Current Favorite Products

I've been updating this post as I think of things to add to it, and I may continue to update it. These are my current favorite products!

Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques

The whole entire brand. I've written about natural and organic make up before, including Lauren Brooke lip colors (I never finished that post because... fatigue and sickness making me not look camera ready), Mineral Fusion, and MyChelle. MyChelle no longer makes make up. I don't understand why, because they had this awesome foundation cream stick that I loved, but the company decided to focus on skin care instead of cosmetics. Such a disappointment. I switched to Mineral Fusion pressed powder foundation. I like it a lot, but I find it's a bit dry and I broke out to their liquid foundation. I learned that Mineral Fusion is not 100% trustworthy and only some of their products are safe, but the safe products are excellent and I highly recommend. I decided to finally try Lauren Brooke's pressed powder. I'm never going back. It's the bomb! It's not drying, applies really smoothly and evenly, and has this radiance to it that Mineral Fusion didn't give me. I don't feel it on my skin. It looks so natural and feels so natural, but covers the perfect amount and warms up my skin tone nicely. It also neutralizes my undereye bags without concealer! It doesn't hide them like concealer, but it masks the purple color so it looks like I'm not wearing make up or trying to hide them.

I just purchased two new items from them (as in minutes ago, have not arrived yet.) One is their lash conditioner. They sent me a sample of it last time I ordered. I never really thought I wanted a lash conditioner until I tried it, but the sample of it convinced me. It helped tone down my itching and my lashes did act stronger - as in, not falling out at the normal rate. What I would actually like from regular use of it is to regrow lashes. I have a "bald patch" in my lashes that drives me nuts. This conditioner has horsetail in it, and from my understanding, horsetail is the only herb known to create new hair growth (as opposed to helping the hair you already have grow more.)

The other new item I just bought is their creme concealer. I have an issue with eye shadows creasing on me - all brands, doesn't seem to matter if it's powder or liquid. Reviewers said this concealer mixes really well with eye shadow and prevents the creasing. I'm going to test this out and see if it's true! As it is, I tend to wear very light amounts of eye shadow so that when it ends up creasing it's not as obvious. I want to be able to rock a normal layer of eye shadow for hours!

I'm wearing Lauren Brooke Cool 20 Pressed Powder Foundation in this photo (along with Honeybee Garden eye liner, and Mineral Fusion mascara and blush.) I took this on a day when I was feeling badly and tried to get ready for work, so I did my make up, but wasn't strong enough to actually work. I never expected to use the photo, lol, but you can see how it makes my skin look natural with a glow. My chest skin was more pale than normal. I love it!






Biokleen Laundry Powder and Oxygen Bleach Plus

This has been a miracle worker for me! I use the Premium Plus one because it doesn't have corn products in it like the Fragrance Free one does (I'm allergic to corn.) I can use the Fragrance Free liquid from them, but I prefer this powder. It has Zeolite and hydrogen peroxide in it, both of which are excellent ingredients for KILLING perfumes and other fragrances. I might have to wash 2-3 times to get rid of badly contaminated clothing, but the majority of the time one wash is enough to completely remove any trace amounts of fragrances that stick to my clothes. It's awesome!!! It also cleans really well and keeps whites very white. This is the lowest effort most effective laundry product I've ever used.

The oxygen bleach is on the same page I link to. It's like Oxyclean, only with trustworthy ingredients. I use this in toilet tanks and to soak my bath tub with. The toilets have less grime and my tub that is stained a bit brown from using Redmond's Bath Salt Plus turned white. With no scrubbing. :D


This handmade turtle from a Fair Trade store in Minneapolis
...that was on clearance for $4 and I finally found a small succulent for.





Sierra Trading Post

Their website. It's part of the TJMaxx chain of stores, but is for outdoor and recreation enthusiasts. They sell a good variety of organic clothing and eco products. It may not be GOTS certified sweatshop free organic clothing, which is my preference, but I only work 12-16 hours a week. I can't afford my standard unless it's on clearance. I have a small variety of GOTS certified sweat shop clothing in my closet, but it was all purchased on good sales. When I need some article of clothing and I can't find what I need on sale elsewhere, going simply for organic cotton from Sierra Trading Post is amazingly helpful. It's all liquidation, so their selection is constantly changing, but their prices are fantastic. I've bought both organic clothing (brands like Prana, Patagonia, United By Blue, and Adventura) and natural leather with rubber shoes from them at huge savings. I can't rely on them to have what I need, but I've scored great deals from them. And it's excellent for men too! The focus on organic clothing is on women, but they actually have a good variety for men!

The only problem? Their return policy. You'll have to pay to return, which can make returns not worth it on some items. But their prices and discounts make up for it. Just make friends who will buy items that don't fit you.

Choice Mental Focus Tea and Choice Vanilla Roobios Tea

I drink a ton of tea. I can only drink water and tea, no juices or coffee or sodas. I'm limited in which teas I can drink due to medicinal properties of some teas and herbs, but thankfully both of these work for me. I use caffeine sparingly and I plan out when to drink it. I'm sensitive to it, so I have to be careful. Both of these are caffeine free, but work great in the day time! The Mental Focus tea is awesome when I'm wanting to lift brain fog without using caffeine. It really does help! The Vanilla Roobios tea just has this silky smooth dark flavor, and I love dark green and black tea. It's my caffeine-free dark flavor replacement. Sooooooo good!



