What is Lead?

Lead is symbol Pb, atomic number 82 on the periodic table. Its elemental traits are a soft, heavy toxic, poor metal. When first cut, its color is bluish-white, and tarnishes becoming dull gray after air exposure, and when melted into its liquid form, it becomes shiny silver chrome in appearance. Lead is a potent “neurotoxin” that accumulates in bones and soft tissues over time.

Lead is used in a variety of industries, including building construction, bullets, weights, lead-acid batteries used in cars, coloring element in ceramic glazes, fishing sinkers, candle treatments, sound-deadening layers for studios and organ pipes. It is also used in solder for electronics, combined with brass in reducing machine tool wear, used in ballast keel of sailboat and in high-voltage power cables. Lead is also widely used in sculptures and statues.

Before the harmful effects of lead were recognized in 1978, lead was used in many products and materials such as paint and gasoline. However, even though laws now prevent lead from being used in various products, lead hazards can still be present in and around homes by getting into the water, food, soil and dust, causing serious health problems, especially in young children.

How am I Exposed to Lead?

Most people are exposed to some amount of lead in their lifetime.

One of the most common lead exposures is from lead-based paint used in homes, which were built before 1978. Traces of lead can be found both indoors and outdoors of apartments, single-family homes, public and private housing in the city, suburbs or in country. Lead can sometimes be traced in the soil around a house, since the lead from exterior paint or leaded gas in cars could easily transfer to soil. When lead-based paint deteriorates, it turns into dust, which can work it’s way into households.

Some homes still have plumbing with lead solder. Unfortunately, drinking water with lead is invisible, odorless and tasteless. It is undetectable in water without special testing. In addition, boiling lead-contaminated water cannot get rid of lead.

People can also be exposed to lead from their jobs and hobbies. People who work with lead or use lead in pottery making, shooting ranges, refinishing furniture or other hobbies are more likely to bring lead particles on their clothes.

Other examples of lead exposure, include eating food and drinking liquid stored in containers made with lead, alternative medicines that uses lead and through contaminated air.

What are the Symptoms of Lead Exposure?

Lead is a toxic or poisonous metal that can cause nervous system damage, especially in children, possibly leading to blood and brain disorders.

Long-term exposure to lead and its salts could cause nephropathy and abdominal pains.

Lead exposure in children is usually left untreated because it does not show outward symptoms. However, high levels of lead undetected in their bodies, could in time, result in damages to the nervous system and brain, lethargy, nausea, headaches, hearing problems, slowed growth, sleeping troubles, constipation, stomachaches, irritability as well as learning and behavioral problems.

Symptoms of lead exposure in adults are more evident. Adults often suffer from headaches, severe abdominal pain, irritability and mood swings, memory loss, concentration problems, muscle and joint pains, high blood pressure, hypertension, nerve disorders, loss of motor coordination and reproductive problems in both men and women.

How do I Test Myself for Lead Exposure?

The Lead Testing Kit

The Lead Heavy Metals Test Kit is available to determine the levels in your body. Should the test determine that your levels are high, you may want to use Dr. Group’s Chemical & Heavy Metals Cleanse to reduce your levels. Cleansing can take a long time, sometimes as long as months. It’s recommended that you test your body levels periodically throughout the cleansing process to determine your progress.

Homes should also be checked for lead exposure by paint inspection and risk assessment, wherein qualified professionals determine the lead content of both indoor and outdoor spaces in homes.

Health News

(NaturalNews) Stress is a big challenge in life nowadays. The sources of stress are many and the helpful ways to reduce stress are also plentiful. Common symptoms of stress include skin problems, impotence, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, fatigue, insomnia and frustration.

We don’t need to set a time to reduce stress, we need to incorporate some strategies in our daily life routine to prevent stress and reduce its effect on the body.

Here are 10 simple steps we can easily take to reduce stress:

1. Define your goals: we must define our life goals and begin to achieve these goals; this action will support us against stress because we will feel that we know what our life purpose is and why, and that we control our own lives.

