Lower Toxin Living for Fertility

Lower Toxin Living for Fertility & Hormones

We live in a world where toxins are part of daily life. They’re in our water supply, our air, our furniture, our receipts, and even in the food we order when we’re out enjoying time with friends. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to “avoid toxins,” you’re not alone.

Here’s the shift I want you to make- adopting the mindset of, I get to support my bucket. Your body has beautiful, built-in detoxification systems designed to handle exposures — your liver, gut, kidneys, skin, and lymphatics are constantly at work. The problem comes when the load becomes heavier than the system can keep up with. That’s where symptoms and hormone challenges can start to show up.

This is why I like to use the “toxin bucket” analogy. Every day, drops are added to your bucket — from what you eat, drink, breathe, put on your skin, and use in your home and daily byproducts of chemical reactions for daily function within the body. Some of those exposures you can’t control, like pollution in the air or chlorine in the community pool. But others –  your water, food quality, skincare, cookware, and cleaning products – are areas where you do have leverage. The goal isn’t to keep the bucket empty (that’s impossible), but to keep it from overflowing by auditing what comes in and making sure your body is well supported

Hidden Hormone Disruptors You Should Know

Some toxins are especially impactful because they act as endocrine disruptors — meaning they interfere with your hormone systems. Hormones are delicate messengers, so even small disruptions can ripple into cycle irregularities, thyroid issues, or fertility struggles.

A few of the big ones worth knowing:

• BPA → found in receipts, canned foods, and plastics. Mimics estrogen and disrupts reproductive health.
  
• Phthalates → found in fragrances, flexible plastics, and even ultra-processed foods. Can affect estrogen and testosterone balance.
  
• PFAS (“forever chemicals”) → found in nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, and takeout packaging. Persistent in the body, linked to thyroid disruption and reduced fertility.
  

This isn’t about never touching a receipt or eating takeout again. It’s about awareness – knowing where these chemicals show up most often so you can reduce your daily, high-volume exposures while still living a life that brings you joy. (More on how you can lower these exposures at the bottom of the article)

Supporting the Body’s Natural Detox Pathways

Once you’ve lowered what’s going into the “toxin bucket,” the next step is making sure your body can effectively empty it. This is where the detox conversation often gets muddied. You don’t need a 7-day juice cleanse, a stack of powders, or extreme restriction to “detox.” True detox is about supporting the systems your body already has in place.

Your liver, gut, kidneys, skin, lungs, and lymphatic system are constantly working to filter, process, and eliminate what your body doesn’t need. The goal isn’t to overhaul them with a fad program — it’s to give them the raw materials and daily habits they need to do their job well.

Here’s what really matters:

Protein → Fuel for the liver
Protein isn’t just for building muscle — it’s foundational for detox. The amino acids in protein (like glycine, cysteine, and methionine) act as the raw materials your liver needs to run its two detox phases. Without enough, those pathways bottleneck, leaving you feeling sluggish or sensitive to everyday exposures.

Bitters & bile flow → The missing link
Bile is often overlooked, yet it’s essential for fat digestion, gut motility, and clearing excess estrogen. When bile flow is sluggish, symptoms like bloating, constipation, nausea with fatty meals, and estrogen dominance (heavy periods, fibroids, inflammation) show up. Bitters — like arugula, dandelion greens, radicchio, lemon juice, and even apple cider vinegar — naturally stimulate bile production and flow, helping the liver and gut “tag team” detox more effectively.

Fiber → The “exit strategy”
Fiber binds to used hormones, toxins, and cholesterol in the gut and helps carry them out of the body. Without it, those substances can be reabsorbed — a major driver of PMS, heavy periods, stubborn acne, and even hormone-driven mood swings. Think: vegetables, fruits, beans, seeds, and whole grains.

Daily pooping → Your #1 detox exit
Healthy bowel movements are your body’s most important detox pathway. If you’re not eliminating at least once daily, your body is literally reabsorbing what it worked so hard to filter and package for removal. Regularity is key. If you aren’t pooping regularly and want to start – schedule a call here! 

When you think of detox this way, it shifts from fear to partnership. It’s not about cutting everything out or chasing the latest cleanse — it’s about adding in the foods and habits that give your body the resources to thrive. This approach makes detox a sustainable, everyday rhythm that supports your hormones, energy, skin, digestion, and fertility.