GoWise USA Blood Pressure Monitor

I have blood pressure issues. I haven't written much about it yet, but I appear to have POTS (doctor tested). POTS is a heart rate issue, but in my case it's a blood pressure issue too. I'll get into this someday when I'm ready to write about the things stressing me out again, lol. Anyway, I bought this last year to monitor myself so I could learn when I was fighting low blood pressure instead of having another issue, like hypoglycemia. It has been really insightful. This monitor uses an arm cuff, which is much more accurate than the write monitors. It's not perfect because it's a machine, which uses averages to calculate. My doctor measures my blood pressure manually and spends a lot more time measuring it to be accurate and see how it fluctuates. This machine won't show fluctuations. But for an at home tool it actually is accurate enough to be helpful. I didn't get excited about it last year because it didn't ever seem to be accurate, but it was my fault. I was measuring incorrectly. I fixed my posture and arm position, which made all the difference in the world!

It does measure heart rate too. I think a normal person could trust the heart rate reading on it, but it doesn't read long enough for someone like me. My heart rate jumps all over the place within seconds. I think it give me an average, like Fitbit does (I'll get into why Fitbit is the wrong tool for people with POTS later.) But what it does tell me is when my resting heart rate is simply too high. Mine is often in the 80's, sometimes in the 90's. That's really not good.






This Shark Vacuum

Vacuuming has always been an issue for me. I get allergy issues if I don't vacuum, but I get allergy issues if I do. It's because the vacuum we had before just kicked up dust and only collected part of it. My husband came to me and said he wanted to get me a better vacuum, but didn't want to get it for me for a holiday or birthday because he didn't want to imply that I'm just an objectified house maid. lol! So he got it for us "for Memorial Day." Ha! He was teasing, because I'm not sensitive about such things, but I enjoyed the laugh.

Anyway, this vacuum sucks! It actually sucks hard without kicking dust up into the air! It has 2 more amps (power) than the last vacuum, and it has a HEPA filter built in to prevent any dust from leaving through the exhaust. It's not only collecting a lot more from our carpet, it's allowing me to vacuum as much as I want without even needing to wear my face mask! All the other features are wonderful on it too, but the fact alone that the suction is powerful and it has a HEPA filter is enough to make me fall in love with it. If you need an allergy friendly vacuum, I highly recommend this one!



This was after a quick vacuum around the upstairs to try out the new vacuum. I had just vacuumed the week prior with the old vacuum. Clearly the old vacuum wasn't picking up very much...



Om Pure Air mask

I've been using Vog Mask, but suddenly I couldn't find their organic cotton version anywhere for sale. My old 2 from them are too worn out and they're not refreshing in the sun. It's hard to breathe through them. So I was forced to find an alternative to buy. I bought this mask, and despite it taking 4 weeks to ship to me, I actually like it better than Vog Mask. It's easier to breathe through it, it fits my face better and seals better, and it's more effective. I think they have a better carbon filter than Vog Mask uses. I'll want to write a full review on this later, so stay tuned for that.





Hemp Organic Life Etsy store

This shop is awesome. All the products are made from organic hemp and linen, and they are high quality. I bought an organic hemp sleeping bag from her to use when I need to travel and sleep in beds that aren't my safe organic latex bed. I bought it as a barrier between me and the bed so I wouldn't have skin contact, at the very least, with the flame retardants, polyester, and other synthetics. I'll review this sleeping bag after traveling with it later this summer, so stay tuned for that, but snuggling with it at home is wonderful! It breathes so well, but also traps in enough body heat to keep me comfortable. The fabric is strong. It's mildly scratchy the same way wool is, but it's softening up with washing. I actually really like that slightly rough texture, I think it feels good on my skin. Anyway, she did a fantastic job with this sleeping bag. She's from the Ukraine, so shipping almost made me cry, but it was so incredibly worth it! You can see how comfortable it is:



She also sent me a free gift of these linen socks, which are so perfect. They're very breathable, but keep me warm. They feel cozy on my skin. These are the best free gift I've received with an order!






Redmond's new Tooth Powder in Black Licorice

So... normally I'm an advocate of making your own toothpaste from scratch in order to save money and save plastic. It's really easy to make with bentonite clay and charcoal. But in this case, Redmond made theirs better than the DIY version. How, you ask? By making it very powdery. It's so much finer than any toothpowder I've made from scratch, and therefore it feels so much softer on the teeth. It brushes better and is much easier to rinse out of my mouth. But the best part? The black licorice flavor. It's awesome. It's so good. I accidently bought the peppermint version and I don't care for the flavor of it.

Also, for those of you who really don't want to do DIY, this is a great option, even though it's in plastic, because the tooth powder lasts about 3x longer than their Earthpaste in the tubes.



Avocado Oil Spray

I'm not sure I have to justify why this is a favorite thing of mine. It's a super healthy fat in spray form without aerosol. I just spray it on salads and it's perfectly evenly distributed on the leafs. I spray it on chicken before it goes on the grill and it means I don't have to massage the chicken with oily hands to get a nice thin coating of oil on it.



Badger Face Oil Set:

Organic oils in a glass pump bottle - they're perfect! I don't react to any of the sets except the Argan oil one, which has orange essential oil in it. I don't do well with citrus oils. They're so gentle, take off make up way better than just coconut oil, and moisturize very well. I wear the face oil under my make up and it doesn't leave me greasy whatsoever. I can't say enough good about this set! My skin looks much more supple with regular use.



Vitamin C and Glutathione IVs (and my Mom.)

I had two of these on my last trip to see my doctor. They made me really nauseous and gave me some nasty headaches. I wanted to throw up, but was made very thirsty from them at the same time. I felt like a trillion micro explosions were happening in my body all at once. Why do I like them so much, then? Because they seriously help a lot after my body calms down from receiving the IV. Better energy, better mood, much less severe reactions to things, better digestion, clearer head and clearer thinking, less overall body pain... they're helpful! But the effect doesn't last long enough. I need to have them done regularly.



Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Soap

This soap is fragrance free, doesn't dry out my skin, is organic and doesn't irritate my skin, and is very travel friendly. I accidently left my container of it in the bathroom where my Chiropractor and Acupuncturist are. As you can see that building stocks heavily scented soaps - it's hard for me to use their bathroom and I need to slip on my mask to go in there (it's a shared building and they don't choose the soap.) My container was mostly full when I left it there, and exactly a week later it was only a quarter full. People were choosing my fragrance free soap over the fake scented cancer causing soap! That gave me a lot of hope for humanity, lol.

I buy the large 32 oz container of it and keep refilling this little one. I keep this small container in my purse so that I have safe soap with me in public.






Wokamon App

I got myself the cheap Fitbit Flex 2 because AT&T was having a special on them. I wish I had researched fitness trackers before impulsively getting it. At the time I didn't think I wanted to spend more for a heart rate monitor, and I was wasn't wrong to think that since Fitbit's heart rate monitoring isn't detailed enough for people with POTS, but some monitoring would be nice. It also doesn't have a GPS, so I can't map my walks with it. I was mostly interested in the sleep tracking feature, but as it turns out, it's not accurate. I think it's sleeping when I'm laying in bed with my eyes open wondering when I'll ever finally drift off to sleep.

But it's not all a disappointment! I know I can't challenge myself to do more exercise with it in my condition, but it's actually been helpful to see how much walking I do on a normal work day vs normal non-work day. I can see how active I really am when I tell my doctor how much exercise I think I'm getting.

The best part? Wokamon and Achievemint, two apps that are weirdly motivating.

Wokamon is the modern day smart phone Tomagachi, lol! You must take care of your monsters by leveling them up with steps from your fitness tracker. When it tells me I only need 156 more steps to level up, I actually want to get up and get those steps in, even when I'm feeling lazy and tired. I am too motivated by reward systems in video games. :) But hey, it's fun and it's working! I might only average 3,000 steps a day (so I can't compete), but my monsters are leveling up!

Achievemint pays you for using a fitness tracker. You can earn up to $10 a month for all the activity you do with your fitness tracker. It's going to end up being more like $10 every 6 months at the rate I earn points, but hey, I'll take the $10 when I finally earn it!




30% Grain White Vinegar

This stuff works amazingly for killing weeds. It burns weeds, but leaves the roots. After the weed shrivels up you'll have to spray again to burn the roots. The fact of the matter is that it's non-toxic and highly effective! That said, it does burn the skin. Cover your skin when applying!

It IS made from corn, but it's non-GMO corn. The company doesn't verify if the corn was sprayed with Round Up or not, but they do claim the corn is non-GMO and Round Up is mainly used on GMOs. It's also just the acid from the corn, so it doesn't seem to cause me allergic issues (I'm allergic to corn.) I'm not consuming it, just spraying it on weeds.


These reusable organic cotton produce bags

I've been using these for years now, but they're still one of my favorite things. They are fantastic for buying fresh produce with because they weigh nothing, they're breathable, and they keep produce fresh and clean. They wash very easily.

But I discovered a new use for them! They're perfect for washing bras in and other delicates in! Instead of a nylon mesh bag designed for bras, I just stick my bra in one of these, tie the top loosely, and throw it in the washer and dryer. My bras are coming out cleaner than when I used the nylon mesh bag, and I'm guessing the cotton allows more soap through. These bags make my life so much easier!


Alaffia Bubble Bath

This bubble bath is by far the best Alaffia product. It bubbles really well, the bubbles last a long time, it's effective soap, and it's great for washing hair with! I like to mix Starwick Botanical's Kelp powder, baking soda (to neutralize chlorine), and this bubble bath together. I'll wash my hair in the bathwater and soak in it for a while. Then I'll even shave my legs in the bathwater. The bubble bath stays soapy enough to keep my legs lubricated enough to shave with. I rinse in the shower after, of course. I don't particularly care for this brand's shampoo or conditioner (I loved them at first, then it started leaving residue in my hair that wouldn't wash out), but this bubble bath couldn't be better!


Mantra Sports Pilates Ring

I had to let this off gas for a while before I could use it - it's not safe right out of the box for MCS people like myself. But after it stopped being smelly I was able to play with it. The reason I like it is because it allows me to use my muscles even when I'm stuck in bed on my back. I just put it between my legs and squeeze. I put it between my ankles and lift it with my legs. I hold it in my hands and squeeze it and pull it apart. The simple resistance it offers helps me a lot when my muscles feel restless but I'm not feeling strong enough to stand up and walk around. There are probably other great similar products, but this is the one I chose and I really like it!



My acupressure mat - I still love this thing so much!!



....And more. I'm forgetting plenty of things I want to share with you, I'm sure of it, but I've been working on this post slowly all day. I'm done. :) I've leaving out obvious things I've already reviewed, such as my new organic latex bed, which I can't say enough good about! Seriously, your bed matters. A lot.

Plastics

This is a post I've been gearing up to write for many months now. The problem of plastic has become one of my passions, because it is one of the most easily solved problems by the majority of people. Step one is educating the majority of people so that they have the knowledge they need to make their choice for or against the use of plastic.

Plastic certainly has its uses, and it is a revolutionary component in our modern technology focused world with advanced medical care. This post is not against all plastic, because in many cases is it the best, if not the only, material we have for certain important uses. For instance, many types of medical equipment, such as tubing, require plastic. Do you remember the commercials back in the 90's with the slogan "Plastics make it possible"? The reason for the commercial was to address the health concerns about plastic that many people were worried about. The commercial wasn't lying. Plastics do many many things possible, things that could even save a person's life. The problem is, yes, there are some serious health concerns with plastics. Those worried people in the 90's had very good reason to be worried.

Due to the importance of plastic in certain instances, my complaint is with plastics made from petroleum that are only made for a single use or that are used as a cheaper material to a more natural qualified material. Yes, plastic is petroleum product, though there are plant-based alternatives, but I'll get into this later in this post. By single use plastics I mean plastics such as water bottles, straws, candy wrappers, disposable utensils, grocery bags, etc. By cheaper material I mean clothing made from polyester instead of cotton, water bottles made from plastic instead of stainless steel or glass, etc. These are easily fixable problems.

But why are these plastics a problem? There are several issues: Plastic does not recycle as easily as we're lead to believe, plastic does not biodegrade, plastic is often totally unnecessary (it's not sustainable at all, yet it's used in place of sustainable materials anyway), and plastic is an endocrine disruptor (easily gets into our bodies and acts like estrogen.) 

Yes, recycling companies do accept plastic to be recycled. But does it actually get recycled? For most of my life I was convinced that plastic sent to the recycling companies does actually get recycled, or else they wouldn't accept it. This is a difficult point to convince people of because it will shatter their view of the almighty Eco-friendly recycling programs. I encourage you to watch the documentary Plastic Paradise. It is currently free to view on Netflix. Even though the journalist who made the movie is inexperienced and a terrible interviewer, she does capture very important footage, interview some big names in the plastic industry, and takes part in a science experiment that went on to be an influential peer-reviewed published study. While she covers most of the very important points about the problem of plastic, what she did best with her documentary was give the audience a great visual idea of how much plastic is floating in our oceans. Plastic that may or may not have gone to recyclers. But let me give you evidence that you can read right now as well. China isn't accepting a lot of our used plastics anymore, and our recyclers in the country cannot support the amount of plastic that is put in recycle bins. What's worse is that only 6.5 percent of plastic that gets put into recycle bins actually gets recycled, and only 7.7 percent gets sent to waste-to-energy facilities. And so, recycling companies end up sending a lot of plastic to land fills anyway. Many of those landfills are in the ocean and countries like India. India has such a major plastic problem that there literal mountains of plastic. My friend's cousin is seeking funding for a project that would recycle the plastic in India into roofs. Please check out his project and support him!

The reason all this waste plastic keeps piling up is because it simply does not biodegrade. Organic materials biodegrade because the bacteria in the earth are able to break it down. Plastic is unlike organic materials, and therefore the bacteria cannot break it down.  It does, at least, decompose in sunlight, but not all the way. The sun turns plastics into tiny little pieces... that don't go away. In the oceans, fish eat these tiny pieces. Then we eat those fish, meaning that we're ingesting the plastic we thought we "got rid of" when we threw it away or "recycled" it. I'll get into why ingesting plastic is a major problem later.



So why do companies use plastics when other materials could be used? I'm not sure that I really need to link to any sources to answer this question. It's cheap. Not only is it cheap, it has characteristics that other materials don't: it's versatile, flexible, doesn't break when dropped, is transparent, and can shaped easily. Plastic really is revolutionary! It provides convenience and new possibilities at the lowest price tag. There are non-petroleum plastics, though, such as hemp and corn plastic. You may have noticed in recent years that the plastic bags available in some grocery stores for vegetables and meat are now made from corn based plastics. More and more of the plastic air pockets used in boxes for shipping protection is being made from non-petroleum plastic that biodegrades quickly. There is hope for plastic to become less and less toxic as the years go on, but I'm not counting on it, and I plan to avoid plastic anyway. (...And then there's the issue of my corn allergy! I don't know if corn plastic bothers me, but if it's holding my food then there's the potential for it.)

