What is your skin eating?

It is a medically recognized fact that our bodies absorb significant amounts of what we put on our skin. And now with certified organic food rapidly becoming the nutrition of choice by the health conscious amongst us, why would you accept any less for your skin?

Did you know that:

- An average adult is exposed to 126 harmful chemicals per day, via the 9 or so cosmetic products they use
- There are no mandated safety studies of cosmetics in the world
- Only 11% of the known 10,500 known ingredients have been assessed for safety
- The lipstick or nail polish you may be wearing could be a danger to your health
- And so is could your deodorant, toothpaste, baby lotion and soap

Seemingly innocuous personal-care products contain a large amount of mostly unregulated chemicals and toxic ingredients. Some of them – phthalates, formaldehyde, petroleum, parabens, benzene and lead can be linked to:

- Breast cancer
- Endometriosis
- Reproductive disorders
- Birth defects
- Developmental disorders in children
- Nearly all lipsticks (including well known brand names) contain lead

Women should be particularly concerned as they have a greater percentage of body fat and fat soluble chemicals such as parabens and toluene tend to settle long term in these storage sites

Synthetic chemicals such as alkylphenols (detergents) and bisphenol A (hard plastics), can mimic the body’s natural oestrogens.

There is a very simple test you do to test if you are swallowing lead every day through your lipstick and there is at least one product available that is lead free, so it’s not all bad news

Don’t take your health for granted – learn about the products out there so you can find safer choices for yourself and your family. Find a health practitioner who specializes in organic products and use only healthy creams on your body.

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Nutritious recipe book

Nutritious is a recipe book with a difference – it contains 100% healthy recipes which are both tasty and easy to make, and utilizes organic ingredients, healthy alternatives to sugar, dairy, wheat and bad fats whilst being fun and informative at the same time.

You will find health information and funny quotations peppered throughout the book, together with cooking and general health tips. Put together by Sally-Ann Creed and Jill Fraser Halkett for Leading Edge Nutrition Centres, Nutritious has done extraordinarily well for their first effort and is published by Storm Books.

To order your copy of Nutritious, please contact us via e-mail.

You will also find it at Leading Edge outlets.

Power lines link to cancer in new alert

This is not a new idea, but its gathering speed and attention around the world and while the jury’s out on whether the anecdotal evidence will satisfy people who insist on scientific results one way or the other, I’m personally not prepared to take the risk. So I have a gizmo on my mobile, as well as on my computer, digital bedside clock and rib heaters and I keep reading the reports and as much unbiased opinion as I can find.

The choice is yours, but why not do some investigating for yourself – there’s loads of information around – but do think again about making the minimally responsible decision to protect your children’s brains by not giving them mobile phones when they are barely out of Reception class.

An extract by Nicholas Cecil in the Evening Standard highlights that "Homes and schools could be banned from being built near power lines. A secret report has raised fresh fears of a link between power lines and cancer. The confidential study, obtained by the Evening Standard, urges ministers to consider banning the building of homes and schools close to overhead high-voltage power cables because of possible health risks. It says a ban is the best way to reduce significantly exposure to electromagnetic fields from the electricity grid system."

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Reasons to Throw Out Your Microwave Oven

Here are some great reasons from Joseph Mercola – writing in The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients at www.mercola.com on why microwave ovens are actually not good for us.

1. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term, permanent brain damage by ‘shorting out’ electrical impulses in the brain (de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue)
2. The human body cannot metabolize or break down the unknown by-products created in microwaved food
3. Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods
4. The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual (long term, permanent) within the human body
5. Minerals, vitamins and nutrients of all microwaved food are reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down
6. The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens
7. Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths (tumours). This may explain the rapidly increasing rate of colon cancer in america
8. The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cells to increase in human blood
9. Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph glad and blood serum alterations
10. Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability and a decrease of intelligence

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Hunger-buster salad

This makes an amazing lunch for hungry youngsters.

