http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/mind-skin-health-connection
Good Day All!
Here she goes again. I can just hear all the groaning going on out there. Well, just don't shoot the messenger. I am here to tell you that your internal state has a direct bearing on the health of your skin. In Psychology Today, Elaine Zablocki talks about the Mind-Skin-Health Connection. I've provided the link here so you can go and read for yourself the veracity of this phenomenon. http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/mind-skin-health-connection
This shouldn't be startling news to you. It's more like something you say to yourself, "easier said that done." True. But, none the less true. And today is a good day to change this, right now.
Where do you think all those wrinkles come from? Stress. I used to watch my Mom screw up her face in concentration. Always the same face, deepening those same lines. And my Dad would get the same lines when he got angry - deepening those lines over and over again.
I used to get hives, always when I was nervous or upset. The emotional condition inside has a direct bearing on the skin. Sometimes it's immediate; sometimes with practiced responses, over time the results are evident. Want more first hand evidence? I have had a set of twins in my life since the 4th grade. One twin is happy go lucky and handles things in an even way. The other twin is negative and greedy and mean. After I hadn't seen them for about 4 years, I chanced on them and was shocked. The first twin looked as lovely and twinkly as ever. The second twin looked like the witch in the Wizard of Oz - you know, the one the house fell on! Identical twins and their internal states of being were etched on their faces. One beautifully, the other hideously.
Both were choices. I might add here that the second twin has spent quite a fortune in plastic surgery in order to erase the damages of her "negative internal state."
It is imperative that one gets a handle on their emotional state. Perhaps your motivation is you want to look younger, get rid of that eczema, or you want to be beautiful at any age. I'm rooting for the last one; beauty at every age. But no matter what your motivation is, you will always be led back to your responsibility for managing your internal self.
In stress the human mind is believing something that it thinks is real. So we have a response in fear or anxiety or rage or whatever. This internal response to the external situation produces a chain of chemical reactions in the body. Repeatedly over a lifetime, this takes it toll. Since in this blog we're focused on skin care, we'll stick to that. So wrinkles, excessive flight or fight responses diminish the quality of the skin - elastic and suppleness. We tend to hold our breath, and deprive the skin of oxygen and nutrition. The skin begins to look sallow or dry. These are all responses to internal stress. And, overtime, they take their toll. Left unaddressed, the habituated pattern leaves its marks.
So, what to do? Well, make a decision to begin handling these mental ideas that cause you to respond with a stressful response (fear, shallow breathing, anger, etc.) to begin handling them, even seeing them with a different view. Instead of being afraid, I'll take a deep breath and remind myself that it's never over til it's over...and there's always more. I'll change my response to laughing. I'll be mindful when I'm in anxiety and take a giant break from what I'm pushing at.
I'll take my yoga practice into work or home or the board room.
Getting a handle on stress means you've decided to take a giant step towards being the deliberate designer of your own life and skin. Say yes to all the laugh lines. Bring on all the joy creases! Celebrate all the facial tracks of ecstasy. Point your intention towards giving up stress and embracing the adventures of life. You'll be gorgeous.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Whole Grains and Great Skin
http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2008/3/18/health/20404047&sec=health
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3300/3350.asp?index=11373
Hello Everyone,
Well, seems I can't escape this concept that beautiful, healthy skin is directly related to the food you eat. So we're going to continue to talk about healthy food today, specifically whole grains.
If you'll recall, I've stated in past blogs that the more processed your food is, the less nutrients are left in it for your body. Not only that, there are "fillers" added to processed foods that now makes it a "food product" rather than food. These fillers can be preservatives which are almost always toxic, not to mention just not good for you. I just don't understand how a commercial bread can contain over 30 ingredients. Back in the day, and even now, when I go to make a loaf of bread it has flour, eggs, milk, yeast, and maybe some oil or butter. Expanding on that I might add another flour, some seeds, but how to get it up to 30 ingredients is beyond me.
The whole idea of "no carbs" is probably one of the sickest ideas that has come down from the
eating disorders of America. Carbs provide some of the most vital nutrients for good skin, a good digestive tract and sustained energy. I'll say it again and will continue to do so over and over again, it is the processing that has caused us all the trouble - ill health and extra weight. Of course this means we ought to be leading a balanced life. Daily walks, take the stairs, park far away in the parking lot, don't move your car once you've parked it - walk to your other errands.
Go outside and play catch with your kid or your dog. Haul wood. Just move around in balance with the time you spend sitting.
While I'm on the soapbox, turn off the computer and the TV. Take an evening stroll. Enjoy the night sky. Think a quiet thought.
I've included two links at the top of this blog. Both will give you new evidence that whole grains are vital to healthy skin, strong elastin and general good health. One source is the Cleveland Clinic and the other a study that showed by eating whole grains, people not only lost weight, but they lost it around the middle and they experienced significant reduction in the inflammation in the arteries and capillaries - reducing risk of stroke and high blood pressure and heart disease.
My personal take on this: inflammation is resistance; resistance is your reaction to stress; when you eat something that tastes delicious and is full of LIFE and nutrients, you're reconnecting yourself back to God, Life, Source. And that folks, is home and where we all ought to be living each day, in intimate connection with Life.
So stop feeling guilty. Just insist on whole foods, whole grain (rice, barley, couscous, whole wheat, etc) and enjoy partaking in Life while watching your skin get healthier. It's all around a much happier way to , well, live.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3300/3350.asp?index=11373
Hello Everyone,
Well, seems I can't escape this concept that beautiful, healthy skin is directly related to the food you eat. So we're going to continue to talk about healthy food today, specifically whole grains.
