Essential Oils – Specific Recommendations
YOUNG LIVING Why this is my brand of choice: ~ First and foremost, they offer therapeutic grade oils which are not easy to come by. To be therapeutic, the oils must not have any traces of pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. They must be extracted by steam distillation (not by solvents). It must contain 25-38% linalool and 25-24% linalyl acetate and less than .05% camphor (there are levels for a dozen other components that I won’t go into here). True therapeutic grade oils do not contain synthetic ingredients nor can they be diluted. They must be exactly as they were harvested...
Read MoreEssential Oils – The Basics
What is an Essential Oil? Plants are essentially chemical factories, and a most important middle-man between sun and earth. Essential oils are the high-grade fuel of plants. Essential oils come from certain varieties of trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, and flowers. Depending on the variety, it could have been extracted from the roots, leaves, stalks, seeds, stems, resins, peels, beans, barks, needles, or twigs. Each essential oil consists of hundreds of complex and unique chemical compounds. Their use can be traced back thousands of years. Because they smell no nice, many people mistakenly...
Read MoreAir
When the topic of air pollution comes up, we tend to think of crowded cities with lots of traffic and smoke-stack factories. What we rarely consider is the fact that indoor air pollution is by far, a much bigger problem. Couple that with the fact that most people living in industrialized societies spend about 90% of their time indoors, and it becomes a topic worthy of consideration. __________________________________________________________________________ WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF INDOOR AIR POLLUTION? A partial list….. ~ cleaning products ~ dry cleaned clothing ~ permanent press or...
Read MoreBPA
I’ll summarize here, just the basic info on BPA (Bisphenol A), and include reference links if you’d like more details and full reports. I’ll also include a list of problematic products to watch out for, and corresponding, safe alternatives. ______________________________________________________________________________________ BPA, a chemical widely used in food packaging and various plastics, including toys, computers, baby bottles and medical equipment, is considered an endocrine disruptor that interferes with the body’s natural hormones. BPA can be especially...
Read MoreMeat
Having been a vegetarian the past 13 years, I’m familiar with the many valid, ethical and environmental reasons to avoid supporting the meat industry. While I realize this topic is sensitive to many, personally, I’m beginning to understand that I don’t have to be completely exclusionary in order to uphold my ethical values – especially in light of newer options. That being said, this page is dedicated solely to nutritional points of view. Before I outline the health benefits of high quality meat, it’s probably a good idea to note that individual needs vary, and...
Read MoreHow to Eat Locally
EATING LOCALLY – SOME OF THE BENEFITS: At some point, while biting into a New Zealand Braeburn, it occurred to me just how ridiculous it was that the apple in my hand was grown on a different continent, having traveled perhaps 8,000 miles to reach me, even though we produce thousands of juicy apples here in Upstate, NY. It made me wonder if there was a New Zealander in the same predicament – holding a NY McIntosh in one hand, and scratching his head w/ the other. What a waste! But not only that….who knows how long it took that New Zealand apple to get to my local grocery...
Read MoreOrganic Foods Prioritized
WHY ORGANIC? FACT – Pesticides are designed to kill living organisms. I suppose one could take that & go wherever they want with it, but common sense tells me I should keep these chemicals as far away from my body as possible. Beyond common sense, there’s a growing body of scientific evidence linking these chemicals to human diseases, such as brain/nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone dysfunction, and skin/eye/lung irritation. www.cdc.gov/pesticides ______________________________________________________________________ Number 1 most important product to buy organic...
Read MoreMy Oils Of Choice
You can, of course, substitute any oil you like in any recipe, but here’s a brief summary, if interested, of the reasons I choose the oils I do. UPDATED – JUNE 10, 2012 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ QUICK OVERVIEW….. Coconut oil, ghee, and butter are my favorite oils for cooking and baking, as they’re delicious & have a very high smoke point. This means they’re heat stable and won’t oxidize (turn rancid during the cooking process – releasing harmful free radicals within the...
Read MoreSafe Sunscreen ?
Good, old-fashioned sunshine is the best way to get our vitamin D, but if you plan to be in the mid-day sun for extended periods of time, it’s a good idea to protect your skin. Aside from using hats, sunglasses, and protective clothing, it’s sometimes necessary, especially in the warmer months, to use sunscreen. That being said, please be careful with your sunscreen choices. The old saying, “You are what you eat” also comes into play here, as the skin has the potential to “eat” (absorb) whatever is applied to it. It might sound strange at first, but...
Read MoreReal Butter
WHY BUTTER IS BETTER Health Topics – Food Features Written by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD Saturday, 01 January 2000 12:00 (the numbers within the paragraphs are footnotes) When the fabricated food folks and apologists for the corporate farm realized that they couldn’t block America’s growing interest in diet and nutrition, a movement that would ultimately put an end to America’s biggest and most monopolistic industries, they infiltrated the movement and put a few sinister twists on information going out to the public. Item number one in the disinformation...
Read MoreCell Phone Safety
CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINKS FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION: ————————-> #Cell Phone Safety# www.mercola.com/cellphonesthenewcigarettes? ______________________________________________________________________ 10 Precautions for Cell Phone Use from “Anti-Cancer – A New Way of Life” by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD. 1. Do not allow children under twelve years of age to use a cell phone except in emergencies. The developing organs of a fetus or child are the most sensitive to any possible effects of exposure to electromagnetic...
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