Friday, December 31, 2010

Making Your Own Juice

When my son came down with the flu, he CRAVED orange juice. Since we were home for Christmas break and I had the time, I got out one of our juicers and made some REAL orange juice. I don't know how long I've had juicers but this was the first time I made orange juice at home! I just couldn't see feeding him that worthless store bought junk when he really needed something fresh, with vitamins intact so he could get better faster. Luckily, our local grocer had oranges on sale, too, so we actually juiced them cheaper than it would cost to buy the pasteurized stuff at the store. Man, was it yummy!

You might be wondering why I have two juicers. Well, they both were given to me. I know we should be using them more, but the fact is, they ARE a pain to clean, and with my limited time these days it just doesn't happen. If I were to come down with cancer or something, yeah, I would find the time then, wouldn't I? Here are the two I have, both of which work decently. There are better ones on the market according to reviews, but if someone gives YOU a juicer, accept it graciously and see what it will do!
This is the Jack LaLanne juicer. It worked really well on the oranges. I do not leave peels on, since I read that it makes the juice more bitter. I prefer a mechanical juicer to the "break your wrist twisting the orange on it" juicer because the mechanical juicer removes all the pulp. Plus, it gets more juice out!



The other juicer I have is a Juiceman. It works adequately, too. I was just reading a review that complained that it didn't work after daily use for over a year. Well I'm thinking that's not bad for what these machines do! Obviously, your juicer will start failing faster if you juice carrots everyday, which a lot of people do.


Thursday, December 30, 2010

How to Keep your New Year's Resolution

New Year's Day is right around the corner and you know what that means...so is the failure to keep your resolution! Oh, I know; most people don't even bother making them anymore. I'm not sure if it's an "old age" thing or if society has just given up on themselves accomplishing anything in the New Year, but resolutions seem to be a thing of the past.
Nevertheless, it is easier now than ever before to actually KEEP your resolution! (So if you didn't have one, now is a good time to come up with one!) Whether you want to quit smoking, exercise more, eat better, gain confidence, sell more, make more friends, get organized, or find real joy, 2011 can be your best year yet to accomplish your goal(s).
I am speaking from experience and I can tell you THIS WORKS. Instead of going on about something I've already written about, let me share with you the Think Right Now Behavior Modification Program I wrote about on my website. Whether you actually make a resolution or not does not matter. I know we all contemplate our strengths and weaknesses around this time of year, and think about the little changes we can make to improve our lives. So check out this program and see if it's something that might work for you! (It is!) :)

Monday, December 27, 2010

Flu Prevention and Remedy

Last Monday night, my son came down with the flu. He just didn't feel right, but couldn't explain it. Then the fever came. "Ugggghhhhh," I thought. We had neglected to take our Vitamin D for about a week. The first thing I did was give him some D, some C, and put him in bed. The next morning, he stayed home from school, and I continued the Vitamin D and C regimen, taking them myself, as well as giving it to my daughter. That night he got out of bed, speaking in tongues, and then went into the living room and threw up all over the carpet. As I prepared his midnight bath, he asked, "Mommy, am I gonna die?"
"No," I said.
"Is there even a 1% chance?"
"If there was, we would be at the hospital right now."
That's when I realized why people go to the doctor and hospital so often for every little thing. We have been scared by statistics (reported incorrectly) about deaths from flu, and when kids feel that bad we want someone to fix it, lest they become a statistic. The truth is, the flu does feel horrible, but treated correctly, will come and go before you know it.
If TREATED CORRECTLY. My son was fever free by Thursday. Feeling perfectly fine...ready to play...eat...live. This was not a stomach bug, often mislabeled the "flu." This was fever, chills, aches, and delerium. His highest fever that we read was 102.6. That's pretty high for a kid who is normally 97. He also has a history of lung problems...croup as a baby, pneumonia, and asthma (that we nipped in the bud at age 3 with vitamins) so I waited for the secondary infection so many people get after the flu (which is what people actually die from). He doesn't even have a sniffle.
We have liquid Vitamin D at home, so I gave this to my son morning and night. Also, Vitamin C all day. (I did this once when he was 5. That summer he had a fever of 105 and I gave him Vitamin C until he had a really good bowel movement. You can give it until it causes stomach discomfort or loose stools).
I am still flu-free and so is my daughter. If you want to learn more about using Vitamin D, here is another great article from Dr. Mercola:

