Office Hours: The Truth About Environmental Toxins (And How to Protect Yourself)

Most of us think chronic disease is just about food, genetics, or aging. But there’s another major driver most doctors never talk about: your total toxic load. Every day, we’re exposed to chemicals in our food, water, air, and everyday products. Over time, that burden can disrupt hormones, damage mitochondria, drive inflammation, and overwhelm your body’s natural detox systems. This episode isn’t about fear—it’s about clarity. Because your body already knows how to detox. You just have to lower the load and support the system. In today’s Office Hours, I break down: • How environmental toxins disrupt hormones, metabolism, brain function, and immunity • The biggest everyday sources of exposure—and the highest-impact swaps you can make • How to support your body’s built-in detox pathways through food, fiber, hydration, and sweating • Simple, realistic steps to lower your toxic load without extreme cleanses or perfection This isn’t about living toxin-free. It’s about living toxin-smart. Visit https://www.functionhealth.com/ for 160+ lab tests at just $365 a year. Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Brain and Metabolic Health https://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Have a question you’d love answered on Office Hours? Submit it here 👉https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNF2y4lFWEOMLlzVNlFDpJ4xl7oOpH9NlImMoHr5mHggL_Ww/viewform?usp=header (0:12) Introduction and Understanding Toxins (7:38) Key Environmental Toxins and Their Effects (17:25) Indoor Air Pollution and Detoxification Strategies (24:53) Practical Tips for Reducing Toxin Exposure (26:12) Community Engagement and Closing Remarks

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:12Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Welcome to Office Hours. This is our dedicated 101 space to go deeper, get clearer, and explore what truly moves the needle for your health. I'm Dr. Mark Hyman, and each week, we're going to pull back the curtain and share the insights, the research, the lessons that don't always make it into our conversations with guests. Because at the end of the day, you are the CEO of your own health. And for many of you, your family's health too. And you might not feel it all the time, but you have far more power and agency than you realize. I'm glad you're here. Most people are exposed to hundreds of chemicals every single day. Now, chronic disease isn't just about food or your genes. It's about your total toxic load, something I never learned about in medical school, like zip, zero, nada.

• 0:54Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I mean, acute toxicity, yes, but the total toxic burden we have, definitely not, and certainly not how to diagnose it or treat it. And that's what we're going to talk about today. So this isn't about fear and making you scared. It's not about being perfect in every toxin. It's about understanding what you need to do, have some clarity, what you should prioritize, and what you actually can control, so you don't have to be ongoingly dumping toxins in your system. You've been trying to eat well, taking care of yourself, but you still don't feel great, you're not alone. We're living in an environment that our bodies were never designed for. Personally, and sadly, I'm an expert in this because I lived in China in my 30s, and in the winter, the air was so thick that on a sunny, bright day, you couldn't see the

• 1:39Dr. Mark Hyman?

  building across the street. And everybody wore masks. I breathed in all this soot. It was from raw coal, which was full lead and mercury, and I got mercury poisoning. So I get it. Every day, we're exposed to hundreds of chemicals in our food, our water, in the air we breathe, and the products we use in our homes, on our skin. And over time, this total toxic load just adds up. It's like kind of the straw that breaks the camel's back that finally makes us sick. It affects our hormones, it affects our weight and metabolism, affects our brain, affects our immune system. There are immunotoxins or autogenes, and they're called xeno-hormones or xenoestrogens. They're just bad news. But here's the good news. This episode is not about fear, it's not about perfection or living in a bubble. It's about getting clear.

• 2:23Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Your body already knows how to detoxify. You just have to help it. The problem isn't that your detox systems are broken. You're just a little overwhelmed. So in today's office hours, I want to make sense of the science. I want to walk you through the most common environmental toxins we're exposed to every day, and how they actually impact your body. And most importantly, the simple realistic swaps you can make right now to lower your toxic load. No extreme cleanses, no expensive protocols, just practical steps to make a real difference for you and your family. So by the end of this episode, my goal is that you feel clear, you feel empowered, you feel confident about where to start. Because you don't need to do everything. You just need to focus on what matters most. You, my friend, are the CEO of your own health.

