Q: Could the fish I’m eating be toxic?

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Q: Should I be drinking tea and coffee when I’m trying to get pregnant?

A: My recommendation would be to avoid black tea and coffee when trying to get pregnant. The concern is that caffeine can delay conception and this is especially important if you over 35 and trying to get pregnant. Some research has shown that drinking as little as one of coffee a day can delay conception by up to a year or more.

Whereas other research has shown that consuming less than 300 mgs a day, or what you’d get from drinking two or three cups of coffee, doesn’t appear to affect a woman’s fertility. (That’s according to a 2003 report from the Centre for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction at the National Institutes of Health.) On the other hand, at least one large study recently found that women who consumed 300 mg of caffeine or more a day took longer to conceive than those who got less or none.

To be on the safe side, and especially if you are finding it hard to conceive, I would suggest you eliminate it altogether. Caffeine has no nutritional value and can even cause your bones to lose some calcium, an important nutrient for a healthy pregnancy. There’s also evidence that drinking 3 or more cups of tea or coffee a day can increase your risk of miscarriage.

Because caffeine acts like a drug, you wouldn’t be advised to stop suddenly and go ‘cold turkey’ because you could experience quite dramatic withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, nausea, tiredness, muscle cramps and depression.

To minimise these effects, try cutting down gradually, substituting some of your usual drinks for healthier alternatives. It’s much better to cut down slowly over a few weeks. Begin by substituting decaffeinated coffee for half of your total intake per day, and then gradually change over to all decaffeinated. Then, slowly substitute other drinks, such as herbal teas and grain coffees. You should, ideally, eventually eliminate decaffeinated coffee as well because coffee contains other stimulants (theobromine and theophylline) which are not removed when the coffee is decaffeinated.

As a substitute for coffee try Caro, Bambu or Yannoh which are grain coffees and contain healthy natural ingredients like rye, barley, chicory and acorns. Good alternatives to tea include herb teas and fruit teas. And don’t forget that caffeine isn’t just in the usual suspects (coffee, tea, and cola) it’s also in chocolate, other soft drinks (e.g. colas) and energy drinks. It’s also in a variety of over-the-counter drugs, including some headache, cold, and allergy remedies, so it is easy to have too much caffeine in your system without even realising it.

We like to think of our homes as being a safe place to be, a refuge from a dangerous world. Yet some of the exposures that you have day-to-day that are most hazardous to your health and the health of your family happen right at home.

Studies into pollution levels have found our homes have up to 50 per cent higher concentrations of toxic chemicals than outside. The good news is that for every toxic product you’ll find in your home, there is a safer alternative. You just need to know where to look for those toxic exposures and what safe solutions are available.

Here are ten common toxic exposures most of us have in our homes, and some simple, inexpensive things everyone can do to reduce household toxins.

1. Save yourself from exposure to toxic ammonia by washing your windows with vinegar and water. Ammonia can cause irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract, and burn your skin. Instead, mix distilled white or apple cider vinegar half-and-half with water in a spray bottle. Squirt on windows and wipe with newspapers for a streak-free super shine.
2. Furniture polish and carpet cleaners can contain carcinogens which can increase the risk of poor health and liver and kidney damage. A dab of vinegar on a damp cloth is great for unvarnished wood and when it comes to carpets regular steam cleaning is best as it kills dust mites and bacteria. Make your own deodoriser using a couple of drops of essential oil with baking soda. Sprinkle on carpet, leave for 15 minutes, then vacuum.
3. Put up a detector to protect your family from carbon monoxide exposure. Carbon monoxide starves the body and brain of oxygen and can be fatal. First symptoms include sleepiness, headache, dizziness, flushed skin, and disorientation. All homes with gas appliances or heaters should install carbon monoxide detectors, available in most hardware and DIY stores or online.
4. Bathroom cleaning sprays produce a fine mist of chemicals that are easily inhaled and can trigger breathing problems. Instead try using two parts water with one part vinegar. And instead of chemical rich floor cleaning products use one cup of vinegar added to a bucket of hot water.
5. Use soap-based or non biological cleaning products instead of poisonous detergents. While detergents seem safe, they are a petrochemical-based product that is responsible for more household poisonings than any other substance. Soap, on the other hand, is made from natural oils and minerals and has been safely used for centuries. Natural and organic soap-based products can be found in health food shops and online.
6. Refill your own non-plastic water bottle instead of using toxic plastic water bottles. While it’s good for your health to carry your own water and drink it throughout the day, if it’s in a clear polycarbonate plastic bottle, it can be leaching a toxic substance into your water — even if the bottle is sitting on table at room temperature. Bisphenol-A. BPA is a potent hormone disruptor that can impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on breast tissue and prostate development. Drink from a glass bottle wherever possible.
7. Avoid toxic pesticides by making dinner using fresh, organically-grown produce. Buy pesticide-free organically grown food either from the supermarket or you can have a box delivered each week with produce grown by local farmers. One taste and you’ll go back for more. A great variety of organically-grown food can also be ordered online.
8. Wash away petrochemical perfumes and take a botanical bath. Many commercial bath products contain detergents and artificial fragrances that can be irritating to sensitive areas. You can have a luxurious relaxing bath by adding natural substances to warm bathwater, such as aromatherapy oils like lavender, rose, ylang-ylang etc. Use natural soaps available in health food stores and online.
9. Toilet cleaners often contain harsh detergents that are easily absorbed through the skin, causing nausea and irritation of the eye, skin and throat. Many also contain phenol, a suspected cancer-causing agent. Use natural cleaning products for the home available from your local health food shop.
10. Most air fresheners do no such thing. They work by using nerve deadening agents to stop you detecting smells. They are also one of the most concentrated sources of poison in the home and studies have shown that people who use them have more headaches and skin allergies. You can make your own by adding 10 drops of essential oil to a 200g box of baking soda and placing in a dish. You can also clear the air with a couple of houseplants. In addition to being beautiful to look at, houseplants also freshen the air by absorbing the carbon dioxide we exhale and releasing the oxygen that is vital for us to breathe. Some plants, such as the popular spider plant, also remove some air pollutants.