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[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT]
Today I am with two of my favourite humans in the whole world, who I have known for gosh, it must be nearly 14 years now. And that feels like a complete privilege today. I am two of my favourite and I need to just pause otherwise I am going to hear myself again which is going to be strange. Let me sort that out. Okay.
But this is a real privilege to be here and having this conversation with you both. I am going to just share a little bit with the audience about why I want to have these conversations and what we are going to talk about today, and then we are going to get into some really fascinating content.
So today I feel like this is the beginning of a much bigger conversation and the reason I want to start having these conversations is because I feel that hydration and your fascia is really, really important. And one of the biggest issues is that one of the reasons you may be dehydrated and you feel like you are ageing faster is because you are failing to take a first step towards certain things that you could be doing to support your fascia and its hydration. So how can we do that? We are going to get into some of that initially.
But first of all I want to say that my main obsession is efficiency. I want to help your body to be able to do something as quickly, as kindly and as easily as possible. And all of you who have worked with me or know me know that is the approach that I take generally.
What I want you to think about is we are already aware of the fact that your body is efficient and it does incredible things. Your fascia will clean, your lymph will clean, your kidneys, your liver, your lungs, all of your organs work really, really hard all of the time and they do an incredible job. They do an even better job if you support them and you look after them, which is what we are here to talk about.
But there does come a point where I think of it a bit like a glass of water. Over time we fill up a glass of water and that glass of water represents toxins or things that are in your environment. And as that glass of water fills, eventually you get to the point where it is just one drop and then everything falls apart and then you think, well, what have I done differently? There is only one small thing I have done. But it is because your system is already in a state of overload.
And so when it comes to toxicity, you are probably already aware of the idea of environmental toxins, but I want to talk about the toxins that perhaps you are putting directly on your face or onto your body with skincare and makeup, and the effect that that can have on your body and how it might be compromising your ability to stay well hydrated.
It is really important also to think about the fact that the largest detox organ in your body is your skin, and it is also your first line of exposure to all of these toxins. And so whilst doing things like fascia release, which is what we talk about a lot here, is really powerful and it can do a lot to support your body cleaning things out, it is also really important to make sure that you are helping clear the pathways that are blocked. You may find that you are seeing slower results if you are failing to do some of that. And in some instances, I do hear people say that they are experiencing more discomfort as well. So, I want to address reasons why that may be happening.
I believe in part that a build-up of toxins in your skin can change your tissues and how they feel, and how easily they are able to stay hydrated and repair themselves.
Now, I have recently been doing some discovery work and I found an incredible resource which we are not going to talk about today, but I want to just mention it because we are going to speak about it later down the line, which is the library and videos of Dr. I hope I can say this right, Gambau. Now, he is a French scientist who is doing living tissue fascial discovery videos and photographs. And you can literally see the gel-like substance of what the fascia looks like. And I think when you do see some of these videos, you will think to yourself, “My goodness, I can see why water and hydration and cell nutrition is so, so important.” So there is going to be more on that soon.
But today, I am going to speak to these two incredible humans that I have got here. And the reason I am so, so, so excited is because, like I said, I have known these people for nearly, I think it must be 14 years nearly. And I have had the privilege of being alongside them as they have done some really groundbreaking strides in health, vitality, wellbeing.
Now, I have been in the wellness industry for nearly 30 years and what they have done I think is second to none actually. So I feel really privileged to be alongside you in this conversation and thank you for coming and speaking to us about this today.
So on one side I have Eddie Stone who is the founder and CEO of Touchstone Essentials and he has been in the detox industry for nearly 30 years. Am I right in saying that, Eddie?
Yeah, I guess when you reach a certain age, I am 62, you do not always try to go backwards because it makes you maybe feel older. But yeah, I have been doing this for decades for sure.
Well, I am pleased that you have because you are an incredible resource because of that. And I really admire your obsession with quality and standards. It is one of the reasons I love working with you both so much, but you have such elegance with how you execute what you do. So, it is just a real privilege to be with you in these conversations, but also just for the last 14 years or so.
So, I cannot wait for everybody to meet you and know more about what you do. And then I know that a lot of what you do has been a pillar or backbone in the industry of wellbeing. It has really taken things to the next level in terms of what I have seen in detox and wellbeing out in the industry also in the last 30 years.
And I feel though that I am really excited that Sonia is here because it is unusual that she is here and I know she is a bit also of a secret weapon. So she, I know, is in the background doing so much of the research and so much of the detail on all of these things. So Sonia, thank you so much for coming on the call because I know this is unusual.
I am happy to be here. I know. Yes. Normally I am working more behind the scenes. I get the chance to work with our scientists as we are developing new products or I get to work on a lot of the research behind your health and wellness blog at the goodinsight.com, which is where we try to share a lot of really valuable and hopefully helpful information relating to detox, nutrition, wellness. So we just feel that is such an important part of the conversation to let people be able to pursue the pathway of their own journey of wellness. And so I am excited to be here today as I know that has really been a passion of yours, certainly with a lot of the work that you have been doing.
Yeah. I mean I just feel from the beginning of working with the both of you just so privileged because so much of what you do really is about making sure that it is the best quality, the most easy for the body to absorb. You really look at how you can work with the body versus at the body. And I think that is one of the biggest things that we sadly do not see as much of in the wellness industry as we might like.
So yeah, I am very excited for this.
So the biggest issue in the work that I do with people is often I hear that people lack… well, I see it is not so much that they say but some people realise it… that they lack hydration in their tissues. And I know a lot of that can be balanced with better lifestyle, exercise, food, and the simple hydration of just drinking water.