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Vitamin D According to Dr. Mercola

We've been taking Vitamin D in "large" amounts for the past two years during fall and winter. Though I have two young kids and have historically had a weak immune system, we have been flu free since...I can't remember. Even colds that come up now are gone within a week. In the past, they have dragged on for many weeks. Not to mention, for the first time EVER, both of my kids have been getting "no cavities" reports at the dentist office. This was after YEARS of poor dental health. (See my story on Preventing Cavities in Baby Teeth). So I mention Vitamin D here a lot. It's important. And it's one of those vitamins that keeps getting a bad rap by the sheeple of big pharma. So as long as they keep pushing, I'll keep pushing back. Here's Dr. Mercola's article:

Why the New Vitamin D Recommendations Spell Disaster For Your Health

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Long-term Multivitamin Use in Women Reduces the Risk of Heart Attack

A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the association between multivitamin use and myocardial infarction (MI) in a large population of women.
The study included 31,671 Swedish women with no history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 2,262 women with a history of CVD aged 49–83 years. At the beginning of the study, the women completed a questionnaire regarding dietary supplement use, diet, and lifestyle factors. Multivitamins were estimated to contain nutrients close to recommended daily allowances.
During an average of 10.2 years of follow-up, 932 MI cases were identified in the CVD-free group and 269 cases in the CVD group. In the CVD-free group, use of multivitamins only, compared with no use of supplements, was associated with a 27% decreased risk of CVD. When multivitamins were used in conjunction with other supplements, the risk of CVD was decreased by 30%. In those that used only supplements other than multivitamins the reduction in risk was much smaller at only 7%. In women that used multivitamins for more than 5 years there was a 41% reduction in risk of CVD.

This research showed that the use of multivitamins was inversely associated with MI, especially among long-term users with no history of CVD. Rautiainen S, Akesson A, Levitan EB, Morgenstern R, Mittleman MA, Wolk A. Multivitamin us and the risk of myocardial infarction: a population-based cohort of Swedish women. 2010. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 92, (5), 1251-6.
**I personally know a woman who suffered from congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy who was rescued by a "friend with a bag of vitamins." The trick is to find high quality, bio-available pills (not the ones that cost $5.99 a bottle on the grocery store shelf.) I can tell you that it takes a lot of CO-Q10 and grape seed extract as well. My friend was at home waiting to die, and that was many years ago. He heart health returned to better than "normal"!

High-Dose Vitamin D Use Questioned by "Experts"

This morning when I woke up I remembered hearing a blurb last week on my local news channel about Vitamin D use not being as positive as many had proclaimed. I missed the news that night, so I Googled it to see if I could find an article online. As I read the article, I realized THIS is why I have a blog to mention these things; for the mainstream people who will believe it without a second thought. Read the article. Just in case they decided to remove comments, I have posted the comments that are there as of this morning. There may be more when you read the article, but here are the first ones...
wbgrant at 8:12 AM December 4, 2010
What is overlooked in this story is that the federal agencies that sponsored the study, the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, etc., severely limited the types of studies that could be considered by the panel. They permitted randomized controlled trials and prospective studies where a single value of blood level vitamin D was made and disease outcomes determined for up to 15 years of follow up. They did not permit case-control studies with blood level vitamin D measured at time of disease diagnosis or ecological studies that use solar ultraviolet B doses as the index of vitamin D production. The permitted studies are generally quite weak while the denied studies are generally strong. Thus, by setting the conditions of the study, the sponsors determined the findings. Many other reviews have found beneficial effects for vitamin D. The interested reader can find such reviews on the Web. There are about 100 diseases for which beneficial effects of vitamin have been identified.
Sunlight Caller at 8:23 AM December 4, 2010
"Vitamin" D is a steroid hormone when metabolized. Because it is a steroid hormone it is orders of magnitude more complex and essential in human function. The most difficult, troublesome medical conditions are often treated with such steroids as either a last resort, or lack of any other medication or procedure which will provide therapeutic benefit.
All other significant steroid hormone medications are available by prescription only. Thus vitamin D, essentially free, presents a problem to the general medical community because it is beyond their control.
Pharmaceutical companies clearly recognize mountains of compelling evidence that confirm vitamin D's obvious benefit in those suffering from a nearly endless list of chronic and acute diseases. This fact makes their profit projections unstable at best. The possibility of widespread use of a low cost alternative to expensive and marginally effective prescription medications is a threat unequaled on their collective radar.
Ultimately the Board has ignored evolution in a comical fashion. It is well know that the human body produces 10-20,000 i.u. in barely 15 minutes of high angle sun exposure. 10-20,000 i.u. naturally, daily, and yet the board cautions that "too much" vitamin D is harmful?
Profits and control are the real issues here.
Ed in Socal at 9:25 AM December 4, 2010
What hasn't been stated is that the "Institute of Medicine" is a Washington DC-based lobbying firm. Members of its board include the CEO of Merck, etc. The so-called study was sponsored and its data provided by onlt major pharmaceutical companies. The report itself was written by employees at Pfizer. The report is clearly a blatant lie designed solely to dissuade the citizenry from taking preventative steps to avoid the very diseases big pharma makes its money by 'treating' with the drugs it manufacturers. The activity by the "Institute of Medicine" is despicable and possibly criminal. The report should be considered worthless, except as evidence against big pharma. That the press reports this as important new guidelines from a quasi-government agency illustrates that the press, as usual, isn't vetting the press releases it prints as news.
AJ2011 at 10:44 AM December 4, 2010
Melissa - it's ironic that you present such a pre-concluded position on vitamin D BEFORE any of the very studies you mention are completed! Your argument is essentially reduced to name-calling as you arbitrarily label certain vitamin D doses as "mega doses" while making NO MENTION of actual 25(OH) vitamin D blood serum levels. It is nonsensical to establish dose recommendations or "limits" without looking at blood levels and the associated epidemiology. See www.uctv.tv/vitamind/ and watch actual scientists from recognized medical schools show the correlation of chronic diseases. They repeatedly show a drastic reduction of cancer incidence & mortality for those with a 25(OH) D level of 40-60 ng/ml, which is (post unfinished)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Help Me PLEASE!!!!!

Please click this link to vote for my entry to win a Springfree trampoline for my kids. I promised them one at Christmas, which is right about when child support stopped coming... Yeah, I chose to keep feeding them instead of getting a trampoline... I know it's a novel idea...

PLEASE VOTE!!!!!

http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/36453/voteable_entries/5450701?order=recency&view_entries=1

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Kids' Drinks Cause Cancer?

This weekend I ended up with the extra "Kool-Aid Jammers" that were given as snacks after my daughter's ball game. There are no ingredients listed on the individual pouch (similar to "Capri Sun," so I had to look them up since both of my kids can't have aspartame. Boy, did I step into a mine field!!

It turns out, the Jammers, among many other drinks, contain chemicals that form benzene (a carcinogen) when mixed together. You can read more here:

Benzene in Soft Drinks

If you think this story doesn't apply to you, see this list of other offenders before you click away:

Partial List of Soft Drinks Containing Ascorbic Acid and Potassium or Sodium Benzoate (Make sure you check current ingredients, as the makers may have changed them since this article was written)
Country Time Lemonade
Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange
Diet Pepsi Twist
Diet Pepsi Vanilla
Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry
Diet RockStar Energy Drink
Fanta - Orange
Fanta - Pineapple
Fruit20 Plus 10 Natural Apple
Giant Fruity Punch Cooler
Hawaiian Punch - Fruit Juicy Red
Hawaiian Punch - Lemonade
HiC Blast - Berry Blue
HiC Blast - Fruit Pow
HiC Blast - Orange Super Nova
Koolaid Jammers - Blue Raspberry
Koolaid Jammers - Cherry
Koolaid Jammers - Grape
Koolaid Jammers - Orange
Koolaid Jammers 10 - Cherry
Koolaid Jammers 10 - Kiwi Strawberry
Koolaid Jammers 10 - Tropical Punch
Lo-Carb Monster Energy
Minute Maid – Tropical Citrus
Monster Energy
Mug Root Beer
Pepsi Twist Lemon
Pepsi Vanilla
RockStar Energy Drink
Sierra Mist
Sierra Mist Free
Sunkist
Sunny D
Sunny D Baja
Sunny D Intense Sport Cool Punch
Sunny D Orange-Fused Strawberry
Sunny D Smooth
Sunny D Smooth + Calcium
Talking Rain sparkling water - Black Raspberry
Talking Rain sparkling water - Harvest Peach
Talking Rain sparkling water - Orange Mango
Talking Rain sparkling water - Pink Grapefruit
Tampico Citrus Punch
Tampico Grape Punch
Tampico Tropical Punch
Tropicana Lemonade
Tropicana Orangeade
Tropicana Pink Lemonade
Tropicana Strawberry Melon
Tropicana Twister Diet Soda (Diet Orange)
Tropicana Twister Soda – Grape
Tropicana Twister Soda – Orange
Tropicana Twister Soda – Strawberry

