How to Live Toxin-Free: The Secret to Improving Your Health and Longevity

Hi and welcome to how humans heal. I'm Dr. Donni Wilson, and today I'm excited to introduce you to Laura Palisic. She is a toxin free living expert and founder and CEO of Toxi Free, the website where you can learn how to avoid toxins in your living. And she has products as well as programs. Thank you so much for being here with me today, Laura.

Oh, thank you for having me. This is so fun and such a privilege to be here with you. Thank you.

Well, it's just perfect because here, you and I and you're in, in the Midwest, I'm living out in the New York area. And yet we're both like, really committed to living as healthy as can be and teaching others how to do the same. So it's so fun to get to connect with each other and get to also learn from each other and support each other in process. So maybe first, if you can just share with everyone what inspired you to do what you do to, to really go down this path. Because you've been already really helping people with your website for what, over 10 years?

No, the. The website is new. It was about 10 plus years since I, I did this in my own life and had such great results and it was difficult to find the.

So then, so you've been on this journey for 10 years and now you're like, here, everybody. I've figured it all out for us. Oh my gosh.

Yeah, tell me.

I could save you a lot of time of searching for things. Yes. Yes. So I was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease at age 12 and then just told really strictly by my parents and the medical professionals, don't ever skip taking this pill. You take one a day and just for the rest of your life. And I was like, okay, I bet.

As a kid that was scary. You're like, oh my gosh, what if I miss?

I know, and it's Hashimoto's thyroiditis. And so my mom is a scientist and explained it to me very scientifically about how it's like, I don't have a thyroid, which is in charge of your metabolism, basically. And people who are unmedicated, no matter if, even if they don't eat anything, still gain weight because of not having this thyroid function. And so I'm going into junior high. Like, what.

What are you so right from a pretty well that age. Uh, I was very concerned about my weight and you know, what this meant for my appearance. And so I even would bike. Um, I would save my babysitting money and bike to A co op, because I felt like that, you know, if it's a health food store, anything that I got there would be healthy for me. And I would read articles in magazines and so pretty quickly I was doing low fat because that's all I heard was low fat, low fat. And I mean, you can get gummy bears that are low fat, you know.

So I would eat a lot of like high sugar, low fat. Um, and I didn't know anything about, I didn't even know fruit was carbohydrates or, you know, I didn't have any understanding. I really learned a lot from television, like, and friends, like, what was cool to eat and everything. So I really struggled a lot with my weight. What I learned finally 10 plus years ago, was for someone with an autoimmune disease, it's especially important to avoid processed and how harmful that was to my system. And I, I had no idea. I just, I had a lot of shame. Like, you know, what's wrong with me? Like, why, why am I, oh, like more. Why do I weigh more than other people? And, you know, things like that. And so finally, for once and for all, I was like, this has to be less stressful and easier. I mean, we are biological beings. There must be an answer of what humans need nutritionally. And that's personally when I just like deep dive into anything with cooking and food and nutrition. I read probably every book in the Wisconsin library system.

That's awesome.

And started getting information. And so the big thing for me was learning that I would always feel hungry until my body got the nutrients it needed. And so then the next thing was just as a, you know, as a consumer and person just trying to have less stress around food, how really difficult it was to find nutrient dense food. And then it just kept snowballing for how good I felt and how much I wanted to protect those nutrients then. And it just kept leading to, well, you know, I don't want to put this rare nutrient dense food into a toxic cooking, you know, vessel and even what I store it in. And. And so pretty soon I was just having so much success with the nutrient dense food. And then I didn't want to mess that success up because the one thing that I was not prepared to experience was really the euphoria that came from having my body perform as it was meant to. And so not only did I physically perform, mentally perform so much better, but every time I did something for my health, I was rewarded with just this joy and really euphoria.

So then you wanted more of that yeah. Is it?