Serves 1 or more

Wheat free; sugar free; dairy free; vegetarian

Take

A few slices of freshly baked rye bread

1 handful of frilly lettuce leaves

Extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil for drizzling over the salad

1 juicy lemon freshly squeezed

Finely chop the following:

A tomato

A few sticks celery with leaves

A few slices cucumber

2 slices of a deep red onion

1 quarter sweet pepper – any colour

1 carrot, and

Half an apple

A handful mixed raw nuts – walnuts, pecan, cashew, almonds, etc

Mix together:

1 crushed clove garlic

1 seeded chilli

1 tsp chopped parsley

1 tsp torn basil leaves

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves

1 small spring onion

2 or 3 dried dates

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves

Herbamare and freshly ground pepper

A few fresh dill or fennel sprigs

Do

• Cover the slices of bread with washed and dried lettuce leaves
• Arrange the rest of the chopped ingredients on the lettuce
• Top this with the garlic mixture
• Sprinkle with chopped nuts
• Season and drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil
• Serve immediately

From Nutritious by Sally-Ann Creed & Jill Fraser Halkett

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Top 20 recommendations for a healthy nutrition plan

Here are my top 20 recommendations for a healthy nutrition plan:

1. Cut out the following: Sugar; White flour (it's stripped of nutrients), Animal and vegetable fats and ALL margarines


2. Avoid excess soy and consider having none at all


3. Keep consumption of dairy products LOW


4. Don’t rely on ONE source of fibre, (i.e. wheat bran) include beans, pulses, fruits, vegetables, brown rice, oats, rye, barley, corn


5. Wheat bran is not a good choice - it inhibits mineral absorption


6. Keep alcohol consumption down


7. Limit salt – try not to add any to your food and never cook with it


8. Don't eat excessive amounts of animal protein


9. Protein is also found in nuts, seeds, peas, beans, lentils, sprouts and whole grains. All are rich in vitamins, minerals and protein


10. Avoiding carrying too much weight – it will reduce your life expectancy, and brings many diseases with it


11. Don't smoke or take recreational drugs


12. Ensure a HIGH intake of vegetables, especially green, leafy ones and preferably raw or steamed


13. Plenty of good quality fibre – many people need supplemental help here


14. Eat organic and free range where possible


15. Take regular MENTAL exercise - hobbies, reading etc


16. Prayer enhances immunity


17. Enjoyment of life also enhances immunity


18. If you are a vegetarian (but be aware of the long term dangers here) ensure sufficient protein and include the following: Rice with legumes or sesame seeds, Wheat with legumes/sesame seeds, Corn with legumes, Sesame seeds with either beans or wheatQuinoa is a good source of protein


19. Regular exercise - even if it is just a 15 minute walk


20. Have a goal in life - raises your immunity!

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Stem Cell ‘Cure’ for Diabetes Type 1

The TimesOnline article sounds like a miracle cure, and for Type 1 sufferers will come as a possible life line.

Far be it for any of us to debate the pros and cons of stem cell research at the expense of people suffering with this disease, be it from childhood or as a result of diabetes Type 2 which has developed out of control.

However, from a nutritional standpoint, there is much that can be done to support the immune system of Type 1 diabetes sufferers, and even more for Type 2 diabetics, who can reverse the condition before it develops into Type 1 if they diligently follow the guidelines of nutritionally aware health professionals.

Many diets developed from a dietetic aspect through a medical approach are destined to turn Type 2 diabetics into Type 1 within 5 – 10 years, but this is not necessary and there are many cases of completely reversed Type 2 diabetics to prove the point.

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Does dark chocolate reduce blood pressure?

Many people, including the marketers of chocolate, would be thrilled to find their favourite treat is able to reduce blood pressure, but I wonder why people have high blood pressure in the first place. Could it be they are consuming lots of milk chocolate, as Forbes.com has intimated?

I agree it seems small quantities of dark chocolate have healthful flavonoids, but encouraging consumption in order to reduce hbp may be fuelled by clever marketing. A more sensible approach is to encourage sufferers to increase their garlic and onion intake, promote a low fat diet and eat oily fish at least twice a week.

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Dieting does not work, researchers report

Anyone who has been on a diet will tell you that over time, they do not work – that is why so many people yo-yo diet. The temptation of a ‘quick-fix’ will always lure overweight and obese people to ‘try just one more diet’. It’s a mug’s game that is certain to fail. From a common sense angle, we know our bodies understand feast and famine very well, as we are conditioned to store nutrients in our fat cells if a drought shows the slightest chance of being apparent.