If you'll recall, I've stated in past blogs that the more processed your food is, the less nutrients are left in it for your body. Not only that, there are "fillers" added to processed foods that now makes it a "food product" rather than food. These fillers can be preservatives which are almost always toxic, not to mention just not good for you. I just don't understand how a commercial bread can contain over 30 ingredients. Back in the day, and even now, when I go to make a loaf of bread it has flour, eggs, milk, yeast, and maybe some oil or butter. Expanding on that I might add another flour, some seeds, but how to get it up to 30 ingredients is beyond me.
The whole idea of "no carbs" is probably one of the sickest ideas that has come down from the
eating disorders of America. Carbs provide some of the most vital nutrients for good skin, a good digestive tract and sustained energy. I'll say it again and will continue to do so over and over again, it is the processing that has caused us all the trouble - ill health and extra weight. Of course this means we ought to be leading a balanced life. Daily walks, take the stairs, park far away in the parking lot, don't move your car once you've parked it - walk to your other errands.
Go outside and play catch with your kid or your dog. Haul wood. Just move around in balance with the time you spend sitting.
While I'm on the soapbox, turn off the computer and the TV. Take an evening stroll. Enjoy the night sky. Think a quiet thought.
I've included two links at the top of this blog. Both will give you new evidence that whole grains are vital to healthy skin, strong elastin and general good health. One source is the Cleveland Clinic and the other a study that showed by eating whole grains, people not only lost weight, but they lost it around the middle and they experienced significant reduction in the inflammation in the arteries and capillaries - reducing risk of stroke and high blood pressure and heart disease.
My personal take on this: inflammation is resistance; resistance is your reaction to stress; when you eat something that tastes delicious and is full of LIFE and nutrients, you're reconnecting yourself back to God, Life, Source. And that folks, is home and where we all ought to be living each day, in intimate connection with Life.
So stop feeling guilty. Just insist on whole foods, whole grain (rice, barley, couscous, whole wheat, etc) and enjoy partaking in Life while watching your skin get healthier. It's all around a much happier way to , well, live.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
Monday, February 18, 2008
What's Corn Have to Do With It?
Good Day Everyone!
A few posts back I talked about an amazing book I had just read, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. During the past week I've been reading his next book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I strongly urge everyone these two great reads.
We cannot discuss healthful good skincare without addressing diet and food, as they are inexorably linked. What is coming into focus for me is that we are, as a nation, very poorly nourished. This seemed odd to me, at first, because I live out in the back country and don't watch commercial television. As a result, I'm really not in tune with what is being "marketed" to consumers on a daily basis. Now I do get New York Times online everyday, and frequently cruise BBC or Washington Post, etc. But the point here is that my consumption of information is discreet and selective.
I began reading Pollan's first book, In Defense of Food, because I love to grow things and was told it was "my kind of book". I truly enjoyed it; but even more it was enlightening to me that the way I think of food had become, well, obsolete. And that now more than ever, the organic food industry was becoming the fastest booming industry in America. I was pretty astonished, as I've always been "green" and "organic". So that I who had once been derided as "hippie" "earthy" and "way out there" was now "IN"....well, you can only guess my astonishment.
What I have always just thought of as common sense is now trendy and a movement. I guess if you live long enough you see things come back around. But I do have to confess that over the years as more "fast food" and "packaged" foods found their way to our shelves, I found that I was no longer going to grocery stores like Safeway, Albertson's or Vons. There was nothing there that "enticed" me, not to mention that I found it really odd that to get the best prices you had to "join up" and swipe your name into their data banks. It was just off-putting to me so I didn't participate.
But I grew up in Ohio and PA in a time where local farms were plentiful, and no one thought twice about what kind of corn or what kind of fertilizer they used. There was nothing else except the natural kind. When corn came in, we went to the farm stand and bought it. We purchased raw milk from the local dairy where you could see the cows out at real green pastures - well, gee, where they might be expected to be. (Where else?) We'd go to a tree farm in spring and get our maple syrup where they were tapping the trees. I still remember the aroma in the air. No one bought store eggs, they were at that farm where you could also purchase chicken. This is the picture of Real Food that I grew up with, and thus carry with me when I'm selecting food to cook and consume. As a result, over these last 30 years I just noticed that less and less was I "intuitively" attracted to what was offered in the stores. I can honestly say that it wasn't an intellectual decision, but rather - I'd go to shop and be kind of put off, and walk out without the "usual purchases". Little did I realize that this was indicative of a huge food revolution going on in America's heartland.
This brings me to Pollan's most recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I congratulate him on the title, as I actually found myself in a food dilemma. Nothing looked good to eat or felt good to eat. I don't know if I would have noticed this if I still lived where local farmers were growing food, but since I live in San Diego County where water is such an issue, local farms are not on a small scale, producing food to take to market. My little garden produced some wonderful tomatoes and eggplant, but again, water being such an issue, this is kept to the bare minimum. I recently purchased a pork loin from Costco, came home, stuffed it with lots of garlic, cooked it off and when I went to take a bite, once again, something in me warned me off it.
I froze it. It's still in the freezer, as my head is arguing with me about throwing it out. Still, there is something going on.
Pollan is exposing how we are systematically being led to eat what industrialized farming, Monsanto, Cargill and the USDA want us to eat. It's been carefully constructed over the last 30 years so that even cows, who ought to be eating grass that is fueled by sunshine, are now being forced to eat corn, which is fueled by oil. It's been an economic construct that has resulted in the poorest nutrition for Americans in all of our history, the greatest amount of illnesses, and disgusting treatment of our beloved animals.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080218/ap_on_bi_ge/slaughterhouse_abuse
I guess what I really can't understand is how an individual can go along with these types of decisions whether it is in the FDA (who keeps loosening the standards to accommodate agra-business or the genetic scientist who works for Monsanto who is systematically making us into a mono-culture of corn and soybeans). It's like planning for the disease and destruction of your fellow man. And this is for money?