I did, yes.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for sharing your story. And so too because, like, I think a lot of people listening, you know, could relate to this. You know, here you're, you know, we're, we are sort of like, oh, just watch TV and do what they teach you, maybe even in school, the school system. And you're, Then you kind of had this moment where you're like, wait a minute, that's completely making me feel worse. And, and realizing. I love how you said like you were, you were actually internalizing and thinking it was something wrong with you, but actually it's not not wrong with you. It's just the information was not teaching you how to eat in a healthy way. And so then you're like, okay, let me go learn how to eat healthy. And you, you were really teaching yourself how to eat healthy and how to choose healthy. And then you were like, oh my gosh, I feel so much better. I don't, I don't want to do anything to work against me. Right. Like, you start to get so invested in choosing healthy eating that you realize I want to do, I want to make sure my whole environment is healthy because I don't want to work against myself.

Exactly. Yes. Yes. And it was pretty early on when, because at that time I was single and didn't have any kids. And I remember going to the library with literal stacks, you know, going home with stacks of books and thinking to myself, what would busy families, how would they do this? And they need the information. And so for.

Right then is when I started blogging and just writing a lot of this information down. And so then a few years into it, I.

Wrote it into a book so that people could have the information, kind of like a blueprint. And then I had to start a website for the book. And so I put that on. And then I was blogging.

About the products that I use and the different methods because I thought if I don't know how to do this, other people I'm sure don't know as well. And so someone contacted me and said, oh my gosh, the family who, who, who created one of the products that I had. And they said, would you help us sell this? And so then I started putting some products onto the website with the books. And then now it's like there's hundreds and hundreds of products. I don't know of any other toxin free products with classes that are this comprehensive. If there would have been, I would have been a like major customer of.

I was, I was Looking on your website, I was like, I feel like I'm, like going into a cute little town and I'm going shopping. There's probably, like, it might be. And then I find this amazing store where I can go in and I can find cleaning products, I can find jewelry, I can find clothes, I can find eggs. I can find, like, it's like a whole department store, but it's for healthy living. And it's all like, the most natural products. Like, literally things made from wood and herbs and. And brushes even made from natural ingredients. So if it's like, like, I feel like it's a. It's a store that every town should have but doesn't have. And so you can just go online. And so if anyone's listening, you can. We'll put the link to. To talks. It's toxifree.com, right?

Yes, it's actually shoptoxyfree.com. but even if. If you just type in toxy with a Y, toxy free, it should come up.

A lot.

T O, X, Y. Because let's dive into that. Like, what does that mean? Because I think for some people, like, you already have so much awareness for, you know, why it's important to choose products that don't contain toxins. But for someone listening. And I'm sure you'll get these questions sometimes too, like, people think, like, is it really. Does it really make that much of a difference to choose a product that doesn't have toxins in it? Right? Because people have also been learning and watching TV and commercials and going to the store and seeing like, oh, here's that. Products, cleaning products that you're supposed to use or that everybody uses. So what, you know, talk us through. Like, is it really that important to choose? Have, you know, even from your story, did you see a difference by switching to products that don't contain toxins?

Well, I have so much to say about something I'm gonna ask you. Yes. The first thing that's coming to mind for me, because I knew nothing about anything. I live in the Midwest. I was born in the Midwest. And I would just do what everyone else did, push my cart every week, you know, and just, I didn't know what. How to take care of myself. And so.

The thing, okay, one big, huge discovery of mine is I'm still alive. So, like, part of.

What I had to retrain my brain, like, for instance, with cleaning things, I just totally bought into. Oh, my gosh, like, I'm gonna die if I don't use this cleaning thing in my Home because something won't be clean, and then I'm going to die.

Because people think, you know, we are kind of really afraid of germs. So we think certain products that have chemicals in it in order to kill the germs. Right? Is that what you.

Exactly, yes. And so. But it really goes to everything. Like, you have to, like, clean your clothes with this detergent or, you know, your.

Your dishes with this. Like, it just. I bought into all of that, and so I would just. I was very obedient, and I just would. I have to put these things in my cart. And. And so I just started really. Because the food was so out of the box, I guess, you know, and I just started questioning. I'm like, well, wait a minute. Like, I know the farmer. I know the. All of the work that he or she goes through to have healthy soil and clean water and healthy native plants. And then they're with this animal and this. You know, it's like it. It became so precious to me because it was making my body and mind and spirit feel like it was meant to. And so it. It gave that gift to me. So I just started questioning everything, like, you know.

