Archive for the 'Health' Category

December 20, 2007 | Reviews, Broom Hugged, Health, Cleaning products

I was so excited when earlier this month I walked into Target and saw that Method had their new holiday scents out! I use a lot of Method products at my house so already knowing what the company stands stands for I grabbed up my favorite holiday scent, cinnamon bark, and waltzed out with dreams of a beautifully clean and fragrant household. (more…)

December 15, 2007 | Health, Essential oils

I put a lot of effort into keeping my family as natural as possible. Most of our food is natural, most of our personal products are natural and I clean with all natural products. I know there are a lot of others out there that do the same. But, what about our four legged family members (or two legged if you live in Australia and are lucky enough to own a kangaroo… I’m envious)? We would like to get a puppy when we find a place with a big yard so I figured I should start doing some research now.

Fleas tend to be a big problem here in Georgia but before you reach for that flea spray, shampoo, powder or collar maybe we should thoroughly check them out first. Pesticides of ANY kind are designed to kill living things. Even though only a small amount is needed to kill off something as small as a flea, these pesticides can still do damage to our four legged friends. A report done in 2000 by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that hundreds, if not thousands, of pets have been poisoned by the pesticides in the pet products that were intended to keep them safe. The even bigger issue is the effect these pesticides can have on those of us of the two legged variety (no, not the kangaroo, the HUMAN). The NRDC report called attention to the poisoning risks faced by pet care workers like veterinary assistants and groomers. One survey found that people who work with pesticides used on pets are two-and-a-half times more likely to have health related problems than other workers. One of the popular flea medications you can get from your vet is applied by putting a liquid in between your animals shoulder blades. Once that liquid is applied you cannot let your kids touch the animal for 24 hours. The way this medication works is it doesn’t kill the fleas but it damages their reproductive organs so they cannot reproduce. That just isn’t something I want to have in my house!

So, what can we do about those pesky fleas? Here are a few ideas: Most people treat for fleas year round. Instead of subjecting your pets to year round treatments find out when flea season is in your area and start preventative measures right before it starts or at the first sight of a flea. For dogs: Slice up a lemon (skin and all) and pour one pint of nearly boiling water over it. Let sit overnight. Strain the liquid and pour into a spray bottle. Spritz your dog generously and rub it in. Citrus oil kills and repels fleas. You can use this solution on pet bedding, too. For cats: Since they don’t like citrus scent or being sprayed, try this recipe: mix one ounce pennyroyal oil with 18 ounces of water and sponge it onto your cat, massaging it in. You can use this mixture on dogs as well. (NOTE: Pennyroyal can be toxic to animals in high concentrations, so be sure to always dilute it. Pregnant women should NOT use pennyroyal.) Cedar filled bedding is also a great flea repellant but the scent does fade after a while so renew the scent with cedar oil drops. Cedar blocks can also be placed throughout the house to help with fleas indoors. They also dislike the scent of lavender, mint, rosemary, and sweet woodruff, so you can use sachets of these herbs in furniture, too. For some more information on this topic and some great products check out Nature’s Pet. Don’t forget, not only will these tips keep your pets safe and healthy but it will keep the kids that love them safe and healthy too!

December 12, 2007 | Food & drink, Health, Pregnancy

Being an Emergency Medical Technician I could give you the medical explanation of why we need iron and what it does for us . I will spare you the medical jargon and just tell you that we need iron because it is an important component in our blood, which we all know we desperately need, and it helps us maintain a healthy immune system. The recommended daily amount varies by web site and is quite controversial but here is an idea of what I have found:

~ 10 mg a day for children, men over 18 and women over 50
~ 15 mg a day for females and lactating women
~ 30 mg a day for pregnant women

Iron is not secreted from the body except for very small amounts through hair, nails and skin so the amount of iron we consume builds up over time. The other obvious way we reduce the iron in our bodies is through blood loss. Having too much iron in your diet (HEMOCHROMATOSIS) can be cause for concern. Most Americans get enough iron in their diet, some get too much, others can be deficient. Those who are most likely deficient are children, pregnant women and those with tested and diagnosed iron deficiencies. The easiest way to find out how much iron is in your blood is by a simple blood test that can be preformed by your doctor. The other ways you can make sure your iron level isn’t too high is to avoid taking iron supplements (unless instructed by your doctor) and by donating blood. Sure, it may involve a little pain, but donating blood serves the dual purpose of ridding your body of excess iron and potentially saving lives.
To keep your iron levels in check, follow a healthy and varied diet! You can find out about iron-rich foods here. If you are into checking labels than see how much iron is in the processed foods you eat. The recommended daily value of iron on labels is 18 mg which unless you are pregnant is more than most adults need (The daily value percentage has not been updated since the 1960’s). So, if the daily value of iron on the label is 10% it really contains closer to 20% of your daily quota. Just double the number to get a closer result.