But there are things that I have noticed about modern life, specifically as I have already mentioned, like environmental toxins and products that people are using on their bodies that make it really hard for the body to process. So, I am really interested in this conversation and hearing how people could be doing things to support to detox their body and support their body’s detox systems in a really easy and simple way.
And I often hear a lot of women say, “Well, I am doing everything right. I have got the good diet. I am moving.” So, you are getting the fascia moving. “I am doing lymph care. I am doing fascia care, but I am still feeling puffy. I am still feeling sore. I am still feeling exhausted.” And even their skin is showing signs of being dull and dehydrated, especially as they get to side of perimenopause and then through menopause as well.
So from a detox perspective, what might be going on underneath the tissues that perhaps they are unable to see and what might be affecting that?
Let me… Sonia, if I can, I want to just say one quick thing as a lead to that because Sonia has got some important detail there.
It is important that everybody listening have a frame of the conversation of a sort of a holistic frame. Meaning we can talk tactically and talk about the details of what is happening. But you have got to recognise that there are a lot of sides to this. Let us just break it down to two simple things.
You can have really high quality clean topical products for the skin, for the face, all of that. But if you have also considered what is happening from a toxicity standpoint either from the environment or from food or whatever all these other dynamics, or less clean products perhaps used in the past, then as you have talked about the cell and these things are staying hydrated, your body cannot function properly if the toxicity level is such that it is disrupting the body’s native ability to maintain hydration at the cellular level.
And so part of the reason our approach is not just clean products, which is this ethos of ours, right, and obsession as you described. If you are trying to get the bad stuff out, then all the good stuff is going to reach a blunt point where it can no longer be as effective as it could be.
You might even think, “Well, I am wasting some money here on all of this if I cannot present it to my body in a way that it can utilise because my body is toxic.” And so, as you said all that, I want that frame to be in people’s minds as they think about the specifics.
And so Sonia, sorry to disrupt you, but please…
Oh, no. I think it is all connected, right? And Savannah, as you were saying, the skin being the largest organ of the body, and so many times we look to the skin as being an indicator of health, right? It is how we tell that someone is youthful, how we feel that someone is really healthy and vibrant within.
And so when your skin looks tired or it looks dull, even if we feel like we are doing everything right, it is still a really important indicator of health that something on the system level inside is maybe not optimal.
Detoxification or toxins are a really important part of that conversation. And the reason being is they are so systemic, right? It is happening throughout the entire body.
And so when we think about toxins, we really have to think about the fact that they are impacting us in three key ways, right?
The first way is that they cause a tremendous amount of oxidative stress in the body. We kind of all hear about oxidative stress. We think, “Oh, antioxidants,” right? But it is this unrelenting kind of oxidative stress that is happening on a cellular level throughout the entire body when we have toxins in our body.
And so it is creating this really reactive oxygen species, are called ROS, and it kind of triggers this cascade that just puts our bodies under so much stress.
The second thing that is really happening when we have toxins in our body is that it is creating a lot of inflammation. Inflammation, I think we know a lot about it. It is happening on a chronic level and on an acute level and it can create this low-level inflammation that is just happening throughout the entire body. And that is something that directly impacts the lymphatic system, that directly impacts your fascia, causes it to tighten up, and for that connective tissue just not to work the right way.
So inflammation is something that is a downstream effect, a direct effect of toxins that we are exposed to.
And the third thing that is really happening when we are thinking about toxins on a systemic level is hormone disruption. So, so many of these toxins, and especially we will probably talk about it more in terms of personal care products or what we are putting on our skin, so many of those products are considered to be, or ingredients are considered to be endocrine disruptors, meaning they disrupt our hormones.
That impacts our thyroid, that impacts our fertility, that impacts perimenopause, that impacts oestrogen and testosterone. So you have these, you know, all these things that are kind of happening and they maybe seem separate, but they get back to this underlying thing that toxins have these three big effects: the oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption.
So no wonder our skin feels it. Women as they go through perimenopause and menopause, that is massive. Huge.
Wow. My goodness. Yeah. I mean, it really is. Thank you, Sonia. That is really articulate and there is so much in there just by itself for people to unpack.
So I hope people are pausing and taking notes on this and really thinking about the impact as well as to what that means in their bodies and what could be happening for them.
So yeah, thank you. That is absolutely fascinating.
The one thing I wanted to comment on and talk about a little bit is that I feel it is a bit of a sad truth. I know that there is a lack of regulation around ingredients in terms of the products that you are talking about that may be coming into our system on our skin through makeup, through body care products. And you know there may be things that… we have got everything from sunscreen, shampoo, all of these things that we are using on such a regular basis.
Yeah. And there is no cross testing happening on any of those products either. So there is no idea of what is happening with the compound effect of those ingredients. And you guys have written some really interesting articles about this in your blog and I will put a link below this for the audience later.
But can you say a little bit about the lack of regulation in cosmetics and in the personal care industry generally?
Yeah, it is pretty shocking. Especially here in the United States, we have far fewer regulations that govern personal care products than, for example, in Europe. I think there are 11 ingredients that are banned in the United States and 1,300 in Europe that are not allowed.
So, you know, there is a whole lot of ingredients there that we can be exposed to in so many personal care products here in the United States than you would even have the chance to be exposed to in Europe. So, really, really different standards.
That applies, yes, to cosmetic products. It applies to your shampoos, your conditioners. It applies even to sunscreens. We have got a topic on the blog about this because it is really concerning relating to sunscreen.
