Toxins 101

Episode 68

Podcast Drop Date: 

10/15/2025

In this solo episode, host Amber Warren, PA-C breaks down the essentials of reducing your toxic burden and supporting your body’s natural detox pathways. From clean water and air to safer food, products, and home environments, Amber shares practical, evidence-informed steps to protect yourself and your family from everyday pollutants.

Learn how hydration, sleep, sweating, and stress management all play key roles in detoxification and discover simple swaps that make a big difference. Whether you’re new to functional medicine or ready to go deeper, this episode empowers you to take small, sustainable steps toward a cleaner, healthier life.

Transcript:

Amber Warren, PA-C: Welcome to the Functional Medicine Foundation's podcast, where we explore root-cause medicine, engage in conversation with functional and integrative medicine experts, and build community with like minded health seekers. I'm your host, Amber Warren. Let's dig deeper.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Hi, everybody. Welcome back. Today we're going to do something a little bit different. And we're just going to be covering, um toxins 101. And I'm going to be doing this discussion today just talking about how we in functional medicine, um, recommend protecting yourself and your family from all the different environmental toxicants and pollutants that we are now seeing in 2025. So, um, RFK has been a mover and a shaker in this field for the last year or so, and it's so exciting to see everything that's going on. But, um, it was, uh, early September when he was on the Senate floor testifying, talking about how when his uncle was President, 3% of Americans had chronic disease, and now it's up to 60%. And he was just stating how we are the sickest country in the world. And one of his famous quotes, is that the most profitable thing America has today is a sick child, and we have to do something about this. Um, so I have been digging deep, um, for the last really couple years into this field of detoxification and the toxins that we need to be aware of. I talk a lot about really sexy things like weight loss and hormonal optimization. But truly, this is one of my passions because this is true root-cause medicine.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So, um, we talk about in, you know, when we're let's use this example when we're looking to clean a fish, right. Maybe one of our pets is a fish or sorry, not looking to clean a fish, but we're looking to take a fish from being sick to a healthy state. And usually in that situation we would work on cleaning the tank, um, instead of treating the fish. But in this case, in functional medicine, we're looking to not only clean the environment, but also clean the fish. So that's what we're going to be talking about a little bit today. Detoxifying the body but also cleaning up the environment. So this can be really overwhelming. This whole conversation especially for young moms. Just hearing Dr. Hyman talking about the toxicants that are, you know, in the the core of a baby when a baby's being born and how many babies are born with these environmental toxins already in their bloodstream. But the first thing I want to mention is, please don't get so overwhelmed with this topic that you are starting to have high cortisol levels. That is not what we want to be doing. Stress in and of itself is its own toxin. And so we want to make sure that you're able to take this information and have it be empowering for you, because small changes can really have significant impacts. Um, when we are talking about the different toxins in our environment.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So I always say, um, try and just take baby steps. Um, with this topic, and I'm sure most of you are already doing a really good job at home. But I start, um, with encouraging my clients to think about what they're being exposed to all of the time, right? So water is a perfect example of that. Um, we have to drink a lot of water as humans to be able to survive and enjoy good health. So we talk about testing our water, making sure we're drinking clean, naturally hydrating water. There is a test that I love. It's from a company called Simple Lab and we will link that in the show notes. There's water. Well, if you're on a well, you can do an advanced well test. That's the one I recommend. But for those of you who are on city water, there's an advanced city water test. It is not $1,000. I want to say it's around $250. It tests for heavy metals. So many different environmental pollutants, herbicides, pesticides. It is the best water test that I've come across. And it's the water test that I've used on my own home. Um, so ensuring that you're, you're staying well hydrated to keep your body urinating often every 1 to 2 hours, ideally sweating every day to detox these toxins out, um, and having normal bowel movements 1 to 2 times a day. So staying hydrated is a key aspect of how our body needs to detox.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, food would be right up there with water because again, as humans, we have to consume a fair amount of food every day. So making sure that you are eating good quality, nontoxic food will get into that a little bit more later. And then I also talk about skin being our largest organ. So what we are, um, absorbing through our skin, especially our small children that have, um, these small little organelles but a high skin to organ ratio. So thinking about the products that you're using in your home, are you burning candles that have fragrances, parabens, phthalates, or are you like, in my home, I have essential oils, diffusers in our main living areas and in the bedrooms. And think about your cleaning products. I use a lot of, um, lemon essential oil with vinegar and water. Um, try to avoid, um, the toilet bowl cleaners that are full of toxins. Think about the indoor air. Indoor air is typically because of not only the cleaning chemicals, but also, um, off-gassing of paint and different carpets, formaldehydes. And even on our furniture, the flame retardants on our furniture, that that can be a significant toxicant. So opening windows when you can to let the outdoor air in, um, and filtering out some of the toxins in your air. Um. Outdoor air, most of the time, is going to be cleaner than the indoor air. Um, but not always. We happen to live in a part of our country that is prone, especially this time of year, to wildfire smoke.

