Dangers of Toxic Ingredients in Products Commonly Used

Writen by Melodie Kantner

More and more people are looking to natural healing as a way to enhance health and wellness. We are all interested in preserving our health. We try to eat right, get plenty of rest and exercise and use natural health supplements. With all our efforts on natural health, many times people overlook one area of health that can be a serious hazard to their health.

Products that you and your family use every day may contain ingredients that studies have linked to cancer, blindness and death.

WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN HURT YOU!

The solution is as simple as reading the labels on your personal care products and replacing them with safe ones.

One of the worst and most widespread of these dangerous ingredients is sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). SLS is absorbed through the skin and retained in the brain, heart and liver. Studies show that SLS also affects other areas in the body, such as your child’s still developing eyes. SLS has been shown to retard the proper development of eye tissues, cause cataracts, slow the healing of other eye problems and even cause blindness. SLS doesn’t even have to get in the eyes to cause eye damage. It does as much harm when it is absorbed through the skin.

Many so called “natural” products also have SLS as an ingredient. They may have a label that says, “100% natural ingredients.” Just because it says natural, doesn’t mean it’s good to put on your body. Poison ivy is natural, but I sure don’t want that on my skin.

The intended use of SLS is as an ingredient car wash soaps, engine degreaser and garage floor cleaner.

According to the Material Safety Data Sheet for SLS, exposure can lead to a burning sensation, coughing, wheezing, laryngitis, shortness of breath, headache, nausea and vomiting. It also specifically warns that SLS may be harmful if absorbed through the skin and that prolonged or repeated exposure should be avoided. (The federal government requires a Material Safety Data Sheet for any hazardous chemical.)

View a copy of the Material Safety Data Sheet for sodium lauryl sulfate: http://www.safeingredients.net

The dangers of SLS are no secret to the medical community. In fact SLS is used as a skin irritant in medical labs. Scientists use it to purposely harm the skin in order to test healing agents.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is used in most shampoos and toothpaste. Go to the grocery store and try to find shampoo or toothpaste that does not have sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate in it.

Does your toothpaste have this FDA required poison warning label?

“Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional assistance or contact a poison control center immediately.”

You may have to search to find the warning because the companies try to hide it under the ingredients list. The warning may be on the box which you throw away and didn’t even notice it.

Did you know that the fastest way into the bloodstream is under the tongue? Nutrients as well as poison can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream through the dense network of blood vessels lining the mucous membrane of the mouth.

According to the PHYSICIANS DESK REFERENCE MANUAL, oral delivery is 10 times more efficient than anything that is swallowed. This is because ingredients enter the blood stream directly and are not filtered and broken down by the liver and digestive organs. (See chart below.)

Absorption Efficiencies: Pill________________________10% Gel-Cap_____________________16% Sublingual__________________50% Intra-Muscular Injections___80% Oral Mucous Absorption______90% 

Do you really want poisons in the products you & your family use? Besides the sodium lauryl sulfate, there is enough fluoride in a 4 oz tube of most brands of toothpaste to kill a small child. What’s worse is that scientists are now linking fluoride to dental deformity, arthritis and allergic reactions.

Another ingredient to watch out for is alcohol, which is commonly used in mouthwash. One ounce of mouthwash can cause seizures and brain damage in toddlers and 5 ounces can be fatal.

Mouthwash is artificially sweetened and is not usually in a child proof container. Most brands are sold in quantities that can kill a 2 year old child.

Another ingredient to avoid – propylene glycol, is found in most moisturizers and is commonly used as a humectant (additive to keep products moist) & a preservative. It sounds innocent enough but did you know it’s also a main ingredient in antifreeze, brake fluid, deicers, latex paint and laundry detergent?

It is supposed to make the skin feel smooth. While it may appear to moisturize the skin’s surface, it actually steals moisture from the under layers of the skin.

Propylene glycol is not only ineffective, it’s dangerous. It is derived from petroleum products.

