Hmmmm, I DON'T THINK SO!

A famous maker of bleach says they now have safe, green cleaning products…Hmmmm I DON’T THINK SO! When I was told to go to their website because of a video that a lady made telling how glad she is to have found these “safe” products, I did a little checking for myself. I went to their website and looked at the ingredient glossary. I found that many of the ingredients were just fine, but some were pretty bad. A little further down I'll show you just two examples and their hazards, cautions, and first aid procedure. The information was on different sites so the format is different but you will be able to get the picture. They make the claim of biodegradable: A biodegradable material is something that has the ability to safely and relatively quickly breakdown biological compounds into the raw materials of nature and disappear into the environment. Much of the ingredients used in XXXXX XXXXX™ natural cleaners are biodegradable helping to minimize the impact on the environment. They also say ‘Not tested on animals”. Quote: “Animals were not used to test the safety and efficacy of XXXX XXXXX™ natural cleaning products.” They are probably telling the truth because they don’t have to test on animals. When I looked up the ingredients, I found the results of the animal testing, that had already been done, by the makers of the ingredients that this company is using to formulate their cleaning products. What happens if Mom gets a phone call and just for a minute leaves her 2 year old to answer it. How many 2 or even 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old would you feel completely safe being around these ingredients unattended even for a couple of minutes? You won’t find these kinds of warnings and this information on their bottles! How would a Mom know? Here is the first ingredient that I looked up. Soda Ash FIRST AID: SKIN: Wash exposed area with soap and water. If irritation persists, seek medical attention. EYES: Wash eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes, lifting lids occasionally. Seek Medical Aid. INHALATION: Remove to fresh air. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen INGESTION: If swallowed, induce vomiting immediately after giving two glasses of water. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. Handling and Storage Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place away from incompatible materials. Wash thoroughly after handling. Effects of overexposure: Acute: May cause eyes burns. Harmful if swallowed. Inhalation of dust may cause respiratory tract irritation, coughing or labored breathing. (in this instance, the soda ash is not in a dry form so there is no dust) Excessive contact can damage nasal septum. Ingestion may be corrosive to GI tract, symptoms may include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and collapse. Skin contact may cause irritation w/blistering and redness. May be corrosive to eyes and cause conjunctivitis, edema and corneal distruction. Chronic: Prolonged or prolonged contact may cause sensitization. Conditions aggravated/target organs: Persons with pre-existing eye, skin or respiratory conditions may be more susceptible The second ingredient I checked is: Hydroxyacetic acid GENERAL HYGIENE CONSIDERATIONS: Eyewash facility and emergency shower should be in close proximity. SARA 311 / 312 HAZARD CLASSES: X Acute Health Chronic Health Fire Reactive PRECAUTIONARY LABELING: WARNING! Causes irritation to eyes and mucous membranes. May be harmful if swallowed. FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY – KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN Contains phosphoric acid and hydroxyacetic acid. TYPES OF HAZARD/EXPOSURE ACUTE HAZARDS / SYMPTOMS PREVENTION FIRST AID / FIRE FIGHTING FIRE Combustible. Inhalation Cough. Shortness of breath, Sore throat .. Avoid inhalation of fine dust and mist. Place in half upright position in fresh air, rest. Refer for medical attention. Skin Redness. Pain. Serious skin burns. Wear protective gloves. First rinse with plenty of water then remove contaminated clothes and rinse again Eyes Redness. Pain. Blurred vision. Severe deep burns. Wear safety goggles, or eye protection in combination with breathing protection. First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes. (remove contact lenses if easily possible) then take to a doctor. Ingestion Abdominal pain. Burning sensation. Shock or collapse. Do not eat, drink, or smoke during work Do NOT induce vomiting. Give plenty of water to drink. Refer for medical attention. Watch for the rest of the story on the next blog!

ARE WE ASKING THE WRONG QUESTIONS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN DO BETTER?

Hi again.

I found a really interesting post on John Milton Fogg’s blog. Although it is specifically aimed toward network marketing, I realized that it is applicable to almost any field of endeavor. The first thing he asks is “What’s wrong with my Network Marketing Business?” His answer is that what is wrong is that question itself. I found the entire article to be well worth reading and applying to just about any business or situation that isn’t resolving as we want it to.

Below I have quoted his five right questions. I hope you will go to his blog and read the whole thing for yourself.

Mostly I try to keep the major content of my blog as comments that I want to share, but this is so important and relevant that I’m sharing it with you.

Here is the link. http://transformingmlm.typepad.com/ If it isn’t showing, just check out the right side and find the article there.

Enjoy!
Sandy

The Five Right Questions

1. What's right...? This question (formed by the conscious mind) instantly focus on the positive and productive (away from the negative and deconstructive)... engages the heart (intuition and imagination and spirit) and is energy-building (rather than draining)....

2. What makes that right...? With this second question, we are discovering Values, what is really most important... transmuting the "data"— the factual answer to the first question— and evolving that by getting to the "essence", thereby turning facts into knowledge and wisdom. This is alchemy. This is the child's "Why is the sky blue?" question. This question strengthens and raises the vibration.... and we're ready to move on to the next question, which demands even greater creative energy to explore...