That is one of those things that we are all told to wear every day to protect our skin from UVA and UVB, which can inflame our skin, cause DNA damage. But some of those ingredients, especially in chemical sunscreens, are really concerning.
Especially those oxybenzone, especially that avobenzone, those in particular, those types of chemicals that are chemical sunscreens are known to be endocrine disruptors. So they can disrupt oestrogen, they can disrupt testosterone, which both men and women need, and ultimately of course affect fertility and all of those downstream effects in terms of our hormones.
So, it is very concerning when you see that within the sunscreen products, especially when they are marketed to children. They are in these bright bottles, little kids on the front of them, and very concerning ingredients inside.
So, when it comes to sunscreen, it is important to look for clean sunscreens that are mineral-based because that will give you a physical block. So you will still be protected from the sun, but you are going to have that endocrine disrupting chemical because whatever you put on your skin is going into your bloodstream.
Yeah. Wow. And you really need to think about whatever it is you do put on your skin because of that, I think.
I am going to just… there is one little interesting fact that I am seeing a lot in the face world at the moment that I am just going to touch on. But I want to speak a little bit about hidden things in even natural products in a moment, just because I think that sometimes we think we are being really responsible and then we discover, oops, there was something in there that I did not even know could get in there.
We are seeing a lot at the moment, especially because of weight loss drugs. We are seeing an increase in people having facelifts and different procedures. And I know probably this is something to put a pin in for another conversation later down the road.
But because of that, there are all these unregulated at-home treatments and there are things that people are thinking, “Oh well, this is safe. I think this is okay.” There is no doctor talking about this or there is nothing really bad about this out there at the moment.
But even if you are determined to do things naturally, you really do have to think about how toxins sneak into the products that you think are safe. Can you speak a little bit to that perhaps?
I know that in recent tests there was one study that showed more than I think half of 33 named brand lipsticks tested, I think it was like 61%, contained detectable levels of lead and things like that and that is not on the packaging. So yeah, I am going to hand over to you for that.
Yeah. So there are… I mean no human could reasonably be expected to navigate the cosmetics, you know, that are… and the I mean in tiny, tiny little print it is so small that nobody could even see it. And those are the ones that they do actually list.
But nobody could be, absent having a chemistry degree, could be expected to try and figure out what these things are, what they do, never mind how they interact with one another or other things or other products that you might be using.
There are a couple of resources that are helpful. One of which is the Environmental Working Group, so it is ewg.org. They maintain a great database. You can look up a product or a specific ingredient that you find on the label and they will give it a rating, you know, green for good, red for scary, in terms of either the safety or the fact that it could be endocrine disrupting. So it is a guide and can be helpful.
Another great resource is the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. They try to again provide some reporting on what these ingredients are, what some of the risks are, whatever you can maybe try to avoid.
But even those, you are right, that does not cover the fact that there are ingredients in there that are not on the label and not required to be listed, such as yes, lead can be there in lipstick, right? Particularly red lipsticks. Everyone wants because they are a bit more fun. The brighter they are, the redder they are, the greater the chance that lead is in there. So every time you are putting it on, it is like going directly on your skin.
There can be mercury in mascara, that is also not listed on there, right? So there can just be… and some of that is just the pervasiveness of heavy metals within the environment means that heavy metals show up within every layer of our lives. Whether it is the food, the water, what we drink, the products that we use.
There is just a pervasiveness to heavy metals because they are an environmental toxin and they are everywhere.
But yes, for some of those other ingredients, those crazy chemical-sounding things that we find on our personal care products, definitely check ewg.org. Good resource and help to eliminate some of those.
That is really great. I will pop the links for those below as well because I think it is great to have something that people can go away and take a look at, like the things that they have got in their cupboards at home or on their shelves in their bathrooms, and just make sure that what they are using is going to be friendly or as friendly as possible to them.
The Touchstone Essentials blog talks about things like formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and hidden chemicals in fragrances as well.
So from a detox side, why are these small daily exposures such a big deal when you look at the body if people are using things like their favourite perfume over years or perhaps over decades? Because I know some people once they have their scent, that is the one that they want. And you can understand that and it just smells good. So you think, “Oh, what could this be doing that could possibly be wrong? It just smells so nice.”
So particularly perfume and fragrance… kind of that catch-all term of fragrance is one of those things. It sounds like it is one ingredient but it actually can be dozens of ingredients within it because manufacturers are required to list what those things are, what they make them up. They are considered a proprietary formula.
And unfortunately fragrance in particular is one of those places where a class of chemicals called phthalates hides out. And phthalates are particularly of concern because those are endocrine disruptors.
And it is just that… what they found is that these are very, very tiny exposures that can have an effect on your endocrine system. You are talking parts per billion. These can actually have a measurable effect and that is again not counting what happens when one endocrine disruptor mixes with another one and you have these multiple exposures.
Again it can be very small levels but it is still significant and still enough to actually mess with your thyroid, mess with your fertility if you are trying to get pregnant, mess with perimenopause.
We do know that these endocrine disruptors can worsen perimenopause symptoms, right?
So these are things that hormones are very, very sensitive and so even these small exposures can knock things out of whack.
And unfortunately it can be subtle but still significant in how you feel it. So you think, “Oh, this is just a normal part of ageing,” or “This must just be what it is like,” or “It is just worse for me instead of this other person.” But it can actually be because you are being exposed to these other chemicals.
And again, it is pretty insidious, right? It is just constant little small exposures, but they add up.
Yeah. So that thing of like, “Oh, I am only doing one spray at the beginning of the day,” but you are probably maybe also brushing your teeth and there might be something in the toothpaste and putting on a moisturiser and then you put your sunblock on as well.