I truly can't wrap my mind around making choices like that as an individual or as a corporation, when you know it's got such far reaching consequences for so many. To me it is on par with being a traitor to your country. Whether you sell secrets for money or plan the poisoning of it's people, it's all the same.
The weirdest part is that it is so anti-common sense. It makes absolutely no sense to me to turn a perfectly working system (sun, grass, cattle, people) - a naturally occurring sustainability into something that is artificially supported. The hubris to think that man can possibly improve on Nature only indicates to me that we (humans) now think we are separate and not a part of nature. When we alter our food to this extent, we must think that we can outsmart the perfect wisdom of IT, Nature, God. What stupendous folly, which I had no idea was happening behind the scenes.
I'm not sure what recommendations I can make to you at this point, except to say that it is imperative that you consult your internal Self when you consume anything whether it's food or a cosmetic application. In one way, I find it a good thing, as we are being returned to our very own Knowing - our Common Sense - not theirs.
Stay tuned, for I know that one wonderful thing happening is that slowly these notions of Natural and Common Sense are returning to the farmers in America's heartlands - Ohio, Iowa, Kansas. And it will turn on them, which way America's food supply, our health, our beauty goes.
We can support our local farmers to change over those vast fields of black earth from GMO crops to grasslands to feed the animals that feed us. And we can do this by NOT buying what is in the store called USDA Choice (UGH)...and supporting those farms that only raise grass fed pork, chicken, beef. Buy direct. Thank heaven for the internet, because I suppose this is how it happened, when we really couldn't communicate with each other so directly and immediately.
It's equally interesting to realize, full circle, that our government has not had our best interests at heart even to the level of our food supply.
On this score, I can only tell you to trust your intuition, your Knowing and if you are looking for organic, then the best you can do it look for certified organic.
In the end this is about Conscience and Consciousness. And it will be and is up to us, the consumers to lead the way back to Common Sense, Conscience and a government that is truly "for the people". We must create it from the ground up. It is clear to me that it is now up to us.
Thanks for reading!
k
A few posts back I talked about an amazing book I had just read, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. During the past week I've been reading his next book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I strongly urge everyone these two great reads.
We cannot discuss healthful good skincare without addressing diet and food, as they are inexorably linked. What is coming into focus for me is that we are, as a nation, very poorly nourished. This seemed odd to me, at first, because I live out in the back country and don't watch commercial television. As a result, I'm really not in tune with what is being "marketed" to consumers on a daily basis. Now I do get New York Times online everyday, and frequently cruise BBC or Washington Post, etc. But the point here is that my consumption of information is discreet and selective.
I began reading Pollan's first book, In Defense of Food, because I love to grow things and was told it was "my kind of book". I truly enjoyed it; but even more it was enlightening to me that the way I think of food had become, well, obsolete. And that now more than ever, the organic food industry was becoming the fastest booming industry in America. I was pretty astonished, as I've always been "green" and "organic". So that I who had once been derided as "hippie" "earthy" and "way out there" was now "IN"....well, you can only guess my astonishment.
What I have always just thought of as common sense is now trendy and a movement. I guess if you live long enough you see things come back around. But I do have to confess that over the years as more "fast food" and "packaged" foods found their way to our shelves, I found that I was no longer going to grocery stores like Safeway, Albertson's or Vons. There was nothing there that "enticed" me, not to mention that I found it really odd that to get the best prices you had to "join up" and swipe your name into their data banks. It was just off-putting to me so I didn't participate.
But I grew up in Ohio and PA in a time where local farms were plentiful, and no one thought twice about what kind of corn or what kind of fertilizer they used. There was nothing else except the natural kind. When corn came in, we went to the farm stand and bought it. We purchased raw milk from the local dairy where you could see the cows out at real green pastures - well, gee, where they might be expected to be. (Where else?) We'd go to a tree farm in spring and get our maple syrup where they were tapping the trees. I still remember the aroma in the air. No one bought store eggs, they were at that farm where you could also purchase chicken. This is the picture of Real Food that I grew up with, and thus carry with me when I'm selecting food to cook and consume. As a result, over these last 30 years I just noticed that less and less was I "intuitively" attracted to what was offered in the stores. I can honestly say that it wasn't an intellectual decision, but rather - I'd go to shop and be kind of put off, and walk out without the "usual purchases". Little did I realize that this was indicative of a huge food revolution going on in America's heartland.
This brings me to Pollan's most recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I congratulate him on the title, as I actually found myself in a food dilemma. Nothing looked good to eat or felt good to eat. I don't know if I would have noticed this if I still lived where local farmers were growing food, but since I live in San Diego County where water is such an issue, local farms are not on a small scale, producing food to take to market. My little garden produced some wonderful tomatoes and eggplant, but again, water being such an issue, this is kept to the bare minimum. I recently purchased a pork loin from Costco, came home, stuffed it with lots of garlic, cooked it off and when I went to take a bite, once again, something in me warned me off it.
I froze it. It's still in the freezer, as my head is arguing with me about throwing it out. Still, there is something going on.
Pollan is exposing how we are systematically being led to eat what industrialized farming, Monsanto, Cargill and the USDA want us to eat. It's been carefully constructed over the last 30 years so that even cows, who ought to be eating grass that is fueled by sunshine, are now being forced to eat corn, which is fueled by oil. It's been an economic construct that has resulted in the poorest nutrition for Americans in all of our history, the greatest amount of illnesses, and disgusting treatment of our beloved animals.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080218/ap_on_bi_ge/slaughterhouse_abuse
I guess what I really can't understand is how an individual can go along with these types of decisions whether it is in the FDA (who keeps loosening the standards to accommodate agra-business or the genetic scientist who works for Monsanto who is systematically making us into a mono-culture of corn and soybeans). It's like planning for the disease and destruction of your fellow man. And this is for money?