The Material Safety Data Sheets on propylene glycol – warns against contact with eyes, skin and clothing. It also says inhalation can cause irritation of nasal passages. Ingestion can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Over exposure to propylene glycol can cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage.

Research also shows that it alters cell membranes and causes cardiac arrest.

View Material Safety Data Sheet on propylene glycol: http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/HTMLdocs/PropyleneGlycol.htm

Aluminum – a skin irritant and is linked to nerve damage, brain disorders like Alzheimer’s. Found in most deodorants.

Did You Know?

The National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHEA) has identified 884 toxic or potentially cancer causing ingredients commonly found in commonly used personal care products.

There are safe products out there.

How to Sense Low Levels of Asbestos in Your Daily Environment

Writen by Rick Raymond

My discovery came to me by accidentally removing an asbestos material in my home. The resulting condition of the whole house after this accident left me with a sore chest, dry and unbearably iching skin and eyes. My wife complained of extreme thirst and my oldest son, age 14, developed severe asthma. This all continued for five to six months. During this time I tried desparately to determine if we were living in an unsafe level of asbestos. The material that I had removed was tested and found to contain 20% crysitile asbestos. Air sampling proved to be unreliable because the area had been ventilated so well. But the furnishings, carpets, walls and all other personal belongings were covered the remnants of the demolition.Everyone wanted to play down the seriousness of the situation, but, to me it was obviously not a healthy environment.

So, I set out to try to logically deduce, with a knowledge of the physical properties of asbestos,when I encountered the substance as I attempted to clean every surface and item in every room of the house.

That was fifteen years ago. During that time, as I learned more about where we all encounter asbestos materials on a daily basis. I made mental notes concerning my and others’ reactions to these encounters. Many situations have arisen ranging from sore throats and skin conditions(acne and basil cell skin cancer) to asthma, pneumonia and death. I don’t have clinical proof of these claims I’ve made, except to say “if it looks, walks and sounds like a duck it probably is a duck”. Many times clinical trials are verified by producing the same results in subsequent testing. Deductive reasoning can also be verified in the same way. If the same results are observed again and again after low level exposure to these remnants then that is proof to me.

Without writing a book, I wouldn’t have the space to detail every observation I’ve made during this period, but I can assure you that no contact with asbestos is without a possible adverse health consequence.

Asbestos is a very lightweight chrystal-like material with highly static electrical properties. It often produces a static discharge like when one is shocked by touching the metal switch plate or door knob in their home. It often leaves a bitter-salty taste in your mouth. It can stay airborne for days at a time. It absorbs moisture and produces a very dry environment (which only makes the static electric situation worse.)

The loose material may be accidentally contacted in a number of building types and situations.

Many buildings built before 1977 have vinyl asbestos floor tile. No one can avoid walking on this, if they enter the building. This is fine if the floor is well maintained. Look out for broken or worn and never waxed tile. This applies to any location in the building, commercial or residential. Closets are very seldom waxed. Items stored there will accumulate certain amounts of this substance.

Anytime an older building is renovated the possibility exists for a number of materials containing asbestos to be encountered. The contractor does’t always do the right thing. In many instances it is cheaper to pay the fine if he is caught. So he just tears it out and throws it in the dumpster or hauls it to the dump himself. As a consequence, many newly renovated stores have a certain amount of this dust on the shelves and new merchandise in the store.

There are many more instances of contact for which I don’t have the time to detail here, but basically, with the characteristics of the material, knowledge of where you may encounter the substance and many hours of observation (I’ve been in construction over thirty years), you too can make the same deductive conclutions that I have made.

In subsequent articles I intend to go into detail on the unique physical properties of asbestos and how this promotes detection in your hair and clothes. In future articles I would also like to expand on the many other health effects I’ve noticed, such as acne, which could benifit many young adults and a number of people who continue with this complexion problem into adulthood.

