Long-term insomnia, which is defined as continuously broken sleep patterns lasting more than four weeks, can be a sign of clinical depression or another serious medical condition that you should discuss with your doctor.

Insomnia can manifest either through an inability to fall asleep or the inability to stay sleep through the night. Either way, normal healthy sleep patterns are altered and this has a measurable effect on health. It’s important to correct any short-term sleep disruptions as soon as possible to prevent permanent sleep pattern alterations or long-term deterioration of health.

In a previous article, we looked at the health impacts of not getting enough good quality sleep. In this article, I’ll look at what you can do to ensure you get the sleep your body needs to heal, repair, restore and grow.

Environment and Routine

Get in a routine. Just as bedtime routines are important for children, research shows that establishing a consistent bedtime routine can also help adults transition to sleep more smoothly. Going to bed at the same time every night and doing something relaxing before bed to help you release stress can help your body prepare for sleep.

Track Your Sleep Cycles. In the previous article on sleep, we saw that a typical sleep cycle is 90-110 minutes, though 90 minutes is considered a reliable number. Research shows that we awaken more refreshed and energized if we sleep in complete 90 minute cycles. In other words, if our actual sleep time is 6 hours, 7 ½ hours or 9 hours. What makes it tricky is you have to allow for time to fall asleep and if you wake up in the middle of the night for any reason such as to go to the bathroom, you won’t know if you were mid-cycle. But people have shared with me that after a couple weeks of tracking their sleep time, they have landed on the right number for them and they often awaken feeling more refreshed after 6 or 7 ½ hours than they did when they slept for 8 hours or some other amount of time that isn’t an even 90 minute multiple.

Create a comfy space. Keep your bed and your bedroom for activities that belong there: sex and sleeping. Don’t watch TV or eat snacks in bed. Create a comfortable, soothing bedroom escape with cozy blankets, soft sheets and a comfortable mattress. If your mattress is lacking, consider a memory foam mattress topper. It’s an inexpensive way to make a less than top-notch mattress incredibly comfortable and inviting.

No TV or work. Don’t watch TV, especially violent TV crime shows or the news, before you go to sleep (in bed or anywhere else). Doing this will put your mind into an agitated state and disrupt the pineal gland, which will make it harder to fall asleep. Also put away any work at least an hour or two before bed so your mind is not still thinking about work-related challenges or trying to solve problems as you head into bed.

Listen and read. Listening to relaxing music such as nature sounds, new age or soft classical music can help, as can reading something spiritual or an uncomplicated book. (My mom is an avid reader and often tackles challenging reads, but keeps a few light romance novels by her bed and reads a chapter or two of those before sleeping because they don’t stimulate her as she is trying to wind down.)

Release stress. Journal, meditate or do deep breathing before bed; if you are holding onto any tense or anxious thoughts, sleep will be difficult. Some people also find progressive muscle relaxation therapy to be helpful. (This involves lying down and tensing each muscle group for eight seconds as you inhale and then slowly relaxing the same muscle group for eight seconds as you exhale slowly and release all tightness and tension. You can hit every muscle head to toe, or pick four major areas of face, neck/shoulder/arms, abdomen and chest, and finally buttocks, legs and feet.) Some readers have told me that they struggle with meditation because they fall asleep, but this is the perfect opportunity to use your meditation techniques to help bring about sleep.

Take a bath. Build a warm bath with Epsom salts, sea salts and/or baking soda into your routine. If you dislike baths, take a hot shower or a sauna instead. When you are wound up or stressed, get a professional massage or ask your partner to give you one to relax. Use essential oils (many have medicinal purposes and some even target insomnia) or other fragrances that calm you.

Cool down and warm up. Pay attention to room temperatures and keep yours below 70 degrees. In cooler months, consider wearing socks to bed. Feet have the poorest circulation and will feel the cold first. One study showed wearing socks to bed can reduce waking at night.

Block out light. Sleep in complete darkness and/or wear an eye mask. Sleeping in as close to total darkness as possible is important because darkness increases the production of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland that regulates the body’s sleep cycle. It’s believed to help people fall asleep more quickly and to sleep more soundly. Studies show that if you are exposed to light while sleeping, your melatonin level will not rise high enough to do its necessary work. Even a night-light can cause disruption. New research ties sleep disruption due to even small amounts of light resulting in increased cancer rates as well.

No more liquids. If you wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and you struggle to return to sleep afterward, be sure to empty your bladder before bedtime and avoid liquids for 90 minutes before bedtime to reduce the likelihood of waking to urinate.

Don’t just lie there. And lastly, if you’re tried these techniques and you still struggle with falling asleep, don’t stare at the clock and stress about what time it is! Get up and out of bed and do something to relax you: read, listen to music, clean something, tackle a project and go back to bed when you feel more relaxed, tired and ready try again.

Diet, Supplements and Exercise

Try magnesium. When I experienced sleep disruptions from hormonal imbalances many years ago, I read about magnesium as a potential solution. Magnesium and calcium need to be eaten/taken together in balance and many of us are calcium heavy and magnesium deficient, which can disrupt sleep. (In fact, new studies say 99% of Americans are magnesium deficient, a topic to be covered in a separate article.)

I bought magnesium and found it let me sleep continuously through the night. I have since recommended it to many people who have reported great success. At the time, I bought whatever I could find at the store. Now more research has been done and one doctor has achieved amazing results using a specific form of magnesium known as magnesium chloride.

Dr. W. Davis, an author and cardiologist practicing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reported that “sleep was induced rapidly, was uninterrupted, and that waking tiredness disappeared in 99% of the patients. In addition, anxiety and tension diminished during the day” after supplementation with magnesium chloride.

Get an adrenal function test. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published a study connecting insomnia to adrenal stress. Your doctor should test your adrenal function if sleep is an unresolved concern. Similarly, hormonal balance can disrupt sleep patterns, so women in perimenopause or around menopause should get a hormone panel done to rule out imbalances as causes of sleep disruptors.

Identify food sensitivities. As we noted in the article on food additives, food additives, chemicals, artificial dyes and flavorings can affect sleep patterns. Many people have food sensitivities or allergies they are unaware of. Poor digestion, impaired liver detoxification and food sensitivities can keep you from a good night’s rest by causing gas, gastrointestinal distress, excess congestion, apnea, and other symptoms.

Eliminate food sensitivities. The most common food sensitivities that affect sleep are corn, wheat, dairy, caffeinated products and sugar. If you have never tried an elimination diet, you might consider one. These diets involve removing a questionable food from your diet for a week or two and then introducing it back in and seeing how your body reacts. Another option is to have a food allergy test. While you may not be allergic to a food, many of us are sensitive to it and never know it. If you are sensitive to corn or gluten or dairy, for example, eliminating or reducing these foods will help you sleep better; if you can’t eliminate them, try taking a digestive enzyme before meals.

Eat sleep-inducing foods. Eating a balanced diet with healthy fats, protein and fiber will help keep your digestive system balanced. Chlorophyll-rich foods like leafy greens and microalgaes like chlorella and spirulina are not only healthy, they are sleep inducing. Sugars, spices and stimulants will have the opposite effect.

Don’t eat before bed. Avoid eating immediately before bed, especially grains or sugars, as they raise blood sugar, and later when it crashes, you may wake up and find it difficult to return to sleep. Because digestion takes a lot of effort, avoid eating any big heavy meals later in the evening as well. Leave at least a couple hours between your last meal and bedtime.

Avoid caffeine after noontime. Caffeine isn’t metabolized well and even an afternoon cup of coffee, tea or some chocolate can disrupt nighttime sleep patterns if you are sensitive. Alcohol can also disrupt sleep patterns as we mentioned in the previous chapter; while it helps you relax and fall asleep, it often results in nocturnal awakenings that disrupt deep sleep cycles where healing occurs.

Avoid prescription medications where possible. Many have side effects that can disrupt sleep. Rather than treating the symptom, work with your doctor on changing the diet and lifestyle habits that can help get at the underlying cause.

Try melatonin. I mentioned melatonin earlier as controlling sleep schedules. Melatonin, or its precursors L-trytophan or 5-htp, may be helpful as a supplement if other underlying causes are ruled out. (Tryptophan has to be combined with carbohydrates in order to reach the brain but can be consumed through things like turkey or received as a prescription from your doctor. 5-htp seems to be more effective in those who have underlying depression as well as a sleep concern.) But consider melatonin a short term solution as you work on uncovering the true cause.

Get some exercise. Exercise has been shown to be one of the most effective means of combating insomnia, so if you struggle to sleep at night, be sure you get out and get active for at least 30 minutes during the day. A Stanford University study showed that after 16 weeks of moderate exercise, participants fell asleep 15 minutes earlier and slept 45 minutes longer than they had before.

I hope there are some easy changes on this list that you can try making to help bring about sleep with greater ease. If you suffer from bigger sleep troubles, work with your doctor to discover the cause and the best relief. Whatever you do, don’t ignore your sleep troubles, as sleep deprivation over time will prevent your body from performing its necessary healing functions and will subtract years and quality from your life.

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal at www.IngerPols.com

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art

We all need to find some simple ways to minimize our exposure and to help our bodies rid themselves of what we’ve already been exposed to (even babies are born with a toxic load already from their mother’s exposure: more on that in a moment.)

I was finally spurred into action by the recent petition France made to the European environmental ministers demanding that they develop an official strategy around endocrine disruptors.