• 3:07Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And today, we're going to help you take back control. So let's get into it. Here's the first topic. How environmental toxins actually affect the body? And before we talk about specific chemicals or products, I want to take a step back and simplify the science. Environmental toxins affect the body in a few core ways. First, they disrupt hormones. They're hormone disruptors. I read a book that blew my mind about 30 years ago called Our Stolen Future, all about the endocrine disrupting chemicals that were ubiquitous in our environment that no one was talking about. Now, these chemicals, they're known as xenohormones, or xenoestrogens, or xenobiotics, xen means

• 3:49Dr. Mark Hyman?

  foreign, they disrupt our hormones, they're endocrine disruptors, they interfere with estrogen, testosterone, thyroid function, fertility, I mean, everything. Sperm count, sperm function, sperm motility, they just are affecting every aspect of hormone function, and they definitely affect thyroid function. They also damage our mitochondria. Now, these are the important little organelles inside our cells that turn food, oxygen, and energy, and do a lot of other things we're learning. They are the most important foundation of your health. And when they're damaged, there's less energy. When there's less energy, everything in your body slows down. And it's not just a slow metabolism. It affects aging itself. It affects cancer risk.

• 4:31Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It affects Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, mood, autism, fertility, I mean, you name it, your mitochondria are involved in everything. So when you're sensitive in mitochondria, and they're very sensitive, my friends, don't work well because they're overloaded with toxins, you are sick. The next thing they do is they overwhelm our detoxification pathways. They're all built in. We sweat, we breathe, we poop, we pee. Our body has a system to detoxify. Our livers do a lot of the work, our kidneys do a lot of the work, our guts do a lot of the work. And we have a system of detoxification. It's one of the fundamental physiological systems of functional medicine. And it requires a whole series of things to help it work.

• 5:12Dr. Mark Hyman?

  The right nutrients, fiber, all sorts of things, amino acids. It's basically a biochemical set of pathways that need support. And these chemicals basically clog up all those systems. And our bodies just get overwhelmed and they can't properly detoxify. So really important to understand how to upregulate those pathways and to minimize the work they have to do by lowering your toxic load. The next thing toxins do is they drive inflammation. There's a whole book on this and a whole body of research on this that talks about how environmental toxins cause autoimmunity. They're called autogens, like antigens, like from infections, but they're autogens. They drive autoimmunity.

• 5:55Dr. Mark Hyman?

  They drive inflammation, they drive fatigue, they drive weight gain. They are called obesogens. They cause cognitive dysfunction, brain fog. I mean, I had that with mercury poisoning. And over time, you know, this just leads to chronic inflammation, fatigue, weight gain, brain fog. And this general sense of your body just isn't operating the way it was designed. So just to recap, key systems impacted here are hormones. These are endocrine disruptors, particularly estrogen, thyroid, testosterone. Brain is definitely affected, neurotoxicity, huge factor in all sorts of neurodegenerative diseases, in mood disorders, in attention disorders, just you name it, anything affects the brain can be affected by toxins.

• 6:36Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Gut and liver, huge, huge load on the liver for all the toxins we're exposed to. Toxins cause a leaky gut. That was for sure what happened to me when I had mercury poisoning. That makes your system even more inflamed and some vicious cycle. They affect metabolism. They have a huge impact on weight. We know that there's a whole class of these molecules that we now refer to as obesogens. They literally cause you to become obese, independent of your diet. And they cause insulin resistance, they cause weight gain. One of the most common is bisphenol A, which is on credit card receipts, bank receipts. It is in bottles, cans, plastics, it's in everything. Even the newer versions of it that are quote safer, same thing. They affect your immune system.

