Mindfulness

An article on mindfulness:

Present Moment Sucks

Lower Your Toxic Exposure

"According to a study recently published in Environmental Health Perspectives, forgoing packaged foods- such as canned foods and drinks, and packaged in plastic- could dramatically lower levels of BPA and DEHP, which disrupt hormonal balance and have been linked to birth defects, autism, early puberty, and other reproductive issues. The study authors found that when families switched to fresh foods and eliminated foods in cans and plastic containers for just three days, average levels of BPA in urine fell by more than 60% and average levels of DEHP metabolites fell by more than 50%. Participants whose exposure was highest in the toxins before the diet change had more than a 70% reduction of BPA and more than a 90% reduction of DEHP. Other ways to reduce exposure to BPA and DEHP include:

-Store food in glass or stainless steel containers.
-Never microwave food in plastic containers.
-When fresh fruits and vegetables are not available, choose frozen rather than canned."

-Source: WellBella Sept 2011 issue

Turn off the TV

"A research team from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Southern Denmark analyzed the data from eight studies that included more than 175,000 individuals and found that watching TV for two hours a day (and Americans log a daily average of 5 hours in front of the tube!) raised the risk of type 2 diabetes by 20 percent over 8.5 years, the risk of heart disease by 15 percent over a decade and the risk of dying from any cause by 13 percent during a seven-year follow up."

Source: Dr. Andrew Weil

10 Steps to Healthier Skin

The skin is the largest organ of the body. You can look at someone's skin and easily ascertain their overall health. Is it dry? Oily? Splotchy? Are they prone to breakouts? Hives? Rashes? Toxins get pushed through our skin constantly. Our skin is what protects us from the elements, meaning it is constantly exposed to dirt, fumes, sun, and wind. What can you do for healthy skin?

1. Drink more water. Filtered, clean, fresh water. Drinking 64 or more ounces of water each day will help your body function optimally. It will aid in the elimination of toxins, especially. So kick the soft drink and coffee addiction, and see how good you feel when you start drinking water!

2. Raw Honey. This speaks for itself in two ways. First, cut the refined sugars. Just a teaspoon of the stuff will lower immune function by 50% for 6 hours!!! If your immune system is struggling to keep up, your body certainly won't have any energy left over for balancing your other bodily processes. Satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit, or a teaspoon of raw honey, full of vitamins and minerals. Second, it works wonders on your skin. Mix it with an herbal masque, or slather it straight on your skin, and let it sit for a while. Wash it off and you'll notice an immediate difference.

3. Eat your fruits and veggies. I know, I know. Mom's been telling you this all along, but it it's true!! A diet high in plant foods and low in things like saturated fats, refined flours and sugars, and animal products promotes a healthy body. The skin and the digestive system are closely related, in that poor digestion can contribute to skin problems. If the digestive system can't eliminate toxins the right way, they end up cycling through the body to be eliminated via the skin. Plant foods high in vitamins and minerals, fibers, and essential fatty acids promote digestive health! So mom was right.

4. Meditate. Seriously. Many skin disorders have been linked to stress or anxiety. Just 10 minutes of quiet each day can calm your mind, soothe your body, and promote better stress management in other aspects of your life. It's important to allow the mind and body to truly be still.

5. Do some yoga. In addition to being a stress reliever, some poses, especially inversions, promote blood flow to the face. So, specifically for skin disorders that show up on the face, these can promote healthy circulation which promotes healthy skin cells, and so on.

6. Get your vitamin A. This vitamin is directly related to production of keratin, which means a lack of it can result in dry, flaky skin. So eat your red and orange veggies, and better yet, take a supplement. Mixed Carotenoids are ideal.

7. Get your vitamin C. This vitamin is directly related to collagen production, which influence elasticity of the skin. Drink your OJ, or supplement at least 1000 mg per day.

8. Burdock Root. This amazing herb is best know as an alterative (or a blood cleanser). Burdock not only cleans the blood, it also helps the digestive system, liver, and bowels. The tea can also be used as a rinse for oily hair and skin! You can take it as a tea or a tincture.

9. Check those skin care products. Lotions, soaps, creams, body washes, even make up can all contain chemicals that destroy the skin's ability to produce natural oils, maintain normal pH balance, and even be carcinogenic. Switch to castille soap for washing (it's made from saponified plant oils), and try moisturizing with jojoba oil or a lotion or cream made from organic ingredients with no chemicals, preservatives, or anything artificial. Mountain Rose Herbs sells wonderful products for skin care. It's important to wash dirt and make-up from your face every day.

10. Steam! Opening the pores of the skin allows toxins to escape. If you fill a bowl or basin with boiling water, cover your face with a towel and lean over the basin, so that the towel covers it and traps the steam. Stay there as long as you can! To steam the whole body, get the shower as hot as you can stand it and shut all the doors to the bathroom, turning off the ventilation. You can add herbs, dried or fresh, to the steam to make it more effective. Some good herbs are calendula, lavender, chamomile, and burdock.

Tally Me Banana

So, I just came across this wonderful article on bananas over at

Summer Tomato

It address some of the challenges of eating local produce
in our current culture, and also the benefits of doing so.

It's worth a read.

