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Tips from a Toxicologist
320 Plays1 year ago
You’ve heard *me* speaking out about chemicals in our foods, environment, and cosmetics for more than 15 years. But instead of hearing it from me, in this episode I wanted to offer a fresh perspective. Board-certified toxicologist Dr. Yvonne Burkart battled infertility, asthma, hormonal imbalances and more. She’ll tell us the big toxin that was getting in her way, she’ll tell us how we can support our bodies for detoxification, and which chemicals are big on her list to avoid.
Find Dr. Yvonne Burkart:
https://thetoxicologymama.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dryvonneburkart/
https://www.youtube.com/@dryvonneburkart
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The Life Detox is brought to you by Bubble & Bee Organic
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Transcript
Avoiding Xenoestrogens: Stephanie's Motivation
00:00:05
Speaker
You've heard me talking about chemicals in our food, environment, and cosmetics for more than 15 years. It was how I started my company in 2007 when I was trying to avoid xenoestrogens and couldn't find safe products. But instead of hearing it from me, I wanted to bring a fresh perspective.
Insights on Toxins: Dr. Yvonne's Journey
00:00:24
Speaker
Today I'm speaking with board-certified toxicologist Dr. Yvonne Burkhardt.
00:00:30
Speaker
who has a really similar story to mine, battling infertility, asthma, hormonal imbalances and more. She'll tell us the big toxin that was getting in her way. She'll tell us how we can support our bodies for detoxification and which chemicals are on her big list to avoid. I'm Stephanie Greenwood and this is The Life Detox.
00:01:05
Speaker
Dr. Yvonne was working as a toxicologist but experiencing mysterious health problems. I had been pretty much experiencing hormonal imbalances since I was an adolescent and even prior to that was constantly getting sick and I was on a cycle of being treated the Western medicine way with antibiotics and steroid inhalers, not really addressing root cause at all.
00:01:31
Speaker
That translated eventually in 2012 into not menstruating for nearly a year and infertility. I had initially had gone to several endocrinologists. I think I had a consult with at least four and they all kind of said the same thing, which was your numbers are fine. There's nothing wrong with you. So basically continue on as is. And I thought to myself, there is absolutely no way that I am not menstruating for a year and I
00:01:58
Speaker
feel the worst I've ever felt in my life, chronic fatigue, inflammation. I had gut issues. I had adrenal burnout. That's just the tip of the iceberg and basically was sent away with yet again another prescription. And I thought, okay, this has to change.
00:02:13
Speaker
I know that this is my body telling me I need to take action I need to do something about this because I had been ignoring my symptoms for far too long So I started doing my own research online and I eventually found functional medicine and I worked with a functional practitioner who ran tests
00:02:28
Speaker
that were personalized to me and thankfully I was able to afford this because it isn't covered by insurance it's out of pocket but I knew that my health and wellness are the utmost importance and it was a long journey of at least six months of healing the gut and then eventually finding out that I also had high levels of mercury because of amalgam fillings that I had since childhood that were leaking and it wasn't until I got those removed that my period came back and come to find out later
00:02:57
Speaker
Mercury actually has endocrine disrupting activity in the body. I'm thankful that it happened because I was able to connect again with my own body and to realize that what we are exposed to in our environment is absolutely critical for our health. By making these life changes, she was able to get her period back and give birth to two healthy baby girls.
From Industry to Advocacy: Ethical Concerns
00:03:18
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But she started to realize her workplace could be contributing to her toxic load.
00:03:25
Speaker
I actually worked in the flavor and fragrance industry and was in a very polluted even office environment just sharing the building where there was a lot of chemical reactions taking place just right upstairs. And I went into that career path with the intention of trying to make a difference.
00:03:40
Speaker
Let's make sure that these flavors are safe. Let's make sure that we're not exposing people to things, and that's not what they want. The industry doesn't want that. They just want to know that, are people going to die immediately, acutely, if they eat this? Is it safe enough to eat for prolonged periods without obvious health effects? Is it going to cause major issues in a person? And that's kind of where it was at. They didn't want to hear this. I was apparently too strict, too safe, and it was an ethical misalignment.
00:04:12
Speaker
It was definitely a fork in the road. It was a point of, do I want to stay in this career because it is a high paying job? Or do I want to look after myself and other women, other moms and other children who could be in harm's way because they don't know about the issues with these products. And I felt like it was a clear, resounding, run for the hills type of moment because I had my own baby. And what would I want for my own child is what I would want for everyone. And to be honest, it was soul sucking.
00:04:42
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Just to go into this feeling like this is not how I wanted to use all this education that I have. This is not how I want to spend my time. So I went completely the opposite and became a consumer advocate. She started sharing information through her blog.
