Practical Nontoxic Living™

Sophia Ruan Gushée, Author of A to Z of D-Toxing, Founder of Ruan Living
  • 4.8 (23)
  • Health & Fitness

How do we make choices we'll feel good about twenty years from now? Sophia Ruan Gushée has asked versions of that question all her life. In 2007, becoming a mother made it specific, starting with the products on her newborn's shelf. It has deepened and widened ever since. On Practical Nontoxic Living™, she explores it with physicians, researchers, and people living it, tracing what shapes the environment around us, the biology within us, and who we're becoming. Conversations move from toxic exposures in our homes and everyday products to the beliefs, habits, and decisions behind how we live, and how we can choose wisely in real life, amid uncertainty. An interdisciplinary researcher drawing on environmental and public health, toxicology, epidemiology, and behavioral science, Sophia is the author of A to Z of D-Toxing and the founder of Ruan Living. If you're curious too, join us in wondering.

  1. 2d ago ·  Video

    E136. What Shapes Us—and What Can We Shape?

    How much of who we become is shaped before we ever make a conscious choice? And once we notice what's shaping us, what can we change? Episode 136 begins a new chapter of Practical Nontoxic Living™. For nearly twenty years, Sophia Ruan Gushée has explored how what we buy, own, and do can shape our health. In this season, that inquiry widens: from environmental exposures, fertility, gene expression, cell phone radiation, indoor living, and the spaces around us to habits, expectations, instinct, risk appetite, and the paths we choose through life. This episode is a preview of the questions—and the people—Sophia will be learning from next. You'll hear clips from Dr. John La Puma, Carmen Messerlian, Dr. David Carpenter, Deborah DiMare, Dr. Haley Genovese, Andrew Yang, Cyrus Massoumi, Jill Kargman, and more. Some conversations ask how our homes and everyday exposures may shape our biology. Others ask how family expectations, cultural definitions of success, rejection, courage, and instinct shape the lives we build. They may sound like very different subjects. But they keep returning to the same questions: What has shaped who we are? And what can we do to shape who we want to become? For Sophia, Practical Nontoxic Living isn't about restriction or perfection. It's about learning more, embracing uncertainty, and asking one question again and again: What's the wisest decision? Follow Practical Nontoxic Living™ wherever you listen so the next conversation finds you. For Sophia's writing between episodes, subscribe to Ruan Living on Substack: https://ruanliving.substack.com Want a practical place to begin at home? Join the free Ultimate Home Detox™ Kickstart Series: https://www.ruanliving.com/ultimate-home-detox-kickstart-series

  2. 2d ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Enjoy: On Purpose with Jay Shetty

    Introducing EZRA FRECH: "I Was Put on This Earth to Change the Way We See Disability" from On Purpose with Jay Shetty. Follow the show: On Purpose with Jay Shetty Ezra Frech shares the mindset, discipline, and determination that have shaped his career and led him to win two Paralympic gold medals. From turning heartbreak in Tokyo into motivation to using visualization and meditation to perform under pressure, Ezra reveals how he prepares for the biggest moments of his career. He also opens up about competing on Dancing With the Stars, breaking down misconceptions about disability, and founding Angel City Sports to make adaptive sports more accessible to the next generation. Instagram Teen Accounts: Built-in protections for teens. Learn More. At https://chase.com/sapphirereserve JAY'S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe here: https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast What We Discuss: 00:00 Introduction 01:20 "Pressure Doesn't Exist" 02:51 The Day Ezra Was Born 06:24 The 15-Hour Surgery At Age 3 11:15 The Kindergarten Letter 13:29 Learning To Handle The Stares 16:21 Overcoming Stigma And Bullying 23:18 Falling In Love With Sports 27:00 Changing Culture & Looking Ahead to LA 2028 31:09 Mentorship From Pau Gasol 33:56 A Message From Novak Djokovic 36:53 How Do You Define Confidence? 40:43 The Moment That Inspired His Paralympic Dream 44:35 Making Team USA At 14 48:41 How Running Blades Actually Work 52:09 Tokyo Heartbreak & "The Man In The Arena" 58:53 Visualizing Paris Gold Every Morning 01:04:50 Protecting His Good Leg 01:11:33 Winning Double Gold & The 20-Minute Rule 01:17:00 Meditation Under Pressure 01:20:34 A Lifelong Dream to Compete on Dancing With the Stars 01:24:14 Inside the Dancing With the Stars Family 01:27:19 Learning To Dance On A Blade 01:30:12 Pressure Is A Privilege 01:32:10 Making Adaptive Sports Mainstream 01:37:10 Ezra On Final 5 Episode Resources Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/ezrafrech/ TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@ezrafrech Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/teamezra05/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

