HEALING HASHIMOTO’S: IS YOUR HOME HELPING OR HINDERING YOU FROM GETTING BETTER?
Did you know that your home could not only be preventing you from getting better but can be one of the root causes of your Hashimoto’s?
Yes, speaking from personal experience it is very likely. How?
I want to share with you what I learned back in 2017 that has helped me reverse my Hashimoto’s and keep my health.
Not many people are sharing this information so I’ve decided to shed some light on this for you.
In this week’s new episode of Georgina Szabo TV I am going to tell you what you might be doing that could be preventing you from getting better, how to remedy this, and what you can do to turn your home into a place that supports your healing.
Welcome to Episode 18! My name is Georgina Szabo and I help newly diagnosed & those who have been living with Hashimoto’s for years reclaim their health. I was down the same path- I got diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2017 after multiple miscarriages. Instead of just taking a pill I wanted to find out WHY I had Hashimoto’s to begin with so that I could really heal my body vs just managing symptoms. After working with Functional Medicine doctor Stephanie Daniel I was able to put my Hashimoto’s disease in remission within 6 months and get pregnant naturally at age 39, and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. It lights me up to share all my knowledge and resources to help you get your life back.
If you are new to my YouTube channel, consider subscribing because I release a new episode monthly.
HEALING HASHIMOTO’S: IS YOUR HOME HELPING OR HINDERING YOU FROM GETTING BETTER? – Episode 18
(For Spanish Subtitles, or any other language, turn on closed captions by clicking on “CC”. Then go to Settings – the little wheel icon in the video control bar – then select Subtitles/CC. Next choose “auto translate” and select the language of your choice.)
One thing is for sure- If your home is toxic, you are NOT likely to be healthy!
But something I see happening a lot, even with those who eat the right foods and take their supplements, detox with a sauna, still overlook auditing their home causing them to just stay at the same place.
I want to make sure your home is a safe haven for you so that you are not making the same mistakes.
So when I was searching the internet regarding Hashimoto’s and autoimmune disease back in 2017, I came across with Dr. Tom O’Bryan. He is a Global Leader of Functional Medicine and author of The Autoimmune Fix book. He was talking about autoimmunity as part of an online summit when he noted: The primary trigger for autoimmune disease to develop is environmental toxins that get into our body. And once they get into our body, these toxins start to accumulate, and overtime becomes very taxing to our immune system and disease starts to form.
But where do these toxins come from? They come both from our outside environment as well as home environment. In fact, our home could even be more toxic than outside! How?
Well, the amount of chemicals in our everyday products that we use in our home is more than ever before! Of the 80,000 chemicals being used in personal care products, household products, and many other areas of the market, nearly all of them are inflammatory. The vast majority of them are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.
For example, did you know that vinyl shower curtains that nearly everyone has as an inside liner in their shower is made out of PBC? In addition phthalates are added to it to soften it, which is another hormone disrupter. And they are also an obesogenic chemical. These obesogens can change the directions of our cells and increase the amount of fat in our cells. They have the ability to alter the way that our fat cells in our body develop. They can alter our metabolism. They can promote fat retention. There are a lot of different ways that these obesogens act and they contribute to a giant list of hormonal problems from altered fetal development, increased risk of autism, to every autoimmune condition you can think of, to behavioral problems, weight gain, diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance- a long list.
So make sure to replace your vinyl shower curtain with a polyester shower curtain instead! It’s inexpensive, you can wash it too. Look for 100% untreated polyester, and make sure it is NOT mildew resistant!! I have linked to the one I use in my home in the notes section below.
Additionally, you will want to toss all plastics containers in your home. Phthalates are used to mold plastic together so anytime you are using plastic water bottles or containers you are exposing yourself to hormone disrupting chemicals.
We must audit every item that enters our home- from furniture to household cleaning products, makeup, cookware, and even kids clothes! Another important thing I didn’t know- not only furniture, mattresses and pillows are treated with flame-retardants but kids clothes as well- even PJs!
Flame retardants are compounds added to manufactured materials, such as plastics, textiles, surface finishes and coatings that stop or delay the production of flames to prevent the spread of fire. Studies show that flame-retardants are present in the body of almost everyone in the U.S., and are known to cause hormonal and neurological damage. So we MUST search for items that are NOT treated with flame retardants.
And it is absolutely critical that we read the labels of our personal care products as carefully as we read the labels of our food. A great site to use for reference is the Environmental Working Group’s website.
The more chemicals we are exposed to, the more chemicals attack our body and our immune system gets activated. The goal is to reduce the load on our immune system. If you don’t remove the source, you will never have a true and lasting solution to your health challenge.
