Join HMN at Grow Your Health

For the third year in a row, Holistic Moms will have a table at the Grow Your Health Gardening, Food & Wellness Festival.

Please come out and see us and take the opportunity to learn about gardening with kids, sample farm-fresh fare, and watch the film GMO OMG. See the full schedule here and the list of classes here.

Tickets are $10 ahead or $15 at the door. HMN volunteers can get in free, so let us know if you want a shift! Initial inquiries made to HolisticMomsArlAlex (at) gmail (dot) com will be passed on to the table organizer.

Everyday toxins: what are they and what to do about them

Thanks to everyone who came out on a record cold night for our "Everyday Toxins" meeting with Josie Nelson of Integrative Health Strategies and The Documenting Hope Project and Julie Hantman, DC field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force presenting on "Everyday Toxins."











Josie talked about bioindividuality and that everyone has a different tipping point. She discussed some causes of toxins that we come into regular contact with and some tests that might help us determine what is going on in our bodies to help us best address our particular issues. Without knowing how well our liver and kidneys are functioning, it's unwise to embark on any significant detox protocol without supervision by a healthcare practitioner.


Stress itself can lower the immune response, cause gastrointestinal problems, increase blood pressure, and more. When we think about unburdening our toxic load, we also need to look at how we are handling stress. The message was about making the body resilient. Figure out the areas where you are compromised and think about strengthening your system accordingly.

One easy way to test ourselves at home is to check your first-urine pH to determine if you are alkaline, or if you are acidic, which means you're leaching your minerals.

One recommendation was to consider our exposure to electro-magnetic fields (EMFs) and to consult the resources of the Center for Safer Wireless. 

Other recommendations included:

• Be mindful of choices of cleaning products
• Get ductwork cleaned
• Consult the Environmental Working Group (EWG) for the most important foods to eat organic
• Try for 80/20 really good food to less-good food
• Get enough sleep
• Stay hydrated
• Monitor bowel habits - see the Bristol chart if you don't know what poop should look like!
• Get enough exercise for lymph motility
• Practice stress reduction techniques

Julie, who had earlier that day spoken at the Moms Clean Air Force Virginia Mama Summit in Richmond, spoke about asthma rates and the current push toencourage the Environmental Protection Agency to lower the limit of allowable ground-level ozone (smog). The DC area gets a grade of F in ground-level ozone(smog) from the American Lung Association; the Metro DC area is among the top 10 most polluted U.S. cities in the ozone category. She shared some of the ways that Moms Clean Air Force is trying to make a difference on the issues of indoor air quality, outdoor air quality, and climate change.

We all learned a lot and had a hard time leaving the meeting! Thanks to everyone who came out and to Josie and Julie for taking the time to share their knowledge with us!