Amber Warren, PA-C: It was really interesting. I was, um, in a cardiology conference, did a day virtual cardiology conference. This was last month, and there was a conventional cardiologist that did a discussion on the environmental impact of air pollution on on cardiovascular disease, things like heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure. And he mentioned, um, our outdoor air pollution as being such a significant factor and the greatest environmental threat on cardiovascular disease. Um, and he was the first one to say we don't know what to do with the body as far as detoxification. We rely on our integrative medicine counterparts to know what to do there. But he pointed out two really important things that you can do to offset the impact of these environmental pollutants. The first one he mentioned was indoor air filters. Um, I personally have two brands that I love. One is called Jasper Air, and I love that brand because it actually gives you an AQI, um, numerical value on the screen. So it'll tell you how dirty your air is and how clean it can get. And the other one I recommend is Austin Air. And we've been promoting that brand for a while. Um, the Healthmate Plus is, um, the brand that I love. They're small, very mobile on wheel units that you can move around to different areas of your home, but I recommend one filter in your main living space and also bedroom filters so you can keep that on and filtering that all night when the the air is not as good of quality because of wildfire smoke.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, I crank those babies up and they're running all day. Um, the other the other, um, data point he mentioned was actually forest bathing. And that's something we've been talking about for a long time in functional medicine. And that's the idea that you get out amongst the trees that produced a lot of good quality, clean air. Um, so that is, you know, in our case here in the Treasure Valley, walking on the greenbelt or planting more trees in your yard so you can force bathe or even just more plants in your home. Spider plants are one of my favorite tools that help to actually cleanse the air in your home. Um, also, when you're talking about what your skin absorbs, think about what your, um, breathing all day as far as your laundry detergent and what you and your family are sleeping on. Um, so what are you what are you washing your sheets and your clothes in? Um, Tide is Tide. And some of those brands, they're they're toxic. They are not good for you. If it smells good, it probably isn't good for your endocrine systems, your reproductive systems, um, gut health, things like that. So lotions, potions, what are what are things that are touching your skin potentially multiple times a day. Those are things to start becoming more aware of.

Amber Warren, PA-C: There was um, goodness, this was very recently last week, uh, Europe actually banned an ingredient called TPO, um, that was classified as being carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction. And it is what hardens gel nail polish. And so that is no longer allowed in Europe. So things like nail polish are also things especially for our young girls we need to be thinking about. So, um, coming back to foods, Mark Hyman wrote a book called food. What the heck do I eat? It is not a new book. It's probably been in publication for 6 to 7 years. I think it is a fabulous book talking about the different foods we should be consuming and the foods we should be avoiding. He categorizes highly processed foods, processed foods, um, to non processed foods and what we should be focusing on and what the real food pyramid should look like. Um, alcohol is it's just a toxin. There's no way around it. I don't care if you're drinking a skinny margarita or a vodka tonic with fresh lime juice versus beer. It's all toxic. It's hard on your liver. It's hard on your gut. The data we're seeing about it being carcinogenic, causing cancer, and increasing your risk of Alzheimer's dementia. Alcohol should be avoided or very minimally used. Um, so that is just one that I'm starting to get more and more strict on with my clients, especially those clients that are struggling with gut health, liver health. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep. Alcohol dramatically impacts our ability to get our deep, restful sleep where our body detoxes and regenerates.