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Cancer and the REAL Leading Cause of Death

In less than an hour, I went from reading a purely innocent article entitled, "How Your Endocrine System is Being Harmed by the Top 5 Home Toxins," to re-discovering a truth I forgot I knew about the real leading cause of death to Americans. First, regarding the article, it is very informative regarding the toxins we bring into our home. For approximately 3-4 years I've kept air purifiers in my home for allergies as well as keeping other toxins and contaminants out of the air. Most people don't realize that lung cancer is actually the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. (But not the leading cause of death...)
I then ended up at another article, "What Caused a Dramatic Drop in Breast Cancer … Plus Top 11 Things You Can do to Lower Your Risk Even More …" It is a great article reminding us all that we do have some control over whether or not we get breast cancer, and if we do, the best way to help fight it.
The "C Word" is something we all fear. We participate in Relay for Life, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, and the Avon 3 Day walk. In the world of public relations, breast cancer especially has gotten a pretty good name for itself, don't you think? But has it earned that right? Looking at projected statistics for 2010, 19% of breast cancer patients will die. But 71% of lung cancer patients will die. Hmmmm. All that hype going toward "breast cancer" and what's really getting us is lung cancer. Perhaps you can say that all the hype has led to better success rates for breast cancer, but I don't think so. And if that were so, why not do the same now for lung cancer?
I watched a new Christiane Northrup lecture on PBS last weekend called, "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom." She clarified something for me about self breast exams and why studies recently showed that women should stop doing them. Women who did self-exams found more tumors, including malignant ones, and detected some cancers earlier, but there was no significant difference in death rates. According to Dr. Northrup, "early detection" leads to finding cancers that would often go away on their own. She suggested that we take care of our bodies properly, and listen to them because we often get that gut feeling when something is really wrong. If you count all these "baby tumors" as breast cancer, you can see why the survival rate would be good...because the women having them wouldn't have died from the cancer at all. As a matter of fact, I just read somewhere and can't find the source, that cancers are often found during autopsies, where the cause of death was natural. So it's not uncommon to have cancer in our bodies that doesn't affect us at all. But if we start cutting out and attacking every lump or bump, I'm sure the "treatment" will eventually kill us. I highly suggest finding Dr. Northrup's lecture on your local PBS channel!
Now to the real reason I sat down to write. I still haven't shared the leading cause of death. If you have paid attention at all during the last 10 years or so, you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death.
Studies show that few women identify heart disease as their top cause of death. Significantly more women fear breast cancer over heart disease. Yet more women die from heart disease each year than from all cancers combined.
Whether you are a man or a woman, your chance of having cardiovascular disease (and dying from it) are greater than ALL cancers combined. So why is it that we fear the "C Word" so often and then get sneaked up on by a heart attack?! It all comes down to public relations (PR). Whether more money has gone into cancer campaigns, or their campaigns have been more effective, I don't know. But somehow we have grown this massive misconception in our country that cancer is what's going to get us. Perhaps believing that, and then believing that it is something out of our control is the reason so many people live like they do. I don't know.... Perhaps because the treatment for cancer is more dramatic and prolonged, it has garnered the sympathy donations, leading to more PR. It really has a life of it's own, and well, heart disease is something "old" people get and they just die and go away. Sorry to be blunt, but isn't that what's happening here?
If you look at the numbers, it is sad. The American Cancer Society only puts 15% of its funds toward research, but I would bet that most people think otherwise when they donate. The American Heart Association puts 20.8% toward research, but an impressive 40% toward public education. I also just read that the American Heart Association does not receive federal funding (although they do help other organizations receive funding for programs), and one of the goals for the American Cancer Society is to get MORE federal funding!
The point to all this is...we are each responsible for our own bodies. Our doctors, researchers, parents, or kids are not responsible for what we put in our mouths daily, whether we smoke, the air that we breathe or the toxins we invite into our homes. Giving money is not going to keep you alive, but spending that money on your own health WILL. And KNOW THE REAL DANGER FOR YOU. If you have hypertension, cholesterol problems, chest pains, or other little known heart symptoms, you should probably be more concerned about heart health than fearing cancer!
P.S. Eat your veggies!

