When looking to reduce your toxic exposure and balance minerals for hormone health, a great place to start is your water.
Why? Because there can be many contaminants, heavy metals, and more in our water and our water is poorly regulated in the U.S. The Safe Water Drinking Act is what enforces what’s allowed in our water and only 89 contaminants are regulated.
It only gets updated every 5 years and takes an extremely long time to add anything to that list. Currently no contaminants have been added since 1996. 😱Pretty scary!
It’s also important to point out that just because a contaminant is regulated, doesn’t mean it’s not in your water. You want to make sure you look at your city’s water report so you can be aware of what’s in your water. You can literally google (your city name) water quality report and it will come up. This is a great FREE resource to start looking at your water.
The only issue is that it’s only what is regulated, but it does give you an idea of chlorine, fluoride, and any bacteria.
🚨Contaminants To Avoid In Water:
🔹𝐂𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞: used to disinfect and kill of pathogenic bacteria. Disrupts gut microbiome and competes with iodine.
🔹𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞: added to water since the 1950’s. Prior to 1945, fluoride was considered an environmental pollutant 🤯There are many issues with fluoride, but the main ones are excess exposure that can lead to dental fluorosis and thyroid issues since it competes with iodine.
🔹𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 like pathogenic bacteria and parasites.
🔹𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐬 are a huge concern since many are not disposed of properly, come from farm runoff, and we also excrete them through urine, which gets flushed into our water system.
🔹𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬: nitrates, glyphosate, perchlorate, heavy metals, and atrazine.
Other Ways To Look At Your Water:
Another great resource is Tap Score. They even have a well water test! It’s affordable and allows you to look at what’s actually in your water so you can get the appropriate water filter (or not) if there’s nothing. I always recommend testing prior to buying a filter, unless you move frequently (my case) and constantly testing doesn’t make sense.
My Water Filter of Choice: Pure Effect Water Filters
I often recommend looking at your water, but if you just want to know what filter to get, I recommend Pure Effect Filters. I have zero affiliation and use them myself. They are the best for the money and filter out everything you need. They also have a shower filter that is amazing. They even email you a certain time after you purchase your filter to remind you to replace the cartridge.
Testing your water and buying a filter is also super important if you will be doing any hair testing. Are you curious about your minerals and if you should test? Check out my free mineral quiz here and find out!
reminder: i’m currently taking on 1:1 clients. if you’d like to explore what it would be like to work together and if we are a good fit, fill out this form to get more details!