Amber Warren, PA-C: We actually have a glymphatic system that works really hard at night, mostly at night. And that is our system on how we process toxins and eliminate them from the body. So sleep is actually a really important aspect of appropriate detoxification. Um, in my home, I'm, I'm actually a little bit more of a Nazi on, um, flour than I am sugar in most cases. Um, lots of snack bars, oatmeal, different cereals, um, wheat and flour are heavily sprayed with glyphosate and other herbicides. And so I'm big on things like I mentioned, snack bars, protein bars, tortillas, cereals. Um, because of the toxicity of glyphosate and what it does to the brain, hyperactivity of the brain, and again, what it does to the gut and liver.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Food dye, of course, is something that's getting more and more recognition. I'm so thankful for that. But you still have to read labels. These companies have a long time, most of them around a year, to actually get that food dye in some of those more processed ingredients out of our food. But we're very thankful to our administration for the work that they are doing.

Amber Warren, PA-C: High fructose corn sirup. Um, I don't go to a restaurant without checking the label on ketchup when my kids are consuming French fries or hamburgers, because there's still so much high fructose corn sirup in things like ketchup and salad dressings and sauces, high fructose corn sirup has more mercury than the most toxic types of fish.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So you have to be very careful with that product. It will spike your blood sugar entirely more than organic sugar, and it should not be allowed in our in our foods. Um, and of course, we all should be avoiding excess sugar because of what it does to gut health behavioral issues in children. Um, and how it's just such a significant driver of inflammation. So again, back to Dr. Mark Hyman's book. Those are foods I recommend his book for foods we should be including, but I'm always recommending food without labels that God intended us to eat. Ideally organic. That is not foolproof, but it is a really important thing that we should be following. Trying to get all the colors of the rainbow fiber is really important. Fiber and protein, not only because of what they do for our body, especially protein as our bodies age. Um, but if we're satisfied and full and satiated, then we're not going to be reaching for the processed junk. Um, I recommend grass fed organic meats. Wild caught fish, the acronym I use for healthy fish that are high in omega three and low in um, in mercury is SMASH. So sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon and herring.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, herbs. I think herbs aren't talked about enough as far as being natural detoxifiers in their body. They're easy to grow, easy to cheap. Of course, I recommend buying them organically, but things like cilantro and parsley are wonderful, naturally detoxifiers to the body and can make food taste really good. Broccoli sprouts are one of my favorite superfoods. Um, wellness mama. We can link her link in the show notes as well. She puts out a very straightforward blog post on how to grow your own broccoli sprouts at home. They have very high amounts of sulforaphane, which is one of the best natural detoxifiers and liver supports that we know of. So those can be used on smoothies, um, on top of stir fry. I put them on eggs on top of salads. So those are a superfood. Learn how to, um, sprout your own broccoli sprouts. You will not be sorry.

