This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Charles Penick, MD

The Home Microbiome: Keeping your home clean is essential for mental and physical health, but doing it without toxins is crucial to prevent chronic and acute health conditions. Today we explore three of the rooms we spend most of our time at home to break down how you can optimize the environment for a healthy, non-toxic home.

The Home Microbiome

Having a tidy home has been associated with an array of benefits, both physical and mental. For example, people feel much less stressed in a clean house, which profoundly benefits the nervous and immune systems.¹ ‘Clean,’ however, does not mean sterile. The latest science and understanding of bacteria and biome health suggests that what is more important than cleanliness, at the microscopic level, is a healthy and balanced biome.

You may be familiar with the gut microbiome, the hundreds of thousands of live bacteria that constitute your gut. Like the gut biome, our bodies have various other ‘biomes,’ including the mouth and the skin biome. These biomes are like ecosystems where bacteria live, which can be in harmony (a healthy biome) or dysbiosis (an imbalanced biome). 

Many of the modern health issues we are seeing arise due to the over-sterile environments in which we have strived to make our bodies—using harsh agents like antibacterial soaps and antibiotics that destroy the harmful bacteria the good. Furthermore, studies show that using harsh anti-bacterial agents doesn’t reduce the incidence of infection or illness in those who live in the home.²

Bacteria is not the enemy; in fact, ‘good’ bacteria is one of our main defense lines against the ‘bad’ kind. Knowing this, it’s important not to bomb our homes with completely synthetic or natural cleaning agents. 

The Home Microbiome: We are living beings that evolved in nature– we are a part of nature. 

Studies show that homes with outdoor cats and dogs have homes with healthier biomes (microbial ecosystems), which means that the people living there do too. 

Most people know by now to avoid intensely artificial and harsh cleaning agents, but the reality is that natural ones can be just as harsh. Essential oils are a great example of ‘natural’ ingredients that can yield profoundly anti-bacterial properties. Using too many of these antimicrobial essential oils (like tea tree, eucalyptus, clove, and oregano), especially undiluted, can kill your home’s naturally healthy biome.

As much as possible: keep it simple. Use soap and water, or opt for simple combinations of ingredients like vinegar, distilled water, and citrus rinds. 

Let’s explore some of the critical rooms in our home and ways to create a healthy and non-toxic environment where the whole family can thrive!

The Home Microbiome: The Kitchen

A kitchen is where most people gather and spend a lot of time hanging out. Non-toxic kitchen tools and cleaners are especially necessary because they come in direct contact with our food. 

What we clean with:

• Ovens: Although many newer ovens are self-cleaning, many are not. Old school ovens still require good scrubbing, and the conventionally sold spray and leave-in foams that clean the ovens are highly toxic. A simple alternative is to make a paste using ½ a cup of baking soda and enough white vinegar to form a paste. Scrub the oven down using gloves (making sure it’s off and completely cool), then rinse using only water.
• Dishwashers: Commonly sold detergents are highly artificial and toxic. From liquids to gels, to tabs: if it’s bright green, yellow, or blue, odds are your dishes are being coated with carcinogenic ingredients that you will then be eating off. These conventional detergents also release highly toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are toxic vapors we inhale. Opt for an all-natural product, or make your own using 1 cup of washing soda, 1 cup of bicarb soda, 1/2 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of citric acid, and 20 drops of lemon essential oil.
• Glass: glass cleaners like the conventionally bright blue sprays that most people use are highly toxic and inhaled into your lungs while using. You can easily make a glass cleaner with one cup of rubbing alcohol, one cup of water, and one tablespoon of vinegar per batch. Place all ingredients into a spray bottle.
• Countertops: Like all of the above, countertop cleaners often contain junk ingredients that harm your health. Making your own is as easy as mixing 2 teaspoons of borax, 4 tablespoons vinegar, and 3 cups hot water. You can add 1/4 teaspoon of liquid castile soap for more substantial cleaning power. Simply add all ingredients into a spray bottle or wipe on/ off using a cloth.

What we cook with:

• Oven: aluminum cooking sheets (the kind we bake cookies on) leach aluminum into the food and even into the air when heated. At the very least, make sure you are always lining aluminum baking sheets with baking paper. The same goes for Teflon-coated cupcakes or cake tins. Ideally, opt for totally non-toxic glass or uncoated ceramic cookware.
• Stovetop: aluminum, Teflon (non-stick), and ceramic-coated non-stick pots and pans should be avoided at all costs. A better option is cast iron, which requires proper maintenance. Cast iron has to be seasoned appropriately and avoid any heavy scratching/ scraping; otherwise, it can leach inorganic iron into your food and cause iron overload in the body. Uncoated ceramic is a good option, although it does not disperse heat very well. Stainless steel is a great option that heats well, and although it does stick more, it can be avoided using enough cooking fat. Avoid scraping stainless steel pots too, which can leach nickel into your food.

The Home Microbiome: The Bedroom

We spend at least ⅓ of our lives in our bedrooms! Since we sleep in our bedrooms and sleep has such a cascading effect on whole-body health and longevity, keeping the bedroom a non-toxic and healthy environment should be top of your priority list.

Creating a relaxing environment:

It should be an absolute priority to make your bedroom a relaxing and safe space. When you enter your bedroom, the subconscious response should be, “it’s time to wind down,” which means no TVs/ other electronics, and be mindful not to do work and even avoid arguing with anyone there. Creating a relaxing sanctuary is key to promoting deep, restful sleep.