Monday, June 14, 2010

The Problem with "Health Care"

The problem with health care is plain and simple...it is...PEOPLE. Yes, PEOPLE, and I'll back that up with examples...
People want to eat crap all day long, wash it down with something like pop, alcohol, or even toxin-laden water, and as long as their bellies are full, they are happy as can be. They want to drink to drunkeness, smoke cigarettes, sit on their butts watching television all evening, and wake up the next day and do it all over. People LOVE feeding junk food to their kids and wouldn't dare make them eat healthy food...because they don't eat it themselves. They are fed candy, soda, cookies, and french fries, and if they are lucky, they might get a veggie- corn- once a week. Almost everything kids drink has "sugar" or "high fructose corn syrup" in the first two ingredients, and when they DO drink milk, it's pasteurized and homogenized, making it practically useless. Kids then are given life-altering vaccinations that "people" trust are good for them, not really ever looking at the consequences, because they are sure someone has already done that, and our government SURELY wouldn't do anything harmful to our kids.
When people are sick, they just go to the doctor to get a pill, and if God forbid the doctor says ANYTHING about their weight, they will complain to anyone who will listen for at least two weeks. The problem is, SO many people are sick these days, because of diet, bad habits, and laziness, that it has tipped our health care system upside down. These sick, lazy people expect healthy people who eat right and exercise to pick up their tab. Which is essentially what "insurance" is doing; taking money from everyone to help pay for the sick. And unfortunately, the economically disadvantaged are usually the ones out of work, who smoke, drink, and feed their families crap.
Don't get me wrong. My mother told me a long time ago, "Just because you have no money doesn't mean you don't take care of what you've got." And we didn't have much growing up. But times have changed. Parents have gotten lazy, people have been handed too much, and nobody wants to work for anything anymore. It is much easier to sit on your front porch missing teeth, smoking a Marlboro, and swigging on that 40.
The people who are really getting jacked are the children who are born with diseases or birth defects, who can't get coverage because the insurance companies are panicking over all the other crap they have to pay out for. When our kid gets an ear infection we want to pay a $10 copay to the doctor, and pay $5 for the antibiotic. When our kid has the sniffles, we rush him to the doctor. I can't believe all the times I've heard parents say they were taking their kids to the doctor! You have to be bloody or blue in my house to warrant a doctor visit, and there'd BETTER be something seriously wrong with you!
We have been spoiled with employer-paid coverage and expect it to keep going. We blame corporations for not dishing out. Granted there are some companies that can pay and don't. There are others that can't, or they'd go out of business. You have the freedom in this country to get a job that provides good insurance, or start your own business and make enough money to afford your own coverage. And you'd better sit down for this. You know all that money you raise for your favorite health organizations like the American Cancer Society? Their employees have AWESOME insurance! So while you are barely scraping by paying premiums and still trying to keep enough in your pocket to actually go to the doctor if you need to, you are helping others have it better than you!
So before you blame the insurance companies, the government, the corporations and illegal immigrants (don't get me started on THAT!) take a look around at all the sick people you know who can afford their crappy lifestyle, and then think about people like me who make every effort to eat healthy, drink pure water, breathe clean air, exercise, and avoid toxins, who are paying insurance premiums "just in case" and getting pretty much nothing in return.
Health care begins at home. It starts with what you put in your grocery cart and stock in your fridge. Until people get that right, we will ALWAYS be in dire straits when it comes to health care. People need to wake up and be held accountable for their futures. Instead of saying, "help me," help yourself and make a change...because the alternative is no longer an option.

