Realfoodology Podcast

Episode: The Truth About Health Metals + What’s Really Safe To Eat

Host: Courtney Swan
Guest: Carolyn Call (“Just Ingredients”)
Date: September 9, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Courtney Swan is joined by Carolyn Call, the force behind the popular “Just Ingredients” Instagram account and product line. Together, they address the pervasive confusion around food safety—especially concerning heavy metals, Prop 65 warnings, and what truly constitutes “safe” and healthy food. Carolyn shares her deeply personal journey from debilitating depression to thriving health advocate, and provides actionable advice for anyone daunted by today’s food landscape. The conversation is candid, empathetic, and rooted in practical wisdom, empowering listeners to make informed, realistic changes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Carolyn’s Remarkable Health Journey

• Battling Severe Depression: Carolyn opens up about her struggle with depression nearly 19 years ago, an experience that led her to contemplate suicide. After conventional healthcare provided only band-aid solutions, she sought root-cause healing.
  • Notable Quote (05:32):
    Carolyn: “Depression is your body screaming for help… It's just your body talking to you and there's something off.”
• Functional Medicine & Recovery: She eventually worked with a doctor practicing root-cause medicine, uncovering numerous nutrient deficiencies and health imbalances.
  • Magnesium, Vitamin D, B vitamins, cortisol issues, neurotransmitter deficiencies, liver function, and food intolerances were all found to be contributors.
  • Quote (09:14):
    Carolyn: “After a year of working with her, then we started tapering off the antidepressants and within a two-year span, I then was off the antidepressants and feeling amazing.”

2. Nutrition’s Role in Mental Health

• Critical Nutrients: Carolyn identifies four key deficiencies commonly linked to poor mental health: methylated B vitamins, fiber, omega-3s, and magnesium.
  • Quote (11:12):
    Carolyn: “Your mind and your mood need those B vitamins. So I think that’s a culprit.”
  • Vitamin D is also highlighted as a widespread deficiency.
• Gut-Brain Connection: Courtney stresses the importance of serotonin production in the gut and the systemic impact of nutrient depletion.
  • Quote (10:26):
    Courtney: “Our happy hormone serotonin is quite literally made in the gut...”

3. Making Practical Changes – Baby Steps Matter

• Gradual Swapping for Healthier Choices: Carolyn shares how she overhauled her kitchen bit by bit—starting with removing artificial dyes, then high fructose corn syrup, and going ingredient by ingredient.
  • Quote (23:16):
    Carolyn: “I’m always telling people: just make one little change at a time, because eventually they all add up.”
• Lifestyle Upgrades: Simple habits—daily walks in sunlight for vitamin D, prioritizing exercise and whole foods, and ingredient-savvy baking—yielded dramatic improvements.
• Realistic Mindset: Both emphasize progress over perfection, consistency over rigidity, and enjoying real treats using high-quality whole food ingredients.

4. The Modern Food System – What’s Changed?

• GMOs & Glyphosate: Carolyn details how the late ‘90s and 2000s ushered in GMOs (specifically modified to resist glyphosate), resulting in undetectable—and unprecedented—chemical and heavy metal exposure in the food supply.
  • Quote (34:44):
    Carolyn: “The Cinnamon Toast Crunch today has the GMO sugar... So when people say to me, ‘Well, I ate that growing up and I was just fine’—you didn’t. Because in the 70s, 80s, 90s, we didn't have all these GMO crops and so you didn't eat that.”
• Ingredient Label Evolution: Companies have quietly changed recipes, switching to GMO-derived sugars or adding artificial preservatives, dyes, and flavors—without clear label reforms.

5. Healthy Swaps & Family Strategies

• Teaching Kids by Example: Let kids try “junk” at friends’ houses—eventually, they often learn through experience how these foods make them feel.
  • Quote (40:22):
    Carolyn: “My one son...came home and he felt so sick. He’s never had [McDonald’s pancakes] since.”
• Consistency Over Perfection:
  • Quote (38:17):
    Courtney: “It’s about consistency, not perfection... I’m not worried about you eating out every once in a while... I’m more worried about the daily choices in your home.”

6. The Birth of “Just Ingredients”

• Educator First, Entrepreneur By Demand: Carolyn started her Instagram account to help friends and neighbors make better choices—not to launch a business. As her audience grew, she created products to fill gaps in the market.
  • Quote (42:12):
    Courtney: “Just Ingredients, I feel like, was born out of the fact that you couldn’t find any healthy options at the grocery store. So you’re like, I’m gonna make my own.”
• Product Philosophy: Every item—like their popular protein powders—uses real ingredients (no “natural flavors") and is rigorously vetted for quality and transparency.