2. Take control of your diet: we can use simple ways in our diet plans to reduce stress by avoiding some stimulants such as coffee, alcohol, tea and sugar and we can use chamomile tea as an alternative because of its calming and relaxing effect. We need to eat slowly in a calm environment to allow our digestive system to work well. We can use honey as an alternative to sugar but in small amounts (one or two spoonfuls per day).

3. Take hot baths regularly: after a very busy day or when we feel that we need to relax (I do this three times a week). You can take a hot bath by sitting in warm to hot water and the water level should be above the waist, using lavender oil can also enhance this relaxing experience.

4. Aromatherapy: in the office you can use aromatherapy to relax and avoid stress. One of the best ways is to use lavender oil on a source of heat and take in the scent; this is a great way to relax during the day when you need it the most.

5. Exercise: This is one of the important things you can do which will reduce stress and bring happiness. When we exercise, our brains release substances which bring feelings of happiness and relaxation; we need engage in some exercise regularly such as walking, dancing or swimming.

6. Breathing techniques: Yoga, meditation and Tai Chi all use deep breathing techniques. To meditate, simply sit with closed eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Breathing deeply regularly is great for health and from there, you can learn various other breathing techniques to gain enhanced benefits.

7. Relaxation techniques and self hypnotherapy: we can easily do this after the hot bath to relax even more, simply sit or lie down in a comfortable place with your eyes closed, imagine there is a spot light above your head and concentrate on it, then concentrate on your body part by part and try to relax the body and feel the relaxation deepening — you can also use a self hypnotherapy audio tape to help in this process.

8. Massage: this is a great way to reduce stress, I do this when other ways fail, I feel better after receiving a massage. You can get a professional massage or you can simply ask your partner to massage you.

9. Spiritual healing: prayers and the act of helping others are very important components for happiness and stress reduction. You will feel calmer and have a sense of inner peace.

10. Talking through your problems: talking about your feelings acts as a releasing mechanism and you will soon find that talking about your problems with your partner or best friend may help the solution to the problem come to light and will help to release blocked emotions.

11. Multivitamins: I take a Vitamin B complex regularly to decrease stress and this has been a great help in my stress reduction.

I hope that you find these suggestions helpful, my hope in sharing this information with you is that you can benefit from it. Reading about this is not enough to reduce stress, you must take action.

Health News

If you were an alien visiting our planet, you might think Earthlings never age. Even as awareness about aging rises, most major magazines and television stations still fail to display vital, older people. Medical journals, on the other hand, harp on the infirmities of old age. It’s no wonder we fear and even deny our own inevitable aging.

Grower older can’t be avoided, but it doesn’t have to mean the loss of health, mind and independence. In fact, research seems to indicate the opposite. By paying a little attention to lifestyle, most older individuals can live active, healthy lives and we can all shatter those old age myths.

Myth #1: When I get old, I’ll become senile.

Many of us view the elderly as doddering old creatures, unable to think for themselves and constantly forgetting the most mundane things. In reality, senility only strikes five percent of Americans. The other piece of good news is that some age related declines in mental functioning can be prevented or even reversed.

When scientists from Tufts University reviewed a number of studies, they discovered that vitamin deficiencies account for many of the symptoms of senility. Just as vitamins are needed for normal nervous system development in children, they are required for normal neurological functioning in adults–young and old.

For example, low folate levels in the elderly can cause forgetfulness, irritability and possibly depression. Vitamin B6, a nutrient required to make many neurotransmitters, may lead to peripheral neuropathy (a disorder of the nervous system where the limbs feel numb or tingle) if deficient. The nutrient that ensures nerves are protected with a myelin sheath, vitamin B12, can be responsible for delusions and mood disturbances when levels fall below normal.

Most of us think that nutrition must be poor before these kind of deficiencies show up. However, researchers have found that seemingly healthy, elderly subjects can still exhibit low vitamin levels. In fact, an older individual can be lacking in certain vitamins for years without any hint of a deficiency. Symptoms, mental or otherwise, may not show up immediately and even the usual blood tests employed to detect lagging nutrients are not always reliable (1).