Drinking Water Quality in Schools

My children were schooled for the first time this spring, after being homeschooled for 3-4 years. About 6 weeks after starting school, they both began to complain about stomach aches. Before they ate, after they ate, and any time in between, I heard the complaints often. At first I blamed the poor quality food they received at lunch. About a week after summer vacation started, I noticed that the complaints stopped. Now I'm not sure what caused the problem, but I'm growing suspicious of the water at the school. At home, we drink distilled water. Our community is known for high nitrate water, and with old pipes at the school we could be talking about lead or copper levels beyond what children should be drinking.
So I started wondering. I was told at some point that restaurants are required to filter their drinking water. I don't know if this is true or not, but from my research I have discovered no such protection for children in schools. As a matter of fact, I found scary stuff that makes me look into this matter further. Here are some links I found if you would like to read more. Keep in mind as you read that the EPA allows a certain level of contaminants in municipal drinking water. As a parent of young kids with developing minds and bodies, I do not agree that they should be drinking ANY level of contaminants.
Also, I do not believe that we should demand that the government spend millions of dollars to fix OUR children's drinking water. My point is that I want to know how bad the water is and if there is anything in place to clean it. If not, the community needs to come up with a solution. I will be writing more on this in the future!

Drinking Water Unsafe at Thousands of Schools

Senate Hearing on Safer School Water Quality Standards with EPA

EPA announces new policies on water quality at schools

Drinking Water Testing and InformationFor Water Well Homeowners, Private Water Well Owners, Realtors, Plumbing Contractors, Water Well Drillers

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Raw Cow's Milk is the Cat's Meeeeeooooww

A few weeks ago we took in a kitten that I have now decided was weaned too early. The poor thing is suckling on my fingers, knuckles, toes, and even elbows! I discovered that he really loved licking the bowl of my morning breakfast- raw cow's milk yogurt- so I gave him that luxury. Then I decided to feed him some milk from a dropper to see what he would do. Meeeeoooowwwww!
Now whenever he even sees the milk carton he meows like crazy and demands MORE! We don't give him much, but it really seems to help calm him down. This is not the milk you get at the grocery store. It is raw milk from grass fed cows. And despite what you will read all over the internet about "milk," it has not given him diarrhea at all! I was actually doing some research on it when I realized that it's been a long time since I've hollered out to the internet world, "HEY YOU! Raw cow's milk is good for you and you should drink it everyday!"
We've been consuming raw dairy in our house for about 4 years. I have never been healthier. My cholesterol is low, and with my adrenal gland issues, I've actually read that red meat, salt, and raw dairy is perfect for me. (Good thing I don't listen to conventional wisdom because I would probably be dead by now!)
If you have never tried raw milk, do not write off "milk" because of lactose intolerance. And definitely don't write it off just because some goon on the internet says, "cow's milk is for cows, not humans." Some of us need it very much, and there are many life affirming properties that you can get from real, raw, unprocessed milk. Here is a starter article I have found that might help your research, because really, don't just listen to me either...
Raw Milk
by Tom Cowan, MD

Friday, June 11, 2010

Shower Filters

When I was younger I thought of shower filters as more of a luxury item. They were for people who wanted softer skin and softer hair, without having to lather on lotions or conditioners. As I got older, and the internet came into my life, I learned a lot more about the dangers of chlorine in shower water and its implications to human health.
When I was younger, we also all thought that toxins or chemicals could only enter the body if we swallowed them. We now know that the skin allows what we put on it to enter the body. With that discovery, we should realize that there are some changes to our daily lives that need to happen if we want to protect our DNA and keep our cells from mutating into things like cancer.
The best way to protect yourself from known carcinogens (like chloroform) is to use a good shower filter on your daily shower. For short term effects, your skin and hair will be softer. Even better, those with asthma or COPD will be protected from the harmful affects of chloramines in regular municipal tap water. When water is heated and we breathe in the steam, that steam contains chlorine by-products and any other contaminant that might be in the water. We breathe it in, where it goes into our lungs and directly into our blood stream.
"I have well water" is no excuse to not filter your shower. All water coming into your house will have something in it that your body doesn't need. Showerwise shower filters reduce iron, lead, arsenic, mercury, hydrogen sulfide, several types of bacteria, algae, fungi and mold.
If you know someone who is battling cancer, the Showerwise is an excellent "get well" gift. And if you want to do your best to prevent it in your family, a Showerwise is a definite necessity.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Chemical-Free Progesterone Cream Testimony