Endocrine disruptors are “products and everyday objects, such as detergents, plastics, cosmetics, textiles, paints, contain substances with endocrine disrupting properties…  that interfere with the hormonal regulation of living beings and affect reproduction, growth, development, behavior, etc.”

France argued that “the effects of some chemicals on the human body are now sufficiently documented” saying an official stance is needed to protect its citizens from their harms,  “especially among sensitive populations – pregnant women and young children.”  What we as adults can handle is one thing, but infants can bear much less.

Sweden and Denmark immediately backed France in demanding regulation of these “stealth chemicals.” Sweden took it one step further, filing a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice. Sweden’s environmental minister said, “We have decided to sue the Commission because we want the court to force the Commission to deliver the scientific criteria so we can start moving toward a poison-free society.”

Wow! The idea that the toxic chemicals that disrupt our systems are being regulated or that these European countries are calling for that regulation is amazing and exciting. That’s not going to happen soon in U.S. unfortunately. But hopefully, if the regulation goes through, Americans will begin to demand that the government regulate the toxic chemicals that are disrupting our systems and share the health risks openly with citizens so they can make informed decisions too.

Endocrine disruptors pose challenges to us because they are basically “fake” hormones that sit in the hormone receptor sites and block our hormones from entering. Each hormone has a job or jobs to do, such as starting or stopping a process of some kind. When the fake hormone takes its place, the processes that should occur do not and are “disrupted,” causing a host of health concerns in the body at the same time that the true hormone travels through our blood looking for a place to land, leading to high insulin or estrogen levels for example.

Many people think that they aren’t exposed to that many toxins or that the exposure levels are not really a problem. But a study almost ten years ago by the Environmental Working Group  (EWG) studied the umbilical cord blood of babies and found that they had an average of 200 contaminants in their blood upon birth.

The EWG tested over 400 chemicals from industrial and consumer products including pesticides, heavy metals, flame retardants used in furniture, blankets and clothing, one of the chemicals that makes Teflon non-stick cookware, and more.

In total, they found 287 chemicals in the babies’ blood including 209 chemicals that had never before showed up in cord blood. Since it’s estimated that 2000 new chemicals are introduced every year, who knows what the study would reveal ten years later. (I definitely hope they do a follow up soon!)

A more recent study in 2011 tested pregnant women and their babies for the presence of genetically modified food chemicals and found that 93% of pregnant women had these chemicals in their blood and 80% of the umbilical cord samples from babies contained the GMO chemicals at birth.

And before you think, well, I eat organic and live healthy so that doesn’t affect me, a Canadian study in 2006 tested people from all areas of the country and found chemicals present in all of their blood. One of the participants was an Indian chief in a remote rural tribe in Northwestern Quebec and he too tested positive for chemicals, even though he lives far removed from urban pollution and processed foods. You can read the whole fascinating report at http://environmentaldefence.ca/reports/toxic-nation-report-pollution-canadians

We can’t escape these chemicals: even chemicals banned more than 20 years ago are still showing up in our blood. They travel through the air via weather patterns, through our water supplies, leach into the ground and impact our food supply, are used on so many of the products around us including clothing, furniture, and in plastics, cosmetics, and foods.

While we can’t avoid them, we can, however, minimize our exposure by choosing organic foods and using organic health care and house hold products, filtering our water (especially if you have fluoridated water, as the medical journal the Lancet declared fluoride to be a neurotoxin this week), avoiding plastics and never allowing hot food or water to come in contact with plastic, and cooking with glass or ceramic and avoiding non-stick coatings.

In addition, since many of these chemicals stay in our fat cells, that means they stay in the fat cells of the animals we eat. Hormone-free, antibiotic-free, pesticide-free meat that is grass-fed or in the case of chickens, pasture-raised and not vegetarian fed, wild deep sea fish that are not farm-raised, or wild meats such as bison or venison are best.

Look for the list of fruits and vegetables that you must buy organic that I wrote about earlier this Spring and avoid packaged and processed foods as much as you can. Nitrates in meats are another harmful toxin so avoid packaged and processed meats and choose less fatty fish. The Environmental Working Group publishes lists of fruits and vegetables as well as guidelines for healthy fish and even guidelines for cosmetics and you can find them at www.ewg.org

The body is meant to detoxify small amounts of toxins on a daily basis, usually while we sleep. That makes getting a really good night’s rest important to allow your body to perform this vital task. But the amount of chemicals that we are exposed to these days is greater than our bodies should have to bear. If we’re healthy, the body will get by, but as we are exposed to more and more, if our immune system is compromised in any way, the body will struggle and a myriad of health conditions can occur including cancer.

In addition to eating well and drinking lots of water to help our bodies flush out toxic substances, one of the most important things you can do to support your body in detoxification is sweat. Exercise to the point of sweating, take a sauna or a steam bath regularly and try to minimize use of antiperspirants. Antiperspirant is a very recent invention, one that is blocking a very important body function.

If you sweat a lot, try just using a deodorant, preferably one without aluminum. Aluminum is a toxin and when you put it on your armpits, your body will absorb it rapidly. And while aluminum is a big AVOID, there are many other chemicals in antiperspirants and deodorants such as propylene glycol, parabens, fragrances dyes and more: daily exposure can do long-term harm. You can learn more in my article on Why Your Cosmetics and Toiletries Matter As Much (or More) Than Your Food.

There are natural antiperspirants as well and if you must use one, definitely find an organic version. But if you can save the antiperspirant for the occasional big presentation days and use a deodorant most days instead, your body will still be able to release the toxins as intended.

If giving up your favorite food or skin product leaves you quaking, just make as many good choices as you can in other areas. If you need to hold onto a few near and dear products, it’s ok. Your body can deal with small amounts: it’s the cumulative effect or exposure to so many different chemicals on a daily basis that is of concern. But go green and organic in as many other products and areas as you can. And be sure to work up a sweat. Your body will thank you!

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal at www.IngerPols.com

Photo Source: courtesy of Praisaeng / Free Digital Photos

I started work on an article about sunshine and its role in preventing and treating cancer. There was so much research about the health benefits of sunshine and vitamin D that I’m still digging through it all! While that’s coming soon, in the meantime, I thought it would be helpful to lay the foundation for why vitamin D is so important and look at the multitude of health benefits it provides.

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, has been getting a lot of press lately, and for good reason. While we have always known it helps with bone health as it facilitates calcium absorption, new research is proving that higher levels of the vitamin have an impact on immune health and protect against cancer, heart health, autoimmune diseases, depression, periodontal disease, diabetes and a host of other conditions.

While adequate levels are shown to be protectors against many conditions, low levels, or deficiencies, are now linked to concerns with these same systems and conditions. Studies now show that vitamin D deficiency is rampant and far more pervasive than previously believed.

Many experts say increasing your vitamin D levels may be the single most important thing you can do to improve your health.  And since Vitamin D is one of the few vitamins that has been proven in research studies to have health benefits as a standalone supplement, there’s no reason not to! So let’s look at why this vitamin is so important to our health.

What is Vitamin D?

Interestingly, vitamin D is not really a vitamin; it’s actually a group of prohormones. The two major forms are known as vitamin D2, known as ergocalciferol, and vitamin D3, known as cholecalciferol. Vitamin D is one of the four fat-soluble vitamins, which means it is absorbed with the help of lipids (fats) in the intestinal tract. This means that without adequate fat present, the body will not absorb vitamin D. It also means that unlike water-soluble vitamins, which are not readily stored, excess vitamin D can be stored in fat and muscle tissue for future use.

The vitamin D the body receives from food, supplementation or sun exposure is inert and undergoes two reactions in the body in order to become active. The metabolic product created from this process, calcitrol, is a hormone that is said to target over 2,000 genes. That is about 10% of all human genes; no wonder some call it the miracle cure!

A Return to Rickets

Vitamin D deficiency is so rampant now that a recent report in the British Medical Journal revealed the return of a condition common in Victorian times known as rickets. Rickets is a disease affecting growing children whose bones do not harden or set appropriately due to insufficient vitamin D. This once common condition disappeared in developed countries upon discovery that minimal levels of vitamin D would prevent it, but it has now returned.

A new study recently published in the journal Pediatrics here in America revealed that as many as two-thirds of all children are deficient in vitamin D. Among darker-skinned populations the deficiency is even more rampant, with as many as 92% of black children being deficient and as many as 80% of non-black Hispanic children being deficient.

These numbers are based on the new target minimum of 75 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L).(Until recently, the standard minimum had been considered 50 nmol/L but many researchers have recently suggested that level be raised.)

According to the Vitamin D Council, however, the recommended minimum vitamin D dosage is actually much higher. They cite recent research that indicates that below 100 nmol/L, the body uses vitamin D up as quickly as it is created. At between 100 and 125 nmol/L, some people begin to store vitamin D, but others do not. At 125 nmol/L, virtually everyone begins to store excess vitamin D in fat and muscle tissue.

The Vitamin D Council considers numbers below 125 to indicate “chronic substrate starvation” and recommends a range of 125-200 nmol/L. (Using these numbers as a baseline, I would venture a guess that virtually everyone tested in that study would be deficient.)

Vitamin D is used to support the immune system and protect against so many conditions that the presence of any health concerns in the body may well warrant a need for an increase in availability. If your body is fighting cancer or heart disease, or looking to recover after a strenuous workout, how much more vitamin D might you need? We don’t yet know those answers, but we can certainly imagine that there might be cases where the body needs much more.