• 7:21Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So they lead to autoimmunity, to allergens, to cancer, all sorts of things. So the big takeaway is here, your body is designed to detoxify, but not given the load we're all exposed to today. So, once you understand how these toxins affect your body, the next question becomes much more practical. What exposures matter the most? Because not all toxins are the same, not all exposures really deserve equal attention. So now that you understand how toxins affect your body, I want to get specific because some everyday exposures are far more important than others to make sure you address. What are the top environmental toxins? What are the high impact toxins that we get every day? The goal here isn't to worry about everything and become neurotic. The goal is to focus on exposures that matter most and that we can do something about.

• 8:04Dr. Mark Hyman?

  The ones we come into contact every single day, often without even knowing. The biggest contributors to our toxic load aren't rare exotic chemicals. They're everyday products we drink from, we store food in, we clean with, we put in our... Let's start with the most common and most impactful sources of exposure. Plastics and endocrine disruptors. So plastics and endocrine disruptors are common, things like BPA, phthalates. Many plastics contain chemicals like BPA and phthalates. BPA stands for bisphenol A. These mimic estrogen in the body. They also can cause insulin resistance, which are pretty bad. Increased risk of obesity. They mimic estrogen in the body, they interfere with fertility, they disrupt hormones. And over time, they increase the risk of weight gain and many hormone-related cancers. And where do you find them?

• 8:47Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Plastic water bottles, food containers, receipts, credit card receipts, bank receipts, gas station receipts, canned foods, they're lined in the cans, fragrances, which are common in a lot of skincare products. What do they do? Well, they mimic estrogen, they screw up fertility, they contribute to breast and prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, they drive weight gain, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes.

• 9:10Dr. Mark Hyman?

  The good news is there's some easy swaps. This is one of the easiest areas to reduce your exposure. So what do you do? Well, use glass or stainless steel bottles instead of plastic. Never, ever heat food in plastic, never. A lot of Tupperware, this plastic, Saran Wrap, no microwave food in plastic. Just forget about it. Choose BPA-free cans or glass jars. A lot of them have other replacements, so better glass than not. And don't get the receipt or don't touch it if you can help it. That's the hard one, but do your best because those often have a lot of BPA. The next big category where you can do something about toxic load is personal care or household products.

• 9:52Dr. Mark Hyman?

  These are products people use every day, sometimes many times a day. They often contain hidden chemicals like parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. And because these products are applied on your skin, they can be absorbed in the body and contribute to hormone disruption, the headaches, migraines, skin issues, immune activation, lots of things. A simple rule of thumb I like to share is if it goes in your skin, it goes in your body. I mean, basically, the rule is if you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on your skin. In other words, coconut oil you can put on your skin because you'd eat it. But some weird chemical and some cosmetic product, you probably wouldn't. And the reason I say this is as doctors, we know this. When someone comes into the emergency room and they have a heart attack,

• 10:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  the first thing we do before we can even get an IV or anything else is we take a looks like toothpaste, pull up nitroglycerin, we squirt it on their skin, and we put a patch over it. And we know that works because it gets absorbed, right? We know about hormone patches, estrogen patches and so forth, testosterone patches. They work, nicotine patches, things get absorbed through your skin. So be aware, what you put on your body goes in your body. So the hidden toxins are things like parabens, phthalates, fragrances, formaldehyde-reversers, they all affect you in many different ways, from hormone disruption to migraines to skin issues to... Irritating immune system, causing immune issues. And there's easy swaps, right? Go get the fragrance free products or essential oil based products. I'm on the board of the Nominal Working Group or EWG.

• 11:20Dr. Mark Hyman?

  There's a great app called Skin Deep. You go on the website, you can use the app and you can scan products. You can search products and you can see how they stack up. So EWG is a great job, not just by the way, for skincare, but for household cleaning products, for food, for any kind of thing you can imagine. They have looked at. So also just use fewer products or just pick a few that are really well made that you know are religiously made without toxins and that are good for you. I use, uh, we lead a products. I'll use Tom's toothpaste. I use just products that I know are safer or better. I don't have any affiliation with them. So remember, if you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on your body. Pesticides, herbicides, next big one. Again, we can't control this completely. If you travel, if you don't eat at home all the time, it's hard to control.

