Find a Root Cause Practitioner
Working with a good holistic practitioner is essential, but finding one can be tough. Good news is that holistic (whole person) and functional medicine (aka root cause medicine) are becoming more mainstream. In fact the Cleveland Clinic has recently added a Center for Functional Medicine. Unfortunately many of these practitioners do not accept insurance. Below are links to organizations that offer a “Find a Practitioner” link.
Unacceptable Levels — An important and informative film about the chemicals in our bodies, how they got there, and what we can do about it: www.amazon.com
Moldy — An important overview of the topic of toxic mold illness, with interviews with a variety of doctors as well as patients by Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof who was personally affected by mold. Sign up to watch for free: moldymovie.com
Trade Secrets: A Moyer’s Report — Journalist Bill Moyer investigates the chemical industry and finds secrets the chemical industry doesn’t want us to see, including the negative consequences of the chemical revolution on our bodies: www.pbs.org/tradesecrets
Organizations that monitor home, food and body care products for safety can help you figure out what to avoid and what to buy:
Environmental Working Group (EWG)
Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment. EWG conducts research, does advocacy work in Washington D.C. and provide reports online, free of charge. EWG focuses on food, water, consumer products, energy, farming, toxins and children’s health. Check out their “Clean 15” and “Dirty Dozen” yearly reports to evaluate which produce to definitely buy organic. And, if you are motivated, consider supporting their important work with a donation: www.ewg.org
EWG’s Consumer Guide to Seafood
EWG’s Consumer Guide to Seafood is the output of EWG’s investigation into existing data amassed by the government and third party scientific sources on mercury contamination and omega-3 levels in seafood: www.ewg.org
EWG’s Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database
EWG’s Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database is an online resource which provides a rating scale from 1 – 10 (fewest to most toxicants) on more than 74,000 products. See how well your skin-care, sunscreen and cosmetics rate on the safety scale at: www.ewg.org/skindeep
Think Dirty®
Think Dirty® was started by a woman whose family was impacted by breast cancer and who wanted to understand possible connections between cosmetics and cancer. The Think Dirty® mobile app empowers users to make informed decisions at the point of purchase by scanning bar codes of nearly 1 million products and more than 4,000 brands. www.thinkdirtyapp.com
Toxicant and Diseases Database
Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)
Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), a non-profit that seeks to share evidence-based science and resources and help improve individual and collective health. CHE offers a Toxicant and Diseases Database where you can search by toxicant or disease to learn which chemicals have what degree of evidence for causing specific diseases. www.healthandenvironment.org