Non-toxic furniture:

• Older furniture off glasses in about four years, so buying second-hand is a good idea if you are not ready to invest in organic/ all-natural furniture.
• Ideally, you want to invest in non-toxic organic and untreated wood for furniture slowly.
• Organic, non-toxic mattresses are becoming more common, often made using ingredients like all-natural rubber. You also want to avoid a mattress soaked in flame-retardant.
• Bedding (sheets, pillowcases, and quilts) should be all-natural materials like cotton and ideally organic.

Avoid blue light before bed:

• Blue (artificial) light suppresses melatonin production when we expose our bodies (especially our eyes) to it after sundown—avoiding it altogether for 1-2 hours before bed is one of the best ways to ensure deep sleep.
• Switch to salt lamps, candles, or red light bulbs after the sun goes down.
• Avoid screens in the bedroom together (TVs, cellphones, and tablets), but get blue light-blocking glasses anytime you break the no-screens-after-dark rule!
• Invest in blackout blinds if street lamps are in sight of your bedroom.

Avoid artificial scents:

• Scented candles, room sprays, plug-ins, etc., are made of artificial scents that release toxic VOCs into the air. 
• Stick to pure beeswax candles to burn candles. If you want to scent the room, do it mindfully with essential oils (realizing they are very potent scents), which can negatively trigger the immune system even though they are all-natural).

Purify the air:

• Open the windows: keeping fresh air in and diluting toxicity in the home, which exists no matter how ‘non-toxic’ your home is. Flowing air from the outside is always a good idea.
• Plants to purify the air: include the Madagascar dragon tree, peace lily, and snake plant. They also help create a relaxing indoor environment in the bedroom.
• Air filters: that filter air pollutants, like HEPA filters, ideally made without plastic, are a great way to keep inside air clean. Filters are especially crucial if you live in a big city with low air quality.

Clean up dirty electricity: 

• Turn off power points, and avoid plugging in any electrical items while you sleep. There are dirty electricity zappers called Greenwave Filters that reduce outlet dirty electricity.
• Turn off wifi for the house before sleep.
• Put cell phones on airplane mode.

The Home Microbiome: The Workspace

Whether you work in an office or from home, we spend a lot of time at work. Having a healthy working environment can promote productivity and reduce stress.

Clean air and airflow:

• Open the windows: keeping fresh air in and diluting toxicity in the home, which exists no matter how ‘non-toxic’ your home is. Flowing air from the outside is always a good idea.
• Plants to purify the air: include the Madagascar dragon tree, peace lily, and snake plant. They also help create a relaxing indoor environment in the bedroom.
• Air filters: that filter air pollutants, like HEPA filters, ideally made without plastic, are a great way to keep inside air clean. This is especially important if you live in a big city with low air quality.

Keep it clean: 

• A cluttered outer world generally reflects an equally chaotic inner world. 
• Regularly tidy your workspace, get rid of things you no longer need, and take pride in your working environment!
• A welcoming work environment will make the whole experience much more pleasurable. Other aspects that may promote a sense of ease and satisfying experiences in the day are having photos of loved ones and having an abundance of tools and supplies you need throughout the day (like pens, sticky notes, enough paper, etc.). 

Avoid dirty electricity:

• It’s not always possible to get rid of all EMFs but do your best.
• Opting for an ethernet if possible (instead of wireless)
• Invest in a grounding pad to stay ‘earthed’ even while at the computer. 
• Avoid using anything wireless that requires Bluetooth, like wireless headphones or a wireless mouse. 
• Keep it on speakerphone when speaking on the phone, or use a corded headset.
• Take breaks outside, and get your bare feet on the earth to release the build-up of positive ions in the body.

Avoid too much stagnant time:

• Spending 8 hours in one position with minimal movement can wreak havoc on your biomechanics. 
• Investing in a stand-up desk that swivels up and down is one way to avoid staying in one position for too long. 
• Using an exercise ball as a chair is another way to keep moving.
• Take regular breaks, even walk for 60 seconds, and stretch your legs and spine.

The Home Microbiome: Shift Your Mindset

Creating a non-toxic home sanctuary can seem overwhelming if you start from scratch. Shifting the mindset of overwhelming to one of gratitude for your home environment can help ease the anxiety that comes when you realize how toxic many things in the home are.

Realize that it is a gift to start caring for your home and health, and then make swaps as little as you can. If a total overhaul is too expensive or daunting, replace items (like cleaning items) as they run out, and consider investing in 1-2 non-toxic home items per year (like an all-natural bed or an air filter).

You can also DIY and buy in bulk when it comes to making non-toxic home cleaning products. Many ingredients like white vinegar and bi-carb are used in most recipes and can be purchased relatively cheaply when you buy larger quantities!

The Home Microbiome: Summary

Keeping a clean and healthy home requires a balance of tidiness with an underlying understanding that not all bacteria are harmful. Promoting a healthy home biome is all about:

• using non-toxic products
• being mindful of things like the good bacteria that live in all ecosystems
• cleaning up the air
• opting for non-toxic products and furniture
• being mindful of junk light and electricity
• keeping the windows open and the air flowing

References

1. Song, Sora. “What Does a Clean House Have to Do with Health?” Time, Time, 2 June 2010, healthland.time.com/2010/06/02/what-does-a-clean-house-have-to-do-with-health.
2. Larson, Elaine L., et al. “Effect of Antibacterial Home Cleaning and Handwashing Products on Infectious Disease Symptoms.” Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 140, no. 5, 2004, p. 321., doi:10.7326/0003-4819-140-5-200403020-00007.

This article is based on the opinions of The Cell Health team. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended to share knowledge and information from the research and experience of the Cell Health team. This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Charles Penick, MD, for the accuracy of the information provided. Still, we encourage you to make your own healthcare decisions based on your research and in partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.