I truly can't wrap my mind around making choices like that as an individual or as a corporation, when you know it's got such far reaching consequences for so many. To me it is on par with being a traitor to your country. Whether you sell secrets for money or plan the poisoning of it's people, it's all the same.
The weirdest part is that it is so anti-common sense. It makes absolutely no sense to me to turn a perfectly working system (sun, grass, cattle, people) - a naturally occurring sustainability into something that is artificially supported. The hubris to think that man can possibly improve on Nature only indicates to me that we (humans) now think we are separate and not a part of nature. When we alter our food to this extent, we must think that we can outsmart the perfect wisdom of IT, Nature, God. What stupendous folly, which I had no idea was happening behind the scenes.
I'm not sure what recommendations I can make to you at this point, except to say that it is imperative that you consult your internal Self when you consume anything whether it's food or a cosmetic application. In one way, I find it a good thing, as we are being returned to our very own Knowing - our Common Sense - not theirs.
Stay tuned, for I know that one wonderful thing happening is that slowly these notions of Natural and Common Sense are returning to the farmers in America's heartlands - Ohio, Iowa, Kansas. And it will turn on them, which way America's food supply, our health, our beauty goes.
We can support our local farmers to change over those vast fields of black earth from GMO crops to grasslands to feed the animals that feed us. And we can do this by NOT buying what is in the store called USDA Choice (UGH)...and supporting those farms that only raise grass fed pork, chicken, beef. Buy direct. Thank heaven for the internet, because I suppose this is how it happened, when we really couldn't communicate with each other so directly and immediately.
It's equally interesting to realize, full circle, that our government has not had our best interests at heart even to the level of our food supply.
On this score, I can only tell you to trust your intuition, your Knowing and if you are looking for organic, then the best you can do it look for certified organic.
In the end this is about Conscience and Consciousness. And it will be and is up to us, the consumers to lead the way back to Common Sense, Conscience and a government that is truly "for the people". We must create it from the ground up. It is clear to me that it is now up to us.
Thanks for reading!
k
Friday, February 8, 2008
Grassroots Change
Hello Everyone,
Today I had a lovely conversation from a young lady named, Jill, who was calling me on behalf of the Organic Consumers Fund. "OCF is focused on grassroots lobbying and legislative action to promote organic and sustainable food and farming, health, peace, justice, sustainability, and democracy." http://organicconsumersfund.org
Jill was doing prospecting calls and asked me if I had a minute. I did and we ended up having a 20 minute conversation about the Renaissance going on in America.
What Renaissance you might ask? It's the Renaissance coming about as the result of the last period that I refer to as the Dark Ages. When "they" knew what was best for us. When we believed that "they" knew what was best for us. Like chemicals in the food, ground, water and air. Like genetically modified foods. Like synthetics in our personal care products. Like toxins in our food; synthetic medicines that make us sicker. And all the while we, like sheep and lemming, giving over our knowing and authority to "them" as willing, naive and gullible participants.
This is all coming to an abrupt halt. John and Jane Doe are asking really dangerous questions!
Why does my tomato taste like cardboard? What exactly is in my deodorant? What do you mean children are being born with DDT in their bodies and it has been banned for years? We are slowly exchanging substance for shallow; quality for quantity; real for Real and I know what's best for me rather than you know what's best for me.
Why is this on this blog for honestskincare? I keep telling you, I can't separate out honest skin care from these larger issues. And I suppose that it's part of my joy to notice this Renaissance and cheer it on with all my heart.
Things are not so disconnected and compartmentalized as "they" would have you think, but rather it is all interconnected like dominos. How exciting is it that our farmers - according to Jill who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska - are starting to return to organic farming, and that even there, the demand at the Organic Markets is outstripping the supply. One of those farmers is going to start growing organic herbs. And somebody is going to start formulating skin care products made from these organics. And voila, a new economy is happening in America.
This is the grassroots, John and Jane Doe America where the power lies, always has and always will be. This is Us! And we will change the face of America by simply asking the question, "How could we do.....? And then moving towards that with singular focus knowing that WE CAN.
Promise next blog will be about products and or information!
Thanks for reading,
Kath
Today I had a lovely conversation from a young lady named, Jill, who was calling me on behalf of the Organic Consumers Fund. "OCF is focused on grassroots lobbying and legislative action to promote organic and sustainable food and farming, health, peace, justice, sustainability, and democracy." http://organicconsumersfund.org
Jill was doing prospecting calls and asked me if I had a minute. I did and we ended up having a 20 minute conversation about the Renaissance going on in America.
What Renaissance you might ask? It's the Renaissance coming about as the result of the last period that I refer to as the Dark Ages. When "they" knew what was best for us. When we believed that "they" knew what was best for us. Like chemicals in the food, ground, water and air. Like genetically modified foods. Like synthetics in our personal care products. Like toxins in our food; synthetic medicines that make us sicker. And all the while we, like sheep and lemming, giving over our knowing and authority to "them" as willing, naive and gullible participants.
This is all coming to an abrupt halt. John and Jane Doe are asking really dangerous questions!
Why does my tomato taste like cardboard? What exactly is in my deodorant? What do you mean children are being born with DDT in their bodies and it has been banned for years? We are slowly exchanging substance for shallow; quality for quantity; real for Real and I know what's best for me rather than you know what's best for me.
Why is this on this blog for honestskincare? I keep telling you, I can't separate out honest skin care from these larger issues. And I suppose that it's part of my joy to notice this Renaissance and cheer it on with all my heart.
