Useful Apps for Low-Tox Living

We now live in a world where information is available at our fingertips. All we have to do is search. And I have found over the last few months that there are more and more useful apps appearing to help us all lead a low toxic lifestyle.

These are just a few that I have come to love and use almost every single day in my home and out and about. They have made life easier by helping me to know what preservatives and additives are in my food, what fruit I should be steering clear of unless it is organic, are my eggs really free-range and the amazing essential oil guide when I don’t have my books on me.

Chemical Maze:

I have been using this app for a while now. Even more so every day since we were told that Vice has chronic hives and literally EVERY SINGLE BIT of food needs to be checked for what the ingredients are. The Chemical Maze was produced to make it simpler and easier to recognise food additives and cosmetic ingredients having the potential to cause discomfort and ill-health. 

Search results for Food Additives and Cosmetic Ingredients the way you want them:

Identify the Risk Levels of each 
Discover those to avoid based on Dietary Restrictions
Identify those that may cause various Symptoms or Ailments
Discover which ones Effect different parts of your Body or Systems
Find out what they are Derived from

iOS: https: //itunes.apple.com/au/app/chemical-maze-shopping-companion/id363470500?mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.gridstone.chemicalmaze&hl=en_AU

Dirty Dozen:

Did you know that strawberries are one of the most highly pesticidal fruits? I didn’t until our Naturopath told me, which made me horrified for the amount of $2.00 strawberry punnets we see at our local supermarkets and my boys were eating them by the bucket full.

She then told me about the Dirty Dozen app. It lists the 12 fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residues and the Clean 15, which lists 15 popular fruits and vegetables with the lowest amounts of pesticide residue. It is US-based but has opened my eyes to looking into our fruits and vegetables even more and where we buy them from.

ALWAYS wash your fruit and vegetables before eating them. I like to use Lemon or Wild Orange to soak all of mine when I bring them home from the shops or farmers markets just to be safe and get any nasties off them.

Fruit/Veggie Wash: Place all your fruit and vegetables into the sink or stainless steel/glass bowl. Fill with water and add a few drops of Lemon or Wild Orange and allow to soak for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. 

The Dirty Dozen app can no longer be accessed but you can see the Dirty Dozen list here.

CluckAR:

Find out how free-range those eggs really are with the CluckAR augmented reality app from CHOICE, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group. Just point your phone at the top of an egg carton and see for yourself. Not every egg labelled “free range” can pass our test. 

I downloaded this app when one of my oil community members, Sara, shared it on her Instastories. I was definitely surprised to say the least when a lot of store bought eggs I “thought” were free-range, weren’t! I now only buy our eggs from our local butcher or farmers markets as they pass the test and taste so much better as well.

iOS: https://app.choice.com.au/cluckar/

Android: https://app.choice.com.au/cluckar/

Think Dirty:

Now, this app has a lot of information based on US products but I have found there are still a fair few of the exact same items we purchase here every day in this app. It is the easiest way to learn about the potentially toxic ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products and how those ingredients can impact your life. 

Always do your research as well as there are a lot of products out there than claim to be “natural” or even have natural in the title, but when you start to break down their ingredients you find out they aren’t.

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/think-dirty-shop-clean/id687176839?mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thinkdirty.thinkdirtyapp&hl=en_AU

My Essential Life:

I have the book The Essential Life which many of us refer to as the “Oil Bible” because it is the #1 resource I have found when it comes to using my oils. And I literally jumped up and down for joy when they released the app version full of the exact same information. 

Don’t get me wrong! I love my book but taking that everywhere with can start to be a pain as it is quite large and heavy. Whereas the app holds all the information I need at my fingertips.

You will find all the single oils, oil blends, ailments and body systems. So anytime you are wondering what oil goes with what or what oil do you need to support your body or home, this app has you covered.

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/my-essential-life/id1434661865?mt=8

By writing this blog I am hoping that some of you, if not all, will be able to go and download these apps, start to use them and really see that we need to stop and look at everything we put in and on our body and that of our children as well. Because we should not be taking the word of any company that their products are fine for us to be using. Research research research.

Your health and lifestyle will thank you for it.