Amber Warren, PA-C: When it comes to, um, trying to be mindful of your pocketbook. Every year, the Environmental Working Group, EWG.org, puts out a dirty dozen and clean 15 so dirty dozen 12 foods that are okay to eat. Um, conventionally, um, the dirty dozen or. Sorry, um, dirty. Sorry clean. 15 foods that are okay to eat conventionally. They're not heavily sprayed, or the spray cannot soak into the fruit itself that you consume. Dirty dozen would be the 12 top foods that you should be purchasing. It is worth your money to purchase those foods organically. Food storage is also important. Think about takeout or how your food is stored, how it travels across the country and gets to you. We have to be aware of microplastics and bpas getting into our food, so I recommend avoiding cooking and storing food in plastic as best as you can.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Be careful of aluminum foil in your home, storing food in it, and cooking, grilling and aluminum foil. That aluminum is a very toxic heavy metal and will soak into your foods. Um, avoid cans if you can. Those are heavily laden with bpas for the most part. Um, deep frying or browning can create carcinogenic toxins in our food. So try and lightly steam or blanch or not overcook a lot of your meats, especially. I don't own a microwave. I get made fun of for it all the time. I'm okay with it. Um, we haven't owned a microwave in the last decade. Microwave, not only can they be high in emfs electromagnetic frequencies in your home, um, but they also will deplete your food of nutrients. Um, be aware of air fryers. There is a gentleman out there known as Health Goat, and he's put out some free guides that talk about cooking utensils, cooking pots and pans and healthy air fryers that you should be including in your home and ones that you should be avoiding. I'd highly recommend checking him out and then be also aware of coffee makers whenever you're pouring warm, acidic liquid over plastic. Um, it is a dangerous, dangerous result. So I recommend stainless steel, um, coffee presses or glass in that case.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Back to air pollution a couple other things I think are worth mentioning. Removing your shoes in your home is really important to avoid. Um, the dust, the heavy metals that come in dust, and the a lot of the organic pollutants that are out there, um, as well as molds that you can easily bring into the house walking through dirt. So I recommend people avoiding shoes in their home, of course, regularly cleaning the floors, avoiding carpet if you can access carpet in your home. Um, it one because of some of the toxicants that and formaldehydes that can be in our carpet. But also it's so much easier just to clean, um, wood or laminate floors. Um, a little bit of a controversial topic, but, um, it's interesting. We're running these these panels on our clients called Total Tox Burden. It's actually a urinary test. We provoke our clients with antioxidants and provoking agents to help us see what kind of toxicants we can pull out through the urine. And we've been seeing a lot of heavy metals in our clients, specifically lead and cadmium, which is interesting. And I, upon doing a lot of research and talking to a lot of different, um, colleagues and professionals in the area, I really think the lead is in our air, and I'm, um, suspicious that maybe it is coming from some chemtrails. So that's a little bit of a controversial topic, but it's something that I think is gaining more and more traction and getting more attention.