• 12:05Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So do your best. Pesticides and herbicides are real big deals, especially glyphosate, which is the most common herbicide is used on 70% of all crops. It's one of the most common ways people are exposed to environmental toxins through food and glyphosate is used throughout conventional agriculture. It's shows up in non-organic produce and grains, processed foods, pretty much everything. It's also used on lawns, landscaping, which means exposure doesn't come from what you eat only, but from the environment as well. So one of the biggest concerns with glyphosate is how it affects the gut. It damages the gut microbiome. It interferes with detox enzymes, increases inflammation throughout the body and over time it can cause digestive issues, immune problems, cancer. There's billions of dollars of losses against Monsanto who make glyphosate for cancer that

• 12:50Dr. Mark Hyman?

  have been settled. I read a study recently where there were transgenerational effects, epigenetic effects. So if the grandmother mouse had glyphosate exposure, the grandbabies.

• 13:00Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Had all kinds of damage to fertility, to hormones, cancer risk, kidney issues. I mean, it was kind of frightening to see how they measure these effects. And so I'm highly concerned about this. It's again, on 70% of all products. It's one of the most toxic compounds out there. It should be banned. Leave it to say, there's been billions of dollars of lawsuits against Monsanto that have been successful because of this. All right, so where do you get exposure? Well, if you're eating produce that's not organic, if you're eating a lot of grains, it's often sprayed on wheat at harvest to desiccate the wheat, meaning to get all the leaves off so that they can dry out and process the wheat. It's in processed food for sure. There's a box of Cheerios, it's kind of a spook, but it's accurate.

• 13:43Dr. Mark Hyman?

  There's more glyphosate in terms of pure quantity in Cheerios than there is some of the vitamins and minerals that they list on the link. So that's concerning to me. It's also on laws and agricultural places. So I worry about it being used widely and we call it rounded up and they use it everywhere. So I'd be very careful about any exposure to this. It damages the microbiome, it impairs your detoxification enzymes, it increases inflammation, increases cancer risk, has changed generational effects, epigenetic effects. I worry about all of that. What do you do about it? Well, do your best to eat organic when you can. Again, the Environmental Working Group has a great list of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15. Here's the Dirty Dozen, for example, strawberries, you never want to eat if they're not organic,

• 14:28Dr. Mark Hyman?

  whereas if it's a banana, it's fine. And you can kind of make a list, so you don't have to buy everything organic and you can lower your costs, but you make sure you don't eat the things that are really the most exposed, like celery, I would not eat celery, it's not organic.

• 14:43Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Also wash your produce thoroughly, there's ways to do that to get rid of chemicals. And don't use lawn chemicals, like I just don't use toxic lawn chemicals at home. It's just don't need to expose yourself to that. The next big category, and one unfortunately I'm an expert in, is heavy metals, mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and these are a big one. And often, this is not well understood. Heavy metals like mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, these are all naturally occurring in the environment, but they're usually buried, like coal has a lot, but that's buried under the ground, right? Modern exposure levels can be harmful because we basically dug up all this coal. We burned it in cement plants, in energy coal burning plants, and it's created huge amounts of pollution. In fact, Seattle has really high mercury in its environment. Why?

• 15:28Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Because of China, because China uses so much coal burning, it goes up in the atmosphere. It comes over, it's not, it's not acid rain, it's heavy metal rain, literally. A lot of people are exposed. So if you eat fish, like tuna or swordfish or almost any fish, unless really little, little fish or certain regionally farmed fish. And I like Cetopia dot fish, no relationship with them, but they're great. They, they have really great sources. There's some heavy metal, but much lower than other fish. And you have to be careful because it concentrates up the food chain. So, you know, fish to eat other fish, to eat other fish, to eat other fish are the ones that are highest mercury. Shark, swordfish, tuna. If you're in a home, there's plumbing, paint, homes built before lead regulations.