Things are not so disconnected and compartmentalized as "they" would have you think, but rather it is all interconnected like dominos. How exciting is it that our farmers - according to Jill who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska - are starting to return to organic farming, and that even there, the demand at the Organic Markets is outstripping the supply. One of those farmers is going to start growing organic herbs. And somebody is going to start formulating skin care products made from these organics. And voila, a new economy is happening in America.
This is the grassroots, John and Jane Doe America where the power lies, always has and always will be. This is Us! And we will change the face of America by simply asking the question, "How could we do.....? And then moving towards that with singular focus knowing that WE CAN.
Promise next blog will be about products and or information!
Thanks for reading,
Kath
Monday, January 21, 2008
In Defense of Your SKIN: Eat Real Food
Hello Everyone,
I know, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be talking about your skin and aging and healthy personal care products.
Well, I am. And the more I read, the more I know that it all begins with what you're putting in your mouth! And on your skin.
Ok. Today discussion is based on the writings of Michael Pollan. I've just finished his latest book: In Defense of Food. Funny title you might think. Why would food need defending? Because so little Real food is available these days. Slowly and gradually over the last 30-40 years beginning with the industrialization of farming (movement from small local farms to large industrial farms), the food supply in America has been seriously altered by genetic modification, synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We now have really cheap food and we're all really sick. Well done indeed.
Now. Before I go any further, I don't deal in fear, so this is not to scare you, but to inform you.
I can't help but think than anyone over 40 has noticed that weird things have been appearing in food to the point that you might wonder if it is, indeed, Real food or "engineered food products".
Listening to Pollan's book today, he recites the ingredients in a loaf of Sara Lee White Bread. It's baffling. When I was growing up bread had: flour, yeast, eggs, milk, and salt. That's 5 whole ingredients. Just five. That's it. It took about 2-3 hours to make a batch of bread without a machine. And it was immensely pleasurable in the making, in the baking and in the eating.
This loaf of Sara Lee bread had about 36 ingredients in it, many of which, unless you were a chemist, you wouldn't be able to pronounce let alone be sure what it was.
What I don't understand is this: wouldn't you think 5 ingredients would be a lot less trouble and cost than "manufacturing" a loaf of bread? It hardly makes any sense to me.
Enough about the bread. The point is that so many things are going into "food products" that they can scarcely (and should not be) categorized as food any longer. Thanks of course to the FDA, they get away with it. These "engineered food products" are such that they have replaced and supplanted Real nutrition. And Real Nutrition can only be found in Real food.
You might ask why? Because anything whole, natural and Real from nature is complete as it was intended for it to be. Whilst the "engineered food products" are composites of single nutrients extracted and they added back in. It's kinda like a Real Whole Food is a winning Team. It has all the players in it that make it a great Team: the defense, the offense, the cheerleaders, the front office, the back office, the stadium, the whole package. And the sum of the parts (everybody involved) is greater than the individual parts. A single quarterback, for example, couldn't make a touchdown without the line and the blocking. But there wouldn't be a game if there were the owners and the stadium.) Oh, please let me stop with this football thing. But you get the picture.
Engineered Food Products are like taking one or two players and a couple of the seats from the stadium and putting those only into the product. All the synergies are lost. Maybe it's the cheerleaders that turn on the power of the lineman? Or perhaps it's the fans in the seats that trigger the owners. There are a zillion interactions in the chemistry of food that rely on the presence of the other nutrients. In Engineered Food Products, those critical interactions are lost, and therefore the nutrition is lost to our bodies.
How many extra supplements are you taking now to replace the missing nutrition that you're not getting from your food? And it takes a wide variety of foods to give you the wide variety of nutrition and synergies that your body (all of it, skin included) needs.
So here's some reading for you to do: In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma; and the Biology of Desire. All three are written by Michael Pollan and I promise you no dry reads, either. He's entertaining and practical and wise all in one. He even suggest a way out of the tyranny of nutritionism (his word) and back to the enjoyment (ye gads) of food once again and restored health....and beauty. Truly a bold idea.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
I know, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be talking about your skin and aging and healthy personal care products.
Well, I am. And the more I read, the more I know that it all begins with what you're putting in your mouth! And on your skin.
Ok. Today discussion is based on the writings of Michael Pollan. I've just finished his latest book: In Defense of Food. Funny title you might think. Why would food need defending? Because so little Real food is available these days. Slowly and gradually over the last 30-40 years beginning with the industrialization of farming (movement from small local farms to large industrial farms), the food supply in America has been seriously altered by genetic modification, synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We now have really cheap food and we're all really sick. Well done indeed.
Now. Before I go any further, I don't deal in fear, so this is not to scare you, but to inform you.
I can't help but think than anyone over 40 has noticed that weird things have been appearing in food to the point that you might wonder if it is, indeed, Real food or "engineered food products".
Listening to Pollan's book today, he recites the ingredients in a loaf of Sara Lee White Bread. It's baffling. When I was growing up bread had: flour, yeast, eggs, milk, and salt. That's 5 whole ingredients. Just five. That's it. It took about 2-3 hours to make a batch of bread without a machine. And it was immensely pleasurable in the making, in the baking and in the eating.
This loaf of Sara Lee bread had about 36 ingredients in it, many of which, unless you were a chemist, you wouldn't be able to pronounce let alone be sure what it was.
What I don't understand is this: wouldn't you think 5 ingredients would be a lot less trouble and cost than "manufacturing" a loaf of bread? It hardly makes any sense to me.
Enough about the bread. The point is that so many things are going into "food products" that they can scarcely (and should not be) categorized as food any longer. Thanks of course to the FDA, they get away with it. These "engineered food products" are such that they have replaced and supplanted Real nutrition. And Real Nutrition can only be found in Real food.