Okay, you get it. Plastic pollution is a major problem. These reasons alone are enough to make you want to quit relying on plastic, I hope. But these reasons are only half the problem with plastics. This is a health blog, and I wouldn't necessarily bring up this topic if wasn't health related.


How plastics affect our health, and my personal plastic health story:

I'd like to start by sharing my story, because I believe having a concrete example of the health problems caused by plastics will help you understand the research I'm going to link to.

As you know if have been reading my previous posts, I spent about 8-9 years suffering from brutally painful and unmanageable menstrual periods. I was losing 10+ ounces of blood per month, not including spotting, when the average healthy woman loses about 1-2 ounces per month. The pain was so unbearable that I was taking up to 12 Ibuprofen on the first day of my period, and it often wasn't enough to manage the pain. I had PMS symptoms that were the result of hormonal and reproductive problems too: severe acne breakouts, oily skin, anger and mood issues, powerful cravings, bloating and inflammation, and more. I was told that I probably had endometreosis, but I did not go through with the surgery that would confirm this. 

I decided to try an experiment about 7 months ago after getting diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. I had been reading up on endocrine disruptors in many common household products that caused me to react, and what I kept finding were warnings about plastic as an endocrine disruptor. I decided to see what would happen if I eliminated as much plastic as possible from my life, focusing on the kitchen and clothing. I switched to only wearing clothing from natural fabrics, like cotton and linen (yes, polyester, nylon, and spandex are all forms of plastic!) If I can get a body care product in something other than plastic, I buy it instead of something in plastic (for instance, Badger Balm comes in tin cans, and coconut oil from glass jars makes a fantastic lotion and make-up remover.) I choose to use natural bristles for my body brush and use a real loofa instead of the plastic imitator (and I just ordered a plastic-free toothbrush.)  My make up brushes are made from wood and natural brush fibers. I purchased stainless steel and glass water bottles, glass storage containers and bakeware, and ceramic and stainless steel pots and pans. I do not use a plastic sack to hold my vegetables when I buy them at the store. I bought a half a cow and had the meat wrapped in paper, not plastic. You get the idea. I was unable to eliminate all plastic. For instance, I cannot get chicken, turkey, or fish locally that wasn't sealed in plastic. My doctor's herbs and supplements all come in plastic containers. My liquid soap comes in plastic. I did what I could to eliminate plastic from my life. What I noticed was that each month following the plastic elimination, my menstrual periods got easier and easier to deal with. Now, I need to be very clear on something: My doctor was already addressing my menstrual issues for a year between diet, herbs, supplements, tinctures, exercise, and progesterone cream. All of these things helped considerably, and my periods were about 40% easier to deal with. I still was dealing with horrific periods, though, and needed more help. The plastic elimination helped ease my periods faster and more dramatically than anything my doctor did for me (which I'm very grateful for and was very necessary!) Last month, I was down to only losing 5 ounces of blood with no pain at all. I still got dizzy, overly tired, and light headed. I still had to lay in bed half of the day to manage these symptoms. But this is better than spending the entire day in bed screaming in pain, unable to move without extra pain, on the verge of fainting every time I stood up, wondering how to make it to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so. What's more, my PMS symptoms have lighted up too. My acne has been reduced to one or two pimples the week before my period (instead of covering my entire face and some of my back.) My mood is stable the week before. My skin hasn't had an oil problem in a year, but now it's actually staying the same each day of the month. My bloating and tenderness issues are greatly reduced (to the point of being ignorable.)

I noticed another amazing benefit from avoiding plastic clothing: I no longer have body odor! I used to have a few shirts and pants that made me reek after half a day of wearing them, and other shirts made me smell too, just not as badly. I never knew my clothes were causing the problem until I tried this experiment. The shirts that made me reek the most were 100% polyester. I also discovered that my body odor never fully washed out of those shirts. Now that I'm wearing natural clothing I don't really ever smell. Even after I work out and am sweaty, I don't really smell. Sure, my sweat smells a little musty (doesn't everyone's?), but there was nothing repulsive about it.

So how is it that I got these fantastic results with my health just by ditching plastic? How could plastic actually have that much power over our health? Well, like I mentioned earlier, it's an endocrine disruptor. The endocrine system is your hormonal system. An endocrine disruptor is a synthetic chemical that when absorbed into the body either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body's normal functions. Plastic mimics estrogen in our body. To be clear, there are many estrogen like chemicals other than plastic, but I'm focusing on plastic because it is one of the most prevalent sources of estrogen like chemicals. By clearing as much of the estrogen-like chemicals out of body as I could, my estrogen/ estrogen-like levels went down. I never had these levels measured in a lab, but why else would my menstrual problems be clearing up after eliminating plastic? (I should also mention that I've never been on birth control pills and I haven't used "regular" feminine hygiene products in about 7 years. I also haven't had any soy products in several years, as I've developed an intolerance to soy. All of those also contribute to an estrogen dominance. My estrogen was seemingly mainly a plastic problem, but I'm sure there were other contributing factors.)