If you are male, sorry, this will be TMI. If you are a wonderful boyfriend or husband, this information might just help your girlfriend or wife, so listen up!! :)

Sometime before my 38th birthday, I noticed that my periods weren't as "normal" as they used to be. Instead of every 28 days, they were more like every 21-23 days. Then I noticed that I had spotting, almost every day in between my periods. As someone who had a regular period every 28 days since the age 11 (except for pregnancies), I knew that it was probably time for "the change." For many women, "the change" can take place over a ten year period (no pun intended), when menstruation finally ceases. This time period is known as "peri-menopause."

If you or your woman is in her mid-30s and beginning to have varying cycles, it is probably peri-menopause. But here's the problem...it's a freaking PAIN in the neck. I ruined so many pairs of panties from continual spotting and refusing to use any pads or liners. I just knew I would stop spotting, but I never did. Finally, I had a period show up that I wasn't even sure was my period because I had spotted the whole month. But seven days later, when I was still bleeding through SUPER absorbent tampons, I knew this was either a much heavier than normal period, or I was bleeding to death!

That is where I finally drew the line and decided to try progesterone cream. After the very first month, things went back to normal. My periods went back to a 28 day cycle, and the spotting ceased within the month. Of course, there are many other benefits of progesterone cream, and if you are having other symptoms that you feel may be related to a hormone imbalance associated with peri-menopause, click on the image below to learn a whole lot more about progesterone cream and how it might help you! Don't wait until you have to replace all your panties, and don't wait for your man to Google, "What is wrong with my hormonal woman?"

Monday, April 19, 2010

No Deaths from Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids or Herbs

As we all argue about health care reform, what are we really fighting for? The ability to get prescriptions cheaper that are killing us daily? As we fight about who is entitled to health care, the monsters in control quietly work at removing our freedoms to take supplements that provide health benefits... read the article

The FDA Shuts Down Common Infant Vaccine After Startling Discovery

“U.S. federal health authorities recommended … that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the U.S. against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus,” CNN reports. (Read more...)

Sadly, this is an example of a vaccine that really isn't neccesary for U.S. children or those in developed countries. If you do vaccinate your kids, make sure that they are getting what you really think they need, and not every vaccine on the market. It is YOUR child...not the doctor's and NOT the government's. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Great Article on MSG Dangers

I've always been careful about food choices, but ever since Jamie Oliver has jumped into our living room, I've become even more careful than usual. Obesity has numerous causes, including overeating, of course. But making better food choices is more important now, more than ever before. Making the wrong choices can actually alter your brain, leading to more obesity!

Studies show MSG fed Mice became Grossly Obese

Make sure you read the comments at the bottom as well!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Liver Scarring

There has been a lot in the media about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) recently and if you weren't aware of this, you may have caught the commercial on TV stating how HFCS is just like sugar. Well, it's not. Don't believe everything you see on commercials...unless it's those numerous side effects for drugs that you "might" get (you WILL) and always double check the information to see for yourself. You can be that if there is a commercial, they are spending that money for a reason, and sometimes it IS to pull the wool over your eyes. Here is one article:

High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Liver Scarring

And if you've missed other HFCS information, here's one from 2007 from Dr. Mercola:
How High Fructose Corn Syrup Damages Your Body

There is something in that first article that I don't agree with. The author refers to the solution to heart disease as being a low-fat diet. That is simply not true. Most people these days realize that we have to consume the RIGHT fats, in proportional amounts. But I'm pretty sure Americans on "low fat" diets have proven that they lead to "high carb" diets which are MUCH worse for you. Look at our obesity epidemic for proof...
If you are a parent of young children, check these foods for HFCS and buy alternatives! If you think of some that I'm not listing, please comment and mention them!
jelly/jam, catsup (or Ketchup), soft drinks, syrup, barbecue sauces, salad dressings, baked goods, cereals
You can find alternative jelly, catsup and real maple syrup in your natural foods section.