Myth #2: Old age means losing all my teeth.

If you’re not worried about losing your mind when you’re old, you might fret about losing your teeth. Periodontitis, or late stage gum disease, is the primary cause of tooth loss in adults. This condition commonly begins as gingivitis where gums turn red and begin to swell and bleed, a situation experienced by too many people. Fortunately healthy gums and avoiding false teeth are both reasonable goals.

The elderly of today are much more likely to keep their teeth than previous generations. Even so, dental disease is prevalent. The New England Elders Dental Study found the beginnings of periodontal disease in over 3/4 of the 1150 persons examined. Part of the problem, said these investigators, was that education and dental care for this population are overlooked by both dentists and the patients themselves (2).

The sad part of this situation is that proper dental hygiene and regular cleanings by the dentist are usually enough to stave off infection. Another simple and inexpensive way of preventing or at least halting the progression of periodontal disease is to store and replace your toothbrush properly. Although most of us are in the habit of keeping our toothbrush in the bathroom, this is not recommended. Bathrooms are the most contaminated room in the house. Healthy people should replace their toothbrushes every two weeks; those with a systemic or oral illness more often. Everyone should use a new toothbrush when they get sick, when they feel better and again when they completely recover (3).

Finally, an important aspect of both dental and general health is immunity. It has been determined that a suppressed immune system is associated with the rapid progression of periodontal disease. A Midwestern research group found that cigarette smoking was one habit that dragged down immunity and sabotaged periodontitis treatment (4). Other lifestyle behaviors that theoretically could do the same include poor eating habits, stress and other immune depressors.

Myth #3: The older I get, the sicker I’ll get.

It’s true that as we age, our physiology changes. These changes can lead to poor health if not addressed. But old age doesn’t have to mean feeling sick and tired. An important part of staying well into the older years is keeping your immune system operating at its peak.

Aging is generally associated with lagging immunity and consequently more infections especially of the respiratory system. However John Hopkins’ Professor Chandra discovered that when independent, apparently healthy, elderly people were fed nutritional supplements for a year, their immunity improved. Immunological responses were so marked that those who were supplemented (versus the placebo group) were plagued with less infections and took antibiotics for less days. It should be noted that these effects were achieved with a moderate amount of nutrients in a balanced formula; megadoses of some vitamins can actually impair immunity (5).

Besides taking care of your immunity with supplementation, diet, exercise and other measures, you can prevent many age-related diseases with specific health precautions. For example, there is evidence that smoking and low plasma levels of vitamins C and E, and beta-carotene contribute to cataracts (6). Dr. Dean Ornish showed that a one year program of stress management, moderate exercise, no smoking and a low-fat vegetarian diet may reverse the development of coronary atherosclerosis. Left untreated, atherosclerotic plagues usually continue to grow (7).

Many other chronic diseases can also be prevented or treated with lifestyle changes. Calcium and magnesium supplementation helps some individuals with hypertension. Most are helped by high potassium foods (fruits and vegetables), salt restriction and weight maintenance. Keeping blood pressure under control can also decrease the risk of a stroke.

Adult-onset diabetes is usually treated best with dietary measures such as reducing simple sugars, consuming a lot of fiber and taking chromium supplements (8). It’s estimated that half of all types of cancer are linked to diet. This explains why less fat, lots of fruits, vegetables and fiber, vitamins A, B6, C and E and zinc and selenium all appear to play a role in cancer prevention (9).

Myth #4: Lifestyle changes won’t help me when I get old.

It’s a mistaken notion that at a certain age, you reach the lifestyle modification point of no return. If you’ve used this as an excuse to cling to old, comfortable, unhealthy habits, it’s time to let go. Of course, it’s always best to live as healthy as possible as young as possible. But for those in their golden years, there’s still plenty of hope.

Two of the most difficult habits to break, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle, can, when discarded, yield great health results. In 1990, the Surgeon General at that time, Antonia Novello, MD, MPH, declared that “even people who quit smoking at older ages can expect to enjoy a longer and healthier life compared with those who continue to smoke” (10).

Although the incidence of cigarette smoking naturally declines with age, those who continue to smoke should be aware of the numerous advantages of quitting. In as little as 20 minutes, blood pressure, pulse and body temperature all return to normal. Eight hours later, oxygen levels in the blood rise. After a day, the chance of a heart attack decreases. In five years, the risk of lung cancer falls to about half and in five more years lung cancer risk almost parallels that of a never-smoker (11). All these changes occur no matter what your age when you quit.

Frailty in the older person can’t be totally blamed on aging. At least some weakness occurs because of physical inactivity. A regular exercise program not only decreases the risk of chronic illness, but can help prevent early death. Those who begin exercising later in life can slow or even reverse organ deterioration.

When elderly individuals exercise, they reap a number of health rewards. Aside from fighting chronic diseases, their heart is stronger, muscles are more fit and flexible, mood is enhanced, and falls and fractures are less frequent. While exercise alone probably doesn’t significantly extend life beyond 80 years old, it can improve your quality of life (12,13).

Myth #5: As long as I maintain the eating habits I had when I was younger, I’ll stay healthy.

Perhaps one of the biggest fallacies of good health is that nutritional needs don’t change with age. Just as children and teens have different dietary requirements than adults, so do the elderly differ in their needs from younger individuals.

Experts are still arguing about what and if diet needs change with age. Because of this it’s estimated that anywhere between 0 and 40 percent of the independent elderly are nutritionally deficient. A number of factors feed into poor dietary intake. Chronic diseases, both physical and mental, can cause nutritional problems. Various medications can impair nutrient availability or discourage eating due to loss of appetite. If you wear ill-fitting dentures, pain can prevent you from eating. Elderly who live alone may feel isolated and uninterested in eating.

But even if you are older and healthy, the very process of aging alters your metabolism and physiology. Stomach acid declines, thus affecting some nutrient absorption. Many older people feel full quicker because of an increased sensitivity to the satiety peptide, cholecystokinin octapeptide. Aging also dampens the body’s appetite center, and consequently eating. Finally, it’s suspected that an older palate doesn’t detect those tastes that drive us to the dinner table: salt and sweet (14).

Aging is inevitable. Poor health is not. Regular exercise, nutritious eating (appropriate for your age) and a lucky roll of the genetic dice can help you to age with grace and good health.

Health News

(NaturalNews) This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at (http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com) . In this excerpt, Dax Moy shares the remaining steps for the Magic 100 program for success.

The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Dax Moy, one of the four most successful achievement coaches for personal trainers in the world.

Kevin: WOW! What’s next?

Dax: What’s next is know why you want it. To be really, really honest, most people don’t know why they want what they want. Or they will never admit it to themselves. You know what, they’ll say “oh yeah I would like a new Land Rover Discovery”, in my case you know? “Why do I want it?” You know it’s a great car. And that’s when most people start, “it’s a great car; made me feel…” Basically when I actually went through the “why do I want it” phase, what it really, really, really came down to was: it would make me feel successful, it would make me feel special, it would make me feel like I made it. Those are the obvious reasons. Because it is a great car, it’s got x horsepower, and the wheels are shinning; they are not really good reasons. They are not the things that I see that are going to hold you on course when things get tough, okay? But, when you know why you want it, when you get to the bottom of the real reason well, actually you know? Again, if I even dig a little bit deeper; for most of my life I felt poor, and I felt like I wasn’t going to amount to anything. This was going to make me feel rich, like I was turning into something that I wanted to be.

Kevin: Right, fantastic stuff. So, we have gone through the “why”. So now; what are the next couple of steps?