So all of these things seem really, really little but actually perhaps having a much larger impact than people might be appreciating initially.
Yeah. And I think a small fix is, you know, with perfume, apply it to your clothes, not your skin. It is a small little change, but it is a way to just make sure that it is going directly into your bloodstream, which of course is what is happening if you are applying it to your skin.
Yeah. Yeah. That is huge.
And are there any ingredients or contaminants in everyday products that you would like never let anybody in your family use? This is to both of you this question because I am just curious because I know how much research you guys do. Is there anything you would be like, “I am sorry, this needs to leave the house now,” or “There is a way you are allowed to have this in the cupboard, please take it away”?
You know, I try to buy clean products as much as possible. I do my research on EWG. I try to buy clean brands, but it is impossible to have something be completely clean. And that is even when you are sometimes… because there are not that many players with organic products within the skincare space, or shampoo space, it is hard to buy fully clean products within that.
I do think kind of a no-go ingredient is anything with phthalates simply because they do disrupt your hormones. But yeah, it is hard to avoid it completely and that is why I do think that detoxing is such an important everyday activity that people need to be doing because it would be exhausting to try and have everything be completely clean and it is just not possible in today’s world.
Yeah, that is true. And what about you, Eddie?
Yeah, so the way Marie and I try to think about it is: one, we are conscious of this, but like Sonia just said, there is just an impracticality of reading every label possible, everything coming into your world.
You do your best and you try to buy brands you think are on the same page as you in terms of what you want, what they are going to do. Like, you know, for us, right? If you are sort of bought into the philosophy and approach that Touchstone makes, well then you are going to find that reflected in all our products.
Well, we have household brands that we are buying either for cleaning or washing our clothes or whatever it happens to be, that that statement is true, right? I kind of follow that same ethos.
But at the same time, we try to make sure, right, if you are cleaning the bathroom, which is the way I think about it, door open. If it is noxious smelling and you want things to be clean, you have a certain expectation. Well, if it smells like this, then it is going to be clean. Nonetheless, the more you smell these things, the more they are getting into your lungs, just like fragrances in consumer products, topicals that we have been talking about.
So, doors open type of attitude and remembering that we are talking about skin-related products, which I think is… you know, one thing you said, Savannah, right? You have described right on a daily basis this routine someone has. They just do not think about that it is every single day and it is this cumulative effect.
Now you may not wear makeup every single day or follow that up completely but it is the cumulative effect as much as it is any single exposure. In fact you might say to yourself, well no single exposure is the real problem, it is the cumulative effect. Well that is true even with the types of products you wash your clothes with and what that then gets on your skin or dry. So, there is a broadness to it.
I do not want to have everybody go, “Well, the hell with it. I will just throw my hands up.” Right? That is not the point here because anything you can do to mitigate or limit from a lifestyle standpoint, things you buy, is better because you then lessen this body burden in simple terms over time.
And you are going to make a few sacrifices. One of the very first things you need to acknowledge is if you are buying, say, a really clean detergent or a really clean skincare, it may not perform exactly as these commercially chemically enhanced and amplified products do.
So, you got to say to yourself, well, if I have washed my whites and it is one per cent duller because it does not have this incredible chemical that is bad for the world and myself, is that okay?
If I am using a skin-related product and let us say it is a perfume, to Sonia’s points about that discussion, part of the chemicals they are using is so there is a lingering impact of the fragrance over time. If you use something that does not have those same chemicals that are somewhat preservative of the smell in nature, then it just does not stay throughout the day in the same way it does otherwise. Is that okay?
So you as a consumer, you got to realise that that is a valuable dialogue or trade-off to have with yourself. I would argue yes, right? It does not have to be as strong a fragrance in the morning and at night all the same if I am not using formaldehyde or something of that type to preserve that strength of smell throughout my day. Right?
And so these are things as a consumer you got to really think about. What are my trade-offs I am going to value because of the long-term health implications. Right. So there is a lot of moving parts.
Yeah. But it is a conversation worth thinking about I think, because it is this self-care of when we really look after ourselves.
I mean, one of the biggest things I am really passionate about and speaking about more and more is the concept of beauty as wellness versus beauty as just purely the aesthetic. And I think, you know, as you said, Sonia, you can tell if somebody is well from the power of their skin and how they look when you meet them and if they are vibrant or not. Like it really shines through and through.
And so it really is a conversation worth dipping into and really thinking about and applying in your life in terms of what are the things you like trade-offs or not and what are the things that are absolute no-no for you. So thank you for sharing that.
So this is a slight jump now. I have quite a few people who I know at the very beginning of when they start working on themselves in different areas of their face or their body, they notice that they tend to have congestion perhaps around the lymph.
And I often suggest to them that perhaps there is a heavier toxic load in their system rather than just tight muscles because I know from the research that I have done and the work that I do with fascia and have done for nearly 30 years, the whole concept that if the fascia is not moving, the body is unable to clean through that whole area and the lymph and the fascia are interconnected. So if the fascia is not moving, the lymph is not moving properly.
From your perspective, you touched earlier on already the various different things that could be happening from a hormonal perspective. Maybe we will dig more into that, but what might be happening in somebody’s body in turn with that kind of everyday exposure and what could be perhaps contributing to what is a persistent pain or inflammation or puffiness that happens in those areas?
Well, I think to elaborate on that, I mean the lymphatic system is so critical, right, as part of your detoxification pathways overall as well and for your immune system, right?
And so when we think about these toxins, even looking specifically at a class of toxins known as heavy metals, right? Heavy metals are so incredibly toxic to the body both from oxidative stress and inflammation and impacting that immune system. And so they are really going to create these blockages, if you will, within your immune system and prevent your immune system from functioning optimally.
