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[Natural Mattresses & Bedding with Wiseman Family Practice]
[Wiseman Family Practice Integrative Medicine and Total Wellness]
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Hey, everyone. Jeremy Wiseman here, with Wiseman Family Practice. I’m here at Austin Natural Mattress in Austin, Texas, and what we’re going to do today is look at the importance of a healthy mattress and more broadly, healthy bedding. Now, this subject is really important because we spend approximately a third of our lives sleeping, and it’s really important for children and infants because they, not only do they sleep more than adults but they’re also more sensitive to chemicals.
Now, there are many layers of a bed starting with the top cover, a flame retardant, a padding layer, and then finally, the core support layer. You really want to look for an all-organic mattress, if possible, as they use safer materials than traditional mattresses across all these mattress layers, including wool as a natural flame retardant instead of the more common chemical flame retardants.
[Traditional Mattress Vs. Organic Mattress:
Traditional Mattress: Cover/ticking (polyester and non-organic cotton); flame retardant (chemical spray-on fire retardant); padding/comfort layer (petroleum-based polyurethane foam); core/support layer (petroleum-based polyurethane foam and metal coils). Organic Mattress: Cover/ticking (certified organic cotton & wool); flame retardant (organic wool); padding/comfort layer (organic latex, organic cotton, organic wool, and micro-coils); core/support layer (organic coco-coir, organic latex, and inert springs)]
So I’m really excited to be here today to see some examples of these types of mattresses. At the end of the video, I’ll give some information on healthy bedding and also some information on certification labels and terms, because though an organic mattress is really the gold standard, it’s really not feasible for everyone to purchase. So let’s go meet Shane, the owner of Austin Natural Mattress.
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>> Shane Coker: Jeremy.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Hey, good to see you.
>> Shane Coker: Good to see you, brother.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Thanks for having us out.
>> Shane Coker: Yes, sir.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: I guess let’s start by talking about your mission with this company and kind of what you guys are trying to do different here.
>> Shane Coker: Sure, man, so versus a traditional mattress store, those guys sell products that have chemical fire retardants. Chemical fire retardants off-gas out of the product and into your lungs, into your environment, kids — melamine, formaldehyde, antimony, and in some cases, PBDEs. A brand you know — a big brand, for instance — recently tested with 62 VOCs, which are volatile organic compounds, nine of which are known human carcinogens. So anyway, we do mattresses that are still fireproof but instead of using all these nasty, toxic, harmful chemicals that off-gas into your environment and you breathe them into your lungs, ours use organic wool, as an example . . .
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Gotcha.
>> Shane Coker: . . . which is a natural means and then also we have natural components inside the mattress. Nothing gets into the store that has a chemical spray-on fire retardant. Outside of that, we have different levels of natural all the way up to the gold standard, which is a certified organic product, but there’re different levels primarily based on affordability.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Gotcha, ok, cool. Well, can we —I guess — can we go see a few of these mattresses?
>> Shane Coker: Yeah, brother. I’m going to turn you onto Charlie. If you ever come into the store, he’s going to take care of you.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Ok, thanks, Shane. Appreciate it.
So this is a certified organic, and it’s kind of cool, it’s cut and shows the layers, right?
>> Charlie: Absolutely. This is a coil-on-coil, all the coils are wrapped in organic cotton and then hand sewn into their own pockets. Then you have an organic latex comfort layer, which is just tapped from a tree, organic wool fire barrier and quilting in the top. The whole thing is covered in organic cotton. These are Amish-made and it takes them about two weeks to make one.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Nice.
So Charles, this is your version of natural memory foam?
>> Charlie: It’s castor bean oil-based memory foam. Feels good, feels like the toxic stuff, but it’s non-toxic and non-off gassing.
>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Well, thanks!
So I hope that helped. Now, I understand that mattresses can be expensive, so you really need to look at this as kind of a long-term health investment, and keep in mind that a high-quality mattress these days can last up to ten years, which is significantly longer than some of the cheaper, traditional mattresses, so there’s also a cost savings in the long run. If you’re not in a position to buy a new mattress at this time, try to focus on cleaner, ancillary bedding items such as organic sheets; pillows that are either organic cotton, organic wool, or organic latex; and organic wool comforters. Lastly, here are some recommended certification labels if you’re out shopping for these types of mattresses. And if you have any questions on this subject, you can reach me at wisemanfamilypractice.com. Thanks for watching.
[Recommended certification labels: OCS100 Organic Content Standard, USDA Certified Organic Cotton, OEKO-TEX, Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO), and Greenguard]
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