Important info on SUNSCREEN

Well just as with EVERYTHING else...we have to be cautious with sunscreen! Briefly I will cover the basics on how to choose a sunscreen.

AVOID these ingredients:

Oxybenzone-a synthetic estrogen that penetrates skin and contaminates the body

Vitamin A- eating vitamin A is good for you, spreading it on your skin may not be. New data shows that tumors and lesions develop sooner on skin coated with vatamin A. It is listed as "retinyl palmitate" on ingredient labels and is in 41% of sunscreens.


LOOK for these ingredients:

Zinc, titanium dioxide, avobenzone, or mexoryl sx

Top sunscreens: All Terrain, Badger, Beyond Coastal, California Baby, Caribbean Solutions, Desert Essence, Jason Natural

Bad sunscreens: Ocean Potion, Panama Jack, No-Ad, Neutrogena, Hawaiian Tropic, Coppertone, Banana Boat, Bull Frog

Personal Care/Beauty Products

I just had to touch on this a bit....I know it's already a bit overwelming with the harmful things in our food and here I go moving forward to personal care/beauty products. This is just as important! Do you remember that our skin is our largest organ? What we put on our skin in absorbed into our bodies, chemicals and all. The downside is that SO MANY of these chemicals are linked to so many different health problems.

Over the last 100 years, the rate of cancer in the U.S. has sky-rocketed from 1 out of 800 people diagnosed, to 1 out of 3 today. Are you Wondering WHY?

List of some ingredients to avoid in beauty products:

PROPYLENE GLYCOL

Called a humectant in cosmetics, it is really "industrial anti-freeze" and the major ingredient in brake and hydraulic fluid. Tests show it can be a strong skin irritant. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) on Propylene Glycol warn to avoid skin contact as it is systemic and can cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage.

PETROLATUM, PETROLEUM, MINERAL OIL

Comes from crude oil (petroleum) used in industry as metal cutting fluid. May suffocate the skin by forming an oil film. Healthy skin needs to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. This process should not be inhibited. Holding large amounts of moisture in the skin can "flood" the biology, and may result in immature, unhealthy, sensitive skin that dries out easily. SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) and

SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (SLES) (MSDS)
Potentially, SLS is perhaps the most harmful ingredient in personal-care products. SLS is used in testing-labs as the standard skin irritant to compare the healing properties of other ingredients. Industrial uses of SLS include: garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers and car wash soaps. Studies show its danger potential to be great, when used in personal-care products. Research has shown that SLS and SLES may cause potentially carcinogenic nitrates and dioxins to form in the bottles of shampoos and cleansers by reacting with commonly used ingredients found in many products. Large amounts of nitrates may enter the blood system from just one shampooing.

Sodium Fluoride (MSDS) - used as Rat poison, do you want it in your toothpaste?

Cocoamide DEA, TEA, MEA, (MSDS), diethanolamine, triethanolamine, sudsing agents, known carcinogens, seen on CBS News in 1998.

GLYCERIN (synthetic)(MSDS)
Draws moisture from inside the skin, and holds it on the surface for a better "feel". Dries skin from the inside out. Listed on MSDS as hazardous

Titanium Dioxide (MSDS) -now FINALLY declared a carcinogen, 2001 Long-term exposure to titanium dioxide dust may result in mild fibrosis (scarring of the lungs).
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Produce: your fruit and veggies~know what you are consuming!

If you're eating non-organic celery today, you may be ingesting 67 pesticides with it, according to a new report from the Environmental Working Group. In this posting I will be informing you of the fruits/veggies that you will want to be sure to buy organic.

To the extent you can afford to do so, you should simply buy organic, because there have been some very good studies that shows people who eat mostly organic food reduce 95 percent of pesticides in their body in two weeks.



The Dirty Dozen: (These you want to be sure to buy organic)

Celery

Peaches

Strawberries

Apples

Domestic blueberries

Nectarines

Sweet bell peppers

Spinach, kale and collard greens

Cherries

Potatoes

Imported grapes

Lettuce

Not all non-organic fruits and vegetables have a high pesticide level. Some produce has a strong outer layer that provides a defense against pesticide contamination. The group found a number of non-organic fruits and vegetables dubbed the "Clean 15" that contained little to no pesticides.

