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One of the more interesting facts about naturopaths that a lot of people don’t realize is that we’re holistic medicine general practitioners. So, in the course of a regular week we see a wide variety of ailments and situations. Some more than others.

Lately, I’ve seen a growing number of cases where a microplastic detox ends up being part of the solution.

Recently, a patient scheduled an appointment because she was complaining of fatigue, bloating, and persistent brain fog (my words, not hers).

She said that she reached out to me because she had tried everything she could think of and nothing was helping. She had already cut out gluten, switched to filtered water and fruit juices, and started shopping exclusively in the organic section of her local grocery store.

And with all that, her symptoms persisted.

While I won’t go into the specifics of her treatment plan, I will say that her story hit a familiar note. It wasn’t unusual.

She did what most well-informed people would do. She started removing what she saw as her most obvious health threats to see if that would make a difference in how she was feeling.

Unfortunately, her symptoms didn’t improve, because the real problem wasn’t just what she was eating. It was what she was being exposed to.

Specifically, plastic-based chemicals. Not just in the environment, but inside her body—absorbed slowly over time through packaging, containers, and everyday products.

I see this quite a bit. People doing everything right, still dealing with fatigue, bloating, brain fog, or hormone issues. And more often than you’d imagine, the missing piece is exposure to plastic-based chemicals. These aren’t just annoying little pollutants. They behave like hormones in the body, confusing your system at a deep level.

Researchers like Dr. Lindsey Berkson have been sounding the alarm on this for years, warning us just how disruptive these hidden chemicals can be and how common they’ve become in everyday life. Her work makes it clear: this isn’t a fringe issue. It’s a real health threat that affects more people than most realize.

If you’ve been dealing with low energy, stubborn bloating, brain fog, or hormone imbalances, and nothing seems to help, it might be time to ask the same question she did.

What if the problem isn’t what you’re eating, but what you’re being exposed to?

Once you start to uncover where these chemicals are coming from and how they impact your body, you can begin to reduce the burden. And when that happens, your system often responds quickly. Fatigue lifts. Digestion improves. You start to feel like yourself again.

In the rest of this article, we’ll look at where these exposures come from, why they matter, and what you can do to start clearing them out of your daily routine so your body can get back to doing what it was built to do: heal.

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Where Microplastics Hide in Everyday Life

Even if you’re avoiding plastic bags and skipping the bottled water aisle, there’s a good chance plastic is still making its way into your body in ways you haven’t considered.

And we’re not talking about trace amounts. These are measurable, cumulative exposures that come from everyday foods and the packaging they’re stored in.

Researchers have pinpointed several common habits that contribute to this hidden intake. In many cases, the amounts are higher than most health-conscious people would ever suspect. Let’s take a closer look at where it’s coming from and why that matters.

Offender	Source of Exposure	What Makes It Worse
Tap Water	Accounts for up to 88% of total microplastic exposure	Drinking unfiltered; storing in plastic jugs or dispensers
Bottled Water	Contains 325–10,000 particles per liter—per liter	Heat-exposed bottles; friction from opening plastic caps
Sea Salt	0.4–5.8 particles per teaspoon	Harvested from polluted oceans; often overlooked by clean eaters
Tea Bags	Up to 11.6 billion particles released—in one cup	Plastic-sealed bags + hot water leach particles directly into drink
Rice	Up to 13 mg of plastic per 100g when unwashed	Instant rice; skipping rinsing means higher plastic + heavy metals
Shellfish	Shrimp and oysters carry dense microplastic loads	Filter feeders absorb ocean plastic and pass it on to consumers
Fast Food	Associated with higher plastic content in bloodstream	Heated plastic packaging; processed ingredients in plastic wrapping
Produce (non-org)	Apples and carrots show surprisingly high particle counts	Stored in plastic; often pre-washed or chemically treated

It’s not just a few stray particles here and there. Many of these exposures happen daily and build over time. That cup of tea in the morning, the quick rice at lunch, the bottled water on your way to the gym, each one seems harmless on its own. But they add up. One serving becomes dozens in a week, then hundreds in a month.

And the problem isn’t just how much you’re exposed to. It’s how invisible it all is. These particles aren’t listed on nutrition labels. There’s no warning on a box of sea salt. No one is standing in the aisle explaining what a plastic-lined tea bag releases once it’s steeped.

