Jo's Health Corner: toxins

Calming an Overactive Child

An overactive child isn’t necessary “hyperactive” and sometimes children are overactive at certain times. Refined carbohydrates, MSG, food colors and additives have been known to cause overactivity in children. Some children become hyperactive when they eat something they are sensitive to. State of overstimulation and excitement may benefit from relaxation and sedative essential oils. These oils may also be beneficial in tantrums, anxiety attacks, and overtiredness.

Aromatherapy works on a subtle level. Relaxation oils are natural plant derivatives that may aid the body in relaxation, slowing the respiration and heart rate, and soothing an overstimulated nervous system. The most effective methods utilizing aromatherapy are using those oils which cross the blood-brain barrier by inhalation.

Massage is less direct but also effective. It is important to remember to use stated doses when using therapeutic relaxation oils and not too much. An opposite effect takes place if the oils are overused.

Valeri Cooksley suggests to make a calming mist so that is what I used to do for my children or when I baby sit other children.

I make a Calming Mist- a room spray to relax, this can be diffused in the air, and I can even spray it on things if needed.

1 cup distilled water
10 drops lavender
5 drops marjoram
2 drops sandalwood
a spray bottle with mist nozzle

Add the drops to the spray bottle. Shake before spraying.

Aromathic baths are relaxing and calming, and using diffusers are also a great way to spread the healing oils.

Cooksley lists other relaxing and calming oils such are chamomile, clary sage, mandarin, marjoram, neroli, orange, sandalwood and tangerine as being suitable for calming children.

Many have been successfully improved the behavior of their children by changing the diet and/or adding supplements.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives.
Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information.

Photo credit

This post is linked to:
Fat Tuesday , Simple Lives Thursday , Healthy 2day Wednesday, Eco-Kids Tuesday

8:00 PM | Read more...

Spring Cleaning Naturally

Via

It is beautiful weather here in California so I''m cleaning out and airing out the place. Soon the weather is getting warmer and the days longer everywhere. It will be time to open up the house and clean out the winter. Yep, it's time for spring cleaning again. Unfortunately most cleaning products in the stores are not good for us. I used to get a cough and headache every time I used strong cleaning products, but fortunately I discovered that I didn't need to use them to clean my home. The problem is that regular cleaning products in the stores are full of toxins that not only mess with the immune system, but they mess with the hormones too. Many of the toxins found in cleaning products are endocrine disruptors, and as such they contribute to glandular problems, PMS, reproductive cancers and infertility.

Inside pollution

Did you know that the pollution inside our homes from using these cleaning products are often greater than from the pollution from the outside environment? Yes, that's true. Several health problems such as allergies, liver and kidney toxicity, and respiratory irritation such as coughing, asthma, sneezing, and allergies are associated with the use of harsh chemicals in our homes. The products' neuro-toxic effects result in headaches, depression and lack of mental concentration.

Fortunately it doesn't have to cost a fortune to clean the house without toxic chemicals. I like to use lemon, baking soda, vinegar, salt, and essential oils when I clean.

Lemons

Lemons have antibacterial properties so they make an excellent choice as disinfectants for your home. You can cut lemons in half to remove stains from counter top or to clean the chopping board. Let it sit for a while before wiping it clean. Dip a cut lemon in coarse salt and use to scrub copper-bottom pans. Half a cup of lemon juice can also be added to the rinse cycle to brighten white linens and clothing.

Vinegar

Vinegar is not only economical but it is also very powerful. Luckily the odor disappears as it dries. You can add lemon or essential oils if you want a more pleasant smell while you clean. Mix one part water with one part vinegar and add to spray bottle, and use as an all purpose cleaner around the house. Pour 1 cup of vinegar in the toilet bowl and let sit for hours for a sparkling, odor free toilet. You can apply vinegar straight on mildew and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before rinsing. You can also wipe down the kitchen with a sponge soaked in vinegar, or add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle to soften clothes.

Baking soda

Baking soda is used by many to absorb odors from the fridge, but is is also excellent at dissolving grease and dirt in water. Mix baking soda with 10-20 drops of essential oils and sprinkle on the carpet to refresh it. Make sure you use oils that don't stain the carpet. Mix 1 part water with 3 parts baking soda to remove stains or sprinkle baking soda on pots, pans and dishes and soak in water to clean off burnt or caked food. You can also add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the laundry to remove dirt and grease.

Salt

Table salt can be used as an abrasive cleaner. Use coarse salt to remove stains, caked-on food, and on stove tops or other place such as the bath tub where there's no concern for scratching. Kitchen salt can be used on caked-on food pots and pans, soak the pots and pans with 3 tablespoons of salt in a couple of inches of water. Let sit for a while.