Think of it this way:

As soon as we reduce our intake of calories, our bodies are conditioned to store food because they think a drought is at hand and could get worse. So food is stored in the fat cells ‘for later’.

Another aspect that is going to encourage a diet to fail – our bodies crave fat, but the world has gone mad and has encouraged a ‘fat-free’ lifestyle to reduce fat, which is completely against the way our bodies function best. Our brains alone consist mostly of fat, and work at optimum levels when our essential fatty acids are in balance. If we reduce fat, we unknowingly turn on a craving for fat which manifests itself in a craving for something sweet. So we have a quick fix bar of chocolate or muffin or breakfast bar (even worse!) in the hopes of stilling the nagging urge, and so set up a cycle for storing fat once again. Sugar turns quickly to glucose in the blood and if we don’t use it immediately it becomes toxic, so turning on the insulin response which removes the toxic sweet stuff out of the blood stream – into the fat cells!And so the cycle goes on.

There is only one certain way to lose weight and keep a healthy body as a result, and that is to eat a variety of foods which are not processed and are still in their natural form, exercise sensibly, drink plenty of water and make certain you have enough good fats and oils in your diet. Find a nutritionally trained health professional who understands how your body reacts to different foods and keep away from fad diets.

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Avoid these exercises in the gym

While I'm on my high horse about exercising in the gym, have a look at this article on avoiding the certain exercises.

I agree with most of them, although I believe there is still significant value in doing sit-ups, when they are done properly!

It is interesting to read that most of these exercises are one's that don't neccessarily add value for those playing sport or wanting to get fit, but rather those looking for a body for the beach...

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Get your Thyroid in Gear

Your thyroid is a tiny butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck which regulates your metabolism, playing a major role in energy and health levels from day to day.

The thyroid produces hormones which convert food into energy, helping your body burn calories efficiently. If your thyroid is functioning badly, effects are quickly felt. Women with healthy thyroids numerous symptoms are experienced, including weight loss or gain, mood swings, and changes in bowel habits.

How Well Is Your Thyroid Working?
It's always a good idea to have your doctor regularly check that your thyroid is functioning correctly, and your hormone levels are within healthy limits. But while you wait for answers, the following short quiz can help you determine the efficiency of your thyroid:

• Is your heartbeat slower or more rapid than usual?
• Are you intolerant of heat or cold?
• Are you irritable/ fatigued/depressed?
• Do you have mood swings?
• Have you gained or lost a significant amount of weight in a short period of time?
• Have you noticed a change in the flow of your menstrual periods?
• Have your bowel habits changed?
• Are you experiencing constipation or loose bowel movements?
• Is your hair dry or coarse, or do you have significant hair loss?
• Do you have swelling or a lump on the front side of the base of your neck?

If you answered “Yes” of five or more of these questions, talk to your doctor. He or she may conduct some tests, and can tell you what you can do to support the health and proper functioning of your thyroid gland.

Some women will need thyroid hormone replacement therapy. For this, I particularly like Armour Thyroid, a prescription form of natural thyroid replacement therapy, available in the UK and France.

But all women, regardless of their age, can benefit from the nutritional support of their thyroid. Fortunately, there are safe, natural supplements available.

Boost Your Thyroid Naturally
Iodine and tyrosine play a crucial role in thyroid support. They work synergistically to produce hormones and balance thyroid production, so ensure you are taking in enough of these nutrients. Some wonderful food sources of iodine include garlic, shellfish and kelp. An average woman needs 150mcg of iodine a day to support her thyroid, but since most of us take in closer to 600mcg through our diet, it’s unlikely we’ll need to supplement this nutrient.

Tyrosine, an amino acid produced in your body from another amino acid called phenylalanine, helps support your metabolism and stamina. Tyrosine is abundant in fish, soybeans, poultry, almonds, seeds, and peas. An easy way to increase your levels is to supplement 500–2,000mg of tyrosine per day with a protein meal. (If your blood pressure is not in the normal range, begin with the lower dosage, and monitor your blood pressure levels regularly.) Also, to ensure your thyroid function is at its peak, be sure you are also getting the following in your nutrient programme daily:

• 200mcg of selenium
• 15mg of zinc
• 600-2000mg of Ester C
• 600IU of vitamin E
• 100mg of vitamin B6
• 400mcg of folic acid, and
• 100mcg of vitamin B12

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