That inflammation that it is triggering, you kind of talk about the fascia and the importance for that to be pliable almost, right? To be hydrated, to be elastic, right? And unfortunately with inflammation, it can start to get rigid and it can start to get tighter and it is dehydrated.
So working your fascia and supporting your lymph system are so important. Movement, reducing stress, hydrating, all of these things are so important.
But if it is kind of under constant attack simply because you have toxins in your system, you have to also address that underlying issue before it can really be at its best.
And so that is where detoxification and having a systemic detoxification is a really important part of the conversation because yes, cosmetics, personal care, putting on our face every day, we are exposed that way.
But by some estimates, we are exposed to over 80,000 chemicals every day, right? Just in our daily lives, again, food, air, wildfire smoke in the sky. We are just bombarded with all of these toxins that do build up.
And so all those little exposures start to add up and our existing detox pathways, whether that is yes, your skin, your kidneys, your liver, they just cannot cope, right?
There is more chemicals in use in the world today than there were a generation ago. Far more than two generations ago. Your bodies are not able to keep up with that level of toxic exposure and they need help.
Yeah. Am I right in saying also that some of those things like heavy metals you mentioned, some of those things the body is actually unable to get out without some help?
Yeah. Well, unfortunately, some of those heavy metals are really good at depositing in places in the body. A really good example of that might be lead.
So lead, as we know, is a heavy metal. It impacts small children especially. It can impact IQ, learning abilities, executive function, all that kind of stuff.
But lead displaces calcium in the body, right? And so your bones think it is calcium because it has a similar charge and size particle. So instead of your bones forming through calcium, lead can get deposited in your bones.
And so it stays there and it stays there for years and years. Different heavy metals have what is called a different half-life in the body. And a half-life simply means how long does it take for this to reduce by half in terms of its lifespan in the body, right?
But lead will stay there for a really long time. We probably know bones are a living tissue, right? And they are reforming and resorbing. And when that kind of happens over a period of years, as that bone is turning over, lead can get re-released back in the body, right? Because it has been there all this time.
And that is just one example. That is also true certainly for mercury. I mean, cadmium displaces zinc.
So yeah, they can kind of trick the body and they find a way to stay there and that is one of the ways that they can just be very continually disruptive.
So you can have childhood exposures that are still affecting you years later. You can have these other impacts that are still from decades past. They stick around and the effects linger.
Wow. My goodness. Okay, that is… thank you for clarifying that and I did not know that about the zinc and the calcium. That is really fascinating. And it makes sense because the body typically likes to help itself. So it makes sense that it would have to be a trick for it to do something like that.
Okay. So then I guess the most important thing after we have spoken about all these things is what can you do? Other than limit obviously what you are using, but what can you actually do that creates a solution towards helping your body get some of these things out? Because there are ways you can do that that are natural, right?
Yeah. And I think that kind of goes to what Eddie was speaking about and the fact that we take a very holistic approach. And the fact that what we really try to do is start with nature and then use science to enhance that, right? Perfect it with science, but really start with nature first.
And we find that there are so many natural solutions found in nature, in plants for example. That is your best source of antioxidants to help counter oxidative stress, right? Is to eat these incredibly antioxidant rich foods like your berries, drink your green tea, do all of those types of things.
And when it comes to detoxification, there is a solution in nature as well, and that is called zeolite. It is a natural mineral. There are many different kinds of zeolite, but the one that is most beneficial in terms of human use and with decades of research behind it is a type of zeolite that is called clinoptilolite. It is a long name but it is still just a natural mineral that has really unique properties in terms of how it can attract and bind to heavy metals and just help to pick them up and take them out of the body.
So it is like the perfect nature solution to these toxins that are found in our environment and that in turn get into us.
Wow. I mean, I love that nature offers that kind of solution and that you have taken it and put some science behind it. Can you talk a little bit about what zeolite actually is just for people? They are like, “That sounds really cool, but what actually is it in nature?”
So, it is a natural mineral. It is classified as a sodium aluminosilicate, which really just refers to… it is almost like if you can picture a honeycomb or like a sponge and kind of how it has these… it is not like this perfect little square, right? It is this amazing molecule or compound that has all of these little channels and little spaces within it.
And in science, it is known as a molecular sieve or an ion exchanger. And what that means is that it has a negative charge and it is attracted to things that have a positive charge. And it just so happens that most of the toxic heavy metals have a positive charge.
So zeolite is this perfect way… it meets these toxins, it kind of grabs them and removes them.
And so zeolite is formed in nature. It is formed by volcanic ash when it meets with alkaline water, it creates this crystalline structure. So it is completely natural and it is just by its properties, by its size, by its unique shaping, by its crystalline structure and by its charge, it makes it the perfect vehicle for detox.
Amazing. And again, I love that nature has provided the solution for us. One of my anecdotes is always, “Is it natural? Does it work?” And in this instance, I can see from the science and I know having… it has been something that I have taken for nearly 14 years now. So, I know it does work.
But can you tell me a little bit about what the difference is between, for example, Touchstone and perhaps other general zeolites that are on the market and the different forms that they come in and why Touchstone is so different.
Sure. So to understand why just natural zeolite out of the ground, because it is a mined mineral, is not optimal to use… which is unfortunately kind of what you find in some of the powdered zeolites that you might look for, like a cheap zeolite on Amazon or something like that. They tend to be “Oh we mined the zeolite and here it is kind of straight from the earth to you” type of thing, which sounds good but it is actually not.
