Living Clean in a Dirty World: Why We LIve a Low Tox Life
Fate
Fate is one of those words we toss around when we talk about higher forces shaping our destiny. It’s the idea that life has a plan for us, set long before we’re even aware of it. But how much of that plan do we actually get to decide?
I’m not sure. What I do know is that I never set out to live unconventionally. I didn’t wake up one day and decide to live a low-tox life or question the norms of medicine, food, and health. If anything, I resisted it. But fate—or something like it—had other plans.
The difference of me
Before becoming a mother, I didn’t realise there was anything particularly unusual about me. I couldn’t yet consciously grasp the fact that something about me was… off.
I hear this story a lot, but it was actually my child who made me aware, a little at a time, that his difficulties developing weren’t all that random. Eventually, I had to accept that they had something to do with me: my genetic setup (with somewhat neurodiverse traits running in my family), my being a guinea pig for modern medicine, as well as my poor health choices in my adult years. My child was the one who tested my intuition from the day he was born and he was telling me he wasn’t well. He was miserable, he wasn’t curious about his environment, and eventually he wouldn’t start talking. This is how about 7 years ago I learned, something was wrong, and it had something to do with me.
In the beginning, I turned to professionals for help. Time and again, I was met with dismissive explanations. 'It is nothing' or 'he’ll grow out of it.' But my intuition told me otherwise. I knew something deeper was going on, and eventually, I turned around and decided to take matters into my own hands. As many modern mothers have to do because medicine can’t keep up with the developmental delays.
Toxins?
Through my research, I began to see a connection between our health and the environment we live in—the food we eat, the products we use, even the air we breathe. For my son and me, it became clear that our bodies were reacting to this “environmental load” with inflammation, infections, and even neurological symptoms.
Looking back, it’s not hard to see how it started with me. As a sickly child, I was given antibiotics and other regular medicinal drugs countless times. Not to mention the experimental surgeries that were recommended to my parents to remove any signs of chronic inflammation from my body. By the age of 16, I had a mouth full of silver fillings, which we now know can contribute to neuroinflammation. Later, I smoked for many, many years to cope with life, likely compounding the damage. Growing up in a stressful environment, eating junk foods on a daily basis, buying conventional care products, going on to live a life with many unhealthy conveniences as a grownup, it’s not hard to guess how my health led to bearing a child that wasn’t doing well.
Though, to be fair to myself, I don’t think that my health history is the only cause of his health struggles. I suspect that medical intervention during his birth had adverse effects on his health and might have set him up for these troubles in the first place. Because somehow I managed to bear a baby girl who went on to become incredibly healthy. I have also met a number of families with way healthier mothers whose children were struggling neurologically, too. So there’s more the story of neurodevelopmental challenges amongst our younger generations.
Living a Low-Tox Life
I have to admit that at first I resisted the idea that toxins could play such a significant role. It’s not exactly popular to suggest that environmental factors like food additives or household chemicals, let alone medical products, might affect brain health or development. As a matter of fact, I was told off by an environmental medical doctor who I approached for formal diagnosis that it’s crazy to believe that toxins have something to do with autism.
But the more I experimented with diet and low toxin exposure, the more we saw improvements—not just for my son but for myself too.
For us, a low-tox lifestyle means:
Eating organic whenever we can afford it.
Using natural alternatives for personal care and cleaning products.
Relying on food, herbal remedies, and occasional homeopathy instead of medicinal drugs.
We’ve avoided doctors for years—not out of rebellion, but because we simply haven’t needed them. Thankfully! Because my last experiences with doctors were horrific, with both my children’s births being careless and invasive. For emergencies, modern medicine is invaluable, but for everyday health, I’ve learned to trust my intuition and natural solutions.
I don’t understand why people think those of us who no longer trust doctors are unreasonable. We’ve learned from our experiences, something that experiences are for. Yet these people keep going back to doctors who only seem to make them sicker, completely ignoring their own experiences and avoiding to learn from them.
Does Low-Tox work?
Do we feel better? Is our health transformed? Honestly, it’s hard to say. I don’t claim that our choices are the answer for everyone. But I do know that by choosing products that are kinder to our bodies and the planet, we’re taking small steps towards a healthier, more sustainable life.
What I can say is that I’m far healthier than I was as a teenager. I hardly get sick, and my skin is in better shape than when I was younger. But this may be due to both our nutrition and our low-tox lifestyle.
Some people believe toxins don’t affect us at all. They don’t even want to hear about it. Others think it’s about how well our bodies detox naturally—a process influenced by stress, trauma, and genetics. Whatever the truth, I’ve learned this: once you understand the impact that toxins can have, it’s hard to accept them into your life.
The whole discussion becomes even more complicated when we consider neurodivergence. To clarify, I don’t believe that toxins create neurodivergence—at least not the personality aspects of it.
However, for younger generations, the story might be different. It’s possible that the effects of toxicity can mimic traits of classic autism and other neurodivergent conditions, though I don’t have an opinion about these things and leave them to others to figure out.
Neurodivergence is incredibly multifaceted, and I believe toxins may influence certain aspects, particularly when it comes to overall functionality and mood. There’s also strong indication that suggests that many neurodiverse people are highly sensitive to toxins. This is why I want to stay on the safe side and stay low-tox. Because I hope that my struggles with neuroinflammatory issues could get better over time.
Do I recommend a low-tox lifestyle? I believe that human kind as well as the planet would benefit from a more conscious use of synthetics and metals in our life. I don’t think that our bodies were designed to deal with this quantiy of toxic load and I think we’re starting to see generational issues.
Quite honestly, the idea that my body is constantly fighting off poisons—something we just accept as normal—disgusts me a little. If you can relate to this idea, then slowly going low-tox will certainly improve your life quality as well.
So, what about you? Do you live a low-tox life, or have you thought about it? If not, what holds you back? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories.