An approach to healthy living must include a whole-home strategy. By Elle H-Millard, CKD
When we think of healthy living, often our minds think of healthy eating. But the concept extends far beyond the food we eat — it also includes the air we breathe, the chemicals in our water, the processes by which we cook our food and our overall sense of mental well-being.
During the House Beautiful Home Tour in Atlanta in October, guests admired the charming, yet expansive home designed by architect Linda MacArthur; interior designer Sherry Hart, and kitchen and bath designer Matthew Quinn. The architecture of the home allows fresh air into every room with glorious views of a quaint neighborhood. Many rooms expand the living space to the outdoors while providing a sense of calm and relaxation and a destination to reenergize the mind.
In true American culture, the kitchen draws the guests together to enjoy snacks and conversation, but a few special features in this kitchen piqued the interest of many guests. On its back wall, the designers nested a cold pantry as well as an enclosed vertical herb garden. The cold pantry preserves fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs and wine, keeping the items at a temperature to maintain freshness and flavor. The vertical garden also provides freshness to the space while also acting as organic artwork.
Another element that had everyone talking was the Signature Kitchen Suite 48-inch dual fuel pro range with sous vide. Guests were asking about how to cook with sous vide, what types of bags to use, nutritional values, timing, recipes, various meat temperatures and more. The range is an all-in-one unit allowing flexibility in the kitchen, all with healthy cooking in mind. This unit allows cooking with steam, induction, sous vide, gas or electric.
While admiring the home, Adam Gibson, CMKBD, presented a discussion on healthy living with a strong focus on the air we breathe. He provided statistics and data regarding the time it takes for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) to dissipate in the home — even seemingly innocent ones. For instance, it takes 10 hours for the gases emitted by an open magic marker to evaporate.
When thinking about how many things release gases in our homes, it becomes evident that most people are breathing in more VOCs, which settle in the bloodstream, than they should be. Ventilation in the home becomes a huge priority to replace tainted air with clean air, since fresh air intakes are not always installed in homes.
Chemicals reside in waterlines as well, making bathing another opportunity for toxins to seep into our bodies, putting an emphasis on whole-home water filtration systems.
The bottom line is that a healthy lifestyle goes beyond watching our food consumption — it is a state of mind, process and journey, and needs to be considered in our most intimate environments for optimal clean living.