And the reason for that being is… so when zeolite is mined in its natural form, it has been sitting in the ground for thousands of years, right? And zeolites do in nature what they do in the body, which means that they are very, very good at picking up environmental toxins, especially lead. Zeolite loves lead.
And so when you take zeolite and you mine it and you take it out of the ground, invariably it will have some lead in it, some more than others. We have tested some of those powdered zeolites and they have crazy high levels of lead in it. And that is kind of the proof of concept. Yes, zeolite in the ground is doing what we would want it to do. It is attracting these heavy metals and holding on to them.
So, it is really important though for a supplement that you make sure that you are cleaning the zeolite first. And that is where the science is coming in.
So, Touchstone Essentials has a proprietary process that is very involved and lengthy that cleans the zeolite to remove any existing environmental pollutants that are already in there, take those out and just leave a very clean zeolite behind.
And so the other part of that proprietary process is that we flood the zeolite, these little honeycombs as we think of them, with calcium because zeolite will loosely hold calcium and then when someone is taking our zeolite the zeolite releases the calcium and swaps it out for a toxin.
So you never have to worry with our zeolite that, “Oh will it take out good minerals as well as the bad toxins,” and the answer is no because we already have a good mineral in there. It gives that to the body and then it takes away the toxin such as lead or mercury or arsenic or one of those other toxic metals.
So you cannot really just go with something that is available on the internet because people do and will sell anything.
So anything that is kind of like a powdered or raw zeolite, those cheaper zeolites, they just do not have that cleaning process and that is not a clean zeolite that you are going to be getting.
Okay, that is really good to know.
And what about… I have seen also there is some stuff on the market that are synthetic zeolites. What is the difference between a mined natural mineral one and then one that is synthetic? I mean, some people might argue that if it comes from a lab, it never had toxins in it in the first place. Like what is the impact and the difference with that?
So, it might be cleaner, so to speak, since it did not pick up environmental toxins. So, it has kind of skipped that step, but they are not structurally as sound as a natural zeolite.
The natural zeolite has been formed over thousands of years. It has a really, really solid molecular structure and it has the right balance of elements between oxygen and silicon and aluminium to make it this really, really durable structure.
Unfortunately synthetic zeolites… and scientists do make these for very specific uses in industrial or medical applications. They do. Synthetic zeolites have a role in those places, but not really for supplementation because they just do not have the same strength as a natural zeolite.
And the body can actually, in some cases, if that balance is off, break down the zeolite in the body, which is something you want. You want it just to go in, grab the bad stuff and then leave. And so a natural zeolite is best for that.
I mean I agree in terms of how I feel from taking it myself and I have been taking it for about 14 years.
Can you explain why it is something that is powerful to take regularly? And I also have a question about… I want to ask about the skin because you sent a study about that. But let us talk about why it is good to take regularly first of all.
Well, I think it is… we talked a little bit about the fact that we are just constantly exposed to toxins, right? It is not like we can say “one and done”. “Okay, I am detoxed. Everything is good now.” Unfortunately, that exposure is constant and it is incessant.
So I think taking Zeolite on a daily basis, just making detox a regular part of your routine, is really important for two reasons.
One, you want to make sure that you are helping to protect yourself against the ongoing daily exposure that you have.
So for our zeolite, our top offering has two products, right? So it has a zeolite that is more directed for gut health and gut detox, and then one that is designed to kind of be much more systemic, really reaching to a cellular level.
And that is important because, you know, for example, if you are drinking your water, is there lead in it? Or arsenic in it? You are eating your food. And this applies to even when you are doing everything that you are supposed to be doing. You are eating a salad for lunch. You are eating healthy fish for dinner. It does not matter. There are toxic heavy metals in even the healthiest foods. There is no escaping it.
So having to make sure that you are having this kind of easy daily detox to help your body, even to prevent some of that uptake.
So by having the gut detox, you are helping to prevent some of those toxins from being released into your body. So it is a real way to try and reduce that toxic burden.
And then on the other side, you have the systemic, trying to really reach those toxins that have been there for a long time, which we talked a little bit about: lead is deposited in your bones, mercury can be in your brain.
There is a large amount of toxins that have accumulated over time and just continuing to detox and continuing to help reduce that body burden.
Detox does happen, you will see results, but it does not happen even just with one month or even three months, right? You want to make sure that you are reaching all of those places those toxins are hiding.
Yeah. I mean, I know for me when I first started taking it, I was really surprised because I had done colon cleanses, liver cleanses, kidney cleanses, and I was organic. I was eating really, really healthily, local. I was filtering my water. I had spring water in my house. Like, I could not have been more ticking the boxes. I was exercising, all the things.
And when I first started taking it, I was absolutely stunned at how different I felt. There were things that had been problems for me for probably decades actually. Digestive issues that had been problematic. Certain things with fogginess in my brain.
So much so that I said to my mum, “What could I have been exposed to?” And she very sheepishly looked at me and she said, “Well, I did have 10 mercury fillings removed whilst I was pregnant with you.” And I was like, “Oh, this makes so much more sense now.”
Because the difference in how my body worked after I started taking the Zeolite was like night and day for me.
Now I know obviously everybody is going to have been exposed in that extreme way but it did make an enormous difference and I notice when I stop taking it because there are some little times when maybe I have run out or I am travelling and I have forgotten to bring the bottle with me or whatever.
I do notice when I do not have it just in terms of the fogginess that comes in.
And I take… so I do this one. This is the gut one, right? So that is the drops. That is the larger particles. So I take that just straight into my mouth. But I also make sure that I have got water right here. I am admiring the size of your water jug.