Safe Ingredient Academy: Educating Consumers
00:04:58
Speaker
I just had a baby and I thought I would share with people the kinds of products that I'm using because I know a lot of people have questions about them. So I did a fair amount of research while I was pregnant and I found some great products. I was sharing them online and there were several women from other countries who said they couldn't find these products. And I said, yeah, they do need help. And what is what is the one thing that is really standing in their way of being able to do this? It's not being able to read the ingredient label. So that's basically what I was doing was just reading the ingredient label and just having the experience that I have looking at chemicals and understanding
00:05:28
Speaker
the relationship between the chemical name, the structure and the potential toxicity, it was pretty easy for me. But I thought, okay, well, I've got to be able to teach this to somebody and could I teach this to somebody in a way that makes sense and that isn't overwhelming. And so eventually I found a way and that's how I created the Safe Ingredient Academy and why I created it.
00:05:46
Speaker
Leaving the world of flavors and fragrances behind, in our Safe Ingredient Academy, Dr. Yvonne teaches people how to read product ingredients. I feel like this is a skill, kind of like financial literacy, that isn't necessarily taught in school, but that everybody needs. And I just had to find a way that I could contribute meaningfully to society with the knowledge and the experience that I had accumulated and also being able to be with my children and support their health so that they don't have to go through what I went through.
00:06:15
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Dr. Yvonne takes a gentle approach with her clients, understanding that stress contributes to health effects of their own.
00:06:23
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When I became overwhelmed, it was this shock horror. I can't believe it. I've been using these products for all these years. I thought they were fine. And could they be contributing to these issues that I'm having? And that was definitely a fear-based reaction, a knee-jerk reaction that I had to dump everything. And that was catastrophic because not only for my wallet, but of course that creates a lot of waste that goes into the environment.
00:06:45
Speaker
And it didn't work for me. So it caused so much headache. Take it slowly. Take stock of what you're using. Look at your daily routine. What is it that you must have? Start with those, but not necessarily dumping everything in one go, but replacing as you go. The items that you're using maybe once in a while, they're probably not going to make that big of an impact if you were to switch them over right away.
00:07:06
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in order to avoid getting overwhelmed just remember that you're doing your best and every improvement counts no matter how small it seems because this is relative to your entire lifespan and most of us have decades left to live and one thing that you said on instagram go with this change with gratitude in your heart like i'm so thankful that i learned about these things instead of
00:07:28
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approaching it with fear.
Lifestyle Changes with Gratitude
00:07:30
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That's something that I needed to hear and so a lot of the things that I post on Instagram are things that I wish somebody would have told me when I was starting out and it's really to give yourself grace because we're just doing the best that we can. I'm also a recovered perfectionist too so I can understand what the pressure is like that you put on yourself to have everything
00:07:49
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Perfect, 100%, you know, no talks and that doesn't even exist. So we shouldn't even put that pressure on ourselves. And I think if we just say, hey, you know, I know that it's terrible, that there are so many toxicants in our products, that we're being exposed to this stuff, that companies are putting this in there, nobody's doing anything about it. And I understand that you can get frustrated and get angry, feel all those things.
00:08:13
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And then remember that you learned about it because so many people in the world still don't know about it and still wonder or may be dealing with health issues that they have no idea how to even address. When we get back from the break, Dr. Yvonne Burkhardt will tell us what's high on her list of chemicals to avoid, where environmental chemicals lurk that you might not be thinking about, and how to support our bodies for healthy detoxification. We'll be right back.
00:08:47
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If you're enjoying this podcast, please consider checking out bubbleandb.com. We have more than 150 different products to choose from like soaps, insect repellent, facial care, and the world's largest selection of USDA certified organic deodorants. These are all products I've formulated myself to avoid xenoestrogens and not interfere with our hormone health.
00:09:07
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and we make everything in our own facility so we know exactly what's going in our products. So if you'd like to support this podcast, visit bubbleandb.com. That's bubbleandb.com.
The Impact of Fragrances and Preservatives
00:09:29
Speaker
What are some of the biggest offenders that you see that are endocrine disruptors? The number one most widely used are fragrances. Absolutely 100%. This is probably some of the worst products that you can ever put on your body. In fact, I was just at the mall today and took a walk past Bath & Body Works.
00:09:48
Speaker
and was just completely floored at how pungent this odor was. And I was at least 20 feet away from the door. And I understand that since I've been fragrance free for a number of years, I understand that I am more sensitive to them now. I can pick them up more easily because I'm not constantly bombarded with them.