What am I going to put this in, like I said, for cooking. And then once I got the most natural cookware I could find. Okay, so this is really how it happened. Like, one thing just led to another. So I thought cast iron. You know, I hear cast iron, natural, blah, blah, blah. So I call. I was reading in a cookbook, and it talked about how cast iron is coated in something, otherwise it'll rust up, you know, in its transportation to the customer. And so I'm like, okay, well, I want to know what they put on it. So I called all the different companies, and no one could tell me what they coat their pans in. And I'm like, this not a good sign.

Basically, anytime that you can't get the answer, then you're going to question it. What exactly is.

Totally. Yes, exactly. And so I.

I just kept searching, and I found the most natural cookware. And it is. It's been made for 700 years the same way. Like, it's. Yeah. Unglazed clay. And so I bought one piece, and I. Because I knew that there were other people out there, I took my phone above me, and I'm like, someone else out there has to not have known how to cook like me. And so I had used this one little pan with my phone, and I would put all these videos on YouTube to, like, of what I was cooking. And so you can literally see how I. If you go there, I still have.

Those up your YouTube channel. Yes, you can.

You can still see the one. It's like, you know, 10 inches or something. And I would use it for everything. I would cook eggs and bacon, and I just cook all my food. You can put it in the oven. It's on the stovetop, all of that. And so then I started questioning, what. How am I going to clean this? Like, I'm not going to put, you know, just some soap. And so I would read about that, and, like, I would find out so many things, like, really, really toxic chemicals in the cheapest dish soap. Like, what is that called trickless or whatever?

Yes.

Like, you're like, why. Why am I on the. On the place where I'm gonna cook my food? Yeah.

And another thing that. That was very interesting. When I read all the books by Chef, they would be doing things that I would consider healthy and natural because of the flavors. So they, like, I learned from them not to put soap even, like, on cast iron or.

Because they're thinking they don't want it to affect the taste of the food.

They don't want it to affect the taste. And. And I also learned from them that, like, they're the best chicken in the world in the. On the whole planet. Comes from one village in France, you know, and it. It has all to do with the grass and the. The. And, yes, we'll know the grass and herbs that the chickens eat and, like, all of the health of that little village. And so that got me thinking about every ingredient and how important each ingredient was, and the chef saying, I just don't want to mess it up. You know, like, I want to get the best ingredients I can and then just not mess it up. That basically is all the chef books right there.

I love this because it's like. It's like to say.

You know, like, sometimes I think we lose track of our priorities. We're so busy in our lives, and we're. We're trying to keep track of our Whatever's on our to do list each day for our job and for our home and for our family, and we. We kind of lose track of what is really the priority. And what I hear you really describing is you. You really became clear that your priority was your health. And you're like, and if I start having a clean body by choosing healthy foods, then I'm gonna need to have a clean environment even to cook my foods, to clean my dishes, to, you know, to the every aspect of your environment to be again, back to this priority of your health. And, and it's a beautiful thing because then it led you to question each step in the process and to identify because people might think, oh well, if it's not at the regular grocery store or the easiest place for me to shop, then I give up already. It must not exist. But you were like, no, I'm willing to go the extra mile and research and find these things that do exist and, and then put it into a website so other people could have easier access to it. Because I think otherwise people would have to like, be probably traveling and researching like you did for years to find all these things. And it's, it is interesting to me because I, you know, as a naturopathic doctor, I, and I, I came to a lot of this at a pretty young age because I was. My father. Even though my father's a pharmacist, my father was teaching me as a pharmacist. He was saying to try to avoid the need for medications, to choose healthy foods to choose now still. My parents were using chemical substances in their home and their cleaning products. But it was when I went, I went to college and studied nutrition and then I went to naturopathic medical school in my 20s. And it really like was showing me this level like you're describing, where it was like, wow, it's not just, yes, what we eat is important, but it's even beyond that. It's not just what we eat. It's what we drink, is our water clean. It's what we're, what we're wearing on our clothes and what we're absorbing through our skin and what in the air we're breathing and that like, it. You start to realize that it's. If our food is that important, then our whole environment is that important. And, and, and if someone just comes to this, it might feel overwhelming at first. Like they, if just listening to this, they might be like, oh my gosh, I've got now a huge to do list of things that I need to rethink. And it could be over so overwhelming that people kind of like stop themselves. Which is why I know also you really help people to simplify. Like, what are the first steps? So maybe if you could address that a little bit now, like, what do you say to people who just are kind of coming to this realization now and they're like, elora, I don't even know where to begin. What, what would you say to them?