• 16:10Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Also, I'll put a cigarette smoke, one of the highest sources of toxins in general, but also can have chemicals and metals. So be careful. These metals can cause havoc. I experienced it personally, because I had mercury poisoning. They affect your nervous system, they can cause brain fog, fatigue. I developed chronic fatigue syndrome from it, cognitive impairment, sleep issues. I developed muscular, muscular damage, neurological damage. It was bad. In children, it can have a huge effect because it affects developmental learning and development of the brain. So a lot of kids have problems. One in six kids today have some neurodevelopmental disorder. It's very concerning. And heavy metals play a role. And I've, the next thing you want to do is filter your drinking water. I have a reverse osmosis filter at home. As long as you're taking a multivitamin mineral or you're replacing minerals, having electrolytes, you're fine.

• 16:55Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Really important because there's just so many, not just metals, but also other pesticides and chemicals and all kinds of things in water. I think there's 38 different chemicals on average in the average drinking water that are concerning. And if you're living in an old house, make sure you test it for lead and take care of it. All right. The next big source of toxins, and most people don't think about this, is The air you breathe, especially indoor air pollution, which is one of the biggest problems. So, air pollution from the outside and indoor pollution of air is also a common source of toxic exposure. And many of us spend a lot of time inside and indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air. Because you get VOCs from furniture, from building materials, from mold, cleaning sprays, gas ovens.

• 17:40Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And poor indoor air quality can cause all sorts of stuff, asthma, brain fog, headaches, immune dysregulation. I met a guy who was building the Bank of America, the new, it was a $2 billion building in New York City, and he was an architect, patient actually. And he, he told me that they invested a huge amount of money in making the indoor air quality great and doing it environmentally and no off-gassing. I'm like, why do they spend all this money? And he said, because the productivity was so much higher in their employees. When we built our Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, I insisted that we hire an environmental firm and we follow strict environmental standards for the products in there. So we wouldn't have off-gassing from aldehyde and VOCs.

• 18:23Dr. Mark Hyman?

  We would have carpets with all kinds of chemicals, paint with chemicals. Then we had proper air filters, we had water filters. And it was the healthiest space in the entire Cleveland Clinic. And when people went in there, they go, God, I feel good in here. I feel good at the end of the day. I don't feel tired. It's quite amazing. So, it, it's often overlooked. So, what's, um, what are the ways you might not know you're exposed? Well, one of the things is called VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. These are come from furniture, glues, adhesive, finishes, sealants, foam, padding, engineered wood products. So you want to try to use natural materials. So if there's recently or new manufactured furniture, synthetic materials, it can be an issue. Mold is another big one. Make sure you check your home for mold. A lot of times it's hidden. People don't know if it smells musty or moldy. It for sure is.

• 19:07Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Even if you don't smell it, it can, it can be in air vents and air conditioning and many other places. Cleaning products, all the household cleaning sprays, you know, we'll talk about how to avoid those and use safer versions, gas stoves, they're a big deal. A friend of mine is the CEO of an appliance company and he told me all the research they've done in gas stoves and how potentially harmful they are. And what can they do? They can cause asthma, brain fog, they can disrupt your immune system, many, many other things. So what can you do that's easy, that's high impact? Keep your windows open, especially if you're getting new furniture, but better to get furniture that's more made with natural products. For example, I have a mattress that is great mattress. It's a latex mattress that's made from natural materials. It's from Essentia. It's kind of like a Tempur-Pedic.

• 19:51Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I did have a Tempur-Pedic once and when I bought it, I was like, oh my God, this thing just stinks. And you could smell all the off-gassing of all the chemicals. I didn't really know what I was doing at the time, but it was pretty bad. Have an air purifier. I have an air filter in my, in my bedroom and all the room that I spend the most time in the house. You want a HEPA or ultra HEPA air purifier with activated carbon. And listen, if you can get older furniture where most of this off gas are, are, are antiques. If you can and afford it, I would encourage you to get furniture and bedding and couches and other, you know, build public products that are, are non-toxic and you can find those. And especially if they're in bedrooms or nurseries, be careful.

