If there’s one area of non-toxic living you should put your focus, it’s definitely the kitchen. Think about it – if you’re using it in the kitchen, it’s more than likely going to get ingested into your body.

But holy crap, there’s a lot you can change.in the kitchen…where do you start?

My suggestion is to take a peek at what we’ve done below. Try picking one item that feels doable and move forward from there! Even one small change can make a huge difference in your body’s toxic load.

Water Filter

First and foremost – ditch the purified water in plastic water bottles! It’s not sustainable to your health or to the planet. The best option (especially if you have tap water) is to add some sort of filter to your sink, fridge, or use a filtered water bottle. If you want to know just how gross your water is, check out the EWG’s Tap Water Database. You’ll be surprised to know how much junk is in the water we drink and clean our dishes in, including fluoride, phosphates, nitrates, and even unmetabolized prescription medications!!! We personally use a Clearly Filtered fridge filter at home and a Clearly Filtered water bottle when we are traveling.

Cooking Oils

Seed oils like canola oil are highly inflammatory and terrible for our health. It’s so frustrating that it’s deceptively marketed as being “heart healthy” but contains toxic chemicals like hexane (a cheap gasoline byproduct) which is used to extract the oil. Plus, when you ingest them, they are oxidized causing free radicals to be released. In general, it’s heavily processed and isn’t my idea of “health” – and that goes for other oils like corn, soybean, safflower, and sunflower oils too. We like to use organic coconut oil, avocado oil, and organic extra virgin olive oil in glass containers (our favorite is California Olive Ranch).

Cookware/Bakeware

Just this year we made the switch to stainless steel cookware after disposing of the non-stick stuff we had for over 5 years. The most important reason we did it was to get rid of the toxic non-stick Teflon coating that can flake off and get into your food. Trust me, it happens and you don’t want it…even as convenient as non-stick cookware is. Non-stick cookware is often coated in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which released toxic fumes when heated, and, a new study just showed that a single scratch on non-stick pans can release thousands of microplastics into our food. Luckily, with the right prep, you can make stainless steel “non-stick” without the toxic chemicals going into your food and body. Check out this article.

Food Storage

If you’re still using plastic Tupperware to put your hot food in, it might freak you out to know that toxic PFAS (forever chemicals) are likely leaching onto the food you’re saving for later. That’s not to scare you but think about how often you use these containers – I’d probably say daily, right? At least we did…until we made the swap to glass Pyrex. The win-win is that we can bake and then store our leftovers in them without having to dirty another dish!

An added storage tip is to use less aluminum foil. Aluminum is a heavy metal that can accumulate in our bodies and cause us harm. Try using brown parchment paper instead.

Utensils

For as long as I can remember, I used those plastic utensils that I probably got in the kitchen aisle at Wal-Mart right after I graduated college in 2012. Like the plastic Tupperware mentioned above, the problem with these utensils is that plastic, especially when heated, is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that pollutes our bodies and the environment. To avoid that, we switched to untreated wooden utensils.

As you can see, plastic is a huge violator in kitchen products. It still boggles my mind how companies can so cleverly fool us into thinking that these are better options for us because they are more durable. I fell for it for 30 years! Luckily, there is more awareness surrounding just how terrible these PFAS chemicals are that are widespread in our kitchen products. In fact, for more info on PFAS-free products, check out a blog called Mamavation. She’s paving the way for less chemicals in our every day products – including what we use in the kitchen.

What non-toxic swaps have you made in the kitchen?