Oatmeal
Well we have been told for a long time that oatmeal is good for us. I just read that it produces oxalic acid which prevents the absorption of calcium. Why put milk on it then or butter? I love oatmeal, but now I wonder what I should believe. What kinds of things do you eat to be healthy? How have you changed your home and lives to be more healthy?
We just spent the weekend in Washington D.C. It was tough to be healthy and green during this trip. I would be interested in knowing how people do it when they travel.
I just added a link for Modern Sage. It is an online publication that deals with wellness and alternatives to things in the commercial world. Let me know what you think. I spoke with Katie Hansen the other day regarding the magazine and found out that it used to be a print publication, but went online to reach a larger group of readers. She would like to resume a print publication in the future to those who subscribe to the online publication.
What is going on?
I am beginning to wonder if anyone reads this at all! :)
I was reading today that 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 can help to prevent cancer. We all need Vitamin D for healthy bones. VitaminD assists with the absorption of calcium. It is tough to get this amount of Vitamin D since a primary source is sunlight and we don't want to be in the sun a lot due to the danger of skin cancer.
A friend's daughter was recently diagnosed with Celiac Sprue Disorder. It is going to be a life changing and lifelong change for them in how they eat. Imagine not eating wheat products. There is wheat in so many things that we are not aware of .
A new study that was released in Science News, detailed that lavender oil and tea tree oil may have some effect on the hormones that our body uses. Some pre-puberty boys have been found to have increase in breast size due to using these products in large quanities. Once they eliminated them from their lives, their bodies returned to "normal". The size of the study was small and more antecdotal than anything.
Here in Pittsburgh, the city's mayor has come down with a rare form of cancer---primary nervous system lymphoma. He has 4 tumors within his brain. They are treating it with megadoses of methotrexate. The size of the tumors have decreased with the first course of medication. It is so rare that ther are approximately 50 cases reported/yr.
Veggies
Do you ever wonder about what is happening to our vegetables? I understand that the farmers are turning the products over so quickly that they are not able to replenish the soil with valuable nutrients. Thus making our fruits and vegetables lacking in what we need nutritionally each day. It now means that we need to supplement our diets with vitamins that work. I have heard of a company that manufactures vitamins that utilize fructose compounding. This process has the minerals and vitamins adhering to the fructose molecule. The cells are looking for the fructose molecule for a source of energy, so they are able to absorb the needed substance. These vitamins are not routinely flushed down the john as with the others. They are also not synthetic vitamins, which is even better.
The company does not advertise, so if you are interested in learning more about them, respond and I will put in touch with them.
Brenda
Hello again
Well it has been a while since I have written anything for this blog. I continue to be amazed at how people are not always interested in keeping this planet alive. I continue to see the price of gasoline going up/down on a daily basis here in Pittsburgh. However I don't see a decrease in the automobile traffic. My husband and I try to consolidate our trips so that we are not using so much fuel. Yesterday we took his Saturn in lieu of the van as it probably gets better gas mileage.
I was reading this morning on Ideal Bite about sunscreen--how the ingredients may stay in your system for years to come. What are we to do? We are told to slather ourselves with this to help prevent skin cancers, yet the product may be causing harm!
I have been reading a number of blogs recently that deal with healthy living and saving the environment. Don't get me wroing, I am not a person who goes overboard with my living situation, however with the addition of 3 children to our home over the past 8 years, I have become more cautious and aware of what is going on in the world and with the world.
Some interesting reading---Ideal Bite, Green Living, Modern Sage, and Delicious Living to name a few. I know that there are many more, I just have not found them.
Brenda
Why are we destroying our world?
Reading today in the newspaper about how China uses 45 billion pairs of disposible chopsticks per year. If they continue at this rate, they will deplete their forests in a decade. The Chinese government is attempting to implement a tax for the use of the chopsticks. The residents are being encouraged to use metal or plastic chopsticks.
China also has 16 of 20 of the worst polluted cities in the world. That is due in part to the use of coal for heating and cooking. There are also a huge number of cars in the country and that number continues to increase.
A story in the Boston Globe states that there is an unusual number of persons with asthma in the NE. Why is that? They really don't know.
We continue to hear about the polar icecaps melting and how that is affecting the rest of the world. What do we do about this?
I think that we need to become more active in voicing our concerns in our own country about how we treat our environment. With the incidence of asthma, allergies, eczema and other auto-immune disorders, we need to look at what we use daily that might be affecting our bodies also.
What are your thoughts?
Is a beautiful face worth it?
Are you aware that the cosmetic industry is an 8 billion dollar one? The products don't always have the ingredients listed or what grade the ingredient is.
A bill in CA will require cosmetics companies to disclose to the DHS any ingredients and their concentrations that are linked to cancer and birth defects. It is about time that someone is doing something about it.
There are companies that are willing to make the changes and to implement changes in the chemicals that are used in their products. I know that those are companies that I would more than likely buy from. Some of the companies are the Body Shop, Zia Natural Skincare, Jason Natural Cosmetics, Burt's Bees, Kiss My Face, Avalon Natural Products and Aubrey Cosmetics.
One owner has decided to use grapefruit seed extract as a preservative in cosmetics instead of parabens.
Fillers are in most personal care products that offer no therapeutic benefits.
I don't want to use products that I don't know what is in them? I also don't want to use those products on my children. Why should we settle for those when there are other things out there for us to buy.
Ask me about those types of products, I know of a great company that offers them.
Type 2 diabetes
I am concerned about what we as Westerners are doing to people in Asia. Another story has appeared in the paper about the increase in Type 2 diabetes in Asian countries. It is due in part to the introduction of fast food to those countries and the decrease in exercise. In India, they have found that the women have a genetic predisposition for the disease and now that they are eating out more often, are suseptible to the disease. It is not going to be leprosy that causes amputations, but the US.
My daughters are Chinese and the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in China is up to 23 million people affected. I am watching what my children eat and try to be sure that they get enough exercise, but is this something that they have to look forward to that they might not have if they had remained in China?
It is predicted that the increase in diabetes will by 90% in the next few years. I think that we need to stop shipping our eating habits abroad and actually have those countries teach us a few things.