Think about all the products that you use from the moment you wake up until you go to bed. As Dr. Daniel pointed out to me at my meeting with her- our skin is our biggest organ. It acts like a sponge. On average it takes 26 seconds for a chemical to pass through the skin into the bloodstream. 26 seconds!!
I made a separate video showing you how I went through my house to identify toxic products so I knew what to toss. Look for the link to the video in the notes section below.
Next make sure you are inhaling clean air in your home. I had no idea that indoor air can be way more polluted than outdoor air! Indoor air pollution is caused by a combination of particles like pollen, dust, mold spores and smoke combined with ozone, invisible gases and volatile organic compounds which are emitted by building materials, furniture, carpeting, paint, cleaning and personal care products.
You can get indoor plants as well as high quality air purifiers to improve indoor air quality. Check out what plants are best and which air purifier I love the most in the notes section below the video.
Next, you need to examine the water you are drinking and bathing in. You can look up your tap water quality at the EWG’s website, and see how good or bad it is. To give you an example, my water quality here in San Anselmo, Marin county shows 19 contaminants were detected out of which 10 exceed EWG’s health guidelines and 9 of those have potential cancer effects.
Our skin is our biggest organ and acts like a sponge filtering our shower & bath water is a must in addition to filtering our drinking water.
And since one of my root causes was mold mycotoxins due to living in homes with toxic mold, I always recommend checking your home for mold. It’s not always obvious and visible, so doing a test is important to know for sure vs simply guessing. I made a separate episode on this topic that you can check out, you can find it in the notes section as well.
In Closing
Once again, the goal is to reduce the toxins we are exposed to so our body’s immune system is not constantly activated to fight and deal with all these chemicals. We want to live an anti-inflammatory lifestyle that goes way beyond anti-inflammatory diet. Hope you can see that now.
If you want to dive deeper into the functional medicine approach to reversing Hashimoto’s, I invite you to tune into a FREE science-based video with my Functional Medicine doctor Stephanie Daniel by clicking on the green button below:
Thank you for spending this time with me. I hope this episode gave you new information and the resources below will help you execute the ones you haven’t tackled yet. As always, be sure to share this with a friend struggling with Hashimoto’s.
“If your home is toxic, you are NOT likely to be healthy.” – Dr. Tom O’Bryan
Resources Mentioned & More That Will Help Healing Hashimoto’s
Green Your Home (Safe Products For You & Your Nest) – Learn More Here
I made a video to show you how easily you can identify toxic exposures in your home and switch over to safe products including which ones I use, just click on the link above!
The Autoimmune Fix (Book) – Learn More Here
In this book Dr. Tom O’Bryan explains the whole picture of autoimmunity. Where it comes from, why it’s happening to you, what is the platform of understanding that you have to come from to deal with this. So much to learn it’s overwhelming, and that’s why the book lays it out little by little. The book is not the answer to your disease, it is the path so you can find the answer to your disease. You will know the questions to ask in order to figure out what it is that is triggering the inflammation in your body that is causing the autoimmune disease that you are manifesting. That’s what you have to figure out. A must read!
How To Check For Mold (Episode 7) – Learn More Here
I shared in Episode 7 how to test for mold, why it’s important to test even if you don’t see mold and what can be done if you find mold.
Air Purifier I Love – Learn More Here
I have tested many air purifiers and this one is my absolute favorite! It not only removes almost 100% of particles but also the vast majority of toxic ozone, volatile organic chemicals and gases. I run it 24/7 and can’t live without! I smell the difference when we lose power and it gets turned off.
Indoor Plants For Clean Air – Learn More Here
NASA did a Clean Air Study and recommended to have at least one plant per 100 square feet (10 square meters). I love these recos by Dr. Gator!
Safe Shower Curtain – Learn More Here
Avoid vinyl shower curtains and use 100% untreated polyester instead. But make sure it is NOT mildew resistant!! Cotton and hemp are way more prone to molding. They don’t dry that easily, they are heavy, hard to wash, and get moldy really easily—which is a whole other problem. Polyester shower curtains all the way! They last for years since we can just wash it. Click the link above to get yours!
Healing Hashimoto’s Naturally and Get Your Life Back (Video) – Watch It Here
In this short video Dr. Stephanie Daniel discusses how Hashimoto’s develops and what can be done to reverse it. I worked with Dr. Daniel and absolutely love her approach and the way she explains the entire process. In fact, with her guidance I was able to put my Hashimoto’s in remission within 6 months of working with her. As a result I was able to get pregnant naturally at age 39, and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. This convenient format fits any busy schedule- tune in while you drive to work, do dishes or go for a walk. If you have time to watch/listen to one thing, let this be it!
Whether you just got diagnosed with Hashimoto’s or have had it for a while, I would love to hear from you. Drop a comment below to share your biggest struggles right now that you would like help with.