Essential oils

It is much safer to use essential oils when you clean than harsh chemicals. Essential oils can be used as a deodorizer to clean the air, as disinfectants for surfaces, for laundry and much more.

Disinfect: Add a few drops of oil to the dishwasher to help disinfect and purify. Essential oils can also be added to the sponge or the cloth for extra freshness. Common oils to use are fir, lavender, Melaleuca Alternifolia, pine, spruce, bergamot, orange and lemon.

Dishwashing soap: Add several drops of essential oils like orange, tangerine, pine, lemon, and peppermint to a bottle of liquid soap. Use un-scented or natural soap if possible. Liquid castile soap can be used too.

Laundry: Add 25 drops of eucalyptus oil to each load for an effective dust mite control. You can also add 1 tablespoon to a bottle of liquid laundry detergent. A few drops of oils like spruce, lavender, fir, juniper, rosewood, wintergreen/birch, cedarwood and juniper can also be added to the rinse cycle. Use a dampened wash cloth with 10 drops of lavender, bergamot, lemon, or melaleuca instead of a softening agent in the dryer.

Room deodorizer: Make a room spray to deodorize, freshen, and disinfect the bathrooms, work areas, sinks, tiles, woodwork, carpets, cupboards etc. Add 10-13 drops of essential oils to 1 cup of water and put in a spray bottle.

Floor and carpets: For non-carpet floors, add 1/4 cup of white vinegar to a bucket of water and add 5-10 drops of essential oils such as pine, spruce, lemon, or tea tree. For carpet floors, add 16-20 drops of essential oils to 1 cup of baking soda and keep in a container overnight. Sprinkle over the carpet and then vacuum.

As you can see, you don't need to purchase expensive organic or natural cleaning products in order to safely clean your home.

Essential oils are antiseptic and they add a nice touch to your cleaning. I like to pick refreshing oils for cleaning in the springtime. Lime, lemon, geranium, bergamot, grapefruit, rosemary and lavender are great oils for the lighter and warmer time of the year. Make your own recipes or use my essential oil cleaning recipes.

This post is linked to:
WFMW, How to Tuesday Link Up, Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Your Green Resource
Fat Tuesday, Homemaking Link Up, Encourage One Another, Living Green Tuesdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, The Mommy Club, What I learned Wednesday

1:52 PM | Read more...

Clean the Indoor Air with Plants

My mother always had a lot of indoor plants and she especially liked to place them in the windows. She also had plants such as Spider Plants displayed in various places around the house. Everyone had plants in their homes when I grew up and the windows were the most common place to put them. Most Swedes still have plenty of plants in their houses today. I was told when I was a child that plants added oxygen to the air, but I never thought much about the other benefits of having indoor plants when I grew up. Like everyone else, I decorated with several plants in my own apartment but at that time I focused more on making my area look pretty.

Plants are amazing air filters

Plants are amazing and they can be used as air filters in addition to providing essential oxygen. They are capable of digesting chemical pollutants that may cause various health problems. Scientists have studied several plant species to investigate the connection between certain species and the toxins they are capable of digesting. It was discovered that English Ivy is effective in consuming benzene while Boston Fern digests formaldehyde. In the 80's NASA conducted a few experiences that involved putting plants in a highly polluted environment that contained several chemical toxins. The level of toxins were greatly reduced after 24 hours and many of the toxins had been digested by the plants.

Best plants

Some plants are more effective than others in filtering the air pollution. These plants make good house plants:

Other plants

Kitchen herbs and lettuce can also grow indoors in addition to air purifying plants. I received a great tip a few years ago to plant lettuce seeds in pots at different times and place them in the kitchen window. This would make sure that I always would be able to enjoy fresh greens during the winter since they would be ready to eat at different times.

Improvements

I admit that I haven't been very good at keeping indoor plants since I left Sweden, and this is an area that I need to improve in. I don't have good window sill to place the plants, but it is not an excuse since many plants don't like direct sun light anyway. I just have to be creative and find other locations for them instead. We do plant seeds for the garden inside but as soon as the weather permits they go outside.

Do you keep any indoor plants?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johanna is an aromatherapist and an independent distributor of Young Living Essential Oils She is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. She also runs Naturally Sports & Wellness together with her husband.
Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information.

This post is linked to:
Small Footprint Friday

Photo credit: Allt i Hemmet

3:29 PM | Read more...

The Truth About Sugar

via

Most people know that sugar is bad for us, but I still see people using way too much sugar. It is also important to remember all the hidden sugars in salad dressings, ketchup, lunch meat, canned tomatoes and in many more things. Grains turn into sugar in our bodies too.