    You Might Enjoy: On Purpose with Jay Shetty

  3. 11/18/2025

    E135. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 7): 6 Free and Budget-Friendly Ways to Reduce Forever Chemicals (PFAS) Exposure at Home

    Part 7 of the Forever Chemicals Detox series Reducing PFAS exposure doesn't always require buying something new. In this episode, I share six practical, no-cost changes that can reduce everyday exposure to PFAS—"forever chemicals" that persist in the environment and have been found in the blood of people around the world. We look at some of the less obvious ways our daily habits can influence exposure, and where simple changes may be worth making. In this episode: Six free ways to reduce everyday PFAS exposure Habits at home and on the go that may matter How I think about small exposure reductions that accumulate over time This is Part 7 of my Forever Chemicals Detox 101 podcast series. Go deeper: Explore the complete PFAS & Forever Chemicals guide for the science, common exposure sources, practical ways to reduce exposure, and the full Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures Learn the foundations of the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

    E135. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 7): 6 Free and Budget-Friendly Ways to Reduce Forever Chemicals (PFAS) Exposure at Home

  4. 11/06/2025

    E134. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 6): When Forever Chemicals Hit Home: Senator Judy Seeberger's Personal Fight for Clean Water

    Part 6 of the Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series What happens when PFAS contamination becomes personal—and then political? Minnesota State Senator Judy Seeberger joined the legislature in 2023 and helped pass one of the country's most sweeping restrictions on PFAS, the persistent chemicals found in products ranging from cookware to dental floss. In this conversation, we talk about what happened when an environmental health problem reached her own home—and how that experience helped inform her work in the Minnesota legislature. In this episode: How PFAS contamination became personal for Senator Seeberger How Minnesota became a national leader in restricting PFAS How she filters PFAS from her own well water What state-level action on forever chemicals can look like What Minnesota's experience may teach the rest of us about turning concern into change This is Part 6 of my Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Go deeper: Explore the complete PFAS & Forever Chemicals guide for the science, common exposure sources, practical ways to reduce exposure, and the full Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Read  When Forever Chemicals Hit Home: How Senator Judy Seeberger Turned PFAS Contamination into Hope Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures Learn the foundations of the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

    E134. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 6): When Forever Chemicals Hit Home: Senator Judy Seeberger's Personal Fight for Clean Water

  5. 10/16/2025

    E133. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 5): "Household Repeat Offenders™: Everyday Products That Hide Forever Chemicals (PFAS)"

    Part 5 of the Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series Modern life surrounds us with synthetic chemicals—in the things we cook with, clean with, wear, furnish our homes with, and use every day. Rather than target harmful chemicals one by one, we can avoid up to categories of them by recognizing certain patterns. This can help us make wiser choices without becoming overwhelmed. In this episode, I explain the thinking behind my Household Repeat Offenders™ framework: categories of materials, treatments, and product characteristics that repeatedly show up as potential sources of concerning chemical and heavy-metal exposures. In this episode, I explain the thinking behind my Household Repeat Offenders™ framework: categories of materials, treatments, and product characteristics that repeatedly show up as potential sources of concerning chemical and heavy-metal exposures. We focus especially on PFAS, or "forever chemicals"—why they persist, where scientists have detected them in the human body, and why I consider them an important Household Repeat Offender™. In this episode: How chemicals from everyday products can make their way into our homes and bodies Where PFAS have been detected in the body, including what we know about breast milk Why PFAS are unusually persistent in people and the environment How the Household Repeat Offenders™ framework can simplify decisions about what to buy, own, and do Why recognizing patterns may be more useful than trying to memorize hundreds—or thousands—of individual chemicals The goal isn't to eliminate every exposure. It's to understand enough to make informed, practical choices about the exposures that may matter most. This is Part 5 of my Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Go deeper: Explore the complete PFAS & Forever Chemicals guide for the science, common exposure sources, practical ways to reduce exposure, and the full Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures Learn the foundations of the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

    E133. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 5): "Household Repeat Offenders™: Everyday Products That Hide Forever Chemicals (PFAS)"

  6. 10/10/2025

    E132. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 4): When Less Isn't Safe: How Low Doses of Toxins Affect Your Health