For more information on this subject see these sites:

www.livingwithasbestos.com

http://ezinearticles.com/?id=25139

Rick Raymond has been a construction electrician for thirty five years. He has been married for thirty three years with three children. Science and trouble shooting have always been a welcome challenge to him.

Home DNA Test Kits

Writen by Kristy Annely

Home DNA test kits are now widely available for those who are seeking the convenience and discretion of proving paternity. They are intended for private use and not for legal purposes. Most of the home DNA test kits offer as much as 99.9 percent accuracy when used properly, similar to laboratory testing procedures. The price for home DNA test kits are quite expensive and may range from $100.00 to $300.00, based on the company that manufactures the test. DNA test kits usually include the kit, DNA analysis charts, and results reporting.

Home DNA test kits are fairly easy to use, employing the buccal swabbing technique to obtain DNA samples. DNA collection is done within a few minutes and is virtually painless and safe. These tests also come with clear and easy to follow instructions which clients must follow to obtain accurate results. The samples are then sent through mail for analysis. Results of home DNA test kits are mailed back to the approved people as stated in the authorization forms enclosed in the kits. Test results are kept in high confidence and are released only to the authorized people who were tested and to other client-approved individuals, such as lawyers or doctors.

Consumers must remember that the results obtained through the use of home DNA test kits may not be used in court because it lacks neutral witnesses during the DNA sampling. In the event that consumers would like to use the results from home DNA test kits, they are required to visit the facilities of the kit’s makers where samples will be taken for proper identification and witnessing procedures.

Home DNA test kits are widely available through online sources. Consumers must carefully consider the credibility of the company from which they order their test kits. These sources must be backed by existing laboratories certified by DNA analysis associations for added reliability. Online sources usually ship test kits directly to the consumers at added costs.

Herb – Nature’s Panacea for Curing Ailments

Writen by Nilutpal Gogoi

A herb can be any plant that cannot produce tissue that is persistent and woody and whose lifespan is limited to a particular season when it attains the full growth and ultimately dies. Moreover, a herb can be medicinal or a seasoning plant – a herb having aromatic qualities and grown on pots even in households to accentuate the savory sense of the dishes. In the hippy culture and parlance, herb can be the marijuana plant. Mentionably, some herbs are pests.

Since the days of yore and much before the march of modern medical sciences, mendicants foraged the forests to collect all forms of herb to make magical concoctions that served as panacea for human ailments. In fact, such herbal medications were prescribed to even the cattle to cure some of the dreaded ailments attacking these beasts of burden.

Man has always built bridges with Mother Nature to seek the wonder world of herb. The alternative forms of medical treatment like Ayurveda and Unani have been drawing inspiration from that very fascinating world of herbs. Indian Epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata – as well as the Hindu holy books – the Vedas – have copious references to herbs and herbal medicines. There are tomes written on the medicinal properties of the different genus and species of herbs.

Mention may be made of Ganoderma — the mushroom popular in Asia as the wonder health drug and deemed so for thousands of years. The Chinese deem it as the ‘Spirit Medicine’ and an immortality elixir. Now modern research has proved its beneficial side. Ganoderma can not only to heal inflammation but is also an ideal detixicant, and diuretic medication. Moreover, it protects the liver, boosts energy, regulates the intestines, promotes libido, cures sleep disorders, and is a cardiotonic. What is more, Ganoderma keeps blood pressure under control, is an antitussive as well as a hemocatheresisis and an expectorant besides being a tranquillizer. Above all, it controls activity of the tumor. Ganoderma not only nourishes but also supplements the body by removing the accumulated toxins from our body. Another aromatic medicinal herb is the commonly used garlic. It is antiviral and also possesses antibacterial properties. Moreover, it checks blood pressure and cholesterol and acts as a shield against stroke and heart ailments. Garlic has been in use for more than 6000 years. Garlic also fights infection and cold symptoms. What is more, garlic cures athletes foot, respiratory ailments, worms, tummy cancers, ear aches, colic, and bladder problems.

