6 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Health
When you work in health and wellness you assume everyone knows these things I’m about to talk about, so tend to just stay silent, going about your day thinking everyone sees and reads the same thing. However more recently, I’ve been having many conversations which have made me realise how wrong I am. Now this is not to say I am more knowledgeable than anyone else, trust me, you really don’t want me on your pub quiz team! BUT I do have a strong passion for these topics and talk about it alot at home as such, I’m pretty sure my phone feeds me all the information about said points below, not to mention my own findings after my husband was diagnosed with a hormone producing tumor and I found myself going through IVF. Something shifts at that point, when life chucks you a ton of lemons, you start taking matters into your own hands, so here are some of the key things I’ve learnt along the way that I’d love to share with you.
1. Not all pans where made equal. Not the most glam thing to start with but, cooking is something we have to do everyday. Unless you’re Tom Cruise and have your own chef... then skip ahead. But we all have to cook and what we use to cook in, is just as important as what we cook. Now, if you’re anything like me I hate washing up, so a non stick pan seems like your best friend right? Well, just like all friends, it all comes down to the minute details to really know them. And this friend I’m not keen on. I really don’t like anything Teflon and here’s why. Firstly, Teflon is a type of plastic sprayed on various items and then baked to create a nonstick, waterproof, noncorrosive, and nonreactive surface. Now it says that this only becomes toxic when heated at high temperatures, however if you look up the effects of heating plastic and eating from that plastic, then you can do the simple math's on this. It’s not good. It’s been shown that it may increase the risk of cancers too. It’s also worth noting if any of your pans are made with any of these other potentially toxic materials like; PFAS (including PTFEs and PFOAs), lead and cadmium. Thankfully I’ve found a great alternative. A ceramic pan, and I can vouch you won’t be scrubbing it at the sink for hours. The Always Pan by Our Place is my favourite. It’s a bit more spenny, but cost per use is amazing AND it’s 7 pans in one and non toxic!
2. Know your supplements. I’ve always been one to take vitamin C, but let’s be honest that’s probably passed on from the days of a haliborange before school (remember those?!) So when my husband got diagnosed with a tumor, I really got stuck in with researching what was in our supplements. His tumor was a hormone producing one, so the focus of my research was a lot about what was in the food he was consuming, the products he was eating from e.g. plastic bottles and also what he was going to take, to up his immune system during this time. Like most people, I’d usually go into your typical high street shop to get my vitamins, however when I started to delve into the world of supplements, I was pretty shocked to find that so many of these supplements that people spend millions on every year, are filled with a lot of crap. Also if you start reading labels of ‘good’ products you’ll notice so many say they don’t include use of synthetic fillers, bulking agents, caking agents, flow agents or synthetic capsules meaning a lot of other brands DO contain all of the above and the body therefore finds the vitamins you’re taking hard to absorb, not to mention what those bulking agents and fillers do to your bod. This also was amplified when I became pregnant and was looking for a supplement to take. I of course was recommended the brand everyone knows (here goes my brand deal) but honestly this is not the best product. You want something your body can absorb easily and does the best job (especially folic acid) and that doesn’t have bulking agents and titanium dioxide in (I'll let you google that one.) So I really recommend you reading the back of labels to know what is actually in things. It’s not always what you think. However the good news is, there are so many great brands out there that really do do what they’re meant to do. My favourite brands are Wild Nutrition, BioCare and Bare Biology. And the difference I have seen when using these compared to other brands, is incredible. Plus no fillers, plastic and bulking agents in sight. Can I have an Amen!
3. I’m sure you saw this one coming….. Organic food. Yes naturally it’s going to be better for you BUT the good news is, your whole shopping trolly doesn’t have to be Organic! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that spraying food with pesticides is then going to enter your body, thankfully though, not all foods absorb it as much as others. So, I like to go by the dirty dozen vs clean 15 rule as to what I stick to when it comes to buying organic. The dirty dozen and ideally foods that should be organic are:
apples
celery
cherry tomatoes
cucumbers
grapes
imported snap peas
nectarines
peaches
potatoes
spinach, kale and collard greens
strawberries
sweet bell peppers
And the clean 15 that don’t have to be organic are:
avocados
cabbage
cantaloupe
cauliflower
eggplant
grapefruit
kiwi
fruit
mangoes
onions
papayas
pineapples
sweet corn
sweet peas (frozen)
sweet potatoes
4. Back to cooking. I’m a little bit hormone obsessed after that hormone producing tumor but one thing I'm surprised that the whole world hasn’t been told, is you shouldn’t cook and reheat foods in plastic. I know we’re all trying to be ‘good’ and reuse as much as possible but putting things in plastic Tupperware and then reheating the food in that Tupperware is really bad for your health. Breast cancer.org puts it perfectly “Don't cook food in plastic containers or use roasting/steaming bags; the plastic residues may leach into food when heated in a regular or microwave oven. Use glass, porcelain, enamel-covered metal, or stainless-steel pots, pans, and containers for food and beverages whenever possible, especially if the food or drink is hot” So please instead of putting food in plastic, pop it in any other material! I love a Pyrex.
5. Movement is just as much for our mind, as it is for our bodies. I know we all have our own goals but lets be honest we want to look good as much as want to feel good. However, so much focus is placed on how we look in exercise (yes I’m looking at you flexing fitness Instagram models) and not as much about our minds. This is thankfully changing but I think until you truly experience the shift in your mind from a form of exercise you love, we may stay stuck in the cycle of believing exercise is just to make us look good for that holiday or party we have coming up. I was absolutely the victim of doing what everyone else was doing with Hiit which really didn’t suit my body or my mind. i felt more stressed after it. Once I found Pilates however, I had finally found what worked for me and in turn it’s saved me mentally on so many occasions, as well as keeping me strong physically.
6. AirPods are not the one. There goes another brand deal. Now if you know my sister business Haus Pilates Co. you'll know I love house music, BUT not to the extreme that I will fry my brain for it. Now that might sound extreme in itself, but studies are showing that it may be doing just that. I already knew that holding your phone up to your ear wasn’t a good idea. Surprising when you think how the hell are you meant to hear someone if you don’t. But blackberry phones actually comes with a warning not to do just that, it just seems apple have left that bit out. Huge steps are being taken around the world as the dangers of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are coming to the forefront, with French schools all stepping away from Wi-Fi and only having old school wired internet now with Kindergarden being completely banned.. This is because babies and childrens brains are thinner than aduts so the damage is much greater. So as much as I love music and yes wires might get in the way of a winter coat, AirPods are IMO not good for you. So I say bring back the humble wired headphone. You can read more about it here: https://ehtrust.org/health-effects-wireless-in-schools/
I’d love to know if you found this post useful and if anything you’ve read is new to you. Like I said above, I always think everyone knows this stuff, but actually these facts aren’t publicised that much so don’t blame yourself if you have done any of the above. You have to hunt for those trusted sources, which as you know, is at the core of what we do at Bump Haus. Providing you with the best advice to empower you for this amazing chapter of your life and beyond!
By Anna Johnson