The skinny on iron? It helps maintain overall blood health and energy levels, but there is such a thing as too much. Your doctor can help you decide what works best for you and whether or not you need supplements.

December 11, 2007 | Outdoors, Health, Organics, Pregnancy

The December issue of Environmental Health Perspectives has an interesting article that links childhood cancers - Acute Leukemia and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma - to the mother’s use of or exposure to pesticides and insecticides during pregnancy.

It’s based on a study done in France that looked at non-agricultural families. This is the first study to test the effects of pesticides and insecticides used in domestic situations, and it found startling results. Even moms who only used pesticides or insecticides once during their pregnancy have children with increased rates of leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In fact, the rate increases two-fold. That’s right, children whose mothers used insecticides inside or outside the home during pregnancy were twice as likely to develop hematopoietic cancers.

What qualifies as pesticides or insecticides? Any chemical-based application of insecticide to rid the home, pets, or garden of crawling or flying pests, any herbicidal ‘weed-killer,’ or any fungicide to get rid of mold. The conclusion therein is that pregnant mommies avoid such products both during the pregnancy and preferably while nursing an infant as well. We might draw similar conclusions that if those chemicals are harmful to the developing fetus, they might also cause due harm on anyone with a suppressed immune system - the elderly, children, or the infirm.

Just another reason to take steps toward the organic side of life.

Note: When I googled hematopoietic cancers, I also came across studies linking these specific cancers to pregnant mommies’ use of chemical hair dyes, consumption of aspartame sweetener, and exposure to ethylene oxide (a sterilizing agent).

December 1, 2007 | Food & drink, Health, Pregnancy

A new study by the Johns Hopkins Blomberg School of Public Health links non-stick cookware to low birthweight in babies. Additionally, a 2004 study they conducted found PFOA (a carcinogen released when the non-stick cookware is heated) in the umblilical chords of 99% of the 300 babies they tested. (Scary, no?) This could be one contributing factor to the sky-rocketing cancer rates in young children.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have suggested that manufacturers remove PFOA from their products by 2015. In the meantime, we should all take steps to avoid PFOA cookware, and pregnant mommies should be extra careful.

If you have cookware that uses PFOA (Teflon, Calphalon, Scanpan, and All Clad), you can avoid some of the dangers by using your cookware at low to moderate heat, and by replacing it every 2 years. The Green Guide has some good suggestions for alternatives in their recent article, Outfitting the Green Kitchen. Another diamond in the rough is Green Pan cookware, as reviewed by Sprig.

November 8, 2007 | Food & drink, Health

Garlic. And lots of it. And raw.  Studies have shown that garlic reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, neutralizes carcinogens, and fights infection.

It isn’t as potent after it’s cooked, so eat it raw if you can stand it. I wouldn’t recommend biting into it like an apple (though I know people who do). But here are a couple ways to try it:

• Crush a clove into olive oil with a bit of lemon juice and use as a salad dressing.
• Crush a couple cloves, mix with a cup of cheese, and add enough mayo to make it stick together. Then stuff a tomato with it, or spread it on a slice of crusty warm bread.

Health, Shopping

A popular, award-winning toy, Aqua Dots, are coated with a chemical that turns into the date-rape drug when ingested. And with the size of these little dots, it’s no wonder that tons of kids have digested them.

Was lead poisoning in toys not enough?  Give me a break. Now a chemical that the human body turns into the ‘date rape’ drug? Parents with children the right age for Aqua Dots (ages 4-8) wouldn’t expect to worry about that for another 10 years. What are they going to find next? Does anyone test any of the toys being imported from China? You can find the fully story at CNN here.

An Israeli news source states that “the toys were supposed to use 1,5-pentanediol, a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead contained the harmful 1,4-butanediol, which is widely used in cleaners and plastics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1999 declared the chemical a Class I Health Hazard, meaning it can cause life-threatening harm.” And so I reiterate - is there no one who tests toys being imported? Especially, these days, from China?

November 7, 2007 | Health, Pregnancy, News

Vogue magazine published an article in their August 2007 issue titled “Infertile Ground” that delves into the potential chemical causes for the alarming rise in infertility rates. In fact, the National Infertility Association quotes that one in eight couples are now infertile, with the rates rising annually. Scary stuff. And for the ladies and gents out there who are trying to have a baby, stats like that are pretty discouraging.

