Step 06: Clean Home

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS FOR STEP 6:

• Goal: major improvement, not perfection. Reduce as many controllable toxin exposures in the home as possible, since ALS may compromise the blood–brain barrier and increase vulnerability to environmental chemicals.
• Household cleaning products: Remove conventional cleaners such as bleach, disinfectants, glass cleaners, toilet cleaners, furniture polish, and products with “fragrance.” Use simpler alternatives like borax, baking soda, white vinegar, lemon juice, or verified natural brands.
• Personal care products: Avoid items with fluoride, aluminum, synthetic fragrance, or other harsh chemicals (toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, soaps, cosmetics, laundry detergents, dryer sheets). Use natural, fragrance-free products or make homemade versions; consider dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.
• Cookware: Avoid non-stick (e.g., Teflon), aluminum cookware, and aluminum foil when cooking. Safer options may include ceramic, glass/Pyrex, enamel-coated cookware, or cast iron (depending on iron levels).
• Chemical storage: Keep solvents, pesticides, fertilizers, and automotive chemicals out of attached garages and ideally in a detached shed. Seal and store carefully if they must remain nearby.
• Vehicle exposure: Avoid car air fresheners and limit stored chemicals. New cars may release chemicals; ventilate regularly if concerned.
• Lawn and garden care: Avoid pesticides and herbicides (e.g., glyphosate products). Remove outdoor shoes indoors to reduce tracking chemicals inside.
• Product safety tools: Use resources such as EWG.org, Yuka, or Think Dirty apps to evaluate product toxicity.

DETAILS OF STEP 6

Make sure your Home Environment is Free of Toxic Chemicals

Important Note for this step: ***Major Improvement not Perfection***

Below is not medical advice, rather it is based on the experience of those with ALS who have reversed symptoms and gained functionality. It is also based on peer-reviewed literature–see References section below.

• Before you had ALS symptoms your blood-brain barrier was intact. Now, your blood -brain barrier has been compromised. This means that any toxins you are exposed to will likely go directly to your brain and where they will likely adversely affect your motor neurons.
• We live in a modern society so cannot control exposure to all toxins. Therefore it is critical to eliminate exposure to all toxins we can control.

Household Cleaning Products

• Remove all toxic cleaning products from your home, including bleach, cleansers, sanitizers, toilet bowl cleaners, Windex or Glass plus, Lysol, Furniture polish, etc.
• If it has Fragrance listed as an ingredient do not use it
• Use instead: Borax, baking soda, white vinegar, lemon juice, natural cleaning products (see recipes below for making your own)
• Clean Brands include (there are many others, check the ingredients): Forces of Nature, The Honest Company, Benefact Decon 30

Personal Care Products

• Eliminate toothpaste that contains fluoride, aluminum or other toxins or Use SoniCare or other vibrating brush with no toothpaste, or make your own toothpaste (For details, see Hulda Clark excerpt below).
• Eliminate toxic soaps, deodorants, cosmetics (even Chapstick), shampoo, hand and bath soaps, laundry soap, dryer sheets
• If it has Fragrance listed as an ingredient do not use it
• Use instead: all natural soaps, fluoride-free and aluminum-free/bauxite-free toothpaste, chemical free shampoos, hand and bath soaps, laundry soaps.
• Use non-toxic dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.
• Check out some items in brands like Dr. Bronner, Branch Basics, Rocky Mountain Soap Company. There are many other good brands.
• Even better, make your own products, see recipes at the bottom of this Step from the book “The Cure for All Diseases”

Clothing and Bedding

• Natural materials such as 100% Cotton, Linen and Bamboo are generally healthier for the human body.
• Clothing and bedding (sheets and pillowcases) that are in direct contact with the body should ideally be made from natural products if possible.
• Outerwear if not touching the skin can be of synthetic materials.
• Always wash clothing and bedding at least once before using. This washes out many of the chemicals that may be been used in productions.
• Avoid materials with flame retardants in it since it is toxic.
• Avoid microfibers altogether since these get into the air and water

Toxic and non-Toxic Cookware

• Avoid: Did you know that “Teflon”, “Silverstone” and almost all “non-stick” cookware is toxic?
• Avoid: Aluminum cookware and aluminum foil when cooking. Studies have shown that aluminum leaches into the food, adding to toxic load in the body.
• Ceramic cookware is considered “safe” as long as the manufacturer is good quality. You need to check their website for toxicity.
• Pyrex or glass cookware is considered “safe” as long as it lead-free.
• Always use bamboo or other non-scratch utensils for cooking. If ceramic cookware is scratched and the under-surface is aluminum, it is no longer safe to cook with.
• Cast iron: If you are high in iron, avoid. If you are low on iron, then cast iron can be a good option.
• There is some controversy over stainless steel cookware. If you wipe off stainless steel cookware with a paper towel after use and see a gray tinge to the paper towel, it is likely toxic. If you cook, let’s say tomatoes or oranges or lemons or some other acidic fruit or vegetable, stainless steel pot, that acid is going to cause the metals in that pot to be released into the food that’s in the pot and therefore into the body.
• If the metal is covered over with enamel, then you get no significant amount of metal in the body.
• Do your own research before purchasing cookware.  