Deep Dive: Prop 65 & The Heavy Metals Controversy

What is Prop 65?

• California Law: Sets extremely low limits on contaminants (lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium) in products, but notably exempts produce and several other categories.
• Loopholes & Predatory Practices: Carolyn describes how the law is manipulated—both by companies slapping Prop 65 labels defensively and by legal firms aggressively suing brands over minuscule variances.
  • Quote (46:16):
    Carolyn: “Prop 65 is a law that is only in California... It had good intentions, but now people aren’t really using it with good intentions.”
  • Quote (56:13):
    Carolyn: “Companies are really in this tight line... If I stuck a label on [a safe product], I could get in trouble for that as well.”

Are Heavy Metals in Whole Foods Dangerous?

• Context is Critical: Foods like strawberries, cacao, and potatoes naturally absorb trace metals from soil. When consumed as real food, they also deliver essential “cofactors” (calcium, zinc, glutathione, B vitamins) that aid in natural detoxification.
  • Quote (47:11):
    Carolyn: “The real food contains cofactors to help your body eliminate the lead... You don’t see people walking around with lead toxicity who are eating a ton of strawberries.”
• Real Risk Factors: Actual lead poisoning typically comes from environmental sources like old paint or contaminated ceramics, not whole foods.
  • Quote (52:43):
    Carolyn: “Doctors… have never found someone with lead poisoning because of food. It is purely from paint… not from eating too many strawberries or spinach.”

Transparency & Testing Recommendations

• Always ask companies for COAs (Certificates of Analysis) showing heavy metal test results.
• Be wary if a company refuses to share; look for “NSF certified” or comparable third-party testing.
  • Quote (59:12):
    Carolyn: “If people are concerned, that’s where I would start—asking for COAs. But at the same time realize, they’re never going to get lead toxicity from eating too many strawberries, spinach, carrots, potatoes...”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On food system changes
  Courtney (36:25):
  “They have sneakily changed the ingredient labels under your nose… These are not the same foods that you were buying when I was a kid.”

• On healthy swaps for baking
  Carolyn (25:30):
  “You don’t have to eat a kale and sardine diet... Let’s make [cookies] with real food ingredients like they always have been.”

• On emotional healing
  Carolyn (20:10):
  “The first time I laughed after I was weaning off antidepressants…I was like, I can never go back to what I used to be.”

• Heavy metals panic
  Courtney (51:37):
  “If you’re getting like a Hershey’s bar where they barely have any real cacao… it’s probably going to be low in heavy metals, but then it’s not going to have all the good benefits from the dark chocolate…”

• On the root cause approach
  Courtney (62:35):
  “...Go find a doctor that will help you with your root cause. If you have symptoms, it’s your body speaking to you...”

Key Timestamps

• 04:49 Carolyn’s story: depression, seeking healing, and the journey to wellness
• 10:26 Nutrition, mental health, and the gut-brain connection
• 12:34 Essential nutrients commonly deficient in Americans
• 23:16 How to start swapping out processed foods: practical tips
• 33:14 GMO and ingredient changes in the food system (1996-2008)
• 37:31 Strategies for families: consistency, not perfection
• 42:12 The birth of Just Ingredients: educator to entrepreneur
• 46:16 The Prop 65 “drama,” testing standards, & lawsuits
• 50:48 Are heavy metals in whole foods cause for alarm?
• 59:12 How to vet brands: transparency, COAs, and reasonable thresholds
• 62:03 Final advice: find the root cause, holistic health is possible

Actionable Takeaways

• Start Small: Focus on one ingredient or category at a time for healthier swaps.
• Read Ingredient Labels: Don’t trust brands based on reputation alone—always check up-to-date labels.
• Ask for Transparency: Seek out COAs and third-party testing for supplements and processed foods.
• Don’t Panic Over Whole Foods: Understand that trace heavy metals in real foods are rarely a health risk, especially when eaten as part of a nutrient-diverse diet.
• Prioritize Consistency: Daily choices matter more than occasional indulgences.

Where to Find Carolyn

• Instagram: @just.ingredients
• Just Ingredients Shop: Recipes and product info
• Podcasts: The Just Ingredients Podcast
• Other Platforms: TikTok, Facebook Group

Summary

This episode takes listeners past sensationalist headlines and social media fear-mongering into a compassionate, facts-based approach to food and health. Carolyn Call’s story underscores the reality that what we eat—down to the smallest details—profoundly shapes our physical and mental well-being. She and Courtney offer clear roadmaps for small, sustainable change in our toxic food environment. They demystify hot-button issues like GMO proliferation, heavy metals, Prop 65, and product transparency, equipping everyone to advocate for themselves and their families in the grocery aisle—and beyond.