Yeah, that is a good commitment to water consumption every day.
I commit to my drinking. And then I get more.
But what I am really interested about… so I am going to take this as well. So this is the cellular one, right? So this is the one that goes… oh, if I get the bottle the right way around. There we go. This is the cellular one. And then this is four sprays in the mouth.
But what I am really interested about, I read the paper that you sent me about the idea of spraying it on your face. So I am feeling like it is four for my mouth and like a few for my face as well.
Can you talk to us about on the face a little bit and the research around what it can do for your skin?
So that is an emerging area that is being looked at and I just… I mean for compliance purposes I do need to say that our supplements are dietary supplements. So we are directed to say that they have to be taken internally versus topically, which is a different kind of field of rules governing what we can say.
But there is research being done on zeolite being used topically, which makes sense, right? Because in that research they are looking about how zeolite has antioxidant properties to kind of help squash some of that oxidative stress. It has a very calming effect because of some of the inflammation that toxins can cause.
So it is being looked at for how it can calm the skin, kind of reduce irritation or redness.
It is particularly not so much used in maybe your everyday moisturiser, but more so from masks, treatment, exfoliation because it is about helping to pull toxins out of the skin and help remove that toxin burden because again, skin is the biggest organ. There are toxins in the air. It is getting bombarded with them and it is having an effect on it.
And it is interesting. I am not sure if you have seen this, but if you know the actor Terrence Howard… so famous actor, but he was featured on the Joe Rogan podcast and completely unprompted set his alarm. He was taking his Pure Body drops and his Pure Body Extra spray and he spoke to the fact that he felt it had a real benefit on his skin because he said that he had had these dark circles under his eyes for like forever. And you know, six months of taking this, he had no more dark circles under his eyes.
So again that idea of you can do things externally with your skin, which is important, but the need to really do it internally because that is going to be reflected outward. So wellness… beauty for wellness from the inside out.
From the inside out for sure.
Start playing with putting it on my skin. I know that you cannot do that but I can. So I am going to just start playing with that because I, having taken it for 14 years, I am very confident in the product. And I know it is safe and I feel very comfortable to do that. So I am going to just have a little play with that and see what that does.
So we are talking about taking it regularly as well, but how often should you take it? You said that Terrence had an alarm on. Why did he have an alarm on? Being very diligent.
But zeolite does not stay in the body very long, right? So it is something that passes through. It is believed within about four to six hours.
So for the very diligent person, you really want to try to make sure that you are taking it three times a day, kind of like morning, noon and night, so that you are having that continuous support and that continuous detox.
I definitely think that is true as you are taking your Pure Body drops. Think of taking it with every meal, right? You are going to be exposed to heavy metals and toxins with every meal that you eat. So making sure that you are taking that with your meals helps to make sure that you are having toxins or heavy metals being absorbed as you eat.
So just kind of think of it as being something that you keep with you in terms of making sure that when you are having your meals, you are also detoxing.
I love that. I have one in my car, one at my desk, and then one in the bathroom at the beginning of the day because I am in those three places normally in the day, so I have always got one available to me.
Yeah, exactly.
One of the things that I have noticed from my side is that often when I have been working with someone’s lymph or their fascia is overloaded, the tissues tend to feel quite dense and almost sticky.
And some of those clients respond strongly when they have taken Zeolite because I have obviously recommended this to people before. This is just the first time I am doing it this way.
But what I have noticed is that they say that they start to feel clearer, they feel less puffy, their skin looks more alive. What might be happening on the cellular level or the toxins binding level that is creating that positive change?
You spoke about the fact that zeolites love lead and they love the various different heavy metals, but how does the body actually get the zeolite out?
So it goes through basically just your excretory system. So it is primarily removed just through your kidneys and your urine.
And it is important to note though that some toxins can actually be harsh, right? Some can be harsh and you kind of have to really scale it back, but that is not the case with zeolite.
So, because the toxins get trapped inside the zeolite, it is a very, very passive, gentle detox.
And so the zeolite, let us say, has nabbed some lead. Well, the lead is not damaging your kidney as it goes through it because it is trapped inside the zeolite, right? And it is being transported out that way. And that is why it is actually a very gentle passive detox.
It does not stress the kidneys, it does not stress the liver. It does not stress really any part of the body. And it is just a great way to be able to have that be happening in the background.
And when you take out the bad, good things can happen, right? That is when you are able to reduce your oxidative stress. You are able to reduce the inflammation that those toxins are causing. And certainly you want to try and reduce your exposure to those endocrine chemicals as well because that is another aspect too.
And I am assuming… I am just going to ask both of you because Eddie, you have been very quiet in the background there. I know you are also a wealth of information. But Sonia, you have been phenomenal with all of the details that you have been sharing with us and thank you so, so much.
How often do you… are you both the same? Do you have like a little alarm clock and do you have it in different places? Like what are the things that remind you to take your zeolites?
In my case, I do not have an alarm clock. And let me say my apologies to everybody. I inexplicably lost my internet for a few moments, but I am not sure I was missed because Sonia has been brilliant.
Always miss Eddie, but it is nothing. But Sonia was absolutely stellar in how she shared everything as always.
You know, for me I have enjoyed the benefits so much that it just is not something I am going to miss. And so like you, I keep it around me in a lot of places, but I have developed a habit.
I have found at least in my own life that if I do not develop habits, you can sort of skip and not do. So I am disciplined in trying to build the habit.
When I recognise the importance of something, and it is often talked about as a daily detox, and so Sonia talked about the importance of frequency, just bearing in mind that a zeolite is not an essential mineral. And so what that means… and this is a good… is that the body is not going to try to hold on to it, right?