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, Environmental Working Group, I mentioned them previously. They have some really good guidelines on how do we dig through the personal care products, um, that are out there and how, especially for our young developing girls, how do we, um, pick out things that aren't endocrine disruptors? And I'm talking endocrine receptors. I'm talking, um, fake estrogens, estrogen mimicking chemicals, things that will completely, um, harm and potentially cause our young girls to either go through puberty very early, um, too early, or, um, have really, really high estrogen levels and not be able to naturally have children someday. So we're talking parabens. Things we should be avoiding are methyl parabens, propyl butyl parabens. Um, anything that labels itself as a fragrance or a perfume is probably phthalates, which are known to cause a lot of hormone and reproduction issues. Um, look for sodium lauryl sulfate, which is typically the things in shampoos and conditioners and toothpaste that causes bubbles. That is a product that has been known to cause cancer. Um, Tolline, Triclosan, and Triclocarban in our soaps are all things we should be avoiding. Um, those are antibacterial agents that are known to disrupt hormones.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So where do we start? Basic detox support that we recommend here at Functional Medicine of Idaho. I already mentioned it, but drink clean quality food and water, ideally with electrolytes and minerals. So we're looking at intracellular hydration um sweat and exercise daily. Manage your stress. When your body is stuck in fight or flight. Your body can't operate in a state where our body needs to heal and detoxify. And we already mentioned the importance of sleep. Next steps. When we start to do a little bit more with detox and some of our protocols, we're recommending, um, rebounding or even walking or doing some form of movement to get your lymphatic system flowing. That is a really important aspect of detoxification. Lymphatic massage is another tool. Um, make sure you're in the hands of a qualified professional to do lymphatic massage, but that can be very, very helpful. Dry brushing. You can buy a dry brush for $9. Um, and it's actually stimulating lymphatic movement. I recommend doing it before you shower. You want to brush, um, starting with your extremities and always brushing towards the heart should not take more than 60 to 90s. It's a good way to move the lymphatic system. We love infrared saunas. There's all sorts of cool data on what moderate infrared sauna use 2 to 3 times a week can do for cardiovascular disease, weight loss, um, prevention of Alzheimer's and dementia, and and just generalized detoxification. Deep breathing. We detox through our lungs. So if we are shallow breathing throughout our day, cortisol levels are high. Our bodies aren't fully eliminating and doing what it needs to do. I love red light therapy for detox. I'm a big fan of Epsom salt baths. Make sure Epsom salts aren't loaded with perfume. Um, and don't just dabble a little bit Epsom salt into your bath.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I'm talking 4 to 5 cups. Um, when my kids are in heavily chlorinated pools or hot tubs, I throw them in an Epsom salt bath that evening before bed as a way to just detox their little bodies. Um, I already talked about the importance of fully eliminating your bowels 1 to 2 times a day, but 50% of our detoxification takes place in our gut. Um, so making sure that you're working with someone to help optimize gut health is very important. Um, before we start to recommend any heavy duty detox, we're always talking about making sure detox pathways are open. So that is things like sweating every day, staying hydrated, um, working on the lymphatic system. Make sure your bowels are moving daily. I love coffee enemas or colonic hydrotherapy to help keep, um, keep the bowels moving. Even intermittent fasting, um, puts your body in a state of healing and helps to upregulate detoxification. Just eliminating the consumption of food for 12 to 16 hours can upregulate detox pathways. When we talk more advanced detox support, um, that things we offer here at our clinic, we're talking things like FlowPresso. That is a machine. It's actually a lymphatic suit that, um, it's a session at our Meridian clinic that, um, is a gentle lymphatic drainage massage suit. It's the most relaxed I've ever been in my life. Check it out. We have a lot of great IV therapy protocols.