The Clean 15

Onions

Avocados

Sweet corn

Pineapples

Mango

Sweet peas

Asparagus

Kiwi fruit

Cabbage

Eggplant

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

Grapefruit

Sweet potatoes

Sweet onions

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Although the President's Cancer Panel recently recommended that consumers eat produce without pesticides to reduce their risk of getting cancer and other diseases, the low levels of pesticides found on even the Dirty Dozen are government-approved amounts.

Can small amounts of pesticides hurt you?

The government says that consuming pesticides in low amounts doesn't harm you, but some studies show an association between pesticides and health problems such as cancer, attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder and nervous system disorders and say exposure could weaken immune systems.

The Environmental Working Group acknowledges that data from long-term studies aren't available but warns consumers of the potential dangers.

"Pesticides are designed to kill things. Why wait for 20 years to discover they are bad for us?"

Some doctors warn that children's growing brains are the most vulnerable to pesticides in food.

"A kid's brain goes through extraordinary development, and if pesticides get into the brain, it can cause damage," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

If you are unable to purchase organic produce, you can soak fruits/veggies in 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water for about 10 minutes.

Pravana~ hair product line free of harsh chemicals, that I carry in my salon

The Suite at Image by Design Studios Here is a little info about PRAVANA to give you all a little background on the company and what they are about. We LOVE everything we have tried so far. It's not too pricey either! It's a higher end product at an affordable price due to the fact they don't do a ton of marketing and design. Check it out!

The founder of Pravana Natraceuticals, Steve Goddard, is a 30 year veteran of the hair industry and former CEO of Wella, former platform artist and Senior Vice President for Redken. Not content with being a mere hair stylist or business genius, Goddard believes that hairdressing has evolved and transcended the status quo, to encompass what needs to be a holistic approach to hair care that enhances both your inner and outer beauty. Enter Pravana Natraceuticals. A unique fusion of European sophistication, ancient Mayan botanicals and innovative American technology, the entire collection is infused with a proprietary blend of human hair keratin amino acids, silk amino acids, and hydrolyzed wheat protein to strenghten and fortify hair from the inside out. There are still a huge number of conventional hair care brands using sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulphate or sulphate based cleansing agents that are drying to the hair and can strip color. Other hazardous ingredients include Centrimonium chloride, and MEA + DEA which are both suspected carcinogens. Pravana Natraceuticals is free of all sulphates, parabens and other harmful ingredients, and all colors are plant-based. The best of science and the best of nature. Does it get any better?

Just to let you know those hazardous ingredients can cause various health complications such as thyroid, and Cosmetics contain synthetic chemical preservatives known as parabens, which can exert estrogenic activity on breast cells. Cosmetic ingredients are readily absorbed through skin where they can enter the bloodstream, reach breast cells, and lead to the development of malignant tumors. Paraben preservatives are not always listed as an ingredient on antiperspirant deodorant product labels. The manufacturer may hide it under "fragrance," a collective term which covers over 2,000 different chemicals including carcinogens and other toxins. Parabens are found in many other personal care products including foaming cleansers, body mists, body lotions, lipsticks, skin creams, shower gels, hand lotions, moisturizers, and lip glosses. ~Just a little FYI for you all! Read your ingredients....

Organics: where my interest began

For me, being pregnant and totally incharge of the life inside me, I wanted to make healthier choices. I began reading various things and I found that back in 91-92 they started putting hormones in the animals so that they would grow bigger faster and they could profit off of it faster. These same hormones that were being injuected to these animals were also being injested by whoever ate meat, and worst of all, the person eating it hadn't a clue. I recall girls in elementary school developing so early. Many of them were on the chunky side and it had a lot to do with what was in the meat they were eating. So with reading a little about that, I quickly made the decision to feed my child differently. I wanted to educate myself and find out as much as possible. I decided to start with meat and dairy first. I remember my mom picking up some meat, milk, cheese, and eggs and I was excited for the change. When Mom told me what I owed her for the items she had purchased for me, I guess you could say I had a bit of "sticker shock", I normally went to Food Lion!! I know--thinking about it now makes me nauseous--MEAT from Food Lion??? Some of you may shop there, and that's okay, you probably are clueless about where there meat comes from or what is even in any of the food you are eating. I will never forget the words that Mom passed on to me that had just been said to her..."you pay now or you can pay later" those are the words are so true. I have heard so many say, " ya gotta die somehow." I don't anyone really wants to face the possibility of death if in fact, it can be prevented. I want to live a long healthy life and I want the same for my loved ones.