Whether you choose to follow the recommendations of the Vitamin D Council or to be more conservative and follow more traditional guidelines, it is likely that you need to raise your vitamin D levels.

How Do I Measure my Vitamin D Levels?

The only way to reliably know how deficient in vitamin D you might be is to have a simple blood test performed called a 25 hydroxyvitamin D test or a 25 (OH)D. Your doctor can do this easily and most insurance plans should cover it. Many doctors will still consider significantly lower numbers to be acceptable (keeping up with the emerging research can be a full-time job and your doctor already has a full-time job); if so, it will be up to you to share information and partner with your physician to find the right level for you.

If your physician will not test you for vitamin D, you can order a test from the Vitamin D Council on its Web site. You complete the test and mail it back for accurate results (in all states but New York, which prohibits testing of specimens collected in or mailed from New York and prohibits data transmission from the lab to New York physicians or residents.) The test costs $65–or $220 for four if you want to test periodically or test more than one family member.

The tests will tell you your current levels, but from there you will need to figure out how much supplementation you require to get you to where you want to be.

How Much Vitamin D Do I Need?

Generally speaking, we know that the darker your skin, the bigger you are and the less daily sunshine you receive, the more you will need.

While current FDA guidelines suggest a vitamin D level of 400 International Units, or IUs, per day, many researchers and physicians have increased their suggested optimal adult vitamin D level to around 5,000 IUs per day. I have also seen a formula used that indicates a body needs 35 IUs per pound of body weight, which allows for variance for children and heavier people.

Supplementation at the 5,000 IU level has been shown to bring vitamin D into the desired nmol/L range for many people. But because vitamin D is used to fight cancer, regulate the immune system and myriad other functions, there can be a need for much more depending on what is going on in your body. Some studies have revealed that certain individuals need as much as 25,000 to 30,000 IUs just to reach a consistent rate of 125 nmol/L!

Vitamin D needs are individual and must be customized. That’s why it is recommended that you test in order to be sure your supplementation is adequate for your own body’s needs. It is recommended that you begin supplementation first and consume vitamin D regularly for two to three months before you have your levels tested in order to see how effective your dosing is for you. (If you feel more comfortable testing first, that’s fine. Just know that you may need to test several times in the process.)

Unless your climate remains constant year round, you will probably want to test in summer and in winter to get a sense of the shifts in your body and how the season changes affect your dosage levels. People who avoid the sun as well as those with darker skin pigmentation will likely need to increase their dosage, especially in winter.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

According to the Vitamin D Council, even at the new recommendation of 125-200 nmol/L (much higher than most doctors will be familiar with), those ranges are still very conservative. But because excess Vitamin D is stored in fat and muscle tissue, there have been concerns about toxicity from over consumption.

While we should always be aware of such possibilities–and that is yet another reason to work with your doctor and get tested regularly–the risk of toxicity is much less than previously believed. Because the body is geared to produce very high levels of vitamin D from our daily sun exposure, we have the capacity to absorb very high levels.

Typical summer sun exposure of 20 minutes (without sunscreen and with face, arms and legs uncovered) yields 20,000 IU of vitamin D. We didn’t have sunscreen until recently; our bodies were built to be in sunlight for much of the day (building up our sun exposure to prevent burning of course.) So we are engineered to produce and absorb very high levels of vitamin D. And we also have a built-in safety mechanism: After the body produces about 20,000 IUs of vitamin D, the sunlight, begins to break it down, preventing the body from excess. And once we are tan, the body naturally adjusts and makes less, producing only about 10,000 IUs.

But oral consumption is different: Can we overdose on vitamin D? While pharmacological overdoses of vitamin D2 have been documented, the same is not true for vitamin D3. Research conducted to determine toxic excess in animals revealed that the dose of vitamin D3 it takes to kill half the animals when tested in dogs was about 3,520,000 IU/kg. (Yes, sorry, they did in fact test this on animals.) That is estimated to be about 176,000,000 IUs taken by a 110-pound human.

Leading researcher Dr. Reinhold Vieth suggests that toxicity may possibly begin to occur after chronic daily consumption of 40,000 IUs a day. Clearly there is a great deal of room between the minimum guideline of 5,000 IUs and long-term daily consumption of 40,000 IUs.

Vitamin D Co-Factors

The body needs several substances to utilize vitamin D appropriately. These co-factors include magnesium, zinc, boron, vitamin K2, genestein and a small amount of vitamin A.

I believe many people are magnesium deficient (because calcium and magnesium partner together and so many people supplement calcium but neglect magnesium–I’ll discuss magnesium more in a future newsletter) and because of that, magnesium is an important consideration in vitamin D supplementation.

If you struggle with reaching optimal vitamin D levels after supplementation, a magnesium deficiency could be the reason why. At the same time, as you supplement with vitamin D, any existing magnesium deficiency could be exacerbated.

So paying attention to the co-factors, especially magnesium, is an important component of successful vitamin D absorption.

Walking on Sunshine

The best way to increase vitamin D in your body is through sunshine. Exposed skin in summer sun for 20 minutes will give your body its daily dose. But unless you live in southern Florida, you won’t be able to get what you need year-round from sunlight alone and you’ll need to supplement, at least during winter months. But thankfully, now the the summer season is upon us, exposed arms and legs for 20-30 minutes a day will do the trick for most of us, though darker skin tones may require longer exposure.

Tanning Beds

Tanning beds emit both UVA and UVB rays. However, the body is only interested in the UVB rays for vitamin D synthesis. UVB rays are shorter and affect the surface layers of the skin and as a result, can cause sunburns. The dark tans that come from tanning beds result mostly from UVA rays. Therefore, most tanning salons calibrate their beds to produce mostly UVA rays (often as high as 95% UVA) and minimal UVB.

Not Your Grandmother’s Cod Liver Oil

It is possible to get vitamin D from foods such as salmon (wild sockeye is best; not farm raised), mackerel, herring, sardines and catfish. But a standard portion of these foods will only yield about 250-350 IUs, so you’ll have to eat a lot!

Grandmother’s remedy of a tablespoon of cod liver oil is a highly effective form as well; it yields 1,360 IUs. (Many companies now flavor the oil with lemon or orange so that the taste is not like what you might remember; my kids will even eat it and they can choose between oil and pill form.)

Choose a brand that has been tested and found to remove contaminants such as mercury and PCBs, which can be present in fish.

Cod liver oil, however, also contains vitamin A, another fat-soluble vitamin that some suggest has toxicity concerns at high doses. I believe that in time research will show that–similar to vitamin D–high doses of vitamin A from natural sources are safe. For now, if you have concerns about excessive vitamin A, rather than quadrupling the dosage of cod liver oil to get to 5,000 IUs, you’ll want to consider D3 supplementation through pills, sprays or oils.

Studies show that vitamin D2 is only about 20%-40% as effective in supplementation as vitamin D3. Many over-the-counter vitamin D supplements–and virtually all prescription forms–contain vitamin D2. But D3 (cholecalciferol) is widely considered to be a more effective source, so read the label carefully.

And don’t be afraid of 15-20 minute breaks in the sun without sunscreen (we’ll talk about the myth that it will cause skin cancer in another article).

Your body has existed in the sun for many many thousands of years. We are built to synthesize sunlight safely in small doses.) You will feel energized and renewed and many systems in your body will be thankful.

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal at www.nehealthadvisory.com

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art

But coconut is more than just a sign of summer or the hallmark of a winter vacation somewhere warm: it is one of the healthiest foods you are probably not eating (or drinking!). Coconut is rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber and it sustains about one-third of the world as a functional food:  one that yields numerous health benefits even beyond its nutritional benefits.

Today I want to look at some ways you can incorporate this powerhouse of nutrition and wellness into your diet beyond cracking one open and eating its nutritious meat beyond shimmying up a tree (or over to the grocery store) to crack one open and eat its nutritious meat.

Coconut Oil

Saturated fat has been labeled as a villain, but the truth is that the body needs high-quality saturated fats to perform necessary functions. In previous newsletters, we have talked about how the quality of meat and dairy has declined; they are now full of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics and are depleted of many nutrients. But coconut oil is a healthy saturated fat that has been proven to benefit heart health and even helps kill viruses, bacteria and fungi in the body.

The difference between coconut oil and many other fats and oils is its size. Most all (an estimated 98-100%) of the fats and oils we typically consume are long-chain fatty acids or LCFA. But coconut oil is a medium-chain fatty acid, or MCFA. Our bodies metabolize each fatty acid chain size differently, so the effects of coconut oil in our bodies are very different than the traditional meat, milk, eggs and plants we consume that are made up of LCFA.

Coconut oil is a saturated fat that has tremendous health benefits to us and offers a form of fatty acids we don’t typically find in our diets. Coconut oil actually regulates blood cholesterol levels as well as triglycerides; therefore, it actually helps with heart disease prevention and treatment. Coconut oil also helps to prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. And it has been shown to be effective at lowering lipoprotein(a).

Coconut oil also has an antimicrobial effect in the body and can be used to treat bacterial infections including even severe antibiotic resistant strains. By eliminating and healing bacterial or viral lesions on artery walls, we can prevent inflammation and the barrage of white blood cells that can accompany it.