Amber Warren, PA-C: We do a lot of IV ozone for detoxification purposes. IV Phosphatidylcholine is something that started with we started using it for a lot of our mold detox protocols. It's an agent that helps to keep minerals and nutrients inside the cell and push out toxins. So that can be a fabulous protocol for some individuals. Um, we do IV ozone, but we also have what we call a Blood Purification Protocol that actually takes your blood out from your body, filters it, um, adds ozone, ozone to your blood. And then and then does a second cleansing through UV filtered light and puts it back into your system. It is phenomenal for multiple different toxins, mold, heavy metals. Um, it's a great protocol for long Covid. Um, we also have infrared sauna, um, at our clinic. But I find a lot of people are just purchasing, um, infrared saunas in their homes because it's become such a popular modality for relaxation and for detox. Detox Foot Baths, another modality we have in Meridian. Um, it's a great way to pull heavy metals and environmental chemicals from the body. And of course, supplements. We have a lot of wonderful, tried and true supplement protocols that we use, um, here at Functional Medicine of Idaho. I use a lot of binders in my practice. CellCore Biosciences makes phenomenal binders. Their most gentle binder is one called a Biotoxin Binder. That's where we start with most of our mold patients.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Um HM ET Binder would be a little bit more of a powerful binder that they offer. Um, that is a binder I use when wildfire smoke gets significant outside, when my kids are exposed to more processed foods, maybe more glyphosate. And I'm concerned about that. Um, taking a binder before or right after you sauna is a really important thing to do to bind up the toxins that your body is trying to process and get out of the body. Um, CellCore Biosciences also makes a KL Support that's great for kidney liver health if we're trying to support those important organs during a detox protocol. Um, I keep a bottle of liposomal glutathione in my fridge all the time If we are going to maybe enjoy a beverage or a dinner out, or if I'm going to get my hair done, or maybe get a pedicure done for a trip or a wedding, that's when I'm taking my binders and loading up on glutathione. That's your body's master antioxidant. It can really do wonders at upregulating detoxification, and it's great to have on hand when someone comes down with an illness. Um, minerals. Minerals are such an important way to, um, hold on to to sorry to hold on to minerals obviously in the body and push toxins out. It's really interesting, actually. Um, heavy metals can sit if they're if you have a high heavy metal body burden, they'll sit on mineral receptor sites in the body so minerals can't get into the system.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So we need to really detox the body and make sure we are remineralizing. We do some really cool IV chelation, um, at all three of our clinics, um, for heavy metals, for things like lead and mercury. Um, but the, the compound that we use called EDTA that really helps to pull metals from the body can also pull minerals. So we're always remineralising the body whenever we're talking about heavy metal detoxification. Um, there's a lot of protein powders I love. Um, again, because making sure you're satisfied with protein is a really good way to not eat the more toxic foods and protein. Um, making sure your body is full of protein is a really important, natural part of the detoxification process. I use a lot of clean whey protein. I love Kona Nutrition's whey protein. I add it to oatmeal, I add it. I made some protein bars before I came to the clinic today. Um, that I use this unflavored whey protein. It dissolves really nicely in, um, solid foods and liquid foods and then fiber. We want to really make sure that we're rebuilding the gut, gut, gut, the good gut microbiome, the good bacteria in the gut microbiome. So we carry a lot of different wonderful fibers, um, our Foundations Prebiotic Plus DF is a great fiber in capsule form. So coming back to the fish tank analogy, we're testing the environment. There are two individuals that I recommend in our in our valley, um, to test your home and make sure you're living in a clean environment.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, making sure we can heal. Um, part of making sure your body can heal. Part of that is making sure you're you're no longer in a in an environment that made you sick. So TestMyHome.com is a great resource and their team will come out and test your home. I also, um, love Whole Home and Body Health, Kathy Cook that's another great resource in our area. Trusted people that can come test your environment for things like mold. Test your water. Um, test formaldehyde levels in your home. Test EMFs in your home. I consider electromagnetic frequencies to be a toxin. These are, um, invisible waves coming from our cell phone, our Wi-Fi, our smart meters in our home. Um, coming from the four and 5G towers that now seem to be everywhere. Um, they can do some really significant, damaging things to your body. They disrupt calcium channels. They disrupt the way that our bodies need to detox and our bodies need to methylate. So I am somebody, I have a lot of different things hardwired in my home. Our TVs are hardwired, our computers hardwired so we can be working from home or hanging out at home watching a movie. And the Wi-Fi doesn't have to be on. I can actually unplug our router every night before we go to bed. And when I had my home tested from Test My Home, I was very surprised at how high our, um, robot vacuum was even unplugged because we will run it and then unplug it, and it was still emitting a lot of these electromagnetic frequencies.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Wireless thermostats are something we have to be careful of. Um, wireless everything, right? We have smart everything in our home. Smart refrigerators, smart lights, smart TVs. Um, what they don't tell you is the damaging effects they can have on your body. Um, wireless printers are actually also something that can be really, really harmful. So you actually have to unplug and depower the printer. Um, so those are all things. And then I really enjoy a company called Smart Sleeve. They make, um, laptop and cell phone covers that have been known to actually diminish the, the emfs that are being put off on these devices I always try to avoid talking with the phone to my head. I'm either on speaker or I'm using my wired earbuds. Yes, I said it wired. I know it's not cool. Everyone has these wireless earbuds they're jogging with or at the gym with, or the teenagers running around with. I have a lot of concerns, based on some pretty significant data on what that's doing to the brain. Those those signals right up against your brain. Um, my son asked me a lot, when can I get wireless wireless headset headphones? And I'm like, when you're out of the home and paying for your own things, you can choose to make that decision.

Amber Warren, PA-C: But we don't like what it does to the brain. Um, so those are all, um, just different tips and tricks I have. I hope you found this helpful and not too overwhelming. Um, I think wisdom in this, in this wisdom and knowledge in this case is very powerful. And again, these small changes, even just changing the brand of cereal you're buying or, um, the kind of laundry detergent you're using in your home can go a long way in impacting you and your family's health. Thank you so much for joining me. And we will link, um, a lot of the the brands I mentioned in the show notes below. Thank you.

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Amber Warren, PA-C: Thank you for listening to the Functional Medicine Foundation's podcast. For more information on topics covered today, specialties available at the FMI center for Optimal Health and the highest Quality of supplements, and more go to funmedfoundations.com.