Bad Breath

Lately, I've noticed a lot of bad breath. And just yesterday, it was my own! From what I know about it, mine could easily be a direct result of the detox I started 3 days ago. When the body is detoxifying, temporary halitosis can be one of the results. But thinking about it, it's not an issue that I've seen addressed much in the holistic blogosphere. So here goes. Bad breath can be caused by imbalanced bacteria on your tongue, in your mouth, or in your digestive tract. It can also be caused by inflamed sinuses, liver disease, or other health issues.

Most holistic health care professionals agree that the majority of cases are due to intestinal problems (Trivieri 991). So, the first step for battling bad breath is to help your body digest.

- Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
- Try to eat raw foods as much as possible.
- Limit sugar, dairy, yeast, alcohol, and refined grains.
- Get adequate fiber (oat bran, rice bran, psyllium).
- Take a probiotic and/or digestive enzymes.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Add lemon juice to a glass of water twice a day.

Once your system is effectively digesting your food, your bad breath should get better.

It is important to avoid alcohol based mouth washes since the alcohol kills off both good and bad bacteria.

Order Fennel seeds and other spices from Mountain Rose Herbs. Click above.

There are other ways to alleviate bad breath.

- Chew fennel seeds, cloves, coriander, cardamom, and/or anise. The oils in these spices will freshen breath (and taste delicious).
- Drink peppermint tea (and add a bit of any of the above spices).
- Clean your tongue regularly (tongue scrapers are recommended).
- Chew parsley, basil, or cilantro (chlorophyll rich herbs).
- Take homeopathic supplements (Arnica, Merc sol., Nux vom., Kali phos., Chelidonium)
- Professional intestinal cleansing.
- Herbal rinses (sage tea or black tea as the base, peppermint oil, anise oil, spearmint oil, raw honey).

So, now you can breathe easy. ;)

The Vitamin D Controversy Continues

The vitamin D argument is one that has baffled me for some time. I've heard medical experts claim that we absolutely do not need high doses of vitamin D supplements, and that supplementation can, in fact, cause more harm than good. I've also heard medical experts claim that 90+% of the population is vitamin D deficient, and that we should supplement thousands of IU's per day for months before we could even begin to achieve optimum levels. In light of the less than year old release by a scientific panel from the National Academies' Institute of Medicine, which suggested tripling the RDA for vitamin D, and even more studies appearing that prove the benefits of vitamin D supplementation, and more and more people finding out they are D deficient, I feel like we should focus more energy on this issue.

Of course, every body is different, and each individual has unique needs. But, in general, the majority of Americans DO have low vitamin D levels. Dosages between 200 and 600 IU daily have been recommended to adults (varies depending on age), but more and more people are recommending even higher doses. Dr. Weil suggests that no adverse affects are seen even with daily doses approaching 10,000 IU.

I take (and have taken for a while) 400 IU per day. But I am not always able to get adequate sunlight exposure during the day, and because I eat a plant-based diet, I have few food sources (mushrooms being the only vitamin D source). So I have decided to increase my daily levels. I will begin with 1000 IU daily, and if I feel no adverse affects, will increase it slowly over time to see how it affects my body. Although I haven't had my levels tested, I can safely assume that I'm right there with the majority of deficient Americans.

As a vegan, however, I have to question the source of my vitamin D supplements. The best source (of course) is sunlight. Since most of us are terrified of being in the sun without sunscreen, we rarely if ever allow the sun's healing rays to penetrate our skin directly. Sunscreen will block the absorption of vitamin D. More on that here. Dr. Weil suggests 10 minutes of unprotected exposure on just the hands and face will help in vitamin D uptake. I've seen a number of other recommendations suggesting that 40% of your body should be exposed for 20 to 30 minutes in order to benefit from vitamin D from sunlight. Luckily, in the summer, this is easy for me. But what about in winter? And what about people who live further north?

So this leads us to actual supplements. Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin at all, but a fat soluble hormone. Supplements come in two forms. D2 (ergocalciferol) and D3 (cholecalciferol). D2 is plant derived, while D3 is animal derived. This difference becomes important to people making ethical choices about food and supplements. I've always taken D2, and consumed rice and soy milk that were fortified with D2, but I hadn't researched the difference until recently. D2 is derived from mushrooms that have been exposed to ultraviolet light. D3 is derived from sheep sebum (lanolin) or fish liver. But apparently there has been an influx of experts who claim that D3 is far superior to D2 in terms of how it functions in the body. It can be absorbed 500% faster, and binds more readily. An article here goes into further depth. Most naturopaths with a recognizable online presence suggest D3 over D2 (Dr. Weil, Mercola, Dr. Dowd). But, there are studies proving that D2 can effectively raise D levels.

So what to do? My personal ethics are simply for cruelty free eating and health. In this case, I believe there are probably companies out there who ethically produce D3 from sheep's wool. And especially if this process neither harms nor kills the animal, and even more so if these animals live good lives, then I would not be opposed to switching to D3. Sometimes optimal health means seriously considering your viewpoints, and weighing the results of each decision. For instance, I choose to eat raw honey from local, ethical beekeepers because of the health benefits local raw honey can offer. And I see that the bees are living a great life.

The search for this ethical D3 will be more complex, however, than just talking to some beekeepers at my local farmers market. It will probably involve phone calls and letters and testimonials. We will see.

In the mean time, try boosting that vitamin D intake. You might just enjoy some sunshine while you're at it!