• 20:34Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So when you're buying new furniture, look for solid wood instead of particle board. Get antiques if you can. Choose low VOC or non VOC finishes like paints. And there's certifications you can check out like Green Guard, Certi Pure Us for foam, FSC certified wood. There's a lot of things you can do out there to reduce your exposures. Next topic, and this is one of my favorites, is how do you support your body's own detox system? Cause none of us can reuse our exposures completely. None of us can live in a world like we did a thousand years ago, or even 200 years ago, where there were no toxins in our environment that weren't naturally occurring, that were pretty rare. So how do you support your body's own detoxification system? A lot of doctors go, well, you know, your body just does it. You don't have to worry about it. It's like no big deal.

• 21:19Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Like you can't do anything. And detoxification is, as a therapy is just stupid and unscientific. Well, that is absolutely wrong. It's extremely scientific and if you look at the literature, you'll find it. The problem isn't there's no evidence, the problem isn't they haven't looked at the evidence. So, and I studied this extensively because I had to for my own health and also for my patients. Is there a real system for doing this? And there's a lot of ways to do it. You have to support all those systems. I call it the triple P system, the poop, pee and perspire, right? And those are really important, but you also have to support your liver. So what are the pathways you have to support? Your liver is really important and there's great foods that's up breaking their body's own detoxification pathways.

• 22:02Dr. Mark Hyman?

  My favorite, the broccoli family, you know, broccoli, collards, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, et cetera. Also garlic and onions are great. Certain herbs and spices are great, like turmeric. There's a whole list of supportive compounds that you can use to help detoxify yourself. I've written a lot about this. Protein, yes, protein is really important. And if you look at a lot of the pathways and there's a whole series of biochemical steps that happen in your liver when you detoxify things. Requires amino acids, especially glycemic, because it's part of making glutathione. Glutathione is the body's main detoxifying compound and comes from amino acids, D N A protein. B vitamins, really important. Methylation is a key step. B12, folate, B6, but all the B vitamins are really important. Zinc, selenium, also minerals, really important.

• 22:47Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And alcohol, alcohol is just a liver toxin. So I would encourage you to, to not drink if you can. The next is your gut. It's how, once the toxins get metabolized by the liver, they get excreted in the bile. They get dumped into your intestinal tract and they have to get out. Now, if you're constipated or sluggish, you're not having regular bowel movements. Guess what? You are going to recirculate those and they're going to get reabsorbed. So you don't want to do that. So fiber is really important, pooping regularly is important. And I had a patient, I said, do you have regular bowel movements? She said, yeah, I, I regular bowel movements. I said, well, how often do you go? She goes, once a week. I'm like, what do you mean? That's not regular. She goes, yeah, it's regular for me. I go every week.

• 23:28Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Really, the idea here is you should probably go at least once, if not two to three times a day. I know it sounds crazy, but if you look at the studies by Burkett and others from, from England, who studied a lot of the cancer risks, for example, in, in Africa, they found that if you were a hunter gatherer in Africa, your stool weight was about two pounds. A day if you are an urban dweller, same ethnicity, same genetics, it was about four ounces. So we want to have a lot of poop. Just saying fiber is the way to do that. And there's lots of different kinds of fiber. Fermented foods are great. Keeping your microbiome healthy is really important. Preventing a leaky gut really important. Hydration, that's another thing kidneys really important also you metabolize toxins to have to get out.