Low fat/high carb obsession

Many tend to overlook the importance of fat in our diet, which is understandable when our government promotes a diet low in fat and high in carbohydrates. I see the same insane low fat/high carb advice in natural health magazines. Sadly, we get an overload of carbohydrates instead of eating more protein and fat that actually stimulate our metabolism. Fat and protein make us feel fuller after a meal. It's time to wake up and realize that fat is not the bad buy.

Sugar video

I spent the morning watching this video about sugar. Even though I known for a long time that sugar is bad I figured I can always learn something new. I found that most of the information in this video wasn't new to me, but it shares valuable information about the dangers of sugar, the fat misconception, dangers of fructose and how to measure cholesterol correctly.

Dr. Lustig, M.D gives a great lecture about sugar and the obesity problem we have today. He focuses mostly on sugar consumed from drinks, and it is important to remember that other carbs are damaging to the body too. Sadly, every time I go shopping I see shopping carts loaded with sodas and other high sugar drinks so I know the sugary drinks are problem today. I see the same when I go to the health food store, the shopping carts are full with "healthy organic" high sugar drinks and other so called "healthy" high sugar snacks. So even members of the healthy community are eating way too much sugar. They are using the excuse that it is natural or organic. But sugar is sugar even though some of them seem to be a little better for the body.

Here are some quick facts from the video:

There is an epidemic today of obese 6 months old babies. Lustig says if the diet and lack of exercise are thought to be the only cause of the obesity epidemic today, then how would you explain the rise in obesity in babies?

We eat more calories today than 20 years ago:

Teenage boys eat 275 more calories
Adult males are eating 187 more calories
Adult females are eating 335 more calories

Why we eat more
We eat more today but we had access to all the food before so that's not the cause. We eat more calories today and it means that leptin is not functionally properly. Leptin is a hormone that comes from our fat cells, it tells the brain when we have had enough food. It makes sure we can burn energy properly. So if leptin was working correctly we wouldn't be eating 300 calories more today compared to 20 years ago. Lustig says that we need to figure out what is causing the problem with our biochemical negative feedback system that normally control energy balance. Which is the point of the video, to figure out the cause so that we can reverse it.

Fat is bad, or?

Back in 1982 the daily fat recommendation was reduced from 40% to 30%. This reduction resulted in less fat being consumed which lead to a higher carbohydrate intake instead. As soon as people started eating less fat the obesity, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, stroke metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases jacked way up says Lustig. Hm, a coincidence? I don't think so. As you can see, it is not the fat that is the problem.

Huge increase in soft drink consumption

It has been a 41% increase in soft drink and a 35% increase in fruit drinks. One soda a day is roughly 15 pounds a year. Lustig also talks about the Coca-Cola conspiracy, for example, a can of coke contains 55 grams of sodium which he equals to drinking one pizza. The sodium will make you thirstier of course. The taste of sodium is masked with a huge amount of sugar, and the caffeine is a diuretic. It is all designed to make you want more.

Soda consumption goes up and type 2 diabetes increased

Studies shows that the increase in type 2 diabetes coincide with the increase in soda consumption. Sodas contain corn syrup and it is estimated that we eat 63 pounds of HFCS per person each year. Fructose is a poison but the other sugars are also bad for the body. Hundred years ago we received the fructose from fruits and vegetables and the average consumption was 15 grams of fructose per person a day. Prior to WWII we consumed 16-24 grams or fructose per day, and in 1977 we consumed 37 grams per day. In 1994 the consumption was 54.7 grams per day. We are not only eating more, but we are eating more sugar.

"The fat consumption is going down and the sugar consumption is going up and we are getting sicker."

High fructose corn syrup is not only a metabolic evil but it is also an economical evil. It is half the price compared to regular sugar so the companies can make cheap products and increase their profit. It has found itself into products like hamburger buns, barbeque sauce, bread, and ketchup. Lustig said that according to a new study, each of us are up to using 141 pounds of sugar per year.

Lustig also talks about the Ansel Key's study, the study our current dietary fat guidelines are based on. Even though Keys' study was not accurate, we have based 30 years of nutrition education on this study. The recommendations to eat a low fat diet turned into a very high carbohydrate diet that is making us sick.

Food manufactures add high fructose corn syrup to increase the flavor in the low fat products. As we've seen this has increased obesity and disease. A recent study from UCLA says that fructose may aid in the formation of cancer cells more than other sugars.

The information in this video is most likely not new to many of us, but I'm sure you know someone that can benefit from this video. Pass it on to someone you think can benefit from it.

Sugar- The Bitter Truth - The Video

Johanna is an aromatherapist she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives.
Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information. Don't forget to explore her new aromatherapy blog.

This post is linked to:
Fight Back Friday hosted by The Food Renegade
Monday Mania
Domestically Divine hosted by Far Above Rubies
Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop
WFMW hosted by We ARE that Family
Simple Lives Thursday hosted by Just Making Noise

2:37 PM | Read more...