00:10:04
Speaker
These are potent sources of endocrine disruptors because virtually every single fragrance out there has endocrine disruptors in it, such as phthalates, because they're used to make the scent last longer, make it more intense. And I know for a fact that they're in there, 100% they're in there, not necessarily in every single product. Some companies are now saying that they're phthalate free, which is helpful, but there's still issues with fragrance chemicals in general, not just the phthalates part. People spray them in their homes. People use scented plugins.
00:10:34
Speaker
They use air fresheners, scented candles, scented body lotion, skincare, flavors and scented lip products for kids. I mean, laundry care. Pretty much we are bombarded by these things. Let's talk about preservatives, like paradise.
00:10:49
Speaker
parabens and phenoxyethanol. Yeah, definitely. You said the parabens, those have estrogenic activity. Those are probably the poster child definitely for endocrine disrupting preservatives. There is some evidence of parabens getting absorbed and being found in breast cancer samples. So this is definitely something that shouldn't be taken lightly. And I know that industry loves them because they're super cheap. They're very effective, but they are definitely not without risk.
Environmental Chemical Exposure: Sources and Solutions
00:11:15
Speaker
What are some other places that maybe we're not thinking of that we are exposed to environmental chemicals? Oh, there's a number of them. Definitely drinking water. Air is a big one as well. The foods we eat, the products that we use on our skin and our mouths for oral care, cleaning products, textiles, clothing, bedsheets, your mattress, carpets.
00:11:37
Speaker
furniture, building materials, the paints, the varnishes, things in your car. So if you have a new car smell, then you're inhaling some of those new car chemicals. Those are probably the main ones. And I like to mention those because those are the ones that are in our home.
00:11:54
Speaker
that we can really control those ones. You can't control what's going on outside, necessarily. For the most part, I mean, I know for a fact that my child's school, they use glyphosate in the grass, so I can't really control for that, except for advise my child to not roll in the grass. Don't take your shoes off and just keep your shoes on and you can run in the grass, sure, but try not to roll in it. I think if we can give ourselves a break at home, then the outside exposures aren't such a burden on us.
00:12:22
Speaker
How do you go about finding non-toxic flooring or furniture or mattresses? Actually, you can go and look for Green Guard gold certification. So it's basically an organization that will measure the toxic chemicals, the volatiles, and the ingredients or materials that are used in those products. For example, Green Guard gold certified mattresses, they're out there.
00:12:47
Speaker
So there's a couple brands and you can also find low VOC paint. You can find low VOC flooring. There's a bunch of different sustainable flooring materials like bamboo. You can get ceramic tiles depending on the type of material that is. I know that vinyl is very cheap and it's very popular as well, but of course it's vinyl.
00:13:06
Speaker
So it's not necessarily sustainable or low VOC for that matter. But if you are to buy, let's say a new home and you're able to customize those materials, then I would highly recommend looking into low VOC materials. You can ask the builder and they usually have options. If not, then you might be able to just go your own route and get it done yourself. I know that's probably the most costly way, but if it's your home and you're investing in it and you have the means, then that's something I would recommend looking into as well.
00:13:35
Speaker
So what are some of the things that you do in your life to manage your own stress?
Stress Management and Detox Techniques
00:13:40
Speaker
I absolutely love this question because stress management is one of my top priorities. I love to journal because I love to just come within and just kind of drown out the noise of the outside world and all the stimuli that we have, especially if you go on social media. I try to avoid
00:13:56
Speaker
scrolling on my phone first thing in the morning. Definitely try not to scroll. That's a huge trigger, I think, for some of us. Just seeing what everyone else is doing and then your mind starts to wander. So really coming back into center, I just love to journal what I'm grateful for. I do gratitude every day. I name five things that I'm grateful for and what are five things that I'm excited about and what would I love to accomplish. So I focus on what I'm thankful for,
00:14:20
Speaker
what goals I want to accomplish and just think big picture then kind of getting stuck into the details of every single thing. I love to take morning walks. So I walk my daughter to school every day and on the way home I do a couple laps around the neighborhood. I just like to do what I guess some people call mindful walking, which is just walking, not listening to anything, not looking on my phone.
00:14:40
Speaker
Just walking and and I love to get the morning sunlight to my eyes that really helps also to balance me out Just kind of look around just observe and really be mindful and in the moment That was one of the things that really helped when I was having my big health crisis back in 2012 was reading a book about mindfulness and realizing what is mindfulness and how can I practice this in my life and what is meditation how to meditate practicing breathing and
00:15:05
Speaker
Just focus on breathing. Close my eyes, focus on breathing. How does the air feel when it's entering my nose, when my belly rises, just focusing on my body. That really helps to bring the focus back to yourself because I think a lot of us can be outwardly focused. I know that I can be and especially with male energy of go, go, go. That doesn't lend itself to necessarily the rest and digest that a lot of us who are chronically stressed.