Dax: The next couple of steps. Know the price. There is a price for everything. You know, you want new shoes, there is a price. You want to get fit, there is a price. Too many people they enter into the beginning phases of a goal, maybe thinking about what they want and why they want it, but they don’t actually say; what is this going to cost me? It might cost you in money. It might cost you in time, commitment, effort, and might cost you in things that; you know, if we are talking about health and fitness, the things that you may have to abstain from.

All I ask, in my personal training students here in the UK that we have — I just finished a team meeting just before I came up and some of my coaches were saying I am having problems with X, you know, and she is saying to me that she is unhappy with the right improvement that she is making. So, I said okay, let me see her journal. She has not been paying; we told her up front what the price was. We said no wheat, dairy, caffeine or alcohol. You’ve got to do your homework twice a day, which is, they are only 10 minute homeworks actually, but you’ve got to do them twice a day, you are going to read these books, you are going to go to sleep at this time at night, you can’t do this, you must do this… That’s not just us being really butting up; you telling me what your stated game is and me telling you the quickest way of getting there.

Kevin: I think it is fantastic that you put it so simply because a lot of people do spend a lot of time planning how they are going to be healthy, and then they get right to the point where, you know, they know what needs to be done and just freeze. What’s the tipping point there?

Dax: The tipping point is, very often what I have found is the people that, the people that struggle with paying the price didn’t commit successfully in the second phase, right? They weren’t really honest with why they wanted it.

And nine times out of ten when I find the person who fails to pay the price, it is going to be someone who wasn’t really honest with themselves about why they wanted it. The other one time out of ten will be a person that once they get there, once they get to the point of paying the price is usually because they don’t believe that the paying of the price will bring them the goods. Yeah, they are terrified. If I tell you that the price is X amount of workout per week, eat this way, go to sleep at this time and you go to sleep later, you only do half the workouts, and you have changed your nutritional strategy; you have not paid the price. And you are not going to get the goods.

Kevin: Wow! How do you practice differently now then you did when you first started? How has your approached changed with people, with the people you work with?

Dax: I’ll rap that up in really one simple answerable word, its systems. I was always a bit of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. I am still very much in tune with my feelings and my emotive factors. I still pay a lot of attention to those but I’ve also tried to set systems up around things that mean, I guess I can reproduce myself. Instead of being one Dax Moy, there are twenty people in my studios doing things exactly the same way Dax Moy does them. So, you get the same workout with them that you’ll get with me. I guess that is one of the biggest things; system, I don’t just mean in terms of my business no, I’ve got a systematic approach in my year. Every single twelve weeks my family and I take a vacation, every twelve weeks without fail. I would consider my year to be spiralling down if that didn’t happened. I don’t work Wednesday or Friday evenings anymore. No, that is not part of my system. I work the rest of the week; I don’t work weekends either anymore actually. It’s kind of like saying, “look for most things there are some exceptions to the rule, but most of us, don’t live within the rule; we live within the exceptions”. I think that’s what I was doing. That is what a lot of my clients do. That is what my students do. That is what a lot of my readers do. They spend their lives living within the exceptions.

Kevin: Well, it kind of answers my last question. If everyone took and maybe you can expand on that; if everyone took one thing away from this particular call, what will it be?

Dax: Set in place a system that will make you happy. For me happiness is the ultimate aim of life. Say if you want to lose 20 or 30 pounds, whatever it is, because being that way and looking the way you look in the mirror at the moment is making you unhappy. With these things to be happy so, why not set in place systems that otherwise you go, you know; the best time to do this is on the days that you are feeling happier the most. And you sit down and you say; “you know I am having a great day today. Why am I feeling so great today?” “I had a great conversation with someone today. I went for a great meal at lunch time, I didn’t rush; I took my time; I still had time to read a book, you know.” “My desk was clear when I got into work this morning that made me feel completely different for the start of my day.” These are all just ingredients for the recipe of happiness and none of us have exactly the same recipe. For example, in my life, I also as well as my family value adventure. So, that is where the twelve weeks vacation comes in. My vacations are pretty adventurous. I have lived in the outback of Australia in a camp cabana. I have parachuted on to the Great Barrier Reef.