Avoid Microwaves Food and Drinks

• Microwaves denature both food and drinks. Below is an example of the crystalline structure of water before and after microwaving.

Food Storage

• Glass (or Pyrex) is the safest way to store food. Often these have snap-on lids that do not touch the food.
• You can also put a plate as a cover for bowl for food storage.
• Avoid plastic wraps since the plastic can leach into your food.
• Food-grade silicone has traditionally been considered non-toxic, however, there are different opinion on this
• Non-food-grade silicone should be avoided.

Basement, Garage and Attic storage: solvents, gardening products, fertilizers, car products, mothballs, pesticides

• None of these products should be stored in an attached garage because they will leach into the house.
• Ideally store in a detached shed at least 20 yards/meters from the house. If you must store items that may freeze in the garage or basement, make sure they are stored in 1-gallon or 2-gallon zip-lock plastic bags inside sealed plastic bins where the PALS cannot breathe them.
• These products should never be used in the home, and if they are, the PALS must leave the house for several hours after they are used.

Products stored in or used inside your car

• Do not use “air fresheners” in your car. Most are toxic.
• Remove or seal completely any petroleum or cleaning products stored in your car such as windshield wiper fluid, 
• New Cars have toxins for the first several years of the vehicle life. Consider buying used cars that have no history of flooding. If you have a new car, you can run a hydroxyl generator such as HiTech (use Healing ALS as Sales Person and Healing ALS discount code at this link) in the car periodically to get rid of these toxins.
• Some cars have a reputation for having toxins such as petroleum and lead releasing into the car. Many sports cars are in this category. If you suspect toxins in your vehicle, consider not driving nor being a passenger in that vehicle.
• BMW doesn’t have a drain valve in the air conditioning system so mold builds up in the air conditioning system. 
• If you suspect mold in your car, you can put the HiTech in your car overnight once per month.

Lawn care and gardening products

• Please avoid using any kind of pesticide or herbicide in your yard.  Do not use RoundUp, it is toxic!  Chemicals in your yard and garden are brought into your home on the soles of any shoe that has walked across the yard, so that is why it is best for EVERYONE to take off outside shoes just inside the entry door and to wear house-shoes or socks inside the home. The half-life of these chemicals on the grass of the yard can be up to 50 years. The fumes will likely pass the blood-brain barrier and affect the motor neurons.
• Make your own products, recipes can be found below in the book A Cure for Diseases below

There are some Websites, Apps and Books to help you find toxicity about products

• EWG.org will tell you the toxicity score of ALL your personal and home products.
• Optional: Yuka App from Yuka.io scans bar codes and gives toxicity score.
• Optional: Download “Think Dirty” app to help find non-toxic products.

• Read the excerpts below from the  book Cure for All Diseases by Hulda Clark. It has a lot of great ideas on homemade products. 

These are excerpts from Hulda Clark’s book “The Cure for All Diseases”

• Entire book: https://a.co/d/byhWw6t
• Excerpts for recipes for various homemade cleaning products

By following these tips to keep your home environment clean and healthy, you can protect yourself from toxins that are amplified with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS disease. A clean home will decrease ALS symptoms, letting you extend your ALS life expectancy and better enjoy life with your neurodegenerative condition.

Check for Understanding and Completion of Step 6

Note: this step may take you several weeks even months to complete since it may take some time to purchase alternative products to the ones you are currently using. Leave this step as “Started” but not yet “Complete” until all toxic items are removed.

_____ I understand that those diagnosed with ALS have a compromised blood brain barrier. This means that until that blood brain barrier is healed, PALS are sensitive to even small amounts of toxins.

_____ I understand that since we live in a modern society we cannot control exposure to all toxins. Therefore it is critical to eliminate exposure to all toxins we can control.

______ I have skimmed the document about recipes for all natural or homemade products for household, personal care, lawn care and more.

____ I or someone else have purchased alternative household cleaning products.. I have removed toxic household products from my home and will no longer use these products.

____ I or someone else have purchased alternative personal care products. I have removed toxic household products from my home and will no longer use these products.

____ I am currently using non-toxic cookware, or as close as I can come, even if it means only cooking in a few pots.

____I  or someone else has removed toxic basement, garage and attic storage products from my home OR have placed them in double-sealed containers. I will either no longer use these products or if they must be used I will not be at home.

____ I or someone else has removed car products from my home OR have placed them in double-sealed containers.

____ I or someone else has removed lawn care and gardening products from my home OR have placed them in double-sealed containers. I will either no longer use these products or if they must be used I will not be at home.

_____ I am aware of the websites and apps available to evaluate products for toxicity

_____ I have read the excerpts from Hulda Clark’s book, The Cure for All Diseases.

If you have checked all boxes, Congratulations! It takes time to make this type of change in your household. Give yourself a pat on the back for completing this step! Remember not to check the “Completed” box for this step on the Healing ALS Registry until all items are complete.

If you have checked all boxes, Congratulations! You have completed Step 6!

References

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The information we share is for educational purposes and should not be treated as medical advice.

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