You might ask why? Because anything whole, natural and Real from nature is complete as it was intended for it to be. Whilst the "engineered food products" are composites of single nutrients extracted and they added back in. It's kinda like a Real Whole Food is a winning Team. It has all the players in it that make it a great Team: the defense, the offense, the cheerleaders, the front office, the back office, the stadium, the whole package. And the sum of the parts (everybody involved) is greater than the individual parts. A single quarterback, for example, couldn't make a touchdown without the line and the blocking. But there wouldn't be a game if there were the owners and the stadium.) Oh, please let me stop with this football thing. But you get the picture.
Engineered Food Products are like taking one or two players and a couple of the seats from the stadium and putting those only into the product. All the synergies are lost. Maybe it's the cheerleaders that turn on the power of the lineman? Or perhaps it's the fans in the seats that trigger the owners. There are a zillion interactions in the chemistry of food that rely on the presence of the other nutrients. In Engineered Food Products, those critical interactions are lost, and therefore the nutrition is lost to our bodies.
How many extra supplements are you taking now to replace the missing nutrition that you're not getting from your food? And it takes a wide variety of foods to give you the wide variety of nutrition and synergies that your body (all of it, skin included) needs.
So here's some reading for you to do: In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma; and the Biology of Desire. All three are written by Michael Pollan and I promise you no dry reads, either. He's entertaining and practical and wise all in one. He even suggest a way out of the tyranny of nutritionism (his word) and back to the enjoyment (ye gads) of food once again and restored health....and beauty. Truly a bold idea.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
Friday, January 11, 2008
Fluoride: It's Poison
Good Day Everyone!
Today's topic is fluoride. I know we all grew up brushing with fluoridated toothpaste. Did you know that there's enough floride in one tube to kill a small child! And not only that, it's bad for your teeth. Sigh. What have they been selling us all these years? That better living through chemistry stuff.
Fluoride
Excerpts from Fluoride—What's Wrong With This Picture?
By Andreas Schuld - head of Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC).
Fluoride, according to the 1984 issue of Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, 5th Edition (1984) is more poisonous than lead and just lightly less poisonous than arsenic. It is used as a rat poison. The EPA has set 0.015 ppm as the maximum “safe” level for lead in drinking water—yet the maximum “safe” level for fluoride is currently set at 4.0ppm, over 250 times the permissible level for lead.
Studies have shown that fluoride causes motor dysfunction, IQ deficits and/or learning disabilities in humans. Fluoride exposure impairs memory and concentration, and causes lethargy, headache, depression and confusion in humans. Interestingly, suicide occurs more frequently than expected in populations of fluoride workers.
In 1957 it was found that even waters containing a mere 0.1ppm (0.1 mg/l) could cause dental fluorosis, the first visible sign of fluoride overdose. Moreover, there is not one single double-blind study to indicate that fluoridation is effective in reducing cavities.
Dental fluorosis is a condition caused by an excessive intake of fluorides, characterised mainly by
mottling of the enamel (which starts as ”white spots"). Dental fluorosis can only occur during the stage of enamel formation and is therefore a sign that an overdose of fluoride has occurred in a child during that period. The dental profession describes the defect as merely “cosmetic."
What is now becoming apparent is that this “cosmetic" defect actually predisposes to tooth decay.
The world's largest study on dental caries, which looked at 400,000 students, revealed that decay increased 27 percent with a 1ppm fluoride increase in drinking water.
In Japan, fluoridation caused decay increases of 7 percent in 22,000 students, while in the US a decay increase of 43 percent occurred in 29,000 students when 1ppm fluoride was added to drinking water.
Currently up to 80 percent of US children suffer from some degree of dental fluorosis, while in Canada the figure is up to 71 percent.
Before the push for fluoridation began, the dental profession recognized that fluorides were not
beneficial but detrimental to dental health. In 1944, the Journal of the American Dental Association reported: “With 1.6 to 4ppm fluoride in the water, 50 percent or more people past age 24 have false teeth because of fluoride damage to their own teeth."
The fluoride compound in “naturally" fluoridated waters is calcium fluoride. However, this is NOT the compound used to fluoridate water! Sodium fluoride and hydrofluorosilicic acid are used in over 90 percent of fluoridation programs. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is a direct by-product of pollution scrubbers used in the phosphate fertilizer and aluminium industries.
Animal studies have revealed that hydrofluorosilicic acid and sodium fluoride are much more toxic thancalcium fluoride.
Fluoride facts
1. The assertion that fluoride is good for teeth is a myth
2. Countries with the best dental health do not fluoridate drinking water
3. There is enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a small child
European Fluoride facts:
1. 98% of Europe's drinking water is fluoridation-free
2. The fluoride added to Irish drinking water is toxic waste from the fertiliser industry
3. Less than 2% of Europe's population have fluoridated water.
4. Sweden banned fluoridation in 1971.
5. West Germany discontinued fluoridation in 1971.
6. Norway rejected fluoridation in 1975.
7. Holland banned fluoridation in 1976 and changed its constitution so that it could never again be introduced.
8. Denmark rejected fluoridation in 1977. The Minister for Environment stated, "no adequate studies had been carried out on the long term effect on human organ systems".
9. France rejected fluoridation in 1980. The Chief of Public Health declared it was too dangerous.
10. 25 out of 26 Councils in Northern Ireland have recently rejected fluoridation.
USA Fluoride Facts Since 1990 over 45 US cities have rejected fluoridation.
In 1990 forty US dentists brought a case against the American Dental Association contending that the Association purposefully shielded the public from data that links fluoride to genetic defects, cancer and other health problems.
All US fluoride toothpaste must carry a poisons symbol, with a warning to contact the nearest poisons unit if more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste is swallowed.
