like it's a miracle cream for eczema, acne, psoriasis, diaper rash, like all of these different things. So I really wanted to test it out for myself to see if it was a miracle like everyone's saying.

I didn't buy her one because it was like $40 and it had to be shipped from the US which made the total thing like 70. So I was like, no, I am committed to this podcast, but not quite that. local beef tallow instead of getting this tiny little pot shipped from across the world. Exactly. So I got an even tinier pot. It was literally like the size, like a 50p tiny little tester pot for like £7 from like a UK company called Fat Cow. And so we tried it. Harry had like some dry skin.

around his ears so we were trying it on that but he didn't seem to think it was making like a huge difference so we stopped using it and we moved on to the Tamanu balm so we're testing out that one for eczema now so we'll report back on that but I used as hand cream and it is very moisturizing and the Homestead influencer that I was talking about she uses it on her face as well but it does have

I got the completely unscented one because I wanted it to be as natural as possible so we could use it on eczema and didn't want to worry about any of the essential oils causing like irritation on the eczema. So the unscented one does have like a meaty smell. Like it does, but it's quite, it's not like super strong or really unpleasant. It's just really funny because I've just never had that experience before because every like hand cream or moisturizer that I've ever used has

most likely had the synthetic fragrance in it so it is just like a really interesting experience to put the cream on your hands and be like yeah it does kind of smell like beef. I it's because it is beef. It's like the most natural form of when you're saying like you can't compare that to like a dove hand cream or something because it's just such a different world like even the concept of putting beef fat on your hands is weird but

It is so natural and it takes us back to our roots and like how you would have like naturally moisturized way back when before we had all of this utter crap basically. But you have to just make do with what nature gave you and if that was rendered beef fat then that was what you'd use. So well I'm hoping that you'll find something that helps with the eczema and then we can maybe mention it on a future episode if you do find like

the miracle cure but maybe Fat Cow's beef tallow is not it. Maybe not but yeah they're all it could just be the brand as well or like I'm not writing off beef tallow completely just yet. I might have another update soon we'll see. You haven't quite sold it to me I'll be honest I was contemplating trying it when you said it I was like that's really cool yeah I'll see how you get on and maybe I might grab some not sure anymore. Maybe I think we need to try a scented one because it could be

like just a little bit of essential oils or something or just the right blend, the right ingredient balance. think it could be a really good moisturiser. you tempted to eat it? Do you just find yourself like nibbling on your fingers whilst you're like, walk on what I'm doing? Wake up in the night and you're just like, Harry's like chewing your arm. Do that he was eating a nice juicy steak? That reminds me of Madagascar, the film.

Do you remember when he wakes he's dreaming of the lion, he's dreaming of eating meat and then he wakes up and he's chewing the zebra's ass. Love it. Anyway, so what about the home then? Because I know you've used kids and kin products before. Yes, so the kids and kin I just found randomly when I was searching for non -toxic products in the home. But when I was doing the plan for this episode, I actually looked into them and realized that it's founded by Spice Girl Emma Bunton.

Love that. Which is funny, but yeah, she and the other founder, they struggled to find products which were kind to the planet and didn't irritate their children's skin. So they started this brand Kitten Kin, and it's all about avoiding harsh chemicals that irritate skin and pollute the air. So again, everything's sustainable, plant -based, non -toxic, and they have really sustainable materials for their packaging as well. So I have the

multipurpose cleaner spray which you can use for like everything like kitchen, any kind of surface. I also have a bathroom spray. They do have like a separate toilet cleaner which I guess is a bit stronger because the bathroom spray is quite like light so I use like vinegar and stuff like that for the actual toilet just to make sure it's like strong enough. But I also just brought their washing detergent and their fabric softener as well so I'm really enjoying their stuff at the moment. They have like this little chart

on their website where they compare themselves to like Domestos, Ecover, and Method, like some of the other really popular supposedly non -toxic brands that are in the supermarkets already. But Kit and Kin are the only one who have like no toxic chemicals, no added preservatives, essential oils only, everything naturally derived, made in the UK and a B Corp as well. So they're the best one I've found.

