Few allergies in unstressed babies: Detox Your Life

What a great article! Stress definitely can be passed onto our children and really affects their health. 

VS 

Few allergies in unstressed babies
ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2011) — A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that infants with low concentrations of the stress-related hormone cortisol in their saliva develop fewer allergies than other infants. Hopefully this new knowledge will be useful in future allergy prevention. The study is published in the December paper issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 

Read the full article

• Few Allergies In Unstressed Babies (medicalnewstoday.com)

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Soda and Energy Drinks contain BVO : Detox Your Diet

It's not just the sugar that you have to worry about in soda's and energy drinks. 


Did you know that BVO (Brominated Vegetable Oil) is an ingredient in 10% of sodas and energy drinks? BVO has been found to have health effect including skin lesions, memory loss, nerve disorders and thyroid disruption.


Read more from Environmental Health News

Brominated battle: Soda chemical has cloudy health historyPatented as a flame retardant for plastics, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, a brominated chemical called BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. Research on its toxicity dates back to the 1970s, and some experts now urge a reassessment. After a few extreme soda binges – not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Other studies suggest that BVO could be building up in human tissues. In mouse studies, big doses caused reproductive and behavioral problems.

Just as an FYI, if that didn't scare you enough... BVO is banned from the European Union, hasn't been used in India since 1988 and is a chemical that is also used as flame retardant. Yup, a Flame retardant.... so why then is it allowed to be used as an additive to soft drinks, soda, and energy drinks in North America?

 




Related Posts:

• Detox Your Diet: Are you thirsty for some pop?? Regular or Diet you might as well tape it to your tush!

• Detox your Diet: Drinking two soft drinks a week doubles the risk of pancreatic cancer

Benefits of Eating Organic: Detox Your Diet

Great video from the Ontario Organic Council on the benefits of eating organics.

"Maureen Kirkpatrick from The Big Carrot, a Toronto retail store, describes why she loves helping customers bring home good clean food they can trust! Learn more about how the organic movement is actually working for solutions and protecting our health and environment."

2011 Best Toys to buy and make: Detox Your Holiday

Toys to keep. Your 2011 best bets to buy and make.

• Love Mothering's Natural Toy Guide for 2011. They have done the research for you for trusted toys that are safe and non-toxic. My favourite infant toys on this list are Yellow Label Kids knitted owl rattles ($28.99), and the Stacking Rainbow.

Stacking Rainbow $16.99

• SafeMama.com's 2011 Safer Holiday Toy Guide is also out! On this list for infants I love the entire miYim plush toy collection.

miYim Organic Plush Storybook Hippo $23.99

mi Yim Organic Lovie Monkey Blankie $13.95

• Women's Voices for the Earth Holiday Shopping Guide: 
• Electronics
• Clothing
• Toys
• Cosmetics

• I also really like Mommypotamus.com who has just posted a series of blog posts on homemade frugal Christmas ideas for kids. My favourite on this list is the Minieco's Playdough with natural dyes. If you're not feeling ambitious enough to prepare the natural dyes, Whole Foods carries a brand of natural food colouring that is food based. Minieco also has a whole range of eco-friendly homemade crafts and gifts for kids.

Would you like some lead and arsenic with your juice? Detox Your Diet

Detox Your Diet: Would you like some lead and arsenic with your juice? Consumer reports lists the amount of lead and arsenic in US apple juices. 

"Five samples of apple juice and four of grape juice had total arsenic levels exceeding the 10 ppb federal limit for bottled and drinking water. Levels in the apple juices ranged from 1.1 to 13.9 ppb, and grape-juice levels were even higher, 5.9 to 24.7 ppb. Most of the total arsenic in our samples was inorganic, our tests showed.
As for lead, about one fourth of all juice samples had levels at or above the 5-ppb limit for bottled water. The top lead level for apple juice was 13.6 ppb; for grape juice, 15.9 ppb."

We just bought 2 gallons of organic apple juice that I'm not feeling too friendly towards! If you read through the article at the end they give some tips. I was hoping that the organic brands would have non-detectable limits, they are low however. 


I think think that by choosing organic, having it as part of what your kids drink, and diluting with water are all good options. I don't know the status of other juices but can tell you that both grapes and apples are among the most sprayed crops. It is the soil contamination that is affecting the organic trees. 


Choosing juices from fruits that are on the "EWG's Clean fifteen" may be a good option. These are the 15 fruits and vegetables with the least amount of pesticide residue: pineapple, kiwi, mango to name a few. The organic varieties of these will even better. 


Buying organic can be more expensive, however joining a Co-op can greatly reduce the prices and sometimes they even deliver to your door! There are also Co-op's that do dry goods & frozen. In Ontario you can contact the Ontario Natural Food Co-op to see if there is one in your area. If there isn't it is easy to start one and you only need one or two other families involved. 

Download a PDF of the complete Consumer Report results: http://tinyurl.com/77ruq87