So I, I feel like it always comes back to food for me. And once you.

You know, and this can be a real trigger subject because food is so personal and there's so many mixed messages and it's very difficult in our country to, to navigate and really figure out what, what food is, you know, and that sounds strange, but.

It just.

So important. I mean it was so monumental to me. And the other thing I was, I was thinking when you were just sharing, that is really.

When you shift your value to yourself because that, that is what you're doing. So I know that there's a lot, oh, you gotta do this to be healthy and this, this to be healthy. And it can feel like someone lecturing and you know, that's why we're 10 plus years ago. I'm like, enough. Like I am going to find the biological answer to this because everyone has a different opinion and different answer. But when you really like get in tune with yourself, you know, like all of us are, are born with this instinctual. We know what's real and what's not. It's gotten very messy today in modern times about what is food. Even just like defining that. So it, the thing is, is when you shift your value to what is best for yourself, there are so many rewards. Not only do you feel better, which you might not even know that you don't feel well, that was a big thing for me. I didn't know I felt well. I just knew that my genes never fit and what was wrong with me, you know. And so.

So just physically feeling better. But then there is like every effort you put towards your health, you are rewarded, like stress free, worry free. When you see an article or the news or someone talking about toxins, you're like, oh my gosh, like, it's fine. Because I don't allow myself to come into contact with that because I made an effort here of just switching to this. And like I, I do realize that I'm an Olympian at this.

I mean, I'm like, you know, I don't want to say anything that scares people, but really the freedom that I have gotten my husband and I, if you, you should join our email list because it's very entertaining and you can see what our life is like. Even on Instagram. We just try to share what our life is like because we don't see anything like this. But we literally call it our once a year grocery shopping because we meet with our farmer, our fishermen, and we have our food from them. We don't have to go to any stores. Like, if you could experience what that is like to not have to get in your car or get in some sort of transportation and park, go in, go through all the aisles, pay way more, because you see things that you never would have saw and have credit card debts and you have all these belongings you have to unpack and clean and take care of. Like, I did all that. And my life now is just. It's limitless. Like, it is. I keep telling people, I'm like, if you want a real advantage for your family, for you as a professional, for your offspring, like, you know, we all want our children to just thrive and have a vibrant life, that this is such an easy way, like no one else is doing it. So you will have such an advantage with any effort. And the other thing I really wanted to share is I heard Sally Fallon on a Wise Tradition podcast where she's talking about seed oils. And it was real recent, so you could easily find it. But she said that people in the US Spend the exact same percentage that they did, you know, decades ago, but the percentages have just switched. So listen to this. So in the 40s, 30s, whatever, it was 18% on food and 2% on health care. Now it's just switched. Now we spend 2% on our food and 18% on our health care. So it's still going to cost you the same. But, you know, if you are used to. It's like if you're used to spending 99 cents on your food.

But all the medication and all of, you know, it's just, where are you going to put your money? So I. And there's a lot of freedom in extracting yourself from that system and just knowing that you've gone to these great lengths to nourish yourself, like ourselves are really meant to. You'll be unstoppable. Really.

It's so beautiful. And to thank you for explaining it that way. Yeah. Because sometimes people think, oh, it's going to cost more if I invest in this. But actually, you're benefiting your health. So you end up spending less on your health care, you know, on health issues, and more on preventing health issues. And it just ends up, you know, and it's not like you end up having to actually spend more in the long run. Wow, that's amazing. Now, I know you offer different trainings through your website. Maybe you can give us a sense of the trainings that you offer so people can. If they're like, oh, my gosh, I really want to learn from you, Laura. What can you teach me? Tell us more about them.