    Part 4 of the Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series We've all heard the principle that "the dose makes the poison." But when it comes to some environmental exposures, the relationship between dose and biological effect can be more complicated than that phrase suggests. In this episode, I explore what researchers have learned about low-dose exposures to chemicals such as PFAS and endocrine-disrupting chemicals—and why timing, susceptibility, and mixtures can matter alongside dose. We look especially at endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with hormone signaling at very low concentrations, and at why scientists continue to debate how conventional assumptions about toxicology apply to chemicals that interact with our hormonal systems. In this episode: Why "the dose makes the poison" doesn't tell the whole story What scientists mean by low-dose effects Why periods such as pregnancy, infancy, puberty, and other sensitive windows of development can matter How exposure to multiple chemicals at once complicates risk assessment Why reducing everyday exposures can still be worthwhile even when science can't tell us exactly how much individual reductions will change our health The goal isn't to fear every small exposure. It's to understand why "a little" doesn't automatically mean "irrelevant"—and where practical reductions may make sense. This is Part 4 of my Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Go deeper: Explore the complete PFAS & Forever Chemicals guide for the science, common exposure sources, practical ways to reduce exposure, and the full Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Read  When Less Isn't Safe: How Low Doses of Toxins Affect Your Health for the studies and sources discussed in this episode Read Household Repeat Offenders™ to see the framework I introduce in the next episode Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures Learn the foundations of the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

    E132. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 4): When Less Isn't Safe: How Low Doses of Toxins Affect Your Health

  7. 10/02/2025

    E131. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 3): Your Genes Aren't Your Destiny: How Your Home Shapes Your Health

    Part 3 of the Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series Your DNA is not your destiny. Genes can influence our susceptibility to disease, but they're only part of the story. Our biology is also shaped over time by age, behaviors, environments, and the exposures we encounter throughout life. In this episode, I explore that relationship through the lens of PFAS, or "forever chemicals"—including what researchers have learned about PFAS exposure and certain cancers, and why understanding environmental influences on health can give us more useful questions to ask about prevention. In this episode: Why having a genetic susceptibility doesn't mean a particular health outcome is inevitable How environmental and lifestyle factors interact with our underlying biology What research has found about PFAS exposure and cancer Why the home is one environment where we have some ability to influence our exposures Practical ways to reduce PFAS exposure without trying to eliminate every possible risk The point isn't that we can control every factor that shapes our health. We can't. It's that genetics aren't the only factor—and understanding what else may matter can help us make more informed choices about the things we can influence. This is Part 3 of my Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Go deeper: Explore the complete PFAS & Forever Chemicals guide for the science, common exposure sources, practical ways to reduce exposure, and the full Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Read  Safest Non-Toxic Cookware: Top PFAS-Free Pots and Pans for Healthy Cooking for help reducing one potential source of PFAS exposure in the kitchen Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures Learn the foundations of the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

    E131. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 3): Your Genes Aren't Your Destiny: How Your Home Shapes Your Health

  8. 09/25/2025

    E130. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 2): From Red Flags to Resilience: How to Protect Your Health

    Part 2 of the Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series Rates of many chronic health conditions have changed dramatically over recent decades. Genetics alone can't explain changes that happen that quickly—which is one reason researchers continue to study the role of our environments, behaviors, and everyday exposures. In this episode, I introduce environmental exposures—including certain chemicals, heavy metals, and PFAS, or "forever chemicals"—as one part of that larger picture. I also share some of the health trends that first pushed me to start asking questions nearly twenty years ago, and how those questions eventually led to eight years of research and writing A to Z of D-Toxing. In this episode: Why changing population health trends led me to look more closely at our everyday environments Where chemicals, heavy metals, and PFAS may fit into the broader picture of health Why environmental exposures are worth understanding without assuming they explain everything Three practical ways to begin reducing exposures at home I don't think the useful question is whether our environments explain every troubling health trend. They don't. The more useful question is: What role might they play—and what can we reasonably do with what we know? This is Part 2 of my Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Go deeper: Explore the complete PFAS & Forever Chemicals guide for the science, common exposure sources, practical ways to reduce exposure, and the full Forever Chemicals Detox 101 series. Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures Learn the foundations of the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

    E130. Forever Chemicals Detox (Part 2): From Red Flags to Resilience: How to Protect Your Health
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4.8
out of 5
23 Ratings

About

How do we make choices we'll feel good about twenty years from now? Sophia Ruan Gushée has asked versions of that question all her life. In 2007, becoming a mother made it specific, starting with the products on her newborn's shelf. It has deepened and widened ever since. On Practical Nontoxic Living™, she explores it with physicians, researchers, and people living it, tracing what shapes the environment around us, the biology within us, and who we're becoming. Conversations move from toxic exposures in our homes and everyday products to the beliefs, habits, and decisions behind how we live, and how we can choose wisely in real life, amid uncertainty. An interdisciplinary researcher drawing on environmental and public health, toxicology, epidemiology, and behavioral science, Sophia is the author of A to Z of D-Toxing and the founder of Ruan Living. If you're curious too, join us in wondering.

Information

  • Creator
    Sophia Ruan Gushée, Author of A to Z of D-Toxing, Founder of Ruan Living
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    137
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Sophia Ruan Gushée, Author of A to Z of D-Toxing, Founder of Ruan Living
  • Show Website
    Practical Nontoxic Living™