00:15:32
Speaker
need and I've started now doing regular sauna sessions and I meditate in the sauna. So I like to think of it as detoxing my body and my mind at the same time. What are some tips that you would give to people to perhaps heal the gut or certain antioxidants that can help to flush these chemicals out or neutralize them?
00:15:53
Speaker
So in terms of the diet, looking into anything that could be triggering gut inflammation. So initially for some people, it could be avoiding nuts, inflammatory seeds, also looking into getting rid of diet, sodas, artificial colors and flavors, a lot of those highly, highly processed foods, possibly inflammatory oils. Those definitely for me made a big difference.
00:16:18
Speaker
just removing the triggers and allowing my body to normalize and regulate itself and of course the pesticides too because a lot of pesticides disrupt the gut microbiome such as glyphosate and that is in so many foods now we can avoid that by going organic as much as possible if it's not feasible then look up which are the foods that are most heavily sprayed with glyphosate and try to go organic if not maybe minimize or avoid those if you can't
00:16:44
Speaker
conventional wheat, I know corn, soy, those are the top crops that are sprayed with glyphosate that go into the food supply. And another thing that I can recommend, increasing your glutathione levels. So I actually got my PhD studying glutathione, so it's something that I really love.
00:17:00
Speaker
And I have loved for a long time. And it's so funny to think that now, back in my research days, I would think, is this information actually going to help people? Like, does anyone really care about glutathione? And now just coming to the realization, like, yes, a lot of people care about glutathione. And it's so awesome to see. But increasing your glutathione by lifestyle. So
00:17:21
Speaker
you can supplement if you want but then that's kind of I think giving us a false sense of security and still living somewhat of a more high risk, high toxic load diet or lifestyle and then hoping that the glutathione can help you undo the damage which it can to some degree but not the way that you think because those chemical reactions have already taken place in your body. So the glutathione is coming to clean up the mess, it's not preventing the mess. The way that you can prevent the mess is by avoiding them. So
00:17:48
Speaker
sulfur-rich foods that can be vegetables, depending if you choose to eat meat and eggs. Those are also sulfur sources, garlic, onions, those types of things because glutathione is a sulfur molecule. So we got to give the body enough sulfur to be able to create the glutathione. And then getting adequate sleep, obviously avoiding cigarettes, diet sodas, that's a big one too.
00:18:12
Speaker
A lot of people don't realize that diet sodas are terrible and energy, those energy drinks, those kinds of things, vaping, all of these like really bad habits, those all deplete glutathione. So we want to get away from things that deplete glutathione and give our body the building blocks to make more glutathione. And believe it or not, sleep can increase your glutathione levels too. Because a lot of these environmental chemicals, I'm going to say, I don't think I've ever seen one that doesn't interact with glutathione that glutathione can't
Personalized Coaching for Safe Living
00:18:40
Speaker
help with.
00:18:40
Speaker
And you have a lot of recommendations on your blog. I saw some safe makeups that I had never even heard of. You've done a lot of deep digging to really find great products to recommend. So definitely check out her blog, thetuktacologymama.com, right? It is. Yeah, I have not blogged in a little bit. Most of the content that I have going out right now, you can find on Instagram, but I do have plans to revive my YouTube channel and the
00:19:06
Speaker
accompanying blog so I can share more in-depth knowledge than I can on Instagram. I think we're a little bit limited because I guess the attention span maybe on Instagram is not really at the level of the depth that I can provide and so I'm bringing back the YouTube channel so look out for me there because I'll have more long videos that you can watch. I just feel like this information needs to get into the hands of the people who are most effective.
00:19:31
Speaker
Dr. Yvonne Burkhardt offers a four-week personalized coaching program and guided course so you can learn how to find safe products and think like a toxicologist yourself. I've linked to her website, Instagram, and YouTube channel, all in the show notes.
00:19:47
Speaker
And of course, as I found out, you can live the cleanest lifestyle, be vigilant about VOCs and persistent about pesticides. But if you're being abused, you'll continue to suffer with chronic pain, hormone imbalances and other stress-related issues. So if you're living a clean lifestyle and still struggling, have a talk with yourself because you might need a life detox.
00:20:21
Speaker
The Life Detox is produced by me, Stephanie Greenwood, and brought to you by Bubble and Be Organic. The views and opinions expressed are the speakers' own and do not necessarily represent those of myself or my company. Material and information presented here is for general information purposes only and is not medical advice. Being a guest on this show does not imply endorsement of Greenplay LLC or any of its projects. Stay well, friends.