The article looks at environmental factors that contribute to infertility, including - but not limited to - pesticides, plasticizers (bisphenol A and phthalates), surfectants (alkylphenols), artificial fragrances, and flame retardants (PBDEs). Some of these can stir up trouble at 2,000 times less than the EPA regulated amounts. An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 new chemicals enter product lines each year in this country, many of which without adequate testing and without being listed as active ingredients.

The cumulative effect is unknown, but rising rates of certain cancers and rising rates of infertility (which has known ties to some of the chemicals names above) can certainly be blamed partly on the reliance we have on inadequately tested and inadequately controlled chemical substances in our plastics, fabrics, food sources, cleaning products and personal care products - to name a few.

Unfortunately, these chemicals don’t just affect us, they have a devastatingly long term effect on our children. In utero, these chemicals affect the growing baby and cause life-long problems like low sperm count, reproductive failure, and even some mutagenic effects. It’s not pleasant.

The natural question is what each of us can do to protect our families.  Here are some simple steps you can take:

• Check out the SkinDeep cosmetic safety database when it’s time to replace your cosmetics, baby care products, and personal care products.
• Go for the safer plastics when you’re purchasing plastic products - especially when those products will contain food or drink.  Look for the number inside the triangle on the bottom of the container - you want 1, 2, 4, or 5. Avoid 3, 6, and 7.
• Opt for low-VOC paint when possible, and don’t buy flame-retardant fabrics.
• By all means, start replacing your household cleaners with natural alternatives. If you don’t trust diluted vinegar (which really will clean up most messes quite well), try Barefoot Home Essentials, Shaklee, Method, Seventh Generation, or Ecover.

October 29, 2007 | Food & drink, Health

Lindsey over at Finding Contentment in the Suburbs has a great post up about food spending. The issue is, eating healthy, locally-grown, pesticide-free foods is really expensive! And grocery prices are inching up nationally, making the price gap between cheap, preservative-laden foods and healthy, fresh foods even more ridiculous.

There’s an obesity crisis in this country that stems from lots of factors - including a sedentary lifestyle, hours spent in front of the screen (whether it be TV, computer, IPOD, or Playstation, Wii, etc.), larger portion sizes, increased levels of things like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in foods, and the general fact that you can buy potato chips for half the price of fresh fruit.

A family of four can eat affordably on Hamburger Helper, Pasta Roni, and Kraft Mac N Cheese, but their nutritional quality will be next to nill and their midsection is likely to be on the increase. Unfortunately, part of the solution is to spend more time in the kitchen - cooking from scratch, and spend more money on groceries - the fresher the better. But those are two luxuries that not everyone can afford.

Unfortunately I don’t know a better solution. I’m hoping for a bread machine for Christmas. The way we go through bread - 3-4 loaves a week at $2.49 a loaf (when on sale), we should be able to save around $300 a year buy just purchasing the raw ingredients and making it myself. But again, not everyone has the time available to bake their own bread. Or grow their own vegetable garden. Or, frankly, cook meals from scratch (add to that: that the kids will eat).

Anyhow, I encourage you to read Lindsey’s post.  Brainstorm with her (and with me too). What can be done to solve the food crisis?

October 23, 2007 | Health, Lifestyle, News

And this is precisely why we went all-natural. Some tests revealed remarkably high levels of PBDEs (flame retardants) and phthalates (plasticizers - softening agents to make plastic pliable) in a couple children tested with a ‘body burden’ test. It tests the level of industrial chemicals that have permeated the human body.

Tests like those have been done on adults for years, but this is the first report on a body burden test done on children. And the results are frightening. The children’s results were up to seven times the amount of chemicals found in their parents’ bodies.  It makes sense - children breathe more air, drink more water, eat more food than adults do. Their little bodies process it faster.

With rising rates of childhood cancers, asthma, birth defects, and developmental disorders, and no clear reason why,  test results like these are worrisome. PBDEs and phthalates have been linked to neurological and reproductive defects, obesity, and early puberty in lab animals. We’re not entirely clear on what they do to humans. You can read the full article here.

To protect your kids from phthalates, pay close attention to the type of plastics in use in your home.  The PBDEs are a little tougher. They use them all over the place - in fabrics, upholstery, computers and TVs, and all sorts of plastics. You can learn more about them here, but unfortunately they don’t have any clues about how to stay away from them.