Yes. So that is where I'm Just passionate. I get up every morning at 4. We thought of that because.

I just, I don't want people to have to go through the links that I did to find a healthy product. So literally, like toxi free is such a valuable resource because anything you buy there for your product, it's literally the products I have in my apartment here. So you, you, you will just know that health is automatically built right into it. So like, just for instance, like something like a, you know, a scrubber that you're going to clean your clay cookware with or something.

Is natural bristles instead of microplastics, you know, and if this like a cleaning brush with all of the plastic. So in the US it is almost impossible to find plastic free cleaning brushes, toilet brush, all of that. And just the existence of pristine plastic bristles, they are shedding even if you're not using it. So then when you think about putting, you know, any sort of pressure, like when you're cleaning something, they shed even more. The plastic, the plastics, and they're microplastics, they're teeny tiny, so we can't see them and they fall to the floor. So then the pets and the babies putting things in their mouths are healthy. Yep, they're, they're getting. And the microplastics are so small that they are entering the human cell and so they can get into the cell and they're actually altering the genetic code in our cells. So, you know, for me it's like, this is so easy, this is such an easy shift to switch to something is so beautiful. We keep our things displayed because they're handmade, they're gorgeous. You don't need to replace them, you don't need to go shopping. Like, it's so awesome. And then the other thing that I'm so passionate about is creating a system in your home that becomes, it really does. It's hard to think of it now, but it becomes like this rhythm and system that is effortless. So I, even though I make my own food every single day, which in the US is very hard for people to like, I can't do that. It has allowed so much more freedom for me because, number one, the food is nourishing me. So oftentimes I only need to eat once a day and I just wait 24 hours to do it again because it is so nourishing. But I'm very diligent about the kind of fat, the food, the plant, the soil, the water. Like, I just really am diligent and, and so I, my body just Performs really well on that. But then it's.

It'S like how you create a system that sets you up for success. So Dr. Hyman, he's an amazing medical doctor who talks about real food. He, he.

He labeled it the Mastering five recipes. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I've been doing this just instinctually but you really just, you always have like your five main recipes or, and I go recipes. Because there's, it's just finding the good.

Food and that's not necessarily put into your meal. Yeah, yeah.

And then so that you always have the nourishing food available for when you get hungry. So what we do here is we just try to share our system and we have digital classes that are amazing because like for instance one is.

Called.

Bone broth for better health. And so bone broth is just, the healing is just amazing. Like. Yeah. And so it tells you like why you would want to do this, the benefits from it. And then it helps you create your own system of doing this every week.

To make your own bone broth.

You make your own bone broth? Yep. And I've included that in my diet for over 10 years and I knew nothing, nothing about cooking. And so if I can do this to consume my own nutrient dense bone broth every day, that's what I wanted. I wanted to help other people be successful that way. So we've had people take the bone broth class, set up their own system and it's just so inspiring to see that happen. We have another one, it's called Fermenting Fun. And that one really involves like the science to share with little ones who are learning and for fermenting, if we all would have been born a hundred years ago in our country, we would, we would have this information and we would still be fermenting right now.

I know my, my grandmother was always doing ferment making fermented foods. Right. It's like, but it didn't get passed on. So now a lot they're like, I don't know what to do. So you've created the training how to do it?

Yes. And the whole idea behind it is to well one give you a friend. So when I was in this little apartment by myself, I just kept reading over and over the benefits of fermented foods. And I'm like, what is a fermented food? And I just, I'm like, I have to include this. Cuz I kept, I thought I was going to kill myself. Like, I'm like what like am I.

Supposed to do Am I doing this?

You're supposed to leave stuff out of the counter. I'm like, I am going to die. Like, no one will discover me for two weeks or something by myself up here. And so I just don't want other people to feel like that. So it's so great, it's such a great course that, like, I took like 20 books and like condensed it down. So it's just short little. The essentials that you won't be frightened. You, you've got like the resource of how to do it. And then again, this is something that you, you want to be doing each week because you want all the other cultures still do this. They have a little bit of fermented food with every meal. So in order to do that, you just have to keep doing it. So again, we help create. You create your own rhythm and system so that you've got that when you need it and then you won't have to go to the store anymore and you'll have wonderful farmer friends. And it's. Yes. And so we have one called Recipes to restore health and that's that Mastering five Recipes idea. We have a do it yourself everything because we make all of our own everything. So like, we just keep refilling this glass spray bottle with our homemade lemon cleaner. And that's what I was talking about at the beginning, that I'm still alive. Like, this is all I've used and it works.