Nilutpal Gogoi is a writer and a freelance journalist having more than 18 years of service in several audio-visual and print media reputed organizations in North East India. He has published one popular adventure book for children and has published more than 1000 articles for various sites, as such http://www.yourlivingscience.com/

Beryllium

Writen by Wayne Walker

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have determined that beryllium is a human carcinogen. The EPA has determined that beryllium is a probable human carcinogen. EPA has estimated that lifetime exposure to 0.04

Fad Diets – Popular Ways to Drop Weight Fast

Writen by Danna Schneider

Fad diets are an American tradition. What was all the rage a few months ago is dropped in the proverbial blink of an eye for the latest and greatest way to “easy” and “fast” weightloss. These fads may be a great way to lose about five or ten pounds quickly as an emergency measure, but they can never be a lifetime plan due their extremely restrictive nature, and lack of balance.

These types of diets are only good for the short term, and in fact, may make you fatter once you’re off of the plan since they often lead to “rebound over-eating” and yo yo dieting, both of which harm your metabolism by constantly leaving it in a state of confusion. If you are thinking of trying one of these fads, you may want to also try a quality, natural appetite suppressant since most of these diets will leave you in a constant state of hunger.

We’ll examine this year’s fad diets. Believe it or not, some of these have actually been circulating for a while and are still a popular diet for quick weight loss – mostly via word of mouth. These diets have aquired somewhat of a mythology about them over time. A person you know probably knows someone or heard stories of someone who lost a drastic amount of weight on them.

Popular Fad Diets, Summarized

1.) Cabbage Soup Diet

What It Is: You make a cabbage soup concoction consisting of broth, lots of cabbage, onions, celery and a few other acceptable veggies. You consume nothing but this soup for days, or for as long as you can stand it, and get to gradually add in very small amounts of normal food.

Why It’s Hard: You may never want to eat soup or look at another carrot or onion again after this diet. Your hunger is never satisfied, because largely what you are consuming is water based, and that is why you can drop weight so quickly – you are not eating anything of real substance. Your stomach is in knots with gas pain and hunger. Bottom line is, this diet is very tough to stick to. When you first try the soup, you think “Hmm, not bad”, but you will soon change your mind. The reward is very rapid weight loss. The problem is, as with all other fad diets, it comes back on just as rapidly if not quicker than it came off when the diet is over. Doctors actually prescribe this diet for patients who need to lose weight quickly for surgery.

2.) The Famous Atkins Diet

What It Is: This is basically “The all you can eat – as long as it’s pure protein diet”. This diet gained a huge following almost immediately after Dr. Atkins released the Atkins Diet book to publication, and experienced another resurgence in about 2001 as a quick and easy way to melt the pounds off quickly without sacrificing too much. It attracted quite a bit of criticism due its extreme and unbalanced nature, as well as a concentration on high fat and cholesterol foods, with little fiber and sometimes little nutritional value.

The foods it centers around are cheese, bacon, chicken, eggs, turkey, beef and snacks like pork rinds. Although the Atkins diet is extreme in nature, it paved the way for more balanced, heart and health friendly diets such as The Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet (two of my favorites), which preach more of a moderation mentality, balance, and a focus on more healthy, whole and unprocessed foods and a somewhat restricted calorie plan that doesn’t leave you hungry.

Why It’s Hard: Your body goes into a state of ketosis due to a lack of carbs and sugars. You get bad breath. You may feel malnourished and weak – a sign of ketosis. The lack of fiber often leads to constipation. When you get hungry, you get HUNGRY! You may never want to look at another egg again in your life, and feel nauseous at the sight of meat.

3.) The All You Can Eat for Seven Days Diet

What It Is: You get to choose from one food group each of the seven days. One day may be all chicken, one may be all fruit, and one may be all vegetables, with minimal restrictions on which ones are not allowed. You can eat as much as you want as long as it is within that one food group for each assigned day.

