Vitamin D Counterthink Cartoon by Natural News

Naturalnews.com

There is a lot of contradicting information on vitamin D out there, especially in the media which seemed to be obessed with attacking it a couple of months ago. Go to http://www.naturalnews.com/028353_vitamin_D_sunlight.html to read their article about vitamin D.

ddA Wake-Up Story by Healthy Child Healthy World

http://healthychild.org/

Please pass this video on. I'm realizing how important this topic is and how little most people know about it so, I'll be posting an article soon on ways to protect children from toxins.

Healthy Cooking | Preserving Nutrients

When it comes retaining food’s nutrients not all cooking methods are created equal. The higher the temperature and the longer food cooks, the more vitamins and enzymes it looses. Some vitamins are more sensitive to heat and air than others like C and B-group vitamins. The most unstable Vitamins are:
• B1 (thiamine)
• B9 (folic acid)
• Vitamin C
Cooking food to the point of browning and charring creates carcinogenic (cancer causing) compounds. The two type of carcinogens are Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). I know, I know, grilled food is soooo good but it’s all about moderation. Limiting consumption of charred vegetables and meats can greatly reduce your risks. Maybe instead of barbecuing say, every Sunday maybe instead do it once a month.

With that being said, the unhealthiest cooking methods are:
• Deep-frying. Most cooking oil is refined and processed with chemicals that removes odor and bleaches it to give it that crystal clear yellow color. Heating oil at high temperatures oxidizes it and creates free radicals. If you do fry use fresh oil each time.
• Boiling. It destroys water soluble vitamins(C and B) and causes minerals to leach out into the water.

The healthiest cooking methods are:
• Steaming. It’s less damaging to vitamins and enzymes and there are no loss of minerals.
• Broiling. Fat can be drained while the meat is cooked.
• Stir-frying. Cooks food very quickly over high heat.
• Dry-frying. Involves using a tiny bit of water until the food you're cooking releases its own juices.
• Oven roasting. It's recommended that you steam food a little first before you put it in the oven so less nutrients are lost.

MSG and Aspartame, Harmful Excitotoxins.

Monosodim glutamate(MSG) and Aspartate are widely used food additive/flavor enhancers. Though good to the taste, these substances are excitotoxins. According to Wikipedia, Excitotoxicity is the pathological process by which nerve cells are damaged and killed by excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters such as glutamate and similar substances. Take heed to the warnings that AdvancedHealthPlan.com has to share on this topic.

It was shocking to my daughter Zay and me, how many items we had to eliminate from our diets once we decided to exclude MSG. And, because we were not aware of the many hidden names until recently, we were still consuming it. Good trick they pulled right? Aspartate.ca lists the hidden names of MSG and Aspartate. Write these names down, and head out to your local store to see what you will be giving up, you will be shocked too.

By Audrey

MSG and Aspartame, Harmful Excitotoxins.

Monosodim glutamate(MSG) and Aspartate are widely used food additive/flavor enhancers. Though good to the taste, these substances are excitotoxins. According to Wikipedia, Excitotoxicity is the pathological process by which nerve cells are damaged and killed by excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters such as glutamate and similar substances. Take heed to the warnings that AdvancedHealthPlan.com has to share on this topic.

It was shocking to my daughter Zay and me, how many items we had to eliminate from our diets once we decided to exclude MSG. And, because we were not aware of the many hidden names until recently, we were still consuming it. Good trick they pulled right? Aspartate.ca lists the hidden names of MSG and Aspartate. Write these names down, and head out to your local store to see what you will be giving up, you will be shocked too.

By Audrey

Join the Fight Against Triclosan

Join  Safecosmetics.org in their effort to ban triclosan. Sign their petition here. The FDA announced Thursday that they’ll be conducting a safety of review triclosan. Triclosan is an antibacterial agent the EPA categorized as a pesticide. It’s found in toys, kitchenware, clothing, and 75% of liquid soaps. Recent animals studies show that triclosan disrupts hormone regulation and has also been linked to bacteria resistance. Please sign the petition and send the links to others.