So, if I get all the other ingredients and I tell my family that I love them; my work is going great; I have a great meal and I read a book, but now twelve weeks have gone by and I go, “God I haven’t had any adventure anymore”; I start to feel less than me. I no longer feel like me. I feel that in some way I’m starting to diminish.

So, many people are going through life losing themselves. That’s because, quite simply, they are not following their own rules. If you don’t like the word rules, take that word and use the word recipe. You are not following your own recipe for what makes you happy. You know what it is; you know what the ingredients are. I need this amount of time; this amount of money; I need to read these amounts of books; this is the type of body I want; this is the type of sex life I want; this is this, this, this, this, and this, and this, and this. That’s your recipe ingredients but the only trouble is; most people either aren’t going out, you know; they are living on opposite ingredients, they are doing all the things they hate in life and they are wondering why their life is crap.

They might be getting some of the ingredients but not the rest and when they do get them, they never mixed them together. What I mean by mixing them together is creating that system. Here is an interesting thing, most people are looking; I hate people all the time telling me that they are trying to create work life balance, work life balance, work life balance; you hear this? And, I used to be a coach that tried to help people create work life balance. It only lasts six months you know; that is non-sense. We don’t want work life balance. Nothing in life is balance because once it becomes balance, it becomes still. Unless its movement, life’s action. So, we don’t want work life balance at all. I mean, you picture a see-saw right? When the see-saw is at a balance, when its in balance it is at rest; it is not moving.

Kevin: Wow! You know every time I’ve interviewed and talked with you Dax; I’ve really gotten some great insights from it. This is incredible stuff and we are running out of time.

Let me do a little talk here because I have the Magic 100 program and I did it and one of my goals was to go to California and I had no reason whatsoever to go to California and I just put it down there because I just kind of wanted to go. The funny thing about it is that things fell into place, I mean almost within 30 days I had a trip planned to go to California and I had a business meeting out there and there was an Expo out there, and then, it was just insane how it happened. Is it that once you do set the intention and you write it down and you say it out loud, man it just happens. And, just as a testimony to the Magic 100 for me is that I have done it and the power of it is just incredible!

news

(NaturalNews) Without question, these are tough times. Rampant inflation, sky-high gas prices, failed wars, domestic surveillance and secret prisons run by top U.S. officials… it all adds up to uncertainty and fear in the minds of many Americans. In this increasingly unstable environment, however, there’s one area where anyone can discover solid ground beneath their feet and face the future with a sense of certainty: Their health!

Why health? Because it’s the one thing you have near-total control over. Yes, I know, the drug companies and misinformed medical researchers have been trying to convince you for a long time that your own health is utterly out of your control. They claim diseases are caused by bad genes and bad luck, not by food, nutrition or exposure to toxic chemicals. They say bad health is just bad luck, like being struck by lightning. They even use the same terms, saying people are “struck by cancer!”

It’s all a lie, of course, cleverly designed to disempower the People and turn consumers into pitiful pill-popping victims of Big Pharma’s highly unethical disease mongering campaigns. The more you believe you’re helpless to control your health, the more you’ll cave in to Big Pharma’s “medicate everybody” approach to the sick care industry.

There’s a better way to protect your health

But I have news for you: There’s a better way; an optimistic, high-vibration, enlightened and completely natural way to gain confidence in the future of your own health: Empower yourself with information about superfood nutrition, miraculous herbal cures, underground disease cures and other similar information you’ll never learn from controlled, conventional sources.

If you read NaturalNews on a regular basis, you already realize this. NaturalNews serves this exact purpose: Empowering readers with lifesaving, life-changing information that can keep them out of the hospital, out of the doctor’s office and off the gurney forever! We reach well over 1.2 million readers a month right now, publishing more than fifty articles a week that offer revolutionary information on anti-cancer mushrooms, superfoods that reverse heart disease, free therapies that reverse disease and much more.