We can easily understand how estrogen mimickers could affect women, but what about men? I really like what this article has to say about that. Poor men. Don't lose your healthy testosterone level to xenoestrogens! 

I could get into more detail, such as exploring specific chemicals in the plastics, like BPA. I might save such details for future posts. :)

I will leave you with this Story of Stuff video on the dangers of microbead plastics:

Questions you should really be asking about your food.

The more I learn about food, the more interested I am about it. Where most people couldn't care less about seeing the cow they're planning to eat (or that even grosses them out,) I find it really fascinating and satisfying. Have you seen the Portlandia skit about the couple in a restaurant who won't order the chicken until they meet it?

No, I'm not that extreme! Ha! I don't need to know the animal's name or if it was the type to put its wing around it's buddy's shoulder. I am, however, very interested in knowing most of the other questions this couple asked. Is it local? Is it organic? How was it fed? What was it fed? Who is the farmer? These questions are very important. Most consumers just want to enjoy their food. They don't care what the meat's history is. I used to be that way too. I ate for enjoyment and comfort, not for health and nourishment. The more I became aware of how food affects the body in either a positive or negative way, and the more I learned about how food is medicinal, the more I found out just how important these questions actually are. I now eat to maintain my heath, not for taste. Real food actually tastes better, makes me feel better, and makes me less sick. Naturally, I don't want to get sick again, so these questions remain very important to me.

Is it local / Who is the farmer? That's a great starting question. When it's local you save money because you're not paying for this shipping costs. You also support the local economy, helping small businesses in your area succeed. Furthermore, when it's local you can go and meet the farmer, even make special requests! You can rest easy knowing exactly how your food is raised. You no longer have to wonder things such as, "Did the company spray glyphosate on this?" When you understand that many common farming practices makes food very toxic, you really want to know if those toxins are in your food. You want control over your body and your health, don't you?


Is it organic? The certification will help answer a lot of questions right away. It means the food is not GMO, does not have glyphosate (Monsanto's patented pesticide made specifically for their GMO crops) intentionally sprayed on it, and has a good nutritional content. If something is certified organic it isn't necessarily the healthiest option, but it's always a better option than non-organic. When it comes to meat, we can't be sure that "organic" means well-raised, though, which is why the next questions are more important.

How was it fed? The way animals are raised substantially impacts the quality of the meat. When animals are caged and don't get to move around, they don't develop properly, and this ends up meaning the meat is not only less nutritious, but unhealthy for us. The meat is fattier, more acidic, more toxic (because the toxic were not exercised out,) and less flavorful. Just look at what exercise does for the human body. It's the same in animals! Would you want to eat an animal that has been so sedentary its whole life that its brittle nutrient deficient bones break from the sheer weigh of the body? Well, that type of chicken meat is most common. Mother Earth News did a fairly indepth study on free-range vs caged chickens and eggs. I think the photos in this news story do a good job of showing why cows are healthier to eat when they've been pasture-raised.

What was it fed? This question couldn't be more important. It is more important than whether the meat is organic or not. Let's look at humans first: if a human spends their life eating only sugar and wheat flour, how healthy do you think he'll be? Probably very obese with multiple health issues, such as diabetes, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, severe psychological damage, and more. Would you want to eat an animal that also had all these heath problems because of the way it ate its entire life? Well, if you're a meat eater, you already do on a regular basis. If you want a good introduction to how sick feedlot cows are, I highly recommend either watching or reading Food Inc. Another very insightful documentary is King Corn. What you'll learn is that cows are not actually capable of digesting grain, but feedlots feed cows grain because it's cheaper and it fattens the cow faster. Farmers are actually trained to surgically remove stomach ulcers from cows that formed from trying to digest corn. There's another major consideration about what the animal was fed. We eat what the animal ate. If the cow was fed corn, candy bars, and garbage its whole life (and yes, that does happen more often than you want to know,) the meat is going to made of nutrients from corn, candy bars, and garbage. If the cow was fed grass its whole life, which is what cows are naturally designed to eat, we eat the nutrients from the grass. Grass is loaded with nutrients, because it pulls nutrition directly from the soil that the cows personally cultivate by walking on it and pooping on it (sustainability!) Humans cannot digest grass, so we get the nutrients from it by eating the animal that ate the grass. Important stuff - there's great reading material out there.




I typed this while I enjoyed a wild-caught sustainable salmon steak with an organic lemon, after just picking up the half grass-fed cow we just bought from a local farmer for half the price per pound of the grass-fed meat from the local grocery store. Good times.

Flu

On December 3rd, the CDC issued a warning that the 2014-2015 flu vaccine is less effective due to drifted influenza A viruses (in other words, the CDC isn't promising that this year's flu shot will work.)  This may come as a shock to many people who rely on the flu vaccine to prevent the flu. Despite this warning, is it still worth getting the flu shot? Many sources still say yes, claiming that the flu shot will make any flu you get more mild.

Why rely on a shot that probably won't protect you from getting the flu, no matter how mild? Does the flu shot even work? Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. explains why it's innefective. This study also explains that "Vaccination shows no appreciable effect on working days lost or hospitalisation." 
While I normally try to link to scholarly articles and studies, this article also makes a great case against the CDC for not documenting actual results of the flu shot. This is another case against the flu shot by Dr. Mercola.