Ava will be 5 on June the 19th. She has been only been to the doctor twice other than her well visits. The two times she had to go it was for an ear infection and was because she was around kids at preschool for the first time. When I took her for her 4 year old check-up, the doctor took some blood and checked her cholesterol and other things and he said to me, "She is one of our healthiest patients" That made me feel really good. All my organic groceries are paying off!!!

I am sure you are wondering if we ever eat anything that's not organic. We do sometimes but not very often. If we eat fast food, it's always Chic-fil-a, and what's funny is that Ava only eats chicken and gets water to drink, she doesn't really care for fries. Another thing that Ava likes to indulge in is Sweet Sixteen donuts or the powdered munckins from Dunkin Donuts. So we will occassionally do that. It's all about moderation. As long as you are getting enough of the good stuff, having a treat occasionally is just fine.

I do most of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods and I pick of other odds and ends at Lowe's foods. Whole Foods is my absolute favorite!!! Mom likes Trader Joes, it's a good store, it's just a little small, prices are awesome though. Kroger is another store you can pick up organic groceries from. At Whole Foods you don't have to worry about reading the ingredients because they have already done that for you. Everything they sale in that store has been thouroughly checked out, as well as the place that it comes from.

Speaking of where things come from...So you don't have to buy organic meat if you shop at Whole Foods because we know for sure that those animals have been checked out from their living conditions to what they eat. The only difference between that and organic meat is that the with the organic meat, they were fed organic grains. If you are at another store such as Walmart or Lowe's Food even, and the package says that it's "natural", "hormone free", "cage free"--DON'T believe it!!! There are no regulations as to what they have printed on the package. SO unless it says USDA Organic OR you are at Whole Foods, don't buy it! Why??? You should watch the documentary, "FOOD INC" you will never want to buy anything but the good stuff after that. It's good to know WHERE your food comes from and if you don't know, as long as someone else knows, that's all that matters!!! These companies like Tyson and Perdue, treat their animals inhumane! Even if you don't care about how they are treated, you will care about how they are living. These Chickens are packed into these tiny coupes all on top of each other and standing in their own feces. They feed then this man made corn feed and feed them so much, they want their breast to get really big, they keep feeding them until their little chicken legs can't hold them up anymore and then they toss them out by their necks. Very sad, I know! The cows are also fed the same type stuff and they are living on top of each other and in their own feces as well. These tight,soiled living arrangements is where e-coli tends to come from. So I def want to know where my meat is coming from and to make sure they live humanely.

We do not eat anything or have anything in our kitchen that has high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor, artificial color, hydrogenated oils, partially hydrogenated oils, enriched flour, trans fats, GMO's (genetically modified ingredients), corn syrup solids, dextrose, anything hydrolyzed or autolyzed, sodium nitrates, or yeast extracts. I read every label before I buy it and I make sure that I don't put any of those things in our bodies.

HYDROGENATED OILS OR PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS~they are terrible for the body b/c they take the healthy oil and add hydrogen to it so that the molecules go from soft to rigid. By doing so, this allows foods to have a really long shelf life. This is like having an insurance policy for stock that is in the stores b/c of the long expiration date. Once hydrogen is added to the oil to make things such as crisco, our bodies cannot break it down and use it for energy. It ends up being stored in our arteries and thighs. A very good visual of that is thinking about what happens when you pour hot bacon grease down the drain with cold or no running water, it clogs up the drain and it not a good thing. Be sure to use only pure oils b/c our bodies can handle that. i.e. canola, sesame, olive, etc.

