3 Ways to Natural Living

The toxic overload we can be exposed to on a daily basis is huge and making changes can feel overwhelming. Its thought that the problem isn’t the individual toxins we’re exposed to in themselves, but the accumulative effect this cocktail of toxins has as it hits us from all angles.

So where do you start when trying to create a more natural lifestyle?
Small changes over time can make a significant improvement to the toxic overload your body is put through, so try and take it in manageable, bite-size pieces.

There are three key areas where you can get some quick wins – Home, Skincare and Diet.

1. Natural Home

Start with your home cleaning products. These have come a long way in terms of performance and price, and you can now feel pretty confident that many natural home cleaning product will deliver results. You may find you don’t want swap out everything but even making a few conscious changes, such as your washing up liquid or floor cleaner can help reduce the overload you’re exposed to.

If you want to take it further, many people are returning to using traditional cleaning ingredients around the home such as Epsom salts, Bicarbonate of soda and Vinegar for (make sure you buy white vinegar and not the stuff you put on your chips though). There are some great ideas out there on blogs and Pinterest.

2. Natural Skincare

You’d need a degree in chemistry to be able to decipher even some of the most common ingredients in skincare.
And even for us industry professionals, it’s a constant learning curve with more ingredients being introduced while others are put under the spotlight each year.
So, the simple advice I would give you here is find a few natural skincare brands you really trust and stick with them. Let them do the research so you can relax and save your time.

At Westlab, all our salts are independently tested to ensure they are pure and free from trace heavy metals.
Our finished products are all guaranteed to contain a minimum of 97% naturally derived ingredients. This is a great place to start when looking for natural products, as most natural brands will mention this on their packaging.

3. Natural Diet

The simple rule I have for diet is to try and opt for the most natural alternative wherever possible.
If the item has a paragraph of ingredients, half of which you don’t recognise, then choose the more natural alternative.
An example is snack foods like crisps and chocolate. You can try to consciously choose the ones with the fewest ingredients in them in your daily life. So instead of opting for a highly flavoured packet of crisps, choose the plain sea-salted ones. And if you need a chocolate fix, eat some dark chocolate or a chocolate rice cake rather than a snack filled with caramel, biscuit or fondant.

For me, I try to apply this rule to 80% of what I eat. This helps me to stay conscious of not putting too many unnecessary toxins into my body, while also not putting myself under so much pressure that I can’t relax and enjoy myself when with friends and family. It’s about finding what works for you so you can remain positive and motivated.