But, the flu shot still has a chance of working, so it's better than nothing, right? I disagree. The flu shot is full of toxins. The CDC actually lists the ingredients in a flu shot. They're not hiding the fact that there are known toxins in it.

Formaldehyde is in the flu shot. The EPA does a great job of listing the known toxic effects of formaldehyde.

Thimerosal is a type of mercury. The FDA recognizes that it does cause many people to have allergic reactions, but also claims that it's a different type of mercury than the known toxic kind (the kind found in ocean fish.) However, there are still many studies out there about the harmful effects of thimersal. 

There's also the danger of the other preservatives and heavy metals in the flu shot. Rather than explaining all of this, read this. It's overly sensationalized, which is normally a turn-off for me, but it contains a lot of research all on the same page.

My intention for this blog wasn't to re-research the flu shot. Plenty of other people have already done that. My intention is to share my experience with the flu.

I can only remember having the flu once in my life.  That one case was H1N1, and I got it while working at a movie theater during a particularly busy weekend, where I helped to serve more than a thousand customers in my shift. I should note that I got sick very often in my child hood. I was often told I had the flu, but we called every sickness "the flu." I rarely vomited, had the shakes, or the other symptoms associated with the flu. I normally was sick with high fevers, headaches, sinus infections, and seasonal allergies. I also got sick easily from certain objects, like gray crayons, which I now know is part of MCS. More importantly, since my early teenage years I've never had the flu shot. I don't remember if I got the flu shot when I was younger - I assume my schools required it, but I don't remember getting it.

So how is it that I've only had the flu once and I've never had the flu shot? Part of the explanation is going to be guessing, but I'll get into known facts too.

1. I've been allergic to corn my whole life, meaning I've always avoided High Fructose Corn Syrup. This means that I've eaten less sugar than the average person, because I often couldn't eat the pre-packaged foods that most people regularly ate. I also could eat out very easily, so I had to be careful. I ordered salads with oil and vinegar as a dressing, or meat without the marinade with a size of vegetables. I occasionally would get pizza from a local business that read all the ingredients they used to make sure they didn't use any corn. Don't get me wrong, I did eat sugar, but I did not eat it with most of my meals like the average American does (because HFCS is in almost everything.) Read ingredients if you don't believe me. Sugar is an immune system suppressant. It also feeds infections, promotes the growth of yeast in our bodies, and causes our bodies to become very acidic. This single article says enough for the purpose of this blog on how sugar affects whole body health.

2. I've spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid, getting a lot of sunshine. I grew up in Idaho and Oregon, meaning all year round I had access to amazing outdoorsy things to do. I was in girl scouts, soccer, sailing camp, track, and more sports. I also just spent a ton of time on the ocean and went for plenty of bike rides and walks. I got plenty of sun. In my adult years, I've spent less time outside, but I have started taking vitamin D regularly at the request of my chiropractor. Vitamin D is known to prevent the flu. The sun is the best source of vitamin D, and the sun is known to boost immunity.

3. I've been getting chiropractic adjustments regularly for about 6 six years. The trouble with offering a source for how chiropractic adjustments help fight the flu is that most sources are written by chiropractors, well researched or not. I have personally had so much benefit from chiropractic care, that it doesn't surprise me at all that it helps prevent the flu because of what it does for the body. Remember, chiropractors are nervous system doctors, not bone doctors. They manipulate bones in order to free nerves so they can do their jobs. When the nervous system is working well because nerves aren't blocked or pinched, the body can respond well to invasion or harm. I'm going to link you to a chiropractic article anyway.


In conclusion, I hope that my perspective at least raises awareness of how the flu shot is not a guaranteed to prevent you from getting the flu. I hope that my perspective helps raise awareness of the fact that our bodies have a great natural defense system that needs to be nurtured in order to work effectively. If you're afraid of the flu, I highly recommend working on boosting your own immune system by avoiding sugar, getting enough vitamin D, and even going to a chiropractor regularly.

My Back Story on Food and Diet in My Life

I've been struggling with how to delve into the topic of diet. As I've said a few times on this blog, it's a major subject in my life. It needs a good introduction, because it's really just that huge of an issue in my life. The trouble is, I'm not a doctor or nutritionist. I've learned that every person is very unique, and a diet that works well for one person may work poorly for another. There are facts that are true for everyone, but the details are where we all differ.

There are a few angles I could take on introducing diet on this blog, but I think I'll introduce it through the lens of chronic illnesses. Generally speaking, I believe most people that read this blog probably are here searching for answers about health concerns.

5 years ago, if you would have asked me if I believed I would ever develop a chronic illness, I would have said "not likely." If you would have asked me why, I would have said, "because I eat a clean, organic diet. I'm careful about what I put into my body. I'm investing in my health. It's all the food additives that make us sick, right?" I know a lot of people who would have given the same answer. Well, here I am today, fighting chronic illness, even after that clean, organic diet I ate.