Practical, High-Impact Swaps for Women

Food Quality & Label Literacy: What Goes Into the Bucket

One of the biggest places you do have control is with the food you buy, cook, and keep in your home. Food is both nourishment and one of the most consistent daily exposures. This is where small changes can add up to big wins.

Smart Food Priorities

Meat & Dairy
Animal products are one of the first categories to prioritize organic whenever possible. Growth hormones and antibiotics tend to concentrate in meat and dairy, which can contribute to hormonal disruption when consumed regularly. Choosing full-fat dairy is also important — not only is it more nutrient-dense, but studies have shown that lower-fat dairy options can actually have higher androgen (male hormone) concentrations, which may negatively influence hormone balance. When budget allows, focus on grass-fed, organic, and pasture-raised sources.

Produce
When it comes to fruits and vegetables, the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists are an excellent guide. The Dirty Dozen highlights the produce items with the highest pesticide residues (like strawberries and spinach), which are best purchased organic if possible. The Clean Fifteen identifies items with the lowest pesticide load (like avocados and onions), which are generally safe to buy conventionally. Using this framework helps you prioritize your grocery budget while still meaningfully lowering your exposure to pesticides and reducing overall toxic load.

Whole Foods > Ultra-Processed
Whenever you can, choose minimally processed, whole foods over packaged and ultra-processed options. Processed foods often come with added sugars, preservatives, artificial flavors, and sometimes even contaminants like phthalates that leach in during packaging and manufacturing. This doesn’t mean you need to eliminate all convenience foods — life is busy, and they can have a place. Instead, think in terms of “good, better, best” choices:

• Best: whole, unprocessed foods you prepare at home.
  
• Better: minimally processed items with simple, recognizable ingredients.
  
• Good: packaged or convenience foods used occasionally when needed.
  

Keeping this hierarchy in mind helps you strike a balance between nourishment and practicality.

Ingredient Label Literacy: Checking Under the Hood

Would you ever buy a car without looking under the hood? Food works the same way. The Nutrition Facts panel gives you the numbers, but the ingredients list is the engine that reveals what’s really driving your health.

Start with the Top 5 Ingredients
Ingredients are listed in order by weight, so the first few make up the bulk of what you’re eating. If those are whole, recognizable foods (like oats, nuts, or beans), you’re off to a good start. If they’re syrups, refined oils, or additives, that’s your red flag.

Be on P.A.R.
Use this quick filter when you’re reading labels:

• P – Pronounce it: Can you say it without stumbling?
  
• A – Appropriate: Does it make sense in that food? (Example: a protein bar shouldn’t be mostly sugar syrup.)
  
• R – Recognize it: Do you know it as real food, not just a chemical-sounding ingredient?
  

Quality Over Numbers
Calories, carbs, or grams of fat don’t tell the whole story — the source matters more.

• Olive oil, avocado oil, or grass-fed butter? Great.
  
• Hydrogenated or refined seed oils? Not so great.
  

The “Natural Flavors” Trap
The term natural flavors sounds harmless, but it’s a catch-all that can hide dozens of additives. It doesn’t necessarily mean clean, natural food.

Watch List Ingredients
A few categories worth limiting because of their potential impact on hormones, fertility, and digestion:

• Preservatives: BHA, BHT, nitrites, sulfites
  
• Artificial dyes: Red 40, Yellow 5/6
  
• Emulsifiers: like carrageenan, which may irritate the gut lining
  

Shift, Don’t Stress
The goal isn’t perfection — it’s awareness. Start by upgrading the foods you eat daily (like bread, yogurt, or snack bars). When you run out, choose a cleaner option. Over time, your pantry and fridge will naturally evolve toward foods that truly support your hormones and fertility.

Big Picture At Home: Focus on your Frequent Flyers.
Start with the products you are exposed to every single day. These are the swaps that really move the needle, because what you use daily has a far bigger impact than the things you only touch once in a while. Then as you run out of products and want to try a new brand, reference any of the resources I have shared below to explore other lower toxin living options 

• Organic where it counts → If buying all-organic isn’t realistic, focus first on meat and dairy. These are the biggest sources of added hormones, antibiotics, and pesticide residues, and upgrading here gives you the most “bang for your buck.”
• The pans you cook with, and what you heat and store food in (glass containers are ideal).
  Cookware and storage touch your food at high heat and for long periods — which means they have the potential to leach chemicals or metals. Nonstick pans can release PFAS, while plastics used for storage can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals like BPA, especially when heated. Swapping to stainless steel, cast iron, or ceramic pans and glass containers for leftovers is a low-lift change that protects your hormones meal after meal.
• Your air quality — not wearing shoes in the house that can drag in pesticides, opening windows daily, being mindful of mold.
  We breathe 20,000+ times a day. The quality of that air matters more than most people realize. Shoes bring pesticides, heavy metals, and bacteria indoors; closed-up houses can trap VOCs (volatile organic compounds), dust, and synthetic fragrance chemicals. Something as simple as leaving shoes at the door, cracking open windows, and using a HEPA air filter reduces the invisible load your body has to detox every day.
• Cleaning products you use regularly — don’t stress as much about the heavy-duty cleaner you pull out once a month.
  What you spray on your counters, wash your dishes with, and do your laundry in becomes part of your everyday environment — it’s touching your skin, entering your lungs, and even lingering in fabrics. These are the ones to swap first. The oven cleaner or carpet shampoo you use once in a blue moon? Not worth the stress. Put your energy where it counts.
• The lotion, makeup, deodorant, and perfume you use every day — versus what you wear for a special date night or wedding.
  Your skin is your largest organ, and what you put on it every morning adds up. Daily exposure from body lotion, face cream, deodorant, and fragrance carries more influence than occasional glam products. Aim to clean up your everyday staples and give yourself permission to enjoy the “extras” — like a bold lipstick or your favorite perfume — when you want them for special occasions.
• Nail care: bare nails or low-toxin polish for the day-to-day; gel for an event is fine. Nail polish can be a hidden source of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, but you don’t need to skip the manicure altogether. For daily wear, swap to lower-toxin brands. For weddings or vacations? Go ahead and enjoy the gel set. The difference comes down to frequency — what you do every day has the biggest impact.

Other Practical, Investment High-Impact Swaps

Once your frequent flyers feel aligned, you can layer in additional everyday upgrades that make a meaningful difference:

• Filtered water → Tap water often contains chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, and PFAS (“forever chemicals”) that can stress the thyroid, disrupt hormones, and burden fertility. A high-quality filter is one of the most impactful investments you can make for your home. Favorites: Berkey (gravity countertop) and AquaTru (reverse osmosis).
  
• Clean indoor air → In addition to fresh air from open windows and reducing synthetic fragrances, high-quality air filters can capture mold spores, fine particulates, and VOCs. Favorites: Molekule, Intellipure, and AirDoctor.
  
• Safer personal care → Finding clean products can feel overwhelming, which is why I rely on resources that do the testing and curation for you. EWG’s Skin Deep, Credo, and Sorette are excellent places to find vetted swaps without spending hours researching.
  

The goal is to shift the ratio — not uproot everything.
This is where balance comes in. We can’t — and shouldn’t — control every single thing. What matters is tilting the scales so your everyday environment is working for you, not against you. Enjoy dinner out, take a dip in the pool, wear perfume on date night. What makes the biggest difference is the daily rhythm in your home — that’s where your health and hormones are most powerfully supported.

Free Resources to Help You Get Started

If you’re feeling inspired to start making changes, these resources can guide you step by step:

• EWG’s Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 Shopper’s Guide
• EWG Skin Deep Database for safer personal care products
• Credo Beauty + Sorette for curated swaps
• My 7-Day Nourishing Meal Inspiration Guide → simple, hormone-supportive meals to lower the mental load in the kitchen

You don’t have to chase perfection to support your hormones and fertility. The goal is to create balance — to reduce the exposures you can control while giving your body the nourishment and support it needs to do its job.

Every time you fill your glass with filtered water, choose organic dairy, swap a cleaner lotion, or add more protein and fiber to your meals, you’re lightening your bucket. You’re not only protecting your hormones and fertility — you’re creating a healthier foundation for your family.

And most importantly? You’re doing it while still living a life that feels joyful, connected, and whole. Because wellness isn’t about restriction — it’s about partnership with your body, and making choices that let you thrive.