This is how it happens. Quietly. Repeatedly. Until one day, your body is overloaded, and you have no idea why.

That’s why so many people come up empty when they go searching for answers. They eliminate food groups, switch supplements, even overhaul their diets, never realizing their bodies are simply struggling to clear out something they were never built to handle.

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Why That Matters More Than You Think

Once these microplastics enter your body, they don’t just pass through. They build up in the places your system uses to store what it can’t clear right away: your gut, your liver, and your fat cells.

And if your body is already under strain from stress, poor sleep, hormone shifts, or gut issues, that buildup becomes even harder to manage. Over time, it starts interfering with the systems you rely on most to feel healthy and function well.

Digestion – Microplastics can irritate the lining of your gut, triggering inflammation, disrupting your microbiome, and making it harder to absorb nutrients, even when you’re eating clean.

Hormones – Many plastic compounds act like hormones in the body. They can block or mimic signals from estrogen, thyroid, and other key hormones, which may lead to mood swings, fatigue, weight gain, and other symptoms you can’t explain.

Immune Function – Your immune system recognizes plastic as a threat but doesn’t always know what to do with it. That constant state of alert puts stress on your immune response, leaving you more vulnerable over time.

So even if you’re eating well, taking care of yourself, and doing everything right, these hidden exposures can create a kind of background stress your body never fully recovers from. It’s not just about what you’re doing—it’s about what your body is being forced to manage behind the scenes.

Microplastic Detox – What You Can Do Right Now to Reduce Exposure

I know it sounds like a lot, especially once you realize how many ways plastic sneaks into your day. It’s completely normal to feel a little overwhelmed. Luckily you don’t have to change your entire world overnight. Just a few smart shifts in the areas that matter most can lift a real burden off your body.

Think of this as a starting point. These are simple, doable upgrades that help reduce your plastic load without flipping your routine upside down:

Here are a few smart places to begin:

• Filter Your Water – Gravity-fed and multi-stage filtration systems offer the most effective protection against microplastics and chemical contaminants. These systems are designed to catch smaller particles and provide more thorough purification. Basic carbon pitcher filters, on the other hand, aren’t built to handle microplastics and often leave the most harmful residues behind.
• Rinse Your Rice and Produce – Do this right before cooking or eating. A quick rinse helps wash away surface microplastics, packaging residue, and other contaminants, especially on non-organic or plastic-wrapped items. Waiting until you’re ready to use them (rather than rinsing right after you get home) helps keep everything fresher and cleaner.
• Skip Plastic Tea Bags – Some of the most popular tea brands use bags made from nylon or polypropylene, which can release billions of microplastic particles in just one steep. Look out for terms like “silken,” “mesh,” or “pyramid bags” on the packaging—these usually signal plastic. If you’re a tea lover, consider switching to a stainless steel or glass infuser so you can enjoy loose leaf tea instead. It’s a safer and often more flavorful option.

For additional product guidance and “what to look for” instructions check out our free guide below, The Hidden Plastic in Your Daily Diet—and the Detox Plan to Get It Out.

You don’t need a full lifestyle overhaul. But you do need to understand what your body is really up against—and how to support it without going to extremes. This guide lays out that foundation.

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So What About the Plastic That Are Already Inside You?

Hopefully, we’ve made it clear just how important it is to reduce new plastic exposure. But cutting off the source isn’t enough. Even if you’ve switched to glass containers, upgraded your water filter, and made smart, plastic-reducing swaps—your body still carries the burden of what’s already built up.

That’s where detox comes in. And not the kind that involves juice fasts, supplement stacks, or restrictive meal plans.

Because plastic exposure doesn’t happen all at once your detox strategy needs to be just as steady and sustainable. Real detox isn’t about shocking your system. It’s about helping your body do what it already knows how to do.

A smart daily detox solution should:

• Work gently with your body, not against it
• Support your gut, liver, and lymphatic pathways without overload
• Fit into your routine without adding stress or restriction
• Help you process and eliminate plastic-based toxins consistently, over time

This is the approach I walk patients through in my practice. It’s simple, sustainable, and grounded in how real detox actually works: not a cleanse, a crash, or a gimmick.

Your body isn’t broken. It’s overloaded. Give it the kind of support that actually makes a difference so you can finally feel like yourself again.