So, just assuming normal function, in a few hours it is going to do its thing and evacuate out of the body.
And so I have built these habits because what I have recognised aside from the fact that the benefits of sleeping better, recovering more quickly when I work out, whatever it happens to be, these benefits are just tangible for me and I feel them.
And when I am not following my routine, I am travelling or whatever, fatigue sets in. All of a sudden, these challenges kind of come back at some level. I long to get back and get back in my regular routine with things, right?
So that is what I am driven by because exposure, whether we are talking about environmental toxins from the air, the water, whatever, or products we consume, we call it a daily detox, it is just constant. It is not just like each day I am going to have… it is a constant bombardment.
I think there are 100 plus thousand chemicals that have never been properly tested, man-made chemicals used in consumer products and things we consume every day. And so, your body is genius in how it tries to manage it. But there is just no question, right? You can just develop a body burden where it just sort of… I do not know if it throws in the towel, but it cannot do the same thing anymore.
Like we talked about hydration and those dynamics.
And so, I just have recognised that I benefit so much from it. I do not even have to think about it, right? It is just a part of my routine.
That is amazing. I know what you mean because I think it is one of the things that when you feel so good with it and you have gotten used to doing it, there is no way you would take it out, which is why I am still taking it 14 years later.
I am assuming it is the same for you, Sonia, right?
Absolutely. Yeah, I have some in the kitchen. I have some in the bathroom. So I have a couple of places where I do that.
And for me, I have been taking it for a long time. And I think you kind of spoke to this idea of efficiency within your body. When toxins are removed, your body can just work more efficiently.
And you see that with little things from just being able to have sustained energy, being able to think clearly, being able to sleep deeply. It is just every system in the body works better.
And it is personal for me because I definitely, growing up, had a much higher exposure level to toxins. I grew up in a place where every home was heated by a coal fire, right? I mean, you know, that was like living in a coal powered factory plant. It was just like the amount of smoke and coal and soot and heavy metals exposure as a result of that.
And it just… it was one of those things where toxins just become part… you do not feel that you are toxic because you do not know what it feels like to feel normal, what it feels like to feel healthy.
And I was sick all the time as a kid as a result. And so, taking Zeolite was the first time where getting rid of those toxins, everything felt better, right? I was not sick anymore. I had more energy. Everything felt great. And I am sure that has helped me in so many ways.
But yeah, those toxins are pretty sneaky and can make you think… as you said, your body does everything it can to still fight through, but it is fighting an uphill battle.
And that is why we kind of tend to either have more aches and pains or have struggles or we are not sleeping well or thinking is cloudy, we have brain fog. All of these things are directly connected to toxins.
Yeah. And I think a lot of what people are thinking might be ageing potentially could be just a higher toxic load than their body can cope with.
It is one of the reasons I am so excited that we have had this conversation. And I am looking forward to having many, many more conversations with both of you about all of these things because I know that you just are really at the edge of the research around what is possible with doing things naturally but also highly efficiently. And you put the science behind it as well, which I really respect and appreciate because it helps people to connect the dots and also do things in a really simple way, which is the most important thing as well.
It is the things that you actually do that make the difference versus the idea of doing a detox or the idea of changing a lifestyle.
So I just want to encourage everybody who is watching this to think about doing it. And I know you have been very gracious and offered us the opportunity to do a promotional rate so that people can have both the Pure Body and the Pure Body Extra at a special price.
So instead of the usual monthly amount, which I am going to be a bit skewy on the numbers, could you tell us in dollars because you are going to be better at that than I am. And then I will try and remember it in pounds because that bit I can do.
So, normally the retail price of that kit is $112. And so we do have a really great offer available which you can share with your viewers for first-time customers of that. So it is a great opportunity to be able to try it, feel the benefits and be able to do that on a subscription so that you are getting those benefits every single day.
Amazing. And keep in mind even at a discounted price it comes with a money back guarantee. We are looking for satisfied customers. We have a great deal of pride in the fact that I think we have got 60-some thousand five-star reviews, whatever it happens to be. So it is a good number.
And so we are looking for people to see these benefits and confident, right? The reason we can make that introductory price so low, we are confident that once you have a chance to use it for 30 days you will get that experience that you will want to have again and again and again.
Yeah. I can definitely attest to that.
Amazing. Thank you so much.
So, I think we have the opportunity for people to get it at a discounted rate and we will pop the information below so that everybody has got that information below with a link and also with the amounts.
I will do it in dollars and in pounds just so that I know there are people in Australia and places like that as well. But I will do pounds and dollars. But the beauty of the website is it will tell you.
But we have a discount for the next I believe 10 days. So, let us take advantage of it because, like I said, what you do is the thing that makes the difference. And this is a really easy thing that you can add in versus trying to subtract things, which I think often when you are first looking at detoxing can be overwhelming because you are unsure where to even begin.
And I know this is something that is simple that I changed. And even though I was doing lots of other things, it had such a significant impact. It is something that I have just kept in. And it is so, so simple.
So, thank you Eddie and Sonia so much for your time.
Sonia, you have been remarkable with your expertise with all of the different information. So, thank you.
I hope we can have a further conversation about some of this and hopefully some other things as well if you are happy to do that at a later date.
Happy to be here.
Amazing. Thank you. Thank you, Savannah. It is great to be with you and audience. You have great folks because they communicate with us and we appreciate that. And like you said, Sonia, just great good work.
Yeah, incredible work. I will look forward to more of this another time. Thank you so much again and take care everyone. Any questions?