It, it cleans.

Yes. And I have to tell you, I have an autoimmune disease still. And as you age you, it's very common to get more than one. And so I have tested my doctor. I have to go in every year. They have found another one because of my test, but I have no symptoms. So they just sent me home and they're like, well, come back when you have symptoms and thank goodness you don't. Yes. And I haven't gotten sick throughout the whole Covid. And all I use is my homemade stuff. And, and so, and I'm, you know, in a public service. So we had toxic free because we have a physical store, so we were open every day throughout Covid. And I mean, I, I, all I can do is share my experience, but know that I, you know, go to great lengths with my food and water and broth. So. But that's where, if I can do this, anyone could do it because I used to eat cereal. That's what I would make for myself, where you just pour it in the milk. And that was cooking for me.

I love it. And you yeah, if you're like, if I can go from, yeah, cereal and pour the cereal and milk and here you are making bone broth and fermented foods, you're like, yes, this is not impossible. People can do this. And it, and it doesn't. I mean, I, I share so much over here on my side. I do so much of writing and researching about, let's say with autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's. We know from research that autoimmunity, so much is starting in the gut and in our digestion. And if we're, if we're under stress and we're exposed to toxins, even pesticides and in non organic foods, let alone the plastics like you were talking about, it disrupts our digestion. So now we have, there's leaky gut, it imbalances our gut bacteria. And we know from research very clearly that when, when you have a combination of leaky gut and imbalanced gut bact, that makes autoimmunity so much more likely, let alone exposure to gluten and, and other toxins. And so if, if you're listening, you're like, yeah, I have Hashimoto's or I have a different autoimmune condition. And you start to realize, like, I mean, believe me, I, my mother has Hashimoto's and my father also had autoimmunity. So I know it's in my genetics. And so that also has been very motivating to me, like, hey, I'd rather do whatever I can to prevent those genes from turning on in my body than to be. And even if you already have a genetic or an autoimmune condition, you can turn it off by taking these steps because otherwise you end up like you were describing, Laura, where you're like, in the medical system, they just, just add another medication or add another autoimmune condition with another medication and you just start realizing, I'm on this path to more and more medications with more and more side effects. And, and when you go, I don't really want to be on that path. I want to be able to do something to help my body turn off the autoimmunity and, and be healthy, then it becomes so worth it, right? So worth it to make these decisions to help your digestion, help prevent leaky gut, help your gut bacteria. And you, when you talk about fermented foods, it's now we're putting in healthy bacteria. So not only are we avoiding the toxins that disrupt our bacteria, we're actually adding in healthy bacteria. So that we are sending the right messages to our immune system, because the immune system can protect us from viruses like it should, and bacteria that it should. But it doesn't have to get confused and start protecting us from ourselves, which is what autoimmunity is.

Yes. And that's what I've found in my own personal life is now, because I've done this for years, it is compounding. And in the beginning, it's just so different, but now it's like, oh, my gosh, like it has compounded. And that's where I've been able to look back and go. Anyone who puts shifts the value to their health is gonna have a huge advantage. And there's a recent Mayo Clinic study out that talks about 80, 80% of the problems like the chronic diseases and literally all of the health problems in the US are environmental toxins and causing 1 in 6 deaths on the planet from those environmental toxins, which I would include the pesticides in foods, the pesticides in grains that we often don't think about, plus all of the environmental toxins, the skin, all of it. It's really, it's a really good study. So if, if you need, which I encourage all of you to, you know, do a little of your own research so that you can feel empowered, um, I would just look up Mayo Clinic study and environmental toxins because that's a really convincing on why to pay attention to them.