Have you ever wondered, however, where we get our own information? It doesn’t fall out of the sky. And I don’t pull it out of my derriere like Big Pharma’s dishonest researchers and their “selective publication” of drug trials. Nope: I get my information from in-the-know sources — top people in the industry who are on the true cutting edge of naturopathic healing. Folks who practice this stuff every day, who live it!

To get you an example, in just the last two weeks, I completed interviews with Dr. Julian Whitaker, Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. Bruce Lipton. All three of these interviews will soon be featured right here on NaturalNews.com, but until those are ready, I wanted to introduce you to another one of my very top sources for “underground” health information: Dr. Jonathan Wright.

Health News

The majority of us are simply unaware of the toxic ingredients that are in products we use every day. Did you know that most all toothpastes on the market contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), an ingredient that is known to dry out your mouth and cause canker sores? Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is such a harsh chemical that it can cause damage to the oral tissues lining the inside of your mouth. When these tissues shed, they feed the bacteria that create taste disorders and Halitosis.¹

Choosing organic toothpaste and mouthwash is a positive step that you can take for living green. Ideally, you should look for products that are chemical free, non-toxic, and USDA certified as organic. Is organic toothpaste and mouthwash hard to find? Not really. While you might have some difficulty finding truly organic products at your local retailer, this really depends upon where you live. Even if you do have some trouble finding organic toothpaste and mouthwash in stores, you should not have any problem finding a wide variety of them online.

Did You Know? As much as 89% of personal care products have not been evaluated for their safety.²

In order to find true organic toothpaste and mouthwash products, you will need to dedicate yourself to reading labels. Keep in mind that most commercial products contain a list of ingredients that, on the surface, are rather meaningless to most of us. When you see ingredients listed that you are not familiar with, take charge and find out what they are! This is a really good way that you can learn about the various types of chemicals that are routinely present in every day health and beauty items.

Dangers of Exposure from Non-Organic Toothpaste & Mouthwash

One of the main reasons that organic products in general have become so popular is because people throughout the world are becoming more concerned not only about their own health and well being, but about the health of the environment as well. Do you really want to brush your teeth and gums with harmful chemicals? Of course not! None of us do.

• Chemicals in toothpaste are responsible for drying out tissues in the mouth and could lead to canker sores
• Most mouthwashes can be harmful or fatal if swallowed
• Fluoride overused can cause mottling (a tooth disease), cancer, renal or kidney failure and more
• Chemicals found in bathroom disinfectants are used in some mouthwashes
• Ammonia, formaldehyde, and hydrogen peroxide are common ingredients in mouthwash

Many people mistakenly believe that truly organic products cost a small fortune. And, this makes them reluctant to seek out the products that they know would be better for them. The fact is organic products can be purchased for little or no more than the popular commercial brands. And with all that is at stake, it’s no wonder that organics are rising in popularity, and it’s not just toothpaste and mouthwash that are getting attention. You can review all your healthcare products because a frightening majority of them are made with many of the same harsh chemicals.

Did You Know? In the past 67 years, the FDA has only banned the use of 9 personal care ingredients. The EU has banned 450. ³

Another reason that organic toothpaste and mouthwash are important is because 60% of everything that you put onto your skin can be absorbed and inhaled. The majority of the commercial toothpastes and mouthwashes on the market today are manufactured with ingredients that are known to be dangerous. These toxins that we absorb and inhale from toothpaste and mouthwash can remain in our bodies throughout our lifetimes!

How to Choose Your Organic Toothpaste & Mouthwash

When searching for organic toothpaste and mouthwash products, try to avoid the ones that contain any of the following:

It is also important to ensure that the products you purchase are not animal tested. Cruelty free products are a more wholesome choice for you and your family to use.

It’s always your best practice to read the labels. Many products state on their labels that they’re “organic” or “natural” and really are not. They may contain a small amount of the good stuff, but the rest of their formula includes the bad stuff. Unfortunately, the bad stuff usually makes up the larger percentage of its content.