A study in clinical biochemistry confirmed the benefits of coconut oil on heart health. The study proved that virgin coconut oil lowered very low density lipoproteins (the troublemakers), raised HDL, lowered triglycerides and phospholipids, and reduced total and LDL cholesterol levels and was shown to inhibit LDL oxidation.

The study concluded that we know that oxidized cholesterol can initiate the process of atherosclerosis and the fatty acids in coconut oil prevent this oxidation. The effects of coconut oil on heart health were deemed uniformly beneficial.

So why haven’t you heard much about it? Coconut oil became the victim of government and food organizations about thirty years ago in an attempt to minimize importation of the oil and get consumers to buy American corn and vegetable oils instead. Because coconut oil is a saturated fat, it was easy to latch onto the anti-saturated fat bandwagon and drag coconut oil along with it.

But an abundance of research shows that we need saturated fat (in moderation) to perform healthy body functions and that extra virgin coconut oil is one of the best and healthiest options for that. It has been called the healthiest oil on earth by some and has been a foundation of the nutrition of numerous cultures for thousands of years.

Even though my family does not care for the taste of coconut, we find coconut oil non-offensive. It actually adds a nice flavor to a vegetable sauté and we cook with it often. My daughter, who wouldn’t eat a Mars or Almond Joy candy bar for all the money in the world because she doesn’t care for that kind of coconut, will even eat it out of the jar with a spoon when she’s hungry. Her growing body sometimes craves saturated fat and she listens!

Coconut oil is heart healthy and can help you regulate lipoprotein imbalances. Adding some to your diet, especially in lieu of dairy or hormone-ridden meat, is a great option.

Coconut Milk

Another option beyond cracking open a coconut and eating the meat is to add some coconut milk to your diet. Coconut milk is also proven to improve cardiovascular health, balances electrolytes naturally, and also has antimicrobial properties.  Coconut milk is commonly used in many cultures including Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indian, Indonesian, Thai, Brazilian, Caribbean, Polynesian and Pacific island cuisines and serves as the foundation for many curries.

Coconut milk can be made to be thick or thin, depending on your preference and what you are using it for. Coconut milk is made by squeezing grated coconut meat through cheesecloth. The meat is then soaked in warm water. The thick version makes desserts and rich sauces. To use it in soups and for general cooking, a thinner version is made by repeating the squeezing and soaking process 2-3 times. If you are not making it yourself, you can buy it canned, which is usually a combination of thick and thin versions using water as a filter. Once opened, the canned version lasts only a few days before souring.

Fresh coconut milk tastes very similar to cow’s milk and when made well should have little to no coconut smell. You can drink it “raw” on its own instead of traditional dairy or use it as a milk substitute in coffee or tea; it can also be used in baking and can even be used to make a yogurt substitute. It’s a great and healthy dairy alternative for vegans as well those with animal milk allergies or those just looking to reduce dairy or try new sources of liquid nutrition.

Coconut Water

Finally, another way to add some coconut goodness to your life is through coconut water. Coconut water is simply the water that comes from inside the coconut. It is full of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. It has a faint coconut taste, but is not overpowering. Because of its nutritive content, it is an excellent alternative to sports drinks made with sugar (or sugar substitutes), chemicals and dyes, none of which we – and especially our kids – should be consuming.

Coconut water will naturally re-balance electrolytes and replenish losses after strenuous or sweaty workouts. My kids love it and take it to soccer games and sports activities. I keep some in my fridge at all times and find it a refreshing drink alternative when water alone isn’t calling to me. And I love that the brand I buy, Zico, which has nothing added and is just pure coconut water, comes in paper containers so I am not adding to the excess of plastic bottles we generate each year from bottled water and other drinks.

Coconut water is a win-win option for healthy water alternatives and if you haven’t tried it yet, you should definitely give it a try. You can find it in most supermarkets and convenience store drink cases, as it is becoming increasingly popular as a nutritional drink option.

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal at www.IngerPols.com

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art

As a result of the diminished nutrient profiles in foods due to modern farming practices, we need to eat more fruits and vegetables than ever. You may remember a prior article in which I shared research that to get the same level of nutrients from two peaches eaten back in the 1950’s, today you’d have to eat 53!

We are all trying to make our money in this tough economy stretch as far as it can, so it’s good to know that there is some produce that you can buy conventionally grown; being able to purchase it at your regular store or when it’s on sale means you can really save some money.  Other fruits and vegetables, however, absolutely should be bought organic, as it’s worth every penny of the investment in your health to avoid the toxic pesticides they contain.

Every year, the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, releases a list of the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables known as The Dirty Dozen. They also provide a list of the Clean 15 that you can feel safe about buying conventionally grown. The list changes every year as some dirty produce does get cleaned up and some clean produce begins to show signs of pesticides.

Everything not on one of these two lists is a use-your-best-judgment call: buy organic if and when you can, especially if it’s something you don’t peel. The more important avoiding pesticides is to you, the more items on the “in- between list” (meaning anything not found on either of the two lists that follows below), you’ll probably want to look for organic.

If it’s not a big priority for you at the moment vs. other health considerations, if you don’t have growing children, if you cannot afford it or it’s not a regular purchase, it’s ok to consume the conventional produce on the “in-between list” periodically as long as you wash it well or don’t eat the skin.

To the extent that you can, buy local and support your small farms whenever possible especially if buying conventional; the further food travels, the more it will be sprayed to ensure it makes the journey without spoiling and the less time it’s allowed to ripen and reach nutritional maturity.

The Clean 15 (These can be bought conventionally grown if you’re watching your expenses.)

Avocados
Sweet Corn
Pineapple
Cabbage
Sweet Peas –Frozen
Onion
Asparagus
Mango
Papaya
Kiwi
Eggplant
Grapefruit
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Sweet Potatoes

It’s important to note that most genetically modified produce such as corn and soy is used to make packaged goods and doesn’t end up in the produce aisle. Some produce will be labeled with a sticker that begins with the number 8, which indicates it’s genetically modified and should always be avoided, but it’s not a requirement and so most produce will not have such clear markings.

According to the EWG, small amounts of GMO Produce such as zucchini, papaya and sweet corn do make their way onto the shelves.  If avoiding genetically modified foods is a priority to you, these should also be bought organic, even though papaya and corn make the “clean” list as far as pesticides go. (While we love an occasional sweet corn on the cob, because corn is so pervasive in foods these days, we limit it to a couple times a season, really enjoy it when we do, and always buy it organic even though it’s on the clean list.)

The Dirty Dozen (ALWAYS buy organic)

Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Celery
Peaches
Spinach
Sweet Bell Peppers
Nectarines – Imported
Cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Snap Peas – Imported
Potatoes

Plus
Kale and Collard Greens
Hot peppers

The first thing you’ll notice about The Dirty Dozen is that many of these are the fruits and vegetables your kids or grandkids eat most. The impact of the pesticides will be even greater upon their developing bodies and because they eat from this group regularly, it’s even more important to invest in organic options if there are kids involved. (And keep in mind, this means products made from these fruits as well such as apple or grape juice, and apple sauce, etc. These should be purchased organic as well.)

More and more stores are adding organic produce; these are the fruits and veggies to look for wherever you shop and make it a rule to invest in organic versions. Trader Joes is pretty good at stocking these if you have access to one nearby, but even there, it’s hit or miss. There are many times of the year I cannot get organic apples for my kids’ lunches and so we have to switch to something else until they come in because I will not buy conventional.

If you cannot find fresh organic versions of the Dirty Dozen, look for frozen organic strawberries, spinach or peppers. If you can’t get organic peaches or nectarines, try plums or another fruit on the clean or in-between list and wash it really well with fruit and veggie wash if you’ll be eating the peel. (Conventional or organic, clean, dirty or in-between, always wash your produce with a fruit and veggie wash and never eat any fruits or vegetables until you have!)

Also try visiting local farms or farmers markets and talking to the farmers. Many smaller farms follow organic farming practices but cannot afford the time and expense of applying for organic certification. Again, even if not certified organic, local produce will have more nutrients and is a better choice than heavily sprayed conventional produce that travels from far away.

Finally, last year, the Dirty Dozen list had some additions that didn’t meet the full criteria but were commonly found to have toxic pesticide contamination. This year, two vegetables made their “plus” list: hot peppers and leafy greens such as kale and collards.

These vegetables show pesticide residues of organochloride pesticides that are toxic to the nervous system and as a result have been phased out of agriculture. They make the list because residues still linger in farm fields and have been found on conventional produce sold in stores, so these should also be purchased as organic.

Last year, domestically grown summer squash such as yellow crookneck squash and zucchini made the plus list too. But this year they have removed it from the highest level of danger list, finding pesticide levels to have improved.

As produce season gets under way, enjoy the 9-13 servings per days of fruits and vegetables your body requires for optimal health, but invest in the best form you can of the dirty dozen and you can save some pennies on the rest!

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal and a free copy of Inger’s bestselling ebook at www.IngerPols.com/freegifts

Photo Source: courtesy of SOMMAI / Free Digital Photos

I want to talk briefly about why the Glycemic Index is a helpful guide (but not an absolute rule) and look at how it applies to bread to provide context when we look at how pasta, potatoes and rice measure up.

As I discussed in the bread section, certain foods spike blood sugar levels. The Glycemic Index is the scientific system that measures and monitors those increases across all carbohydrates. The lower the number, generally speaking, the better because that means the food will be digested more slowly, will result in less insulin spiking and will provide more protection from diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, heart disease and obesity.

In addition to helping you to avoid certain health conditions, lower Glycemic Index (GI) foods also aid in weight control. A study of overweight teenagers eating a low GI breakfast showed that they ate 45% fewer calories throughout the day than when they began their day with a high GI breakfast. Foods that stimulate insulin have been shown to increase calorie consumption at the next meal and research shows that if calorie intake is equal, eating lower GI food will result in weight loss.

Problems with the Glycemic Index

But there are a number of problems with relying completely on the index as a food guide. First, GI food measurements are imprecise. Generally speaking, the test is done several times and the results are an average of those outcomes.

For example, a baked russet potato has been shown to have a GI value as low as 56 and as high as 111. As a result, it is listed in the high 70s on most indexes. The GI index for fruit increases as it ripens and changes depending on the food processing method and time. Grinding or cooking will increase the GI as will cooking for longer periods of time.

The GI of any one food is also altered significantly based on what it is combined with. I recommend eating healthy fat, protein and fiber with every meal because it reduces insulin spiking and decreases the likelihood that higher sugar foods will be stored as fat. But how much you eat matters too: Some foods have a high GI but you likely wouldn’t eat a lot of them, so their overall “load” is lower, while others may be lower, but you are more likely to consume a good portion. And lastly, individual responses to carbohydrate digestion vary, as do insulin responses, and those responses have been shown to vary based on the time of day the food is consumed.

As a result, the Glycemic Index can be a helpful tool but should not be relied upon in absolute. It is helpful for making relative comparisons and trade-offs. Something that falls in the 80s is a less healthy food choice than something that lands in the 40s. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to minimize consumption of foods with scores over 55 on the GI.

But some of those foods have great nutritional benefits, so that doesn’t mean you should never eat them. Instead, consume them in moderate portions, on occasion, combined with fiber, healthy fats and protein. It’s easy to see why a processed bakery product might need to be eliminated, but a potato or watermelon can be eaten in moderation.

Now let’s talk about how the Glycemic Index applies to pasta and rice compared to bread.

Bread, Potatoes, Rice and Pasta

In addition to being nutrient devoid, traditional white bread and most whole wheat bread (made from enriched white flour) is high on the Glycemic Index. Typical white or wheat bread and bagels fall in the 70s, while pita bread lands in the high 50s. I love a good French bread as much as the next person, but baguettes fall in the mid-90s!

As you go toward more whole grain products, the Glycemic Index declines, with multigrain bread in the high 40s and sprouted grain breads in the low to mid-40s. Whole grain, multi-grain and sprouted grains are lower GI choices that also offer more nutrient value. (Ezekiel bread, for example, is a complete protein source offering all nine essential amino acids and 18 amino acids in total, all from plants; it’s more than just bread.)

It seems logical that pastas would go much the same way as breads, with traditional white and wheat pastas being significantly higher glycemically than whole grain and sprouted grain versions. But that is not the case.

Earlier I said that white bread and baked potatoes have GI scores in the 70s, but there are some better potato choices: boiled, new or sweet potatoes are all in the mid-50s. In addition, brown rice comes in at 55 on the GI, while white rice shows up between 56-64. (Note: Though the Glycemic Index between brown and white rice may seem close, brown rice has much greater nutrient density and is a better food choice.)

Even though some potatoes and brown rice have levels in the mid-50s on the GI, which makes them viable options on occasion, pastas have an even lower GI. During processing, ungelatinized starch granules get trapped in the sponge-like gluten (protein) network inside the pasta dough. This does not occur in the processing of bread or rice and as a result, pastas tend to have a lower Glycemic Index overall.

Traditional spaghetti comes in at 41 on the GI scale, with its whole-wheat version at 37, making these clear winners, with a few caveats.

An Exception: Brown Rice Pasta

There is one surprising exception: brown rice pasta. Brown rice pasta comes in at a whopping 92 on the Glycemic Index: A surprise to me since brown rice itself is not high on the GI and whole grain brown rice is a nutrient-rich food. I’m still researching what it is about the transformation from rice to pasta that makes brown rice so high on GI scale. But until I learn more, avoid brown rice pasta and stick to traditional pastas.

I do continue to recommend whole grain brown rice as a healthy, nutrient-laden option on occasion; it’s got a host of health benefits and comes in at 55 on the GI scale. (Asian noodles also have a relatively low Glycemic Index, so I recommend experimenting with udon, rice vermicelli or hokkein for variety.)

As always, try to limit serving size and frequency; we Americans tend to eat enormous plates full of pasta whereas Europeans eat much smaller portions. And always cook your pasta al dente: The longer you cook it, the higher the Glycemic Index, as the gelatinous protein network breaks down. (One GI table showed that spaghetti boiled for 10-15 minutes came in at 44, but when boiled for only five minutes, it dropped down to 38. Regardless of the exact cooking time, which will vary by product, be sure not to overcook. Try for that al dente firmness that leaves more of the protein intact.)

When you do eat pasta, combine it with healthy fats, proteins and carbohydrates to create a balanced meal; here’s where fresh homemade vegetable sauces made with healthy fats can take your meal to a whole new health level. And here’s a tip if you are concerned about blood sugar: add some acid like vinegar or lemon to help lower the GI of the meal.

While you do get some additional nutrient value from a whole grain, multi-grain or sprouted grain pasta, the glycemic difference of whole wheat is not significant versus traditional pastas. Some of the newer whole grain and sprouted grain versions have not even been tested yet and while their scores may be lower, the baseline for traditional pasta is pretty good to begin with.

While I encourage you to experiment and try some of these nutrient-rich grain products — variety in food choices is always a good thing — if the taste does not appeal to you, it’s OK to indulge in some traditional pasta on occasion. Mangia!

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal and a free copy of Inger’s bestselling ebook at www.IngerPols.com/freegifts

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art

The debate isn’t new. One of the most vehement arguments came a few years ago when Reader’s Digest called vitamins “a scam” and said that taking them is a waste of money. It cited a study of 160,000 mid-life women that showed no difference in health with respect to the big diseases like cancer, heart disease and stroke, from taking a multivitamin. But as with all studies, you need to dig deeper—in this case because not all vitamins are created equal. (I am always suspect when a magazine whose advertising is largely from pharmaceutical companies says vitamins are worthless.)

The article challenges the benefits of certain individual supplements, such as vitamins A or E taken by themselves.  I agree these vitamins will have little, if any, effect when taken in isolation because they require proper co-factors for absorption. The article and the recent study both recommend one standalone vitamin that should be taken by everyone: vitamin D. (I’ve discussed the importance of vitamin D previously and I will be writing more about it soon as I believe it is so important.)

There is a rampant vitamin D deficiency among children and adults today, so I couldn’t agree more. Vitamin D3 can stand on its own and I take 5000 mg daily as part of my multivitamin and more in addition during the winter. (Do not take a prescription vitamin D as you will receive vitamin D2 which is not as absorpable or effective as vitamin D3 which you can buy inexpensively over the counter, though natural sunlight is still best.)

But most other vitamins need to be taken together as part of a complete nutritional package and won’t have much if any impact if taken alone.

Many people say that if we eat well, we don’t need a multivitamin. Eating a whole food and plant-based diet will go a long way toward staying healthy and I strongly recommend we do that. We cannot eat too many dark leafy green vegetables and we should be eating the rainbow (fruits and vegetables that cover every spectrum of color from white to orange, red, green and purple.) But I also take a whole food multivitamin and a whole food raw green superfood powder, because the truth is, it is very difficult to get the nutrients we need from our modern food supply.

These days, to offset the bad fats and processed food sugars we consume and to restore balance within our bodies, we need more vegetables than ever. (New standards raise fruits and vegetables up to 9-13 servings a day!) We are not just eating to fuel our bodies, we are eating to heal our bodies from the inflammation and oxidation of our processed diets. It’s getting harder to get the nutrients we need because in addition to the packaged and prepared foods in our diets, our fresh food supply is not as vitamin rich as it used to be. Soil has been depleted of nutrients, food is sprayed with chemicals and pesticides or is genetically modified to grow bigger or to resist disease, and then it is transported hundreds or thousands of miles to get to our tables.

If you go to a farm or a market and buy fresh produce, you know that after a few days on your counter, it will begin to go bad. Now think about the grapes or tomatoes you are buying from the opposite coast or from South America. They were picked, packaged and then shipped (sometimes by barge) to the U.S., sent out by truck across the country to your local market, displayed on the shelf for several days (or weeks) and then finally taken home.

For the produce to survive that trip looking fresh and beautiful and without bruising, it is heavily sprayed with chemicals, and picked before it is ripe and allowed to mature along the way. Once the fruit leaves the vine, it doesn’t get the sun and the nutrients any longer, it doesn’t fully develop the enzymes and phytonutrients that are usually present in mature fresh picked local produce.

(I talk a lot more about organic versus local and making better fruit and vegetable choices in the articles on produce, but you should also know that many chemicals and pesticides banned in the U.S. are still used freely in the foreign countries from which we buy produce.)

Studies estimate more than 50% of nutrient value is lost in the journey from farm to table. That’s’ very conservative. So even if you are doing your best to eat a lot of good fruits and veggies, unless you have access to a local farm, and even then, it is hard to get food with the nutritional profile you need for health. Plus,  you’d have to eat a lot of it, and how many of us can sit down and eat a basket full of kale?

If you still think you can go it alone without, you may recall in one of my articles I shared that to get the same level of nutrients that you could get from two peaches back in the 1950’s, today you would have to eat 53! Who is doing that?

While I fantasize about growing my own food, here in New England, with a long, cold winter and a busy life with two kids and work, it’s not possible at the moment. I do my best to shop at local farmers’ markets for fresh produce, and I buy flash frozen organic produce (never canned) when I can’t. Despite my best efforts, I do not believe that I can get the nutrition I need without taking a multivitamin and my kids take one too.

But there is a big difference among multivitamins. There are natural organic whole food based products that when manufactured correctly leave the integrity of the whole food intact. And then there are cheap synthetic forms that you can buy in drugstores or big box stores which are the vitamins the studies are talking about.

When looking for a good whole food supplement, keep in mind that whole foods are just that: whole foods. Look for ingredients such as carrots, spinach, wheat grass, spirulina, kale, celery etc. There will be vitamins listed as well but their sources will also be present: The original foods from which they were derived. When the ingredient list reads more like a science report than a grocery list, and there are no food sources included just isolated chemicals, it’s typically comprised of man-made synthetic compounds.

Because synthetic vitamins are created in a lab to simulate the real thing, they are not identical in the way they interact with or are absorbed by the body. They are often missing minerals, nutrients and other requisite co-factors for assimilation. In addition, they often contain cheap fillers and binders from ingredients like sand and titanium dioxide, dibasic calcium phosphate and microcrystalline cellulose (refined wood pulp);  they are ingredients that our bodies cannot absorb and that may even be harmful to us. Many common over-the-counter vitamins are passed through the stool whole and intact.

Taking a multivitamin that includes a broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals and nutrients can make a difference, but only if it is bioavailable and bioabsorpable; in other words your body can actually break down and absorb the nutrients. That is not possible with synthetic vitamins. I prefer a whole food-based product that is as close to what I should be eating as possible, and made from the real thing, not created to imitate it.

Interestingly the Readers Digest article’s main argument against taking multivitamins said, “These days, you’re extremely unlikely to be deficient if you eat an average America diet, if only because many packaged foods are vitamin enriched.”

Think about that for a moment.

Food manufacturers strip out all the vitamins that exist in the food during the manufacturing process. Then they “enrich” them, by adding back cheap lab-created imitations. They want us to believe that these created versions are the same as the original, but research shows they are not: you cannot duplicate naturally occurring nutrients from synthetic ingredients. In addition, they will be missing enzymes and cofactors required for assimilation. When I see “enriched” on a food label, I know to stay away.

The truth is that enriched foods do not add vital nutrients to our bodies, nor will synthetic vitamin pills. The best way to get what we need is from the whole food source. Nature intended us to eat vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and phytonutrients together as they work synergistically. When whole food supplements are made the right way, they maintain a multitude of the plants original components and the integrity of the food source.

So eat as much good stuff as you can. Buy local when you can, organic if possible. But given the nutrient levels in today’s soil and ultimately, food supply, along with the long transit times and warehouse distribution processes, even if you eat really well, you probably won’t get all the nutrients you need from food. Most — if not all — of us will still need to supplement with a whole food-based supplement to bridge the gap for long-term health and wellness.

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal. Learn more about Inger and receive her free bestselling ebook What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You.

Article Photo: courtesy of m_bartosch | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We have been told that high cholesterol is bad, that it causes heart disease (the leading cause of death in the U.S.), that we should all be tested for it, and that high levels must be treated, usually with statin drugs. With those assumptions and statistics, the problem would seem epidemic.

But in this article, I’m going to shatter five myths about cholesterol and hopefully change the way you think about it forever.

Myth #1: Cholesterol is Bad for You

Cholesterol plays several key roles in a healthy functional body. It keeps cell membranes from falling apart and plays an integral part in cellular repair. Cholesterol is also a vital pre-cursor to many major hormones including testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and is required for synthesis of vitamin D.

The body manufactures about 75% of the cholesterol it needs. The rest we must take in from foods. Without adequate dietary cholesterol, the body may divert cholesterol to where it is needed most: cellular repair and healthy function in key areas, especially the brain. When this happens, there may not be enough left for use in hormone synthesis, which can cause hormonal imbalance.

This is why some people (especially women going through perimenopause) who do not eat enough cholesterol may experience more severe hormonal reactions and symptoms.

In fact, the body has a built-in mechanism to increase its cholesterol production to override a severe shortage. In extreme cases, when cholesterol is not being consumed in appropriate levels, the liver will step in and actually overproduce cholesterol. If you were to be tested at that time, your cholesterol levels could be considered high, even though you would actually be cholesterol deficient.

But that’s not the case for most of us. So for those of us eating healthy diets with moderate amounts of fat, how concerned should we be about cholesterol in food?

Myth #2: High Cholesterol Comes from Eating Foods High in Cholesterol

Despite popular belief that it’s the cholesterol in your food that influences cholesterol in the bloodstream, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, it’s actually the mix of fats in your diet that’s important.

Saturated and trans fats (often called “bad” fats) increase the risk for certain diseases while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (often called “good” fats), do the opposite—they are good for the body and heart, and cells need them to help manage what goes in and out of cell membranes.

Cells need fat and cholesterol to function, but fat and cholesterol can’t readily travel through the blood. So the body combines them with protein-covered particles called lipoproteins. Lipoproteins can carry a good amount of fat and travel easily through the blood. There are three types of these particles that are important: low-density lipoproteins (LDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and triglycerides.

Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL)

LDL is responsible for taking the cholesterol from the liver to the body’s cells. Once the lipoprotein reaches the cell, the cell attaches to it and extracts the fat and cholesterol it needs.

High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL)

HDL then takes over and plays clean up, collecting cholesterol from the bloodstream, LDL and artery walls, and transporting it back to the liver to be recycled, an equally important role in healthy cholesterol function.

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are the body’s main method of transporting fat to cells. They make up most of the fats you eat and that your cells use. They are an important part of healthy body function, but in excess they can cause problems. If your triglycerides are high, you have a lot of fat in your bloodstream, which means you are either making too much or are unable to burn it.

Myth #3: There is Good Cholesterol and Bad Cholesterol

Despite needing LDL, it has been argued that when there is an excess of it, particles can be deposited in the walls of the arteries of the heart and elsewhere, limiting blood flow. The deposits, known as plaque, can break apart and cause a heart attack or stroke. Because of this, LDL has been called the “bad” cholesterol.

The truth is, there is no good and bad cholesterol. There is only one cholesterol: LDL and HDL are lipoprotein cholesterol carriers and they are both equally necessary for survival and wellness.

While LDL has been labeled bad because it can cause plaque development, we now know that there are many types of LDL. In fact, if we want to create labels for good and bad, we could argue there is good LDL and bad LDL. Research has shown that LDL particles come in different sizes and that the large LDL particles cause no problem. The small, dense LDL particles can be troublesome, as they are tiny enough to squeeze through the lining of the arteries.

If they oxidize, or turn rancid, they can cause inflammation, which can lead to many if not all of our chronic conditions. C-reactive protein tests measure general levels of inflammation and can be an early warning sign to take action. Inflammation can be reduced through dietary changes such as increased consumption of vitamin E and fish oil.

Myth #4: Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease

We have known for a while that there is a correlation between cholesterol and heart attacks, but is it causal?

Research now shows that damage to the lining of arteries (such as what can occur when small dense LDL squeeze through and oxidize) causes the coronary heart disease associated with heart attacks.  The damage causes inflammation and it’s the inflammation that leads to the heart attacks.

How does this happen? Let’s look briefly at the inflammatory process.

When you cut yourself, the damaged tissue releases chemicals to start inflammation. Blood vessels constrict to slow down bleeding. Blood thickens so it can clot and cells multiply to repair damage and facilitate healing while the immune system calls on cells and chemicals to protect against viruses and bacteria from attacking the cut.

This is very similar to what occurs within the arteries. As damage occurs, chemicals are released to begin the inflammatory process. Arteries constrict, blood begins to clot, the immune system sends help, and nearby cells are told to multiply. As this process occurs over and over again in the artery lining, scars called plaque form. Over time, blood thickening and artery constriction combine to make a heart attack or high blood pressure more likely.

So remember the first step after trauma: Chemicals are released to begin inflammation and start the healing process. Enter cholesterol, whose primary function is cell repair. Cholesterol is sent to help repair the damaged tissue in the artery linings and elsewhere: it is actually helping your body heal to keep you alive.

Now if this process is occurring repeatedly, cholesterol is continually being manufactured or recycled in order to facilitate the healing process. When tested, your cholesterol levels will seem high.

Because your body needs cholesterol to heal, what effect will lower levels have on the body?

Instead of trying to deal with the symptom, the high cholesterol, we need to look at the cause: The inflammation that is being caused by excessive and/or repetitive damage, particularly from small dense LDL particle oxidation.

Pomegranate has also been shown to be highly effective as an LDL anti-oxidation agent. Subjects taking pomegranate supplements in a clinical study were able to reduce artery thickness by 35%, increase blood flow by 45% and improve markers related to LDL oxidation by up to 130%.

As you can see, the connection between cholesterol and heart attacks is correlated but not causal. High cholesterol may not be anything to worry about; it may in fact be an important component of your body’s healing mechanism. The real focus should be on reducing high LDL levels and preventing its oxidation.

If you decide that you must take action to lower your cholesterol, there are two ways to do so: Change your diet and/or take statins.

Myth #5: Statins are a Safe and Effective way to Lower Cholesterol

A January 2008 cover story in Business Week concluded that there isn’t much evidence to support taking statins.

Upon review of statin data, a leading physician and professor at the University of British Columbia found there is no benefit in people over age 65 no matter how much their cholesterol declines and that there was no benefit to women at any age. Middle-aged men who took statins saw a small reduction in heart attacks, but no overall reduction in deaths or illnesses requiring hospitalization even though their “bad” LDL cholesterol went down.

The only time the drugs were seen as effective was with patients who had already had one heart attack, as it reduced the likelihood of having another. He concluded, “Most people are taking something with no chance of benefit and a risk of harm.”

But what about the marketing hype the pharmaceutical companies put out? Let’s read the small print on Lipitor’s claim that it reduces the risk of heart attack by 36% … in patients with multiple risk factors for heart disease. It says, “That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor.”

In other words, out of every 100 people, three on placebos and two on Lipitor had heart attacks. That means that to spare one person a heart attack, 100 people had to take Lipitor for more than three years while the other 99 got no benefit. A useful statistic known as the NNT, or number needed to treat, means the number needed to treat in this case for one person to have any benefit is 100. Several recent studies have shown that the NNT for statins may be even higher: 250 or more for lower risk patients.

Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, put it this way: “What if you put 250 people in a room and told them they would each pay $1,000 a year for a drug they would have to take every day, that many would get diarrhea and muscle pain, and that 249 would have no benefit? And that they could do just as well by exercising? How many would take that?”

It’s true that statins can lower cholesterol levels by (guess what?) reducing inflammation! Statins might be acceptable solutions if they were shown to be completely safe, but they are not. Statins have common side effects including muscle pain, cognitive impairments and sexual dysfunction and have been shown to increase cancer risk in rodents.

The Business Week article posed this question: What would work better?

Prescription: Change Your Diet

The answer, not surprisingly, according to Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, is not a pill but rather diet and lifestyle changes. Several studies have shown that lifestyle changes, such as switching to the Mediterranean diet and eating more fish, brought greater declines in heart attacks than statins.

If you still want to lower your cholesterol levels, in addition to fish and omega-3s, walnuts and soluble fiber like oatmeal have been shown to be effective cholesterol reducers and most of us need more fiber in our diets anyway. Niacin (or vitamin B3) also lowers cholesterol and triglycerides and it recently outperformed Merck’s drug Zetia in arterial plaque prevention (resulting in Merck canceling the study.)

Physical fitness also plays a role with exercise and lifestyle changes such as stress reduction, diet changes and weight reduction.

Keep in mind that your doctor had little, if any, nutrition training in medical school and may not be comfortable guiding you in this regard. In addition, some physician friends tell me they are reluctant to suggest dietary changes because they find that people don’t always stick to them. So you may have to take the initiative with your physician to get the right plan in place for you.

Studies prove that the anti-inflammatory aspects of the Mediterranean diet and fish or fish oil, combined with a healthy lifestyle and reduced stress, are the most effective prescription for wellness, in the arteries as well as in the rest of the body. Read more articles on cholesterol and heart health at www.nehealthadvisory.com

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal. Learn more about Inger and receive her free bestselling ebook What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You by clicking the active link or go to www.ingerpols.com/freegifts

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art

As we learned in the fruit and vegetable series, the nutrient value of today’s food is dramatically diminished. Remember the reference to peaches: In 1951, two peaches would supply a woman’s Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin A, but today she’d need to eat 53 to get the same nutrients?

So with reduced nutrient value, it’s more important than ever to ensure that you get all the nutrients you can out of the food you cook–and that you avoid adding carcinogens or chemicals or altering the food profile with your cooking method.

Next I’m going to discuss some of the best ways to prepare food infused with nutrients.

The Best Cooking Methods

Stir-frying is a great way to eat perfectly balanced meals because you can cook protein, carbohydrates (vegetables) and healthy fats (coconut oil or rice bran oil) in one pan. Using a wok over medium heat and continuously stirring the food allows it to cook while remaining crisp and maintaining nutrient value.

If you use traditional vegetable oils, it’s important not to let the heat get too high or the oil will oxidize and turn rancid. (If it discolors or imparts a smoky flavor, you’ve definitely gone too far). I rarely if ever turn my stove dials above three (on a 1-10 scale). Rice bran oil can handle higher heat and is the best bet for stir frying. You can also use chicken or vegetable broth instead of oil.

Sautéing as it is traditionally done over high heat, is not usually a good choice because the oil is likely to oxidize. But now what was once called pan-frying is being called sautéing, and it is a good way to prepare foods as long as the heat stays low and the oils are healthy ones. To me, it doesn’t matter whether you adhere to traditional naming conventions: With my stove dial on three, and using coconut oil, rice bran oil, butter, or broth, cooking vegetables and/or meats in a skillet is a good alternative to using a wok and probably my most typical cooking method.

Steaming vegetables in a small amount of water in a covered pot (using a basket or colander) is one of the best ways to keep nutrients in your vegetables. Just be careful not to overcook: Vegetables should be brightly colored and slightly crunchy when they are done, not soggy and limp. Try adding your favorite spice to the water for extra flavor!

Poaching isn’t just for eggs: It’s also a way to cook fish, chicken and delicate foods that would not survive a boil. While better than boiling, there is still some nutrient loss to the water.

Boiling tends to drain a lot of nutrients, but for some hearty vegetables like potatoes and root vegetables, it makes sense on occasion. It definitely makes sense if you are making soup and are keeping all the nutrients in the broth! Otherwise, try to avoid boiling. If you do boil, try to use the nutrient-rich water in your soup broth, sauce or rice or quinoa.

Pressure-cooking has been revived lately but remains an uncommon means of cooking in the U.S. But because pressure-cooking cooks foods very quickly, it tends to preserve a lot of nutrients and flavor, unlike slow cookers, which result in greater nutrient loss. I don’t use my pressure cooker often, but it does create tender succulent fall-off-the-bone meat dishes that convince even the most loyal grilling fans that there is another option.

Baking is not just for pies and cookies; it can be a good way to mix meats and vegetables into a simple meal. Roasting meat and veggies in a pan can also a make a hearty meal. It’s not something I like to do in the summer months, but in the winter, baked/roasted meals are comforting in taste, texture and smell.

And for vegetables, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the best ways to serve them is raw. You can drizzle some olive oil and himalyan salt on them or create sauces from organic ingredients you have on hand. While my kids love broccoli sautéed in a little oil, they also adore it raw and crunchy. I often set out a raw veggie platter while I am cooking only to find it completely devoured before we sit down at the table. And that’s OK with me!

Cooking Methods to Avoid

Frying and deep-frying probably don’t need much of an explanation for why they are unhealthy. In addition to the excess calories and fat, frying at high heats causes oils to oxidize and turn rancid. This causes inflammation, which can result in myriad problems, including high cholesterol, arterial plaque leading to heart disease, and can produce cancer-causing chemicals. If you do cook on high heat be sure to cook with an oil such as rice bran oil that can withstand higher temperatures before it oxidizes.

Microwaving is a controversial cooking method and one that I’m going to discuss more fully another time. But research shows that microwaving alters the chemical composition of food and affects the nutrient value. Microwaving poses health concerns that I believe will be proven in time, but for now, perhaps knowing that microwaved broccoli results loses up to 97% of its beneficial antioxidant chemicals, while steamed broccoli loses fewer than 11%, may help you think twice about it.

If you must microwave, never use plastic containers, as they have been shown to leach toxic chemicals like Bisphenol A into your food: always use glass or ceramics. (Some ceramics say microwave safe but they are not. One way to test microwave safety is to fill the container with cold water and heat it on high power for one minute. If the water gets warmer but the container remains cool, it’s ok to use. If the container becomes warm, don’t use it.)

Grilling is a great American tradition and I know I’m not going to make friends when I say that you should minimize grilling to the extent possible. While gas is a better fuel than charcoal, and electric is best, anytime you generate a black char line on your food, you are creating carcinogens, or cancer-causing substances, in your food.

And even if you don’t char your meat, fat in the meat causes gases to be released when it drips onto the heat source, which pose additional cancer concerns. For that reason, avoid grilling meat. Grilling vegetables and fish without char lines is OK — use foil or a basket and grill away.

As with everything, balance is key. If you do it on occasion, and live a healthy lifestyle, occasional char-grilled meat isn’t likely to cause you much trouble. Nor will using a microwave in a pinch. But if you do it regularly, and/or you have other health issues to address, then minimizing such cooking methods could be a big step forward to improving your wellness.

And one final note: if you are still using non-stick cookware, consider investing in a new set of pans. Numerous studies have shown that the chemicals that create the non-stick pan linings are toxic and leach into the food over time. Ceramic cast iron pans are a great choice as is stainless steel.

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

Inger

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal at www.IngerPols.com

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art

Most of us know that eating foods with artificial flavors and colors, dyes, chemicals and preservatives is not the best strategy for fueling a healthy body. But despite the fact that many of us are now choosing organic and local, grass fed and hormone-free, if you shop at your local drug store or big box store for your cosmetics and toiletries, most likely you are continuing to ingest the very chemicals you are trying to avoid from our food supply.