And I do a lot of teaching on how to detoxify. Like, so some of you are like, well, I've already been exposed to all these toxins. I, you know, I can also help you to detoxify because our bodies naturally have some ways to detoxify. But what we want to think about is, is the balance, right? We don't want to keep adding in so many toxins so that you have to keep on detoxifying so much. It's like a constant, constant job. But if we can help you detoxify safely and effectively without making you feel worse, and then we decrease the number of toxins you're exposed to with Laura's help. So you can be like, okay, now you're getting ahead of this whole curve. Now you're. You've gotten the toxins out and you're not adding back in, then you can start to. To really start to see the difference in your health and how you feel every day. I love how you shared that. Like, you're like, I feel so good every day. And you feel passionate about your purpose. And getting to share this with others is Just so beautiful.

Yeah. And when you think about it like just thinking just in this past three years.

How I like people are getting sick repeatedly, you know, I just, I feel good every day like that that is an advantage. So as an adult and.

And it's, it goes beyond just the personal advantage of feeling so good, you know that I am available to be working or producing or contributing when other people aren't. And so it is so worth it. And Bayzad and I Bazaar is my dear husband. He and I just, we do a live every morning, Monday through Friday because we just share our routine so that you can see what it's like and what we do. And our morning routine, we just put like 5, 10, 15 minutes into setting ourselves up for success and then we have the whole day free until our were rewarded with our meal which is so delicious. But so just so you can see because I never was able to see like what real food even looked like and what to do with it and, and so you can ask questions on there. And we just want to make it available because it's a birthright for everyone that we're not even aware of when we're born. So true.

When we don't learn about this in regular school systems or even in college, you have to like so how amazing that you, you are both just really opening up your. Because otherwise you'd be like oh my gosh, I'd love to go just observe someone and you're literally opening up your home on camera saying here's what it looks like visually so that people can go oh okay, that's what that looks like. I could imagine myself doing that. And so I'll definitely share you know your how to. How to find on social media and your website and so people can find you. And you're. You mentioned that you also have a book that people can get.

Yes. So I have there I have three books and the third one I'm changing a little bit and that's going to be available very soon. But it, the first one's really fun because it's called Buen Camino Goodway in Life and to the End of the World. And I hiked 550 miles in 30 days in natural rubber flip flops and natural clothing and one meal a day of nutrient dense food. And so it's just, it's like takes 20 minutes to read but it's really fun and inspiring. And then the Other one is 365 days of happiness and it's like a daily reader and it's Just like a sentence or a little paragraph of all of the really impacting research that helps guide me in my own life. And then the third one is really like a blueprint for how I do this and why. So it goes exactly through the sleep, food, water.

Clothing, shelter, like what I do, why I do it and spirit then is the last one and that's, that's the third one. And that one is the one that is called My Happy Life for sale. But right now, but I'm switching it to the basic needs method because what now what I've learned because I wrote that before and now even having more years experience of this life, what I've realized is when you look at the pyramid with the physiological needs down at the bottom and self actual. Self actualization at the top. What I realized in my own life was even though I was eating and drinking and sleeping, I was not meeting my basic needs because you know, modern water does, is not mineral rich. So I have to recreate mineral rich water every day. And now I love it. Whereas before I hated it and I wouldn't drink it and I'd feel guilty and, and just like sleep I would not, I would just collapse in exhaustion. I'd have electronics and light flashes, you know, pulling me out of my really restorative sleep. Now I don't like, I, even though I was sleeping, eating, drinking, I, I wasn't meeting my basic needs. And so I, I feel personally that I've been able to soar into the self actualization, the fulfillment my purpose because I finally was able to on a real level meet those needs.

