Twice they told us it was genetics

Bowel cancer. Then lung cancer. Same family. Both times we sat in a room and were told it came down to genetics.

It came to a point where every single c*ncer and disease in human history boils down to "genetics". Seeing the word "protein" everywhere at the supermarket? Well this is the medical version...

I felt two things at the time. Relief, because it meant nobody had done anything wrong. And something underneath that I could not name for a long time.

It felt like being handed the answer and told to stop asking questions.

The second diagnosis is what broke it for me. Once is a family history. Twice, in a family that had never experienced either of these diagnoses before? Felt like something nobody was interested in looking into. Something felt off.

Everything is genetics now

After the doctor said that I started hearing it. Someone's father was sick with c*ncer. People said it was genetics. A friend had chronic insomnia. People said it was genetics. Another friend was at risk of dementia. People said it was genetics.

Maybe some of it is true. It seemed like every conversation was ending with genetics. It was like a word that stopped people from talking about the problem.

I did not understand it because the people around me were living different lives than their grandparents. They were eating different food, drinking different water and breathing different air.

They had the genes but they were living in a different world.

The question that would not leave

Genes are not alone. They are inside our bodies. Our bodies need food, rest and balance. Hormones help keep our bodies balanced. When our bodies are inflamed it means something is wrong.

My question was not about whether genetics matter. Course they do.

My question was simpler. What are we doing to our bodies?

We cannot change what we inherited. We can change the things we do every day. We can choose what we put in our bodies.

I am not a doctor (albeit I am an allied health clinician... but different still). After 5 years of blood, sweat tears and research, I decided to make some changes. I would remove things that were not necessary. As the saying goes: A fish is not healthy because of medicine, pills and chemotherapy. A fish is healthy because we change the water, the actual environment it lives in that caused sickness in the first place.

What we started removing

My research friends and I got rid of plastic containers and utensils filled with pthalates, BPA/BPS/BPF. We got rid of non stick pans filled with teflon PFAS forever chemicals. I started using reverse osmosis filtered water (Tastes amazing by the way).

We now used glass bottles instead of plastic ones. I read labels on things I had been buying for years.

I even changed my deodorant and cookware. It was not hard. It just took some time and effort.

After a while I felt like I had done everything I could and at that time in 2023, things were easy because non-toxic alternatives were already available.

Then I realised we had missed something.

The one thing we never looked at

My toothbrush. I use it twice a day. It is constantly wet, grinding against our teeth.

I had even changed to a bamboo toothbrush years ago. I had never really looked at it.

I thought I had already taken care of it. Then I found out (contact us for the studies!) that the bristles were made of nylon/plastic. Fun fact, nylon is so stubborn, the microplastics shedding off are theoretically also just as stubborn!

It doesn't matter if a handle is bamboo. If the bristles are still plastic, which mine were for years, then nothing about the actual exposure has changed. Based on my analogy, the fish tank continues to stay dirty!

Why we built Lightside

I looked for a toothbrush with no plastic (bristles). I could not find one. So we made one.

Our toothbrush has a bamboo handle and natural horsehair bristles. The bristles are woven into the head. There is no synthetic material.

We did not want to use boar bristles because they can be harsh and unlike horse grooming hair sources, most boar hair comes from the slaughterhouse! We also chose horsehair because it is softer and cleaner.

Below is a quick overview of our progress thusfar.

What we will not tell you

A toothbrush is not a magic solution. It is just one of the small changes that make big differences over a long time period.

One thing for certain is YES, you will be eliminating microplastics for breakfast and before sleep grinding into your highly absorbent gums!

How we actually run this

Lightside is a small team.

We ship our toothbrushes directly to your door. We do not have a warehouse. That is how we keep shipping free.

When you email us you will ALWAYS get a response from one of us (unless technical issues who knows these days). We will tell you the truth if we make a mistake and we have learned so much from all your feedback!

Where this leaves you

You may have already made some changes. You may be using filtered water and better cookware.

Take a look at your toothbrush. If the handle is bamboo and the bristles are white they are probably made of nylon or castor bean oil greenwashed plastic (We understand you, it sucks crawling for the truth 😕).

We don't ask you to agree with us, change for us, etc. You go do your thing and whatever choices you make to optimise your health are yours to make and for us to respect.

But if our story resonates with you somewhat, the doors to support our brand are always open! That way we can continue to raise further awareness and better society in not simply living longer, but living with prosperity longer. True health is true wealth!