Why It’s Hard: Try eating one food group all day. It’s very hard. This diet is almost guaranteed to cause a grumbling belly, since no one food can usually satiate anyone’s appetite or sustain a feeling of fullness for any length of time. Variety is the spice of life, and this applies two-fold to diet boredom and how it leads ot overeating and binges. Once you go off of this diet, you will almost surely gain the weight back, and fast. The problem with diets like this is that they trigger an overeating response due to severe deprivation.

4.) The Snickers Diet

What It Is: You get to eat only Snickers candy bars and may drink coffee or water only with this fad diet. I’m actually not sure how many Snickers bars are allowed per day, but do know someone that has a friend who lost over thirty pounds following this diet, but sacrificed her health, her skin and mental well being in the process.

Why It’s Hard: The first and most obvious reason this diet is unhealthy is that it is based on a calorie dense, high sugar content food, which leads to: high blood sugar, hunger, terrible skin problems, terrible breath, constipation, immune breakdown, unhealthy heart, loss of mental focus and clarity.

There are, of course, many other fad diets that have come and gone, but these are some of the more extreme and interesting ones. While fad diets are tempting to try as a quick fix for drastic and fast weight loss, they should be regarded with caution. Most fad diets lead to larger subsequent weight gains because they are based on deprivation. So, as long as you know what you’re getting going into it, and don’t expect to use it as a long term solution to losing weight or maintaining weight loss, then you’ll be prepared for the outcome.

Visit Diet Reviews for more information on different diet methods, supplements and technology. Danna Schneider is the founder of Dieting Magazine Online Resource for Weightloss and Dieting.

How Birth Control Pills Can End Your Acne

Writen by Jessica MacQuarrie

It would almost be shorter to list the things that birth control pills DON’T effect, then to mention all the things they DO effect. They don’t, for instance, effect vegetables, they don’t effect rocks, and they don’t effect outer space, however they may, on occasion, effect machinery and small animals.

Weather you’re taking them to even out your menstrual cycle or to keep yourself from getting pregnant, now you have yet another reason to try out birth control pills,… clear skin. Birth Control Pills have proven that they help reduce acne. So much so in fact that the FDA has approved Ortho Tri-Cyclen and generic norgestimate/ethinyl estradiol (the stuff in Birth Control Pills) for use in the treatment of acne.

How Does this work? Androgen is a male hormone that increases oil production. Androgen is always working away, but it increases it’s production of oil just before menstruation begins, which could result in your skin breaking out around you period. Where does “the pill” fit in? Low-doses of birth control pills have shown that they decrease these excess androgens. That means less oil and less breakouts, and they can even be used with other acne therapy (details can be found in the February 2001 Skin Therapy Letter)

Does this mean you should go out and pick up some birth control pills to kill that acne? Probly not, remember these studies were done with low doses of birth control pills. You might wanna think of it more as one of the things to add to the benefits of birth control pills. Maybe it’ll help offset the nausea and headaches over on the drawbacks side.

Jessica MacQuarrie is a writer from San Franciso California. She currently edits her web site http://www.endacnenow.com from her bay area home.

Herpes Cure

Writen by Kent Pinkerton

Herpes is a viral infection caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus. There are two strains of this virus- HSV-1 and HSV-2 and they cause two variants of the disease, oral and genital herpes.

While there is no cure for herpes, the illness itself can be shortened by anti-viral drugs like acyclovir. The outbreak of this disease is marked by blisters that appear on the body or on and in the mouth in case of oral herpes, and genital areas in case of genital herpes. The blisters can be very painful and the constant itching can be prevented by these drugs.

Oral herpes is highly prevalent in small children. To help relieve the discomfort of cold sores, people should give their children cold liquids. Avoid juices with high acidic content such as orange juice or lemonade because the acidic content will cause a greater burning sensation rather than help to relieve irritability.