I love that, I love that you're describing that and it's so true. We, we learn this, these models in, of psychology and of human needs, right? And a lot of times I think we, we do, we lose. We think we're sleeping, but we're not really getting good sleep. And we think we're, we may think we're drinking water but we're not really getting what we need from our water. It's so true to just. I hope listeners will start to really get. Have an aha moment from listening to you and really question am I really getting my basic needs met? I love that that's the new name for your, your book the Basic needs Method. And you know I, I talk about this as care. I use the acronym CARE or, or like as itself care, you know, C for clean eating, A for adequate sleep, R for recovery activities and E for exercise. Because it, that's what I see in my research and my work Too with patients is that we need this foundation of taking good care of ourselves in order to then be able to even be able to help others and, and to. And to then even transform our health in other ways. I was going to say, as I'm listening to you, Laura, it reminds me me, I just recently returned from spending 16 days in the Amazon and I was living in a single room cabin with no walls, just a wood platform and a bed. And the. It, it was a retreat center. So they would bring the food to me each day. Two meals, it was split into two meals completely whole plant based food. So it would be brown rice and quinoa or avocados and carrots. You know, just very. No, no salt, no sugar, no. No toxins, no pesticides, nothing. Just in a, in a plain metal bowl and that I washed myself with water and. And then we had. You know, I'm just completely living in nature outside because it was the Amazon. So it's not like it gets cold where we didn't need heat or anything. It was warm enough temperatures but. And if I wanted to take a bath, I would go down to the creek and have a bath in the water. And it was like there's no electricity, no running water, no WI fi, no cell service. So it's just really like completely coming back to nature. Living in nature, eating food, real food from nature. And it's so eye opening. Like I really feel. Felt, you know, like I'm listening to the sounds that all the insects and the frogs make different in the daytime than the nighttime. And because there was no light, you know, I could light a candle. But when it gets dark, it's so clear. This is time for bed. So really I experienced a re. Syncing of my circadian rhythm to the dark when it gets dark on earth. And then when, when the light comes up and then there's a change in the sounds of the insects and frogs and the more when the light comes up, right, because the ones that are awake at night go to sleep and the ones that are awake during the day wake up. So it's actually I would find myself waking up I think because the sounds would change and then, and then I would just wake up because it was daylight. And then I would just. And I would just be waiting for, for the flu to come. And it was like. So it really reminds me when I hear you talking about this, I'm like, that's what I experienced really living in Amazon. And I love that because when I came home, I'm thinking I want to be able to teach people how they can experience this without. Yes, you could go to the Amazon if you want to, but you don't. You can experience this at home. You can find ways to get yourself back aligned with circadian, your circadian rhythm with. When it gets dark outside and when it gets light outside, you can, you can surround yourself with products that are from nature, literally made from wood and bristles instead of from synthetic plastics. Right? And we can even there I wasn't using any kind of formulated toothpaste. I was brushing my teeth with baking soda and I wasn't using any kind of cleaning products or products on my skin. It was completely like. And so it's like. And when I went to take a bath at the creek, I was using leaves to, there's no soaps, you know, so it's like, you know, we can, we can integrate this into our day to day lives at home. And that's what I see you really guiding us to do is you're like, how can we get back to our basic needs and get back to nature as humans?

And it will, you will thrive, you will just thrive when you do it. So it is, it's really the only way.

We forget that as humans that we are part of nature and that we respect, respond so well to nature. And we end up realizing, oh my gosh, I've, I've completely got myself in a box without even looking out the window, let alone being outside, let alone having natural products in my home. We lose track of all of that. And so I hope anyone listening just has a chance to go, wow, how can I just start to bring nature back into my, my home, my experience, my food, my existence. Right? And, and, and from there, see what transforms.

That was so beautiful.

That is exactly it. Oh my gosh. And you know, that's, that's one of the things that guides me and it is a quote in a book with research is it says our most important ecosystems are our homes and our workplace. And they're either making us sick or they're making us well. And so thinking about it like an ecosystem and we have control over our ecosystem.

So you know, it's so beautiful that, and I'm loving connecting with you, Laura. And I am so glad that we found each other and get to have everyone being able to, to learn from you because you're just, you're just sharing your wealth of knowledge in, in amazing ways. And, and I can't wait for everyone to listen to this video. So we'll definitely be putting the link so everyone can and don't. And please don't hesitate to reach out to Laura if anything she's mentioned. If you're like, oh, my gosh, I just want to learn more. Right. They can. They can reach out to you.

Absolutely. Yes. Yes. We love it. That's why we're here. So thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you again for joining me today.

Oh, my gosh. It's such a privilege and pleasure. This was amazing.

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