American Kids vs. European Kids - And the Best Foods Go To....

Via

There is one thing that really bugs me, and it has bugged me for a long time. How come it is possible for huge corporations to listen to consumers in other countries but not here?

Did you know that the kids in Europe eat food with less chemicals than the American kids? You see, other governments around the world have decided that certain chemicals are harmful and should not be added to food sold to their citizens. Things such as food dyes are allowed to be sold. Several studies have linked food dyes to hyperactivity and other behavioral problems, so Europe requires a warning label on products with artificial food dyes. Naturally this is something that companies don't want to put on their products since it may reduce sales. Several companies solved the problem by making special products for the European market. Say what? Yep, it is true.

FDA is useless
It is obvious that the huge corporations are listening to consumer demands overseas, so how come we haven't been able to make them sell better products to us? Does FDA ring a bell? FDA decided that more research is needed in order to confirm the dangers of food dyes, so it's business as usual here in the states. Mac & Cheese, breakfast cereals, candy and medicine will keep their artificial food dyes that have been linked to hyper activity (ADHD), cancer and allergies.

Over in Europe on the other hand, the Food Standard Safety agency in UK funded a study called The Southampton Study, which tested the children on the combination of the preservative sodium benzoate and yellow number 5 (tartrazine). So, keep this in mind, one study funded by the British government, made the American corporations remove artificial colors and preservatives in products marketed to children in Europe.

Four companies that have no problem making better products for children overseas
Coca-Cola, Kraft, Wal-Mart, and Mars have removed artificial colors and sodium benzoate from their products in Europe. Some even removed aspartame. The Nutri-Grain in Europe contains beet root red and paprika extract while the American version has synthetic food dyes instead. A strawberry shake at McDonald's actually has strawberries in Europe while our version has nothing but artificial junk. Their nuggets have less chemicals too.

While I rant
Something important happened in the beginnings of the 90's, a new protein was engineered into our food supplies. Sadly, no human trial was conducted to see if they were safe for consumption.

Milk allergy, the most common allergy in this country today
It is interesting to note that in 94 a new genetically modified protein, a synthetic growth hormone, was created to increase the milk production in cows. Manipulating the natural process is not a good idea and this growth hormone made (makes) the animals very sick, so the usage of antibiotics was increased to fight the sickness in the cows. (Antibiotic resistance and super bug someone? )

USA said yes but the rest of the world said NO
Our government said that it had not been proven dangerous so they approved it to be used here. Other governments around the world such as Australia, Canada and all the European countries took precaution due to the fact that the new genetically modified protein had not been proven safe. So they decided not to use it in their countries. As you can see, the children in Europe and the rest of the world are allowed food without nasty ingredients while American kids have to consume milk that is making them sick. This synthetic hormone have been linked to elevated hormone levels that may cause prostate and breast cancer.

Soy, one of the top allergens
In 96 soy was genetically modified and as it turns out, it is one of the top allergens today. Once again, the governments around the world took precaution to prevent onset of disease from genetically modified soy that had not been proven safe. I don't think it comes as a surprise that our government took the same approach as before. They allowed the genetically modified soy since it had not been proven to be dangerous. There was no concern that genetically modified proteins were not tested in human trials, so it was allowed to be consumed by American kids. Yep, our kids were being used as guinea pigs while other kids around the world were protected from this evil product.

And here is corn - regulated as an insecticide by EPA
In the late 90's an insecticide was engineered into the corn. As a result EP regulated it as an insecticide!

1 out of 17 kids under the age of 3 has food allergies, and 9 out of 10 breast cancers are environmental and not genetic. When is it going to stop?

American companies are making different products for other countries just because they don't allow many of the toxins that are allowed here. If they can make better products for other countries they can make better products for us. They listened to consumer demands from other countries, so we need to let them know that we are fed up with the big corporate influence when it comes to our food. Start small and stop buying food with synthetic junk. Support the farmers market, local farmers, and buy organic when you can. There were several non-GMO protests held a while back. Get involved and learn as much as you can about the dangers of the fake food we are being exposed to.

When it comes to GMO, the big corporations are pushing for growing their seeds in Europe. Keep your eyes open.

Information taken from TED and Enviroblog

Thanks for visiting!

Johanna is an aromatherapist and an independent distributor of Young Living Essential Oils. She is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives.

Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information. Don't forget to explore her new aromatherapy new blog.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post is linked to:
Eco Kids Tuesday
Monday Mania hosted By The Healthy Home Economist
Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop
WFMW hosted by We Are THAT Family
Simple Lives Thursday
Fresh Bites Friday hosted by Real Food Whole Health
Fight Back Friday hosted by The Food Renegade

1:36 PM | Read more...