Earth Day Tips

Earth Day is just around the corner (April 22).
Over the next few days, I am going to share with you some quick and simple things you can do right away to make your surroundings healthier for you and those you love.

Remember just ONE SMALL ACTION can make a REALLY BIG DIFFERENCE!

#1 Watch TOXIC BREW. Invest just 20 minutes of your time for this Canadian "MarketPlace" TV show. It's shocking to see name brand cleaners full of harmful hidden chemicals--which especially affect the health of kids and pets in your home. Go to, Watch Toxic Brew then scroll down and on the right side you will see “Watch the Story.” Click on RealVideo.

5 Things Women Can Do For A Healthy Heart

This morning Good Morning America had a wonderful segment about women and heart health. This is stuff we all, as women, need to know. February is heart health month, so please go to this link: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=6850404&page=1 and then do whatever it takes to make sure YOU have a healthy heart! Everyone who loves you will say THANKS!

ABC News: Oz's Top 5 Healthy Tips for Women

ABC News: Oz's Top 5 Healthy Tips for Women

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HOW DO YOU SELECT GOOD QUALITY SUPPLEMENTS?

We are living in a health-crazed society. There are so many different companies out their selling so many different vitamins and supplements. So how do you know which brands are good and which are just a waste of money?

Here are some questions and answers to guide you:

Q. How do I know what is in my vitamin; can I trust what the label says?
A. Unfortunately, some manufacturers’ labels do not accurately reflect their supplements’ contents and there is very little legal pressure for them to do so. Nobody is proactively watching out for consumer safety, much less monitoring label claims or ensuring efficacy. Manufacturers are legally obligated to formulate their supplements to only 90% of their label claim (Do you find that shocking?). Since they know they probably won’t get caught, some formulate to only 60% (or less) of claim. That means that what you see is not necessarily what you get, and poor quality products may contain ingredients and impurities never listed on the label.

Your best bet is to buy from a company you trust and educate yourself about the products you buy. For instance, call your supplement company and ask them questions about their formulation standards, ingredient sources and bio-availability tests. If you get lots of marketing hype and little useful information look elsewhere. (You have to listen carefully because they can make it sound really good when it’s not).

Q. How can I be sure I am digesting & absorbing the vitamins I take?
A. Individual supplement manufacturers may conduct their own dissolutions and bioavailability tests, or may pay to have them conducted by third-party labs. Good manufacturers will also take care to supply nutrients in dosages, combinations and ratios that encourage their proper absorption and interaction. Know your supplement company - their philosophy, formulating, testing and quality-control methods - that’s your best guide.

Q. What should I look for in a multivitamin?
A. ABOVE ALL look for a a reputable dietary supplement company. “Reputable” means they have their products analyzed and tested by third-party independent labs and that they have developed their products with quality and optimal health (vs. just high profit margins) in mind.
Don’t assume that just because a multi is a best-selling brand and shows 100% of most Daily Values that it is a good product. Some of the leading brands, and yes, even some very expensive ones, offer poor quality formulations that ignore important nutrients and use cheap ingredients. A good product will contain natural vitamin E (d-tocopherol vs. synthetic dl-tocopherol), won’t skip on expensive ingredients like biotin, and won’t overlook important trace minerals and amino acids.

There are good quality supplements out there. You just have to do your own due-diligence and not depend on marketing hype as your method of selection. GOOD LUCK!

Is it possible to live longer and look younger? Maybe!!

Eating Organic

Here's a great web site and video that complement my previous post:

http://healthychild.org/resources/video_library_comments/eating_organic/

Why Supplement?

There are many reasons why we should consider adding nutritional supplements to our daily diet and I would like to talk about a few of them.

1. Our food isn't like it used to be. My grandparents were farmers. We ate true free-range chickens, pork and beef. And the eggs were straight from Mother Nature, too. Today, ever-increasing amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, additives and perservatives are being added to our food supply.

2. Our food isn't like it used to be....there are ever-decreasing amounts of nutrients in our foods today. Nutrient content is lost first of all due to nutrient depletion of the soil. Secondly, early harvesting, transporting, storage, cooking, overprocessing and pasteurization further decrease the nutrient content of our food supply. I remember several years ago I was in south Florida and noticed trucks in the fields loaded to overflowing with round, green things...tomatoes! No wonder they are hard and tasteless - and nutrient poor.

Many people use the excuse that they get all they need from their diet. Do they really? Studies have been done which say that we don't. 96% of the US population dies of a disease. We are NOT getting proper nutrition. The American Medical Association says "...it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements."

Today's foods may fill our stomachs, but they do not feed and fortify our cells. Is it worth the risk not to supplement?

OK, so now you have decided you want to start taking vitamins. How do pick a brand? Stay tuned...