Sincerely,
Zay

I've been researching ways to save money buying organic food. Like most Americans money is tight so every dollar counts, so we're trying to buy to more organic foods without going to much above our current food budget. Try to limit shopping large organic supermarkets. Grow your own food. Focus on buying things in their natural state. Packaged food can get pretty expensive(especially meals) compared to buying the whole foods or ingredients and making it yourself. Buy in season. Out of season foods are more expensive because their shipped from around the world and there's little available to keep up with the demand. So buying is seasonal is easy on the wallet as well as our ecosystem. Buy in bulk. Apparently bulk retailers like Sams Club have organic food but make sure to only buy things your going to use a lot. Read your labels. Make sure to read the ingredients lists. Many labels say organic on the front, but on the back it says it only contains  about 30% organic or just one or two organic ingredients. U-Pick Farm. Finding a pick-it-yourself farm Pickyourown.org can save you a lot of money imagine paying $1.oo for 1lb of blueberries!. On some farms you don't even have to pay you just give them a portion of your pickins. We are definitely going to do this soon and experiment with freezing and canning. Buy non-certified organic food. Farmers have to go through a transition period of 2 to 3 years before they can become certified. Becoming certified can quite expensive and some simply cannot afford to become certified. Buy store or "off" brands. These brands often have  prices significantly lower than their well known competitors. Plan your meals. This is a great way to avoid unnecessary purchases. We've all have done it, we go to the store buy things that look good and see if we can throw them together and make something that resembles a meal later. Prioritize. Some conventional produce is less likely to test positive for pesticides. The Environmental Working Group has come up with a short list of the cleanest and dirtiest produce. You can print a wallet size list or download the app at  Foodnews.org. Check out Localharvest.org this site will connect you to local sustain-ably grown food. It has Co-ops, Farmers markets, restaurants, online stores, ...everything. We found markets and restaurants in our area we had no idea about. Coupons, coupons, and more coupons.  Go to  Mambosprouts.com this site gives you free coupons, special offers, recipes, and a chance to enter contests and giveaways. Sign up. Visit Kiwimagonline.com here you will not only get coupons for organic food but Eco friendly gadgets as well. last but not least, check out Organicfoodcoupons.com this site gives you links to manufacturers' websites to check for coupons. I hope this helps and if anyone knows other ways to save feel free to share.

Harmful water fluoridation: Old news but still a 'current battle'.

An abundance of research has been conducted on this subject; I was reading more and I learned that a Doctor by the name of Phyllis Mullenix had conducted some  research in 1995. His research showed brain damage in animals exposed to moderate levels of fluoride, and ADD-like symptoms in the offspring of animals exposed to low levels. When tests bring conclusive results of the harmful effects of water flouridation, why is it continued? My daughter Zay has read more research on the topic than I have, so I will ask her to post on the topic,  so come back.

Why Using Natural Cosmetics is Important

“Nearly 90% of ingredients have not been assessed for safety even by the industry's own safety panel” EWG

Researchers at Biosen (a natural deodorant company) found that the average woman applies 515 chemicals through her daily grooming routine. Everyday we load ourselves with chemicals that are known toxins and chemicals that haven’t been tested for safety.  Watch the video below for more details.

Please visit safecosmetics.org and join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. There you will be able to search for companies that have signed The Compact for Safe Cosmetics. You’ll be surprised how many “natural” product companies haven’t signed it yet or flat out refuse to, including some brands that we use… hummmm..I wonder why ;).

Also please visit the Environmental Working Group (Cosmeticsdatabase.com) it has a comprehensive database of cosmetics and ingredients, all you have to do is type the name in the search and your results will be displayed along with an EWG hazard score from 1-10. The score key is: 1-2 for low hazard, 3-6 for moderate hazard, and 7-10 for high hazard. Below we have listed some products we used years ago and products we use now.

Before	Hazard Score	After	Hazard Score
Leave-In Conditioning Cream	6	Beauty Without Cruelty Conditioner, Leave-In Revitalize	2
Fortifying Conditioner	5	Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner	3
Fortifying 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner	5	Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Shampoo	3
Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening Toothpaste	6	Jason Natural Cosmetics Sea Fresh Plus CoQ10 Gel Toothpaste	3
Women Antiperspirant & Deodorant	5	Crystal Body Deodorant Stick	0
Oil-free acne wash cream cleanser	7	Dr. Bronner's Magic 18-in-1 Hemp Tea Tree Castile (Liquid) Soap	2
Acne kit	7
Lip Balm	7	Alba Botanica Hawaiian: Lip balm - Coconut cream	2
No-Lye Conditioning Relaxer System, Regular/Normal	8	We no longer use relaxers :)	0

I know at times it may seem impossible but, if enough of us stop purchasing these products and demand more regulation from the FDA, as the consumer, we have the power to get things done. I’ve always said that making a purchase is like putting in a vote that tells companies that this is what we want. Once companies start to loose profit and are held accountable for the toxins they put in our cosmetics, they will have no choice but to change. It’s been done before, food companies put out new “natural” products when they began to see a decline in profits as consumers became more aware of things like hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, and msg. So tell all your friends and family about cosmeticsdatabase.com, share this article, and start discussions on the importance of eliminating toxins in our lives.

Sincerely...Zay