Like I thought e -cover was like essential oils. I've been using that for ages. And the other day I thought, why does my, why do my clothes smell quite like chemically and artificial? Yeah, I looked at it and like, you're absolutely right. You think it's one of the really natural brands. Like they're kind of like winning the market at the moment, especially in the UK, but I'm definitely going to move away from them now. I'm going to give Kit and Ken a try as well because like even just the smell again, like going back to that olfactory nerve brain connection, like

If it smells like an artificial smell, it is an artificial smell. That you just know intuitively, don't you? Definitely. Do you want to do any of these? None of these. There's some other things that we haven't tested that I thought looked interesting. So there's a hair care brand called Act and Acre, and they have like a really popular product for hair regrowth. And it's like a stem cell serum. That's what it's called. That was rated pretty highly on Yucca.

although a few of their shampoos and other products were rated a little bit lower. But I want to move to probably next summer just because of it being September. But I really want to try some like natural or non -toxic sun cream. chemical, SPFs, synthetic fragrances, that's all in like normal sun cream. And that again is like chemicals that we don't want.

on Askin. So one of the brands I've seen was called Roe Kosser. There was also another one which I think that one might be too sort of US friendly. There's another UK one that I've seen around as well. And there's also like self self tanner or fake tan. I'm probably going to finish the bottle that I have now, which I'm sure is like full long list of toxic ingredients. So many chemicals. But there's some natural self tanners, fake tans coming out that I want to try.

Yeah, I've been using like a mineral sun cream for a while and I do like it because the texture is really nice and it absorbs straight into your skin. It's really interesting how it works. So because it's got these tiny bits of minerals, it literally creates like a physical barrier. So the UV rays, instead of going like absorbed into your skin, what they do is they're like blocked by, it's almost like putting loads of tiny, tiny, tiny little bits of stones over your face. literally creates this natural barrier, which I think is really cool and a good alternative to the chemical.

SPFs. So there's quite a few brands out there now. So if someone wants to try like a different sun cream, just have a little look online for mineral sun creams. There's a few really good ones. Awesome. What's our promise for this week, Anna? Our promise for this week is to kind of do what we've done for our challenge already, but we're going to continue doing this. So we're going to make a little promise to ourselves for this week to

Over the next five days, have a look through your cupboards, have a look through your kind of skincare, your deodorant, your kind of body wash, shower products, and just have a look at what you've got. Look at your laundry cupboard, see what's in your laundry detergent. We're not saying throw everything out, like this stuff is absolutely extortionately priced and it takes forever to restock because it's so expensive. But you know.

We don't want you to throw it out, but just take a look through and just be mindful. Just have a look, be like observing of what's on the shelves. And then maybe you might start to research, find a product that you wanna try next time you need to restock. But at least you will have started that process in your mind of becoming more aware and thinking, you know, I might wanna swap out one of this laundry detergents. I'm pretty good with my skincare at the moment, so I don't really need to think about that. But just highlight those areas you might wanna reconsider.

in your next batch. Yeah, I love that. Like, even if it takes five years, it's like, well, I don't have to throw everything out. I don't have to feel overwhelmed. I'm just going to do it one thing at a time, step by step. When I run out, I make a more mindful choice next time. But you just said deodorants and completely reminded me of a whole category that we didn't cover. So just to say before we wrap up, I did try the salt and stone natural deodorant and Harry said it made my BO smell like onions. So

Maybe give that one a second thought. no. Okay. I've just started this mineral one. It's too early for me to comment so I didn't bring it up but I've also started a mineral deodorant as well. Nobody's told me that I smell like onions but maybe next time I see you, can give me like a, just have a little, just give a little test and let me know. I'll ask around.

Yeah, just get some honest feedback. It's the only way guys. We're on a busy lift and I'll just ride up and down the lift and just be like, can anyone smell onions? And just see if anyone says yes. God, that's so funny. Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed this as much as we did. And if you do give any of the kind of products we mentioned a try, let us know how you get on and yeah, let us know how your little review goes of your products.

and we'd love to hear if you do try anything, then let us know and we might be able to give that a go ourselves. We would really appreciate if you could support our podcast by subscribing to help us keep bringing you quality, unbiased and fact -checked biohacking content. Unless it comes to things like tamarind monkeys, which I just Googled and turns out they're called tamarind monkeys. We're not so good when it comes to animal names. No, tamarind monkeys, two separate things.

and tamarind is a plant. Okay thank you all for joining, had a great time and please join us again next week. Lots of love, see you next week.

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