Health News

Deep breathing is a critical piece of maintaining good health. Most people overlook it even though the majority of the population breathes rapidly and shallowly, probably indicative of the hurried pace of the world we live it.

Breathing exercises along with muscle relaxation do a number of good things for your life. This is a great exercise as you can see to improve your daily life. It is something you can practice any time you feel the need.

• It lessens your physical response to stress — use it whenever you feel stress setting in.
  • Relieving stress also helps to relax your bowels
• Helps to keep your mind clear — use it whenever you feel unfocused
• In increases the levels of oxygen to your organs — for this reason especially it should be implemented regularly.
  • Because oxygen is key to cleansing, it should be used whenever you perform the 6-Day Advanced Oxygen Cleanse (try for twice daily during the cleanse).
  • It helps when you use it as you sit on the toilet for your bowels to move.

How Do I Do This?

It’s a simple practice that you can use regularly or every once in a while.

• Inhale deeply, slowly, (over a span of about 4 seconds), through your nose
• Hold it for a count of 16 seconds
• Exhale through your mouth, (over a span of about 8 seconds)

Repeat this process nine times.

It’s important that this be a conscious activity for maximum effect. Remember to consciously control your body’s responses. For example, if you’re trying to relax your muscles, then you need to focus on the individual muscles telling them to relax. Often tension is an automatic response that turns into a state of being. So, you have to remind your muscles how to behave.

Health News

(NaturalNews) Yogurt maker Dannon has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company has made false and misleading claims about the health benefits of its probiotic line of yogurts.

“Deceptive advertising has enabled Dannon to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ordinary yogurt at inflated prices to responsible, health- conscious consumers,” said attorney Timothy G. Blood.

“All of Dannon’s claims for Activia and DanActive are completely supported by peer-reviewed science and are in accordance with all laws and regulations,” the company responded.

Dannon advertises its Activia and DanActive yogurts as containing probiotic bacteria that help boost the immune system and regulate digestion. An aggressive marketing campaign by the company includes a high-profile ad campaign and a Web site with links to studies showing the benefits of the probiotic bacteria used in Activia products.

The studies cited by Dannon were all funded by the company.

Filed in the United States District Court in California, the lawsuit says that there is no evidence that the yogurt itself functions as advertised, regardless of what various varieties of probiotic bacteria may do in the laboratory.

Probiotics are microorganisms that provide health benefits inside the body, but some scientists say that probiotics remain poorly understood. Of the thousands of probiotics that exist, very few have been tested for their effects when consumed by humans as part of their diets. Laboratory research does not necessarily translate into real health benefits, these researchers say.

“At present, the quality of probiotics available to consumers in food products around the world is unreliable,” says a 2006 report by the American Society for Microbiology.

There are few FDA regulations on marketing claims made on probiotic products, as long as those products do not claim to be equivalent to drugs that have the ability to cure diseases.

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For her tiny bottom, more hydrosols, followed by a soothing dab of all natural “non-Vaseline” Happy Baby Balm. Fractionated Coconut Oil, infused with healing Calendula petals, with about 5 drops of Lavender and one drop of German Chamomile to help guard against inflammation. Heat together one cup of the Calendula infused oil and one scant ounce of grated Beeswax. When the Beeswax is totally melted, remove from heat and beat until cool. You may add an ounce of Shea Butter for extra emollience. (A spoonful of Vit. E is a healing addition, and will help preserve the balm.) As the balm cools, add the essential oils and beat until the balm is creamy.

baby care

One option to commercial, chemical laden baby wipes is easily made at home. Take a roll of Bounty towels, and cut the roll in half, to yield two half sized rolls. Remove the center cardboard tube, and place the dry paper towel roll in an empty plastic container. (The most convenient are empty commercial wipes containers.) Saturate the roll of dry paper towels with a blend of four parts hydrosol of your choice, and one part witch hazel extract. These are wonderfully convenient for cleaning up after a messy diaper.

baby care