In 1997 the Union of Government Scientists of the United States Environmental Protection Agency voted unanimously to co-sponsor a Californian initiative to ban fluoridation, stating "Our members review of the body of evidence over the last 11 years, including animal and human epidemiology studies, indicates a causal link between fluoride/fluoridation and cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment and bone pathology."
So there you have it. What to do? One Group in their Miessence Line of Certified Organic Personal Care Products offers a 100% natural with no synthetic chemical toothpaste that I can vouch for. It works. It tastes good. It whitens my teeth and I have no worries if someone should try to eat it.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
Today's topic is fluoride. I know we all grew up brushing with fluoridated toothpaste. Did you know that there's enough floride in one tube to kill a small child! And not only that, it's bad for your teeth. Sigh. What have they been selling us all these years? That better living through chemistry stuff.
Fluoride
Excerpts from Fluoride—What's Wrong With This Picture?
By Andreas Schuld - head of Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC).
Fluoride, according to the 1984 issue of Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, 5th Edition (1984) is more poisonous than lead and just lightly less poisonous than arsenic. It is used as a rat poison. The EPA has set 0.015 ppm as the maximum “safe” level for lead in drinking water—yet the maximum “safe” level for fluoride is currently set at 4.0ppm, over 250 times the permissible level for lead.
Studies have shown that fluoride causes motor dysfunction, IQ deficits and/or learning disabilities in humans. Fluoride exposure impairs memory and concentration, and causes lethargy, headache, depression and confusion in humans. Interestingly, suicide occurs more frequently than expected in populations of fluoride workers.
In 1957 it was found that even waters containing a mere 0.1ppm (0.1 mg/l) could cause dental fluorosis, the first visible sign of fluoride overdose. Moreover, there is not one single double-blind study to indicate that fluoridation is effective in reducing cavities.
Dental fluorosis is a condition caused by an excessive intake of fluorides, characterised mainly by
mottling of the enamel (which starts as ”white spots"). Dental fluorosis can only occur during the stage of enamel formation and is therefore a sign that an overdose of fluoride has occurred in a child during that period. The dental profession describes the defect as merely “cosmetic."
What is now becoming apparent is that this “cosmetic" defect actually predisposes to tooth decay.
The world's largest study on dental caries, which looked at 400,000 students, revealed that decay increased 27 percent with a 1ppm fluoride increase in drinking water.
In Japan, fluoridation caused decay increases of 7 percent in 22,000 students, while in the US a decay increase of 43 percent occurred in 29,000 students when 1ppm fluoride was added to drinking water.
Currently up to 80 percent of US children suffer from some degree of dental fluorosis, while in Canada the figure is up to 71 percent.
Before the push for fluoridation began, the dental profession recognized that fluorides were not
beneficial but detrimental to dental health. In 1944, the Journal of the American Dental Association reported: “With 1.6 to 4ppm fluoride in the water, 50 percent or more people past age 24 have false teeth because of fluoride damage to their own teeth."
The fluoride compound in “naturally" fluoridated waters is calcium fluoride. However, this is NOT the compound used to fluoridate water! Sodium fluoride and hydrofluorosilicic acid are used in over 90 percent of fluoridation programs. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is a direct by-product of pollution scrubbers used in the phosphate fertilizer and aluminium industries.
Animal studies have revealed that hydrofluorosilicic acid and sodium fluoride are much more toxic thancalcium fluoride.
Fluoride facts
1. The assertion that fluoride is good for teeth is a myth
2. Countries with the best dental health do not fluoridate drinking water
3. There is enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a small child
European Fluoride facts:
1. 98% of Europe's drinking water is fluoridation-free
2. The fluoride added to Irish drinking water is toxic waste from the fertiliser industry
3. Less than 2% of Europe's population have fluoridated water.
4. Sweden banned fluoridation in 1971.
5. West Germany discontinued fluoridation in 1971.
6. Norway rejected fluoridation in 1975.
7. Holland banned fluoridation in 1976 and changed its constitution so that it could never again be introduced.
8. Denmark rejected fluoridation in 1977. The Minister for Environment stated, "no adequate studies had been carried out on the long term effect on human organ systems".
9. France rejected fluoridation in 1980. The Chief of Public Health declared it was too dangerous.
10. 25 out of 26 Councils in Northern Ireland have recently rejected fluoridation.
USA Fluoride Facts Since 1990 over 45 US cities have rejected fluoridation.
In 1990 forty US dentists brought a case against the American Dental Association contending that the Association purposefully shielded the public from data that links fluoride to genetic defects, cancer and other health problems.
All US fluoride toothpaste must carry a poisons symbol, with a warning to contact the nearest poisons unit if more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste is swallowed.
In 1997 the Union of Government Scientists of the United States Environmental Protection Agency voted unanimously to co-sponsor a Californian initiative to ban fluoridation, stating "Our members review of the body of evidence over the last 11 years, including animal and human epidemiology studies, indicates a causal link between fluoride/fluoridation and cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment and bone pathology."
So there you have it. What to do? One Group in their Miessence Line of Certified Organic Personal Care Products offers a 100% natural with no synthetic chemical toothpaste that I can vouch for. It works. It tastes good. It whitens my teeth and I have no worries if someone should try to eat it.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
Friday, January 4, 2008
REnew Yourself!
Greetings Everyone!
A good day to be alive, yes? YES!
I love to report serendipitous events. So here's how today's blog came about. I was searching for a detox system to start the New Year off. So I wandered into Sprouts, a local health food store, and right inside the door was a display of "kits". Guess I'm not the only one?
I chose the organic one, of course, and having read all the whole herbs included, I threw it into the cart.