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP- these is almost in every conventional product out there. Recently I have notices on a syrup and ketchup bottle that says on the front that there is no H.F.C. syrup. These companies are most likely seeing a decline in sales due to consumers becoming aware of what we are eating. HFC syrup is one of the SWEETEST sugars on the market. Just one drop of HFC syrup is equivalent to 1 cup of raw table sugar. It blocks "leptin", a chemical that is released from your brain to tell your brain it's full. HFC syrup wears out the pancreaus which is responsible for releasing insulin to regulate the levels of sugars iin your bloodstream. Damage to the pancreaus is NOT reversible. Keep yourself and your kids hydrated with water and remove soda, energy drinks, any juices with HFC syrup in there. These beverages strip calcium right from the bones.

ENRICHED FLOUR-the process of enrichment strips the flour of the good stuff which allows a longer shelf life. Look for whole grain wheat flour. Also, things that are sprouted or raw.

ANIMAL FAT- comes from 4 legged fat. It fills our arteries with saturated fat which leads to heat disease and other medical issues. Eat meat in moderation and eat a variety of them.

GMO's-genetically modified organisims which are when living organisms such as animal, plants, or bteria are genetically altered through technology. Currently it is NOT madatory to list on the labels if GMO's are present in the product. Organic products, however, are all free GMO's as well as all the other things I have been telliing you about.

GELATIN- eww!!! this is found in gummy bears, jello, pies, & other gummy fruit snacks. Gelatin is made from boiling bones and ligaments from animals. That is gross!

**always remember that the first three ingredients listed will make up the majority of the ingredients listed.

**Ingredients list do NOT have to have listed the chemicals content within the item.

**Food companies also add chemicals to their products that stimulate hunger, these are called excitotoxins.

Exicitotoxins are known to cause:
migrained
seizures
neurological disorders
blurred vision
over eating
impaired brain function
cancer/tumors
heart/cardiovascular issues
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THE DIET OF DEATH: 90% of American's diets consists of the things listed below that are listed on the BAD DIET:

-Primarily dead foods (cooked or microwaved)
-Primary consumes a majority of processed foods (milled, bleach,etc)
-Lacks quantities of fresh living fruits and veggies
-Avoids water and focuses on manufactured sodas/juices/teas
-The diet is very high in processed carbs and sugars
-Contains GMO's
-includes a large sum of processed pasterized dairy products,
-the food is made with a ton of different chemical food additives from MSG to aspartame
-is packaged in toxic food containers (BPA)
-oils (hydrogenated, corn, soy)
-Large # of fried foods cooked at very high temp that destroy nutrients while creating carcinogenic compounds,
-consists of large # of animal products

~these things cause rapid aging, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, alzheimers, and they remain highly susceptible to infectious diseases.
_____________________________________________________________________________________THE HEALTHY LIFE DIET: the good diet:

-consists of primarily fresh, unprocessed plants (fruits, veggies, nuts)
-minimizes the consuption of meat and dairy.
-avoids ALL processed, manufactured foods or beverages OR if you have to use them, do so sparingly.
-consists of a wide variety of different foods so that phytonutrient diversity is high, providing consumers w/ a steady supply of the plant based medicine that prevents disease.
-includes substantial time outdoors, in nature where vitamin D can be created and stored in the body.
-Eliminates or minimizes ALL refined sugars and carbs (i.e. white flour)
Eliminates GMO's
-Avoids soda and sports drink and get adequate hydration from clean water
-Includes nutritional supplement to correct nutrional embalances.
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People often say that eating well costs a lot of money. Whole and organic foods do cost a little more, but if youate a diet rich in whole foods, you would actually feel full for longer and would only need the suggested serving instead of eating several servings of something unhealthy and reaching for more.

If you are thinking of making the change to a healthier diet, do it gradually. Know that this diet is a long term thing, lifestyle change, it's not temporary. That is why it good to start with a couple of things. There are organic versions of most everything that is conventional. Start with meats, dairy, and fresh produce. Make a decision to refuse to buy processed foods, junk food, sodas, and pharmeceuticals. Go outside and get more sunshine, 20-30 minutes a day is perfect. Excersize your brain through doing crossword puzzles or readding.

If you develop any sort of sickness, give you body chance to heal own it's own. Embrace your body's own natural healing potential. When given the right resources-your body can work healing miracles.

I am going to pause here and pick up on the next informative things when I return. I hope you are learning a ton!