The products you put on the outside of your body are absorbed into your blood stream and impact your health just as much as the food that you eat. In fact, twice as many toxins can be absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin as through the digestive tract. If you are not convinced of that, try the old garlic test. Rub garlic on the bottom of your foot and within twenty minutes you will taste garlic and have garlic on your breath just as if you’d eaten it.

I would be remiss in my wellness coverage if I did not discuss some of the common toxins contained in your cosmetics and toiletries and why you should avoid them. Before I get into the specifics of each chemical group, I want to briefly review estrogen disruptors, which we discussed in the prostate and breast health article.

…We are daily bombarded with estrogenic compounds called xenoestrogens. These compounds can mimic estrogen and take up estrogen receptor sites, leaving the body’s estrogen to wander looking for an available receptor site. This excess estrogen imbalances our normal hormone ratios. Xenoestrogens are found in petroleum-based products, plastics, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. They are in car emissions, paint, nail polish, soap, lotion, food, water and the air.

Xenoestrogens result in an increase in belly fat or breast development in men as well as weight gain, allergies, sinus infections, fatigue, mood swings and the onset of andropause, the male equivalent of menopause. Andropause can result in impotence, low sex drive, low sperm count, low absorption of zinc, increased risk of heart disease, and not surprisingly, urination and prostate problems.

Hormones are always about balance, and our sex hormones are no different. Endocrine disruptors result in hormone imbalances that not only mean testosterone or progesterone levels are low vis a vis the estrogen, but excess estrogen levels are linked to breast, prostate and uterine cancer as well as autoimmune diseases and osteoporosis.

I’ve chosen a few of the biggest health concerns to call out as groups below. Several of the chemicals commonly found in toiletries can be classified as endocrine disruptors and I won’t repeat this detail for each but will simply label them as such. I’ve also highlighted some non-endocrine disrupting chemicals that have serious health concerns associated with them and should be avoided as well.

Parabens
Parabens are preservatives that are used to extend a product’s shelf life. They are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. While they can also cause allergic reactions and skin rashes, their primary concern is as an endocrine disruptor. Next to water, parabens are the single most frequently used ingredient in cosmetics, so a look through your bathroom shelves will likely turn up plenty.  Look for methyl, butyl, ethyl or propyl parabens on the label.

Nitrosamines
When ammonia compounds and nitrates combine, nitrosamines are created. We discussed the harmful impact of nitrosamines in the meat chapter and how we need to avoid eating them. So why would we want to absorb them directly into our blood stream through shaving cream, shampoo or shower gels? Nitrosamines are used as skin softeners, foaming agents, synthetic stabilizers and ph adjusters. No other carcinogen has been found to be as harmful to as many species as nitrosamines and the challenge with nitrosamines is that studies reveal that levels increase within a product after it’s opened, doubling after four months and increasing more than four times over seventeen months. Even more reason to toss that old shampoo bottle in your bathroom! Look for MEA (Monoethanolmine), DEA (Diethanolamine), or TEA Triethanolamine) on the label. It will often occur in tangent with another chemical such as TEA Lauryl Sulfate or Stearamide MEA, for example.   

PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons)
PAHs are derived from crude oil and are known endocrine disruptors and carcinogens and have been directly linked to breast cancer. Their purpose is to form a barrier on the skin, which is why they are commonly found in diaper rash ointments and skin creams. They are also frequently found in lipsticks and lip balms as well as baby lotions and oils. Look for petrolatum, mineral oil, paraffinum, coal tar, and yes, petroleum jelly (the name tells it all!)

Propylene Glycol/Butylene Glycol
Propylene Glycol/Butylene Glycol (PG/BG) is a common form of mineral oil and as such, is a petroleum derivative and is considered to be a PAH as highlighted above. But since it is so common in cosmetics and skin care products, I’m calling it out as a separate category. PG is so strong, it can take barnacles off a boat! EPA workers are required to protect their skin from contact because it penetrates so quickly and can cause brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities. When the EPA mandates workers use protective clothing, goggles and gloves and demands that excess solution be buried in the ground, it catches my attention! If you see Propylene Glycol or Butylene Glycol on the label, definitely pass it by.

Sulfates
Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), and ammonium laureth sulfate (ALES) can create nitrosamines when combined with other ingredients. They are found in 90% of foaming and lathering products. Sodium lauryl sufate (SLS) and ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS), are also used in cleaners, engine degreasers, and car wash products and can cause central nervous system disruptions, skin irritations, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, and eye damage. They are widely used in skin care products and are often advertised as coming from coconut. Regardless of the form being laureth or lauryl all sulfates, SLES, SLS, ALES, ALS, should be avoided.

FD&C Color Pigments
Color pigments are typically found in mascara, lipstick, blush, nail polish, shampoo, conditioner, and hair dye. We know not to eat color pigments and dyes in foods, but they are extremely common in cosmetics and toiletries. Anytime you see a dye or color pigment listed, it’s an avoid. But when you see FD&C preceding the name of a color, it means that the dye is considered safe for drugs and cosmetics but not food. Since we already know we absorb more through the skin than through the stomach, and animal studies have shown almost all FD&C colors to be carcinogenic, color pigments, but especially FD&C colors should be avoided as well.

Fragrances
Unless you see an essential oil listed, which is pure fragrance and can have health benefits, most fragrances are synthetic and chemically derived. They can be comprised of thousands of separate ingredients many of which are toxic and carcinogenic. Phthalates, which are used to stabilize synthetic fragrances, are known endocrine disruptors and can impact the central nervous system and cause irritability, depression or hyperactivity. Unless the label says phthalate free or lists only essential oils, if it has fragrance, it likely has phthalates.

There are many more toxins and carcinogens to avoid: too many to cover in one newsletter. But at least we have started the conversation and identified some chemicals you’ll want to read your product labels to avoid.

Keep in mind that as adults, our tolerance for these chemicals varies by individual, but children as a rule with developing immune systems are much more vulnerable to these effects. If you were surprised to see petroleum jelly and mineral oil (common in baby oil) among the list, you’ll want to pay special attention to ingredients you use on your children. Also, talc, the main ingredient in baby powder, is believed by many to be carcinogenic and has been tied to uterine cancer in women.

Talc is listed as potentially poisonous by the National Institute of Health (NIH) if inhaled, and who hasn’t breathed some in; it goes airborne pretty easily when you’re applying it to a child! Virtually all of the common baby products contain ingredients I wouldn’t want to ingest or absorb, let alone deliver to a tiny infant, but there are healthier versions and organic options out there including talc -free baby powder, which the NIH recommends.

A special note should be made regarding sunscreen and anti-perspirant. Most of us should be getting our vitamin D exposure (required for wellness) and should only need sunscreen for long full days outside. But if you decide to use sunscreen, it’s even more important that you look for natural and organic versions.

Sunscreen commonly contains many of these listed toxic ingredients and others we didn’t cover. Because you put it on your skin all over your body, using large amounts and re-applying, and then the heat of the sun opens your pores, enabling even more product to be absorbed directly into the blood stream, it poses a health risk if used regularly and not in a natural form. Especially, again, for your children whose immune systems are not fully developed.

And lastly, I also want to call out antiperspirants. Our bodies were designed to sweat and our armpits are a crucial part of our body’s detoxification process. Stopping that process can pose health risks, as our bodies need to release impurities through our sweat. At the same time, if your antiperspirant contains aluminum, as most do, you should know that aluminum is designed to block your pores and stop them from sweating and it has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer. A deodorant to control odor but allow the sweat process to continue as designed is fine, just don’t block the pores. And please don’t block them with a carcinogen like aluminum!

If you spend your hard-earned money to buy organic produce or grass fed beef, if you read the labels of the food you buy to make sure it doesn’t contain harmful chemical additives, please read the labels of the products you absorb through your skin as they are just as important.

To your wellness and health: your true wealth!

P.S., Here’s a summary list of some of the common toxins found in different products. We haven’t discussed all of these, but it’s a great starting point if you want to go deeper than what we covered in the rest of the article. To the extent you can avoid them, you should because repetitive daily use can really accumulate residues in your system. Look for organic and natural products made without these ingredients whenever you can, especially for infants and children.

Deodorants: Aluminum, Butane, Propane, Propylene Glycol, Talc, Fragrance.

Shampoos: Diethanolamine (DEA or TEA), Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Benzyl/Benzene Conditioners: Diethanolamine (DEA or TEA) Propylene Glycol, Fragrance.

Shower Bars/Gels: Bentoic/Benzyl, Diethanolamine (DEA or TEA), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Fragrance.

Bubble Bath: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Benzoic/Benzyl, Diethanolamine (DEA or TEA), Fragrance.

Shaving Gels/Creams: Diethanolamine (DEA or TEA), Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Fragrance.

Toothpastes: Fluoride, Sodium Fluoride, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Aluminium Oxide

Mouthwashes: Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol, Flavoring, Sodium, Lauryl Sulfate

Feminine Products & Color Cosmetics: Talc, Toluene, FD&C color pigments, Fragrance.

Author: Inger Pols is the Editor of the New England Health Advisory and Author/Creator, Finally Make It Happen, the proven process to get what you want. Get a free special report on The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not All Equal at www.nehealthadvisory.com

Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art