This morning I read the directions, but not only that, there was included a DVD in the kit. So I watched it and met Barbara Watson. This lady knows her stuff.
I am, by no means, a clinical nutritionist, a doctor, or herbalist. I am a lay person on all these counts. But I do have a background in science (premed and nursing); I do have an extensive background in herbs as a organic grower; and I have my intuition which functions perfectly.
For the past year I've been conducting a research project of my own regarding nutrition and auto immune diseases. It's been a very interesting and enlightening journey. One thing leads to the other as what you ask to know is answered.
My hypothesis has been that we are so toxic (exposed to and consume) that our immune systems are simple pooped out. They are gasping, "Enough!" It's what I call (see previous blog) the "Drip, Drip, Drip Syndrome".
Certainly there are "tolerable" amounts of any poison(s) that the body can adjust to, eliminate and transmute. But toxins in the water, food, air, skin care products, everywhere have caused American bodies to reach "critical mass" of sick.
Back to Barbara Watson. In her video she explains so clearly and simply how the body disposes of toxins (her 7 channels of waste elimination) and how we can support them back to health.
Further she describes a load of symptoms that in listening to them I can say almost everyone I know has those complaints.
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It's primary functions are protection from external toxins and elimination through perspiration of internal toxins. So whenever you apply to your skin a product that contains mineral oil or other petroleum based product which blocks the pores from perspiration, you hinder a fundamental and primary function of toxin elimination.
Take Home #1 for Today: Go through absolutely every skin care, hair care, sun screen, lotion and potion in your cupboard and throw out anything with mineral oil or petroleum. This includes children's products! And get rid of anything that is a "deodorant" . Deodorants were designed to stop sweating. Instead, use a "deodorant" which has no synthetic chemicals in the formulations.
Barbara Watson talks about how toxins and a poor digestive/elimination system back up and have effects on the skin. She advocates probiotics as a daily supplement! These supplements such as InLiven and Fast Track by One Group are essential to daily INTERNAL cleansing.
Take Home #2 for today: Start today and eliminate as many toxins as you can from your own internal and external environment. How?
Stop using plastic to heat your food.
Get rid of your plastic water bottle and replace it with stainless steel or glass.
Eat/use/consume only organic products whenever possible. The strategy for today is "pick your poison". I personally love a lovely glass of wine. But I can drink organic milk, eat organic produce (or grow my own); I can insist on organic meat, chick, and wild raised fish.
All things affect everything else. The human body is a most miraculous "machine", but we are at "critical mass" of toxic.
Be critical about what's in the products you consume. Read the labels. Buy organic whenever possible and even better, certified organic if you can find it. You can send me an e-mail and I will send you the list of toxins that are in your skin care products.
Beauty beings as an inside job.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
A good day to be alive, yes? YES!
I love to report serendipitous events. So here's how today's blog came about. I was searching for a detox system to start the New Year off. So I wandered into Sprouts, a local health food store, and right inside the door was a display of "kits". Guess I'm not the only one?
I chose the organic one, of course, and having read all the whole herbs included, I threw it into the cart.
This morning I read the directions, but not only that, there was included a DVD in the kit. So I watched it and met Barbara Watson. This lady knows her stuff.
I am, by no means, a clinical nutritionist, a doctor, or herbalist. I am a lay person on all these counts. But I do have a background in science (premed and nursing); I do have an extensive background in herbs as a organic grower; and I have my intuition which functions perfectly.
For the past year I've been conducting a research project of my own regarding nutrition and auto immune diseases. It's been a very interesting and enlightening journey. One thing leads to the other as what you ask to know is answered.
My hypothesis has been that we are so toxic (exposed to and consume) that our immune systems are simple pooped out. They are gasping, "Enough!" It's what I call (see previous blog) the "Drip, Drip, Drip Syndrome".
Certainly there are "tolerable" amounts of any poison(s) that the body can adjust to, eliminate and transmute. But toxins in the water, food, air, skin care products, everywhere have caused American bodies to reach "critical mass" of sick.
Back to Barbara Watson. In her video she explains so clearly and simply how the body disposes of toxins (her 7 channels of waste elimination) and how we can support them back to health.
Further she describes a load of symptoms that in listening to them I can say almost everyone I know has those complaints.
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It's primary functions are protection from external toxins and elimination through perspiration of internal toxins. So whenever you apply to your skin a product that contains mineral oil or other petroleum based product which blocks the pores from perspiration, you hinder a fundamental and primary function of toxin elimination.
Take Home #1 for Today: Go through absolutely every skin care, hair care, sun screen, lotion and potion in your cupboard and throw out anything with mineral oil or petroleum. This includes children's products! And get rid of anything that is a "deodorant" . Deodorants were designed to stop sweating. Instead, use a "deodorant" which has no synthetic chemicals in the formulations.
Barbara Watson talks about how toxins and a poor digestive/elimination system back up and have effects on the skin. She advocates probiotics as a daily supplement! These supplements such as InLiven and Fast Track by One Group are essential to daily INTERNAL cleansing.
Take Home #2 for today: Start today and eliminate as many toxins as you can from your own internal and external environment. How?
Stop using plastic to heat your food.
Get rid of your plastic water bottle and replace it with stainless steel or glass.
Eat/use/consume only organic products whenever possible. The strategy for today is "pick your poison". I personally love a lovely glass of wine. But I can drink organic milk, eat organic produce (or grow my own); I can insist on organic meat, chick, and wild raised fish.
All things affect everything else. The human body is a most miraculous "machine", but we are at "critical mass" of toxic.
Be critical about what's in the products you consume. Read the labels. Buy organic whenever possible and even better, certified organic if you can find it. You can send me an e-mail and I will send you the list of toxins that are in your skin care products.
Beauty beings as an inside job.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
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