If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, chances are you’ve seen the documentaries, the reels, and the headlines about microplastics and endocrine disruptors. This isn’t new information for me — I’ve been talking about endocrine disruptors and their impact on fertility inside my Holistically Well preconception program for years. But I’ll be honest: it’s easy to walk away from a scroll session feeling like everything around you is poisoning you, like you need to throw out your entire closet and start over today.
So in this post (and in episode 63 of the Holistically Well Podcast), I want to have a balanced conversation. Yes, environmental toxins matter — especially for women’s hormones, fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum recovery. But I also want you to walk away feeling empowered instead of fearful, with a clear sense of how to actually take action. Here’s the framework I’ve used in my own home for over a decade, one smart swap at a time.
What Are Endocrine Disruptors, and Why Should Parents Care?
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with hormone signaling in the body. They can mimic hormones — most commonly estrogen — which throws off the delicate communication between your brain, ovaries, and uterus that regulates your menstrual cycle, fertility, and even a developing pregnancy.
Common sources include BPA, phthalates, PFAS, pesticides, and plastics. Because so many of these compounds behave like estrogen, they can disrupt cycle regularity, contribute to PMS, interfere with ovulation, and — during pregnancy — affect fetal development, since babies rely on carefully regulated hormonal signals to grow. This is exactly why I, and many healthcare providers, recommend minimizing the chemical exposures we can control.
The Other Toxicity No One’s Talking About: Wellness Fear
Here’s the part of this conversation I don’t think gets enough airtime: wellness culture can become its own source of harm. You watch a documentary or scroll through a few reels and suddenly your clothes aren’t good enough, your cookware isn’t good enough, your shampoo isn’t good enough, your food isn’t good enough — and the stress of trying to be perfect becomes a burden of its own.
That stress isn’t neutral. It affects your nervous system, which affects inflammation, which affects your hormones — the very thing you’re trying to protect in the first place. So the goal isn’t toxin-free perfection. It’s a sustainable, nervous-system-friendly approach that also accounts for nutrition, sleep, movement, sunlight exposure, and stress management — not just what’s in your water bottle.
My 3-Priority Framework for Reducing Toxin Exposure
I started chipping away at this over a decade ago, back when I was a college student dealing with cycles so irregular I was told I’d likely need medication to conceive. (Spoiler: we’re now four kids in, all conceived on our first cycle “trying”, zero medications involved.) Here’s the order I recommend prioritizing your swaps in — because trying to do everything at once is exactly what leads to burnout.
Priority #1: What Goes IN Your Body
This is where I’d spend the most time and energy, because this exposure is direct: food, water, drinks, and supplements.
Start with whole foods over packaged ones, and when you can, buy organic — especially for what the Environmental Working Group calls the “Dirty Dozen,” produce like strawberries that’s heavily sprayed due to thin, delicate skin. Produce on the “Clean Fifteen” list (think bananas, with a thick skin you don’t eat) doesn’t need to be organic, which can save you money where it matters less.
This doesn’t have to be perfect. I’d rather someone eat a non-organic egg from the grocery store than skip protein altogether because the “perfect” option wasn’t available.
Water is one of your highest-return swaps. Reverse osmosis filtration is the gold standard, but if that’s not accessible right now, a countertop filter (we use WaterDrop; Berkey is another popular option) makes a meaningful difference. And try to reduce single-use plastic water bottles — they’re a direct source of the microplastics we’re trying to avoid in the first place.
If you’re in the season of trying to conceive or want to get your hormone health in order before pregnancy, this kind of foundational nutrition and toxin-reduction work is exactly what we go deeper on inside the Holistically Well Preconception Program.
Explore the Preconception Program →
Priority #2: What Goes ON Your Body
Your skin is your largest organ, and what you put on it daily matters — think lotion, sunscreen, deodorant, makeup, and toothpaste. I recommend swapping out whatever you use daily first (since you’ll run out of it soonest anyway), then weekly products, then the things you only reach for a few times a year.
I’ve used Primally Pure for nearly a decade — their cleansing oil, serums, soothing balm, and body butter are part of my own routine through preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum, with no need to swap formulas as my season of life changes. (Use code DRKAYLA for 10% off if you want to try them.) Mineral sunscreen is another big one — if your kids react to typical sunscreen, a chemically-derived formula is often why. Pictured below is what we use most often; the tinted SPF is a new favorite for my face! I use the Sun Cream for both face and body on the kiddos.
Priority #3: What Goes AROUND Your Body
This is where clothing, textiles, and furniture come in — and where you’re allowed to relax a little if you haven’t gotten here yet. I didn’t start focusing on this category until my first two priorities felt like second nature, and that took years.
When you’re ready, start with what touches your body most: undergarments first, then sheets. Look for GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification, considered the gold standard for the entire textile supply chain, or OEKO-TEX, which tests the finished product for harmful chemicals. For natural fibers in clothing, think cotton, linen, wool, and silk — brands like Quince, Pact, and Mate the Label are great starting points. For furniture, look for GREENGUARD Gold (low off-gassing), CertiPUR-US (foams), and FSC (responsibly harvested wood).
^ For fun, I started a ShopMy linking my favorites in these various categories. To be honest, it’s been super helpful for me as I’ve made decisions on sourcing bedding and furniture for our new home. As I slowly add in more non-tox clothing items, I’ll add them here too. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s making the next best choice. As a consumer, I often think about this when buying new goods.
Progress Over Perfection: The Mindset That Actually Sustains Change
I don’t believe the goal is a perfectly toxin-free life — I don’t think that’s possible in our modern world, and chasing it will only add stress to a system that’s already trying to regulate its hormones. The goal is doing the best you can with the knowledge you have, one smart swap at a time. I like to think of it as one bad thing out, one good thing in.
Whatever season you’re in — preparing for pregnancy, currently expecting, or in the thick of postpartum recovery — the same progress-over-perfection mindset applies. My Preconception, Pregnancy, and Postpartum programs all walk you through how to apply this kind of sustainable, nervous-system-friendly approach to your specific stage:
Preconception Program | Pregnancy Program | Postpartum Program
And if you’re noticing specific symptoms — irregular cycles, fertility struggles, or pelvic floor concerns you’d like individualized eyes on — that’s exactly the kind of thing we can dig into together in a 1:1 setting.
Book a 1:1 Orthopedic & Pelvic Floor PT Evaluation →
A Realistic Toxin Reduction Guide to Get You Started
If you want a simple place to start without researching every product category yourself, grab my free Holistically Well Toolbox — it breaks down my favorite clean picks for toothpaste, body care, lotion, and more, so you have a guide instead of a guessing game.
Get the Free Holistically Well Toolbox →
This topic goes even deeper on the podcast. Whether you’re a listener, a reader, or a watcher — there’s a version of this conversation waiting for you. Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube, and if it resonates, a review helps more women find their way here.
Listen on Apple | Watch on Spotify | Watch on YouTube
Episode 63: Smart Swaps, Not Fear: How We Prioritize What Goes In, On & Around Our Bodies
