Archive for September, 2008

September 25, 2008 | Being Green, Cleaning tips

 Sure, the recycling bin is a great home for yesterday’s newspaper, but even better - reuse it first! Newspaper is a great deodorizer. Have a room in your house that seems to collect odors? Wad up some newspaper and toss it under the bed, inside a cabinet, behind the armoire, in the tupperware dish you used for Aunt Ethel’s pickles - you get the idea.

Want a couple more uses for the Daily Post? Wad it up in puddle-drenched shoes to help them dry more quickly. And did you know that newspapers (and coffee filters too) will give your mirrors a great shine? Use with your favorite window cleaner or just plain diluted vinegar.

September 22, 2008 | Food & drink, Health

Well, even though cinnamon is key in decadent goodies like warm, gooey cinnamon buns and apple pies, it’s actually a very healthy ingredient. We posted a while back about the benefits of cinnamon in fighting fungus and microbes, but as it turns out, there’s more to it than that.

A teaspoon of cinnamon a day can be beneficial to people with Type 2 Diabetes. It lowers blood sugar levels as well as LDL (bad) cholesterol. It increases glucose metabolism, helping the body regulate blood sugar. It slows the emptying of your stomach to reduce sharp rises in blood sugar following meals, and improves the effectiveness, or sensitivity, of insulin. It also enhances your antioxidant defenses and fights all sorts of microbes, including candida yeast.

Check out some of the cinnamon recipes here.  As an anti-microbial, cinnamon may be a big help going into the cold and flu season, not to mention all the other health benefits mentioned. My personal favorite way to enjoy cinnamon is sprinkled over an apple half with a pat of butter where the core used to be, and baked till tender… Mmmmm…..

September 4, 2008 | Food & drink, Health, Lifestyle

Did you know that the average American consumes 34 teaspoons of sugar per day? Yikes! Sugar content is high in things you’d probably anticipate - sodas, sugary cereals - but it’s also high in items you wouldn’t normally considered high in sugar, like ketchup, yogurt, cranberry juice, toothpaste, bread, sports drinks, peanut butter, barbeque sauce and baked beans, and the list goes on.

The massive amounts of sugar we consume contribute to skyrocketing rates of diabetes, a growing trend of obesity, rising rates of cancer, as well as other problems. It weakens the immune system, contributes to depression and hyperactivity, interferes with absorption of vitamins and minerals causing osteoporosis and nutritional deficiencies, speeds the aging process, causes food allergies and migraines, as well as a host of other problems. In fact, studies have shown that once sugar intake rises above 20 teaspoons a day the risk of chronic disease increases exponentially.

34 teaspoons a day. That’s sobering.