• 24:12Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So you got to drink, make sure you're drinking a lot of fluids. At least half your body weight in ounces every day. Electrolytes, minerals, all help your kidneys work. Sweat perspires, that's the other one, right? Sweating, so saunas are great. Exercise is great. Making sure you're actually getting your skin to excrete toxins. And breath also is another one because you're excreting toxins through your breath, carbon dioxide, but also other toxins. So really important. Make sure all these systems are working and these are things that you can do through both lifestyle factors and also diet and supplements. So to sum it up, like one of the five things you can do today to really reduce your exposures. First, don't eat your food in plastic. Two, filter your drinking water.

• 24:56Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Three, get the right skincare products. Use Skin Deep as a great resource. Four, try to eat organic where it matters most. Use the Dirty Dozen as a guide. The 1315 from the Environmental Working Group, go to ewg.org. That helps with your both personal care and your food. And improve your indoor air quality, ideally get an air filter for your house. So you don't need to do everything, but you just need to do the right things. Now, if you have kids in a family, there's a few more things you should know about. Kids are much more vulnerable to toxins, so make sure you worry about where you store your food in, what you heat your food in, the water you drink, the where they sleep, and what they're eating for lunch. Protecting your family isn't about fear, it's just about being informed. Now, as we wrap up, I want to leave you with this. This isn't about doing everything perfectly. It's definitely not about trying to live toxin free

• 25:41Dr. Mark Hyman?

  because that's impossible. So I just be more aware. It's about. Making the right priorities. It's about making a few thoughtful choices that add up over time. Your body already knows how to detox. So when you reduce the load and you support the systems to do the work, healing becomes much easier. So approach this with curiosity, not fear. You don't need to change everything at once. Start with one or two swaps that feel doable, and I want you to build from there. This isn't about living toxin-free. It's about living toxin-smart. And I love the air from you. What toxins or product swaps do you want help navigating next? What feels confusing or overwhelming right now? If you want to dive deeper into toxin-smart living and building immunity around your health goals, you can join the Hyman Hive, and let's tackle them together. We're

• 26:24Dr. Mark Hyman?

  going to leave a link to join the Hive in the episode show notes. So I'll see you next time. Thanks for joining me for Office Hours. I love diving into these topics with you. Remember, you are the CEO of your own health, and every choice you make can move you closer to healing and vitality. I want to keep these episodes as relevant and useful as possible. So tell me, what do you want to explore next? What questions are you wrestling with? What breakthroughs are you chasing? Share your ideas in the comments on social media or through the link in the show notes. I'm listening. Until next time, keep taking charge, keep asking questions, and keep showing up for your health.

• 27:07Dr. Mark Hyman?

  When it comes to supplements, you only want the best for your body, the kind with the highest quality, cleanest, and most potent ingredients you can get. That's exactly what you'll find at my supplement store, where I've hand-selected each and every product to meet the most rigorous standards for safety, purity, and effectiveness. These are the only supplements I recommend to my patients, and they're also what I use myself. Whether you want to optimize longevity or reduce your disease risk, or you're looking to improve your sleep, blood sugar, metabolism, gut health, you name it, DrHyman.com has the world's best selection of top-quality, premium supplements, all backed by science and expertly vetted by me, Dr. Mark Hyman. So check out drhyman.com because when it comes to your health, nothing less than the very best will do. That's drhyman.com, D R H Y M A N dot com.

• 27:50Dr. Mark Hyman?

  If you love this podcast, please share it with someone else you think would also enjoy it. You can find me on all social media channels at Dr. Mark Hyman. Please reach out. I'd love to hear your comments and questions. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the Dr. Hyman Show wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel at Dr. Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the Dr. Hyman Show. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness Center, my work at Cleveland Clinic, and Function Health, where I am Chief Medical Officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guests' opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional.

• 28:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  This podcast is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. If you're looking for help in your journey, please seek out a qualified medical practitioner. And if you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, visit my clinic, the Ultra Wellness Center at ultrawellnesscenter.com, and request to become a patient. It's important to have someone in your corner who is a trained, licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. This podcast is free as part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the public. So I'd like to express gratitude to sponsors that made today's podcast possible. Thanks so much again for listening.