Also, when someone is in great pain from herpes, applying ice cubes on the sores can provide relief. It is difficult to stop children from rubbing or scratching the sores when they feel itchy. One way to prevent this is to keep them busy. This is possible by indulging them with games and puzzles to keep their hands and mind busy and so away from the sores.

There are two types of treatment available for genital herpes, episodic treatment and suppressive treatment. Episodic treatment is for the infected person to take when there is an outbreak of an episode of the disease. The episodic treatment consists of the use of anti-viral drugs such as FAMVIR to relieve the pain and discomfort.

The HSV-2 virus, after an attack, usually lies dormant in the nearby nerve cells for a certain period and then gets reactivated, after which another attack occurs. Suppressive therapy is a continuous daily therapy that an infected person undergoes to prevent further attacks of the disease. The suppressive treatment helps minimize the frequency and severity of the attack.

Exercise in Air Pollution: Does the Benefit Outweigh the Harm?

Writen by Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

It’s healthful to exercise and harmful to breathe polluted air. Many people wonder if they will do more harm than good by exercising on days when the air is heavily polluted.

The worst time for pollution is when clouds cover the sky and automobiles fill the roads. Automobile exhaust fumes are the principal source of air pollution in most cities, and overlying clouds increase pollution. Usually the sun rays heat the ground to warm air closest to the ground. Hot air rises, taking large amounts of pollutants skyward. On air inversion days, the clouds prevent the sun’s rays from getting through to the ground, so the air near the ground is not heated, remains colder and doesn’t rise, causing the air with its pollutants to remain close to the ground.

Air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, ozone, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, can damage your lungs. When you exercise, you breathe more deeply and more frequently so that you breathe in more pollutants. However, you don’t retain more pollution. Bicycle riders in rush hour downtown Washington traffic breathe in more carbon monoxide than car riders do, but have lower blood levels of carbon monoxide.

If possible, try to avoid heavily trafficked streets, and exercise before the heavy morning traffic peak or at least two hours after the evening rush hour ends. But if you have no other choice — go ahead and exercise.

Read my Good Food Book FREE, with 100 healthful recipes.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com.

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Dieting – Follow This Tip and You Will Gain Will Power To Follow Any Diet

Writen by Sacha Tarkovsky

This tip is not conventional, but it is guaranteed to help you follow any diet that you choose…

Follow your diet religiously for six days a week and then on the seventh day forget about your diet and have a free day.

This may sound unusual advice, but there is a logic here you need to consider and its psychological impact on your state of mind.

If you overeat once a week you remove the one reason many diets fail, which is when choice is removed from you of a food you want it even more.

Say you love Burger King, spaghetti, chocolate or whatever and you told you cant have them for 12 weeks or whatever period your diet is set for.

Guess what? You crave them even more!

By allowing yourself one free day you can say: I will stick with the diet and I can still have my favourites i.e I have a choice.

So wont this ruin all the good work of your diet?

No it won’t, and there are three reasons why:

Firstly, you will have been eating sensibly on the other six days and one day won’t make much difference.

Secondly, by overeating and having treats you will perhaps realise that that your body has adjusted to better eating habits.

This day may not be the pleasure you thought i.e. when every day was a free day, or you don’t actually want to eat as much as you thought before you came to your free day.

Thirdly, it gives a choice, we all like to make autonomous decisions and by giving us choices we are more likely to stay with the diet we have chosen.

Don’t set yourself up for failure give yourself some breathing space.

To gain weight you have to eat a lot

Consider this gaining weight is a long term process and you won’t undo the good you have done on the other six days on your free day.

What you will do is give yourself the choice and make sticking with a diet less onerous.

No one wants to be told they can’t have the odd treat now and again, the free day gives you this and helps you stick with sensible eating longer term.

You can do your free day on any day you like in the week.

If you have tried to diet and find you can’t stick with a rigid program give yourself some freedom and some choice and we all like that!

For more sensible diet advice, tips on diets, healthy eating, as well as free e-zines and more articles visit =>http://www.net-planet.org/health.html