I recently sat down with Dr. Turvill at her store, Healthy Green Goods.  I learned how toxic our lives have become — and what to do about it.

“In 1940 and before there ways almost no cancer — almost no autism, no Alzheimer’s, no Parkinson’s, rare infertility. Diabetes, obesity. The list goes on and on. Now all of these problems are epidemic,” she said to me.

Why?

Chemicals. Toxic chemicals that we have grown to believe should be part of our everyday lives.  Our personal care products. But Dr. Turvill — and other countries across the globe — are calling for the end to the chemical era. The progression of human suffering and disease — and that of chemicals — are joined. The truth is told.

Ending disease is all about removing toxins from our lives — just as much about as it’s about exercising or eating right.  It’s time to detox your body.

Join me as I sit down with Dr. Turvill for 15 minutes that fly by. Feel her passion to help end suffering from disease. No, we’re not just talking about how bad it’s become. Dr. Turvill is providing tips — things you can do tomorrow to improve your health by detoxifying your body.

Listen now!

Time to read: 2 minutes. The personal care product industry is not yet regulated by the USDA.   Yes, USDA Organic labels appear on some products.  But others claim to be organic.  And they’re NOT.  In fact, they contain 1,4 Dioxine.  A carcinogenic chemical.  Isn’t that just special!  Today I’m helping you make sense of fake organic personal care products and offering a surprising, effective alternative to hair conditioner.  Avoid dangerous chemicals is tough today — in an industry that is truly working against consumers.  But here are simple tips you can use to save money and create better health today!

First, always look for the USDA Organic seal on the front of the package.  Don’t be fooled by the word “natural.”  This word lost it’s credibility long ago — simply because there are no requirements to regulate it.

Next, here are the names of brands to boycott, according to the Organic Consumers Association who’s research I respect.

Avalon “Organics”
Desert Essence “Organics”
Earth’s Best “Organic”
Eminence “Organic” (Except for a few products bearing the USDA Seal)
Giovanni “Organic”
Goodstuff “Organics”
Head “Organics”
Jason “Pure, Natural & Organic”
Kiss My Face “Obsessively Organic”
Nature’s Gate “Organics”
Physicians Formula “Organic” Wear

Some of the safe brands are:

Dr. Bronner’s
Weleda
Sensibility soaps

Beautiful hair without the cancer risk

So, are you looking for pretty hear with a carcinogenic touch?  Then go ahead and spend your money on dangerous conditioners.  But if you want my natural secret weapon hair conditioner here it is:

2-3 tbs. raw organic apple cider vinegar. Use it instead of conditioner.  It will not foam like your regular conditioner but will protect leave you with squeaky clean and silky looking hair.  No joke!

Brands to boycott: The research

As recently as March 12, The Organic Consumer’s Association (OCA) held a protest outside of the largest annual gathering of the natural and organic products industry.   Members of the OCA picketed the entrance to the expo using creative visual props including five-foot tall shampoo bottles to mock mislabeled “organic” products while distributing fliers to educate the public about the lack of regulation in the organic personal care marketplace.

The OCA conducted a test on some of the so-called “organic” products.  Here is what they did.  They sent a scientist into a Whole Foods retail store and told them to buy a 100 personal body care products  — and including products that had USDA seal — send them to a cutting-edge lab for testing.  Specifically looking for 1,4 Dioxane ( 1,4 Dioxine is a carcinogenic chemical).

The results were shocking: 47 out of 100 products were not only tested positive for this carcinogenic substance derived from using petrochemicals but the levels were high — 1000 times higher that what the EPA  and regulatory agencies in Europe would consider as hazardous or dangerous.

photo credit: Caseywest

I recently sat down with Dr. Turvill at her store, Healthy Green Goods, to learn more about just how toxic our lives have become — and what to do about it.

“In 1940 and before there ways almost no cancer — almost no autism, no Alzheimer’s, no Parkinson’s, rare infertility.  Diabetes, obesity.  The list goes on and on.  Now all of these problems are epidemic,” she said to me.

Why?

Chemicals.  Toxic chemicals that we have grown to believe should be part of our everyday lives.  But Dr. Turvill — and other countries across the globe — are calling for the end to the chemical era.  The progression of human suffering and disease — and that of chemicals — are joined.  The truth is told.

Ending disease is all about removing toxins from our lives — just as much about as it’s about exercising or eating right.

“Most cleaning products are just dangerous chemicals in water with an artificial fragrance added,” says a passionate Dr. Turvill.

Join me as I sit down with her for 27 minutes.  Feel her passion to help end suffering from disease.  No, we’re not just talking about how bad it’s become.  Dr. Turvill is providing tips — things you can do tomorrow to improve your health by detoxifying your home environment.

Listen now!

Time to read: 1.5 Minutes. Do you know what the most essential food for your health is and where you can get it?  We’ve all heard of antioxidants.  What are the most antioxidant rich foods?  How many antioxidants do we need?  How can I be SURE to get them every day?  Let’s simplify it and discover a surprising way to get them into your body each day — and take pleasure in it.

Antioxidant benefits

First, antioxidants help us to battle with free radicals.  Free who?  Radicals.  These thingies are the teeny-tiny little tidbits of stuff (uhh… crap) that make us age faster.  Get old.  Look like… well you know.  And they contribute to cancer, diseases of all kinds.  These little nasties are in everything.  They’re mostly byproducts of things we do or eat — good and bad.

Here’s the good news.  Anti-oxidants are measured in something called an ORAC unit (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity).   Most of us consume an average of 1250 Orac units (of antioxidants per day).   The minimum is requirement is  5,000 units  and the optimum is 10,000 units.  So most of us aren’t gettin’ enough.

Eating antioxidant rich foods is critical to good health — mental and physical.   Eating high ORAC foods helps you:

• Create more anti-oxidant power in your blood
• Improve memory
• Prevent most diseases — including heart disease and cancer
• Improve energy

So… there are a few natural ways to get your 10,000 daily units (or more) of antioxidants in one serving.

The KING of anti-oxidants:  Chocolate

Raw cacao nibs to be precise.  This is the most consumable form that are fun to nibble on.  This is one natural way of getting your antioxidants — using Superfoods.  Specifically raw cacao nibs.   Put down that Hershey’s bar.  No, no.  That won’t work because it’s been so heavily processed.  But nibs are not the only way to get the job done.  How about some Acai-Chocolate ice cream?  Yum.  The combination of cacao and acai berry antioxidant.

Raw nibs contain 15,280 ORACS in one teaspoon.  WOAH!

Spices and antioxidants: Cloves

Another natural way to get your antioxidants is by using the power of spices.  One  teaspoon of ground cloves contains  10,ooo units.  Clove is a spice used mostly in the Mediterranean diet.  Recent research from the Miguel Hernández University has identified cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) as the best antioxidant spice.  They contain high levels of phenolic compounds, as well as having other properties.

The same team of researchers also evaluated the antioxidant effect of essential oils from other spices used in the Mediterranean diet – oregano (Origanum vulgare), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), rosemary, (Rosmarinus funcionarios cinalis) and sage (Salvia funcionarios cinalis).

So these two ways are the best and least expensive to get your daily antioxidants.  But if you are not up for a spice or chocolate here’s an alternative way to get your minimum 5,000 units.

Antioxidant rich foods: Fruits & veggies

How about these?

3 oz of prunes, 6 oz of raisins, 12 oz of fresh strawberries, 9 oz blueberries, one oz of pecans, 7 oz of broccoli or leaf lettuce, 14 oz of  spinach.

All of them will provide you with the minimum requirement of 5,000 ORACS units.  Enjoy!

photo credit: Taekwonwierdo