I'll back up a bit. I was born allergic to about 10 different foods. My parents have told me all sorts of stories about how difficult it was to care for me as a baby because they didn't know how to feed me. They eventually found a formula without my allergens, and then thankfully I slowly outgrew most of the allergies as I got older. Eventually I was only allergic to wheat and corn, and then by 4th grade I appeared to only be allergic to corn. (In recent years, however, that wheat allergy has made a come-back.) This corn allergy resulted in many painful hives, rashes, heart palpation, fevers, gut aches, severe anger issues, and more. The problem with corn is that it is in almost everything. I grew up learning to read food labels, being very careful and selective in restaurants (avoiding many restaurants too,) saying "no" to any food I wasn't sure of, and saying "no" to food that friends insisted was corn-free (because they often don't know all the different names for corn on food labels.) I grew up being used to bringing my own food with me, knowing I couldn't rely on others to feed me safely. To me, reading food labels is normal - it's second-nature. I never buy a single product without reading the ingredients first, even if I've bought the item before (because companies change their ingredients every so often.)

I was introduced to the world of organic food when I was a young teenager. My mom found it harder and harder to find food that was safe for me (other than meat and vegetables - but I'll get into the problem of corn in meat later,) so she tried searching in local food co-ops. We quickly found that organic and natural brands had less corn overall, mainly because they don't use high fructose corn syrup. As I grew older and more independent, I started buying my own lunches and snacks at the local food co-op, because it was organic and safe. The older I got, the more of a habit only buying organic food became. I knew that I felt better when I ate organic, but I also did a lot of research into why organic was a better option. I learned about toxins in food, how dyes cause brain and reproductive dysfunction, why corn syrup (which wasn't proven safe) was in everything, the danger of GMOs, and more. I was quickly converted to eating strictly organic... except for the treat of getting to eat out. I considered it my "cheat time."  My husband knew this about me when he married me, but I think he was in a for a shock when he found out what it actually meant to buy only organic foods all the time - ha!

So, how it is, you ask, that after a lifetime of reading food labels and avoiding all forms of corn and food additives that I managed to get chronically ill? Shouldn't I be really healthy since I haven't been poisoning my body like most people in America? Well, there were signs that my diet wasn't working for me, such as the fact that my weight increased to almost 180 pounds despite plenty of physical exercise, drinking my healthy kobmucha drinks, never drinking soda, and all those good things. (I'm 5'5", so this was very overweight.) Heck, I was even dairy and gluten-free - so should I have been losing weight? The question I'm asking myself now is, "Would I have been way more sick than I was if I wasn't eating carefully all along?"

Last year, I learned many valuable lessons about food, with the help of my naturopath (who is a huge blessing to me.) First of all, I was eating tons of foods that my body isn't capable of tolerating. Organic or not, I can't digest them well. Second of all, I can't handle sugar - sugar is a strong poison to me, and I used to eat more of it than I realized. Third of all, I was eating lots of grains, which I now know cause all sorts of horrible problems for me, such as inflammation, irritable bowel, leaky gut, and more. Fourth of all, I found out that I wasn't eating enough of what my particular body requires to stay strong and healthy. I learned a whole lot more, but these are the highlights.

I did lose about 20 pounds of weight before seeing my naturopath, but struggled to lose any more than that. I was still overweight. After very carefully following my naturopath's tailored-to-me diet, I lost an additional 30 pounds. I'm down to around 130 pounds, which is a healthy, normal weight. Weight loss wasn't my goal, though. My goal was to get my life back - I wanted my health back! Thankfully, I have been reclaiming my health in the past year since starting treatments with him. I no longer suffer arthritis, major inflammation issues, or fibromyalgia. I have a lot less brain fog and more energy.

Again, this is just a general overview - an introduction. I'll write about details in future posts.

In conclusion...

Diet is an exceptionally important part of our health. Just because you eat organic doesn't mean you eat healthy, in fact you could still be eating too much trans fat and sugar. Just because you're a vegan doesn't mean you're eating right for your body and your specific needs, in fact you could be hurting yourself more than you realize. Just because you eat Paleo doesn't mean you're avoiding enough foods, in fact you could still be eating foods that cause health issues for you.  You need to learn your body and your needs, and eat only according to what your body needs, not how diet fads tell you to.

Most importantly - stay positive! Dietary changes aren't a "loss." They're an opportunity to feel better so you can experience life more fully and joyfully! Diets aren't "limiting," they're actually opening you up to a world in which you can fully function and feel great. As I talk about food, never assume I'm complaining. I'm actually extremely grateful for my food allergies, because they prepared me for making the lifestyle change I needed to when it came to food. The danger of modern food is a scary topic in most situations these days, but for me the topic of food is a joyful one, because finding the right food for me in this toxic society has changed my life for the better.



P.S.: Want to hear a funny story? One time, when I was a teenager, I was at a sleep-over party with friends. One friend asked if I could eat popcorn. When I said no, she asked, "Why not? Does it have corn in it?" I said, "read the ingredients, you'll see." The first ingredient was corn, and she said, "Ohhhhhhhhh..... duh!" I forgave her and we laughed it off.

This is one of many examples of why I don't trust other people to make food for me. :)