3. What would be ideal...? Here, we begin to pursue the possibilities.... We have ventured into the domain of "What you don't know that you don't know...." This is the Visionary question, engaging the Intuition and Imagination and moving beyond the limits of the rational mind... and it is directly linked to the power of the Pleasure and Passion of your Purpose....
4. What's missing, which if it was "in there" would bring about the ideal....? This question explores and articulates the exact size and shape of the hole(s) in the Vision (Ideal) that need to be filled to bring the picture (image: as in imagination) of what's possible into being... what's required to complete our Ideal. Built on the growing energy of the first three questions, it transcends the mental-judging of "what's wrong?" and literally gives direction to Creation itself. Without this step, we almost always get square pegs for our round holes....

5. What will it take to put in what's missing... to bring about the ideal...? The Question that leads you... "What will it take to ______________ (filling in the blank with the Vision of the Ideal) for the highest good of myself and all concerned...?" This is the Visionary's request for Inspired Action....

HOW'S YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?

Things to help you to build and strengthen
your immune system.

"Those who fail to take the time to be healthy,
will ultimately have to take the time

to be sick." ~Dr. James Chappell.

We often don’t think of our immune systems in the summer when we are out and about enjoying the weather. Unfortunately, we also often find that come fall and winter when people are getting colds and flu, we have compromised our immune systems and then they let us down. Be careful of over the counter cold and flu remedies, they may be contaminated with heavy metals or harmful herbs.

Here are seven ways you can help build and support your immune system. They’re easy and you can get started today!

1. Find Ways to Relax
Because stress produces the well-known “fight or flight” response, scientists hypothesize that your immune system may become weakened after frequent activation of the autonomic nervous system in the case of chronic stresses. There are a number of techniques to help you relax, such as deep breathing or yoga, listening to soothing music, taking a hot bath.

There are some herbs and nutrients that are wonderful helpers to keep you relaxed and to prevent the harmful effects of stress on your body. Be careful, though, there are many herbs and supplements making those claims that are adulterated, usually unintentionally, or that haven’t the correct species or amounts. It is important that you choose from a company that proves their integrity through documented science.

2. Get Adequate Sleep.
Besides leaving you feeling sluggish, irritable, and forgetful, not getting enough sleep can reduce the effectiveness of your immune system by up to 50 percent. This is because sleep time is when the body and immune system do most of its repairs and rejuvenation. Strive to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Remember, rest and relaxation go hand-in-hand. As I said, above, you need to be careful of the company you get any sleep aids from. There are herbal sleep aids that are not habit forming and actually improve the health of the body.

3. Feed Your Immune System Well.
According to a number of studies, not getting enough nutrients in your diet can weaken your immune system. That is why nutritionists recommend a well-balanced diet that includes plenty of fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains. Of special importance are foods that are rich in antioxidants (like vitamins C, E, beta carotene and lycopene), omega-3 fatty acids and folate. However many Americans have nutritionally deficient diets, which is why it is important to take supplements that have immunoactive properties.

For maximum antioxidant protection, a complete blend of carotenes and isoflavones is extremely helpful. They can deliver whole-body antioxidant protection, protecting your cells and DNA from free radical attacks.

There are herbal and nutritional compounds now that are amazingly effective to keep and boost the immune system’s functionality.For more information, just ask me.

4. Drop Weight in a Healthy Way
If you are overweight, reducing weight is a healthy thing to do. But research finds that a rapid weight loss of more than 2 pounds a week can have negative immune effects. When it comes to successful weight loss and weight management, steady and slow is the way to go!

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), successful weight reduction is typically losing about 10 percent of your body weight in six months. Towards this end, experts recommend losing about ¾ to 2 pounds per week and not more than 3 pounds per week (weight reduction may be faster at the start of a program). One of the hardest things about weight loss is concern about keeping it off. The weight program you choose should have a built in mechanism for building lean body mass above and beyond what you gain through exercise. It should also prevent the loss of lean body mass, even if you don’t exercise enough. I only know of one program that does that.

5. Wash Your Hands
One of the best ways to prevent the spread of microorganisms that cause infections is good hand-washing hygiene. Washing your hands several times per day and always before you eat greatly reduces your exposure to bacteria and viruses. Be sure you are not washing your hands with anti-bacterial soaps or hand sanitizers on a regular basis. That can lead to the same problem that has occurred with anti-biotics causing the organisms to develop more and more resistance to the germ killer and possibly getting out of control and being completely resistant. Research shows that just washing your hands with a good amount of friction for 30 seconds is about as effective as using anti-bacterials and a whole lot safer. Even regular soap is not really good for your skin and your body. Organic cleaners (not the Johnny come lately’s) are much better.

6. Disinfect Surfaces
Disinfecting surfaces is a smart way to protect against picking up left behind viruses. Again, use the disinfectant carefully and not on everything. At home, use it in the bathroom, parts of the kitchen, and when someone gets sick, on door knobs, telephones, remote controls, just while the illness remains.

7. Don’t Get Too Much Sun
Unprotected sun exposure is linked with immune suppression. That is why cold sores often appear following time spent in the sun. To protect your immune system always wear a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher.

All sunscreen has harmful ingredients…none has been found to be really safe, but it is the only way to really protect your skin. Look at the labels and find one that uses only about half the amount of the unsafe ingredients as the others. Avoid Avobenzone entirely because, although it is a very good protector, it degrades very quickly and then you have no protection.

We need some sun time, but no more than 10 minutes in the day. Just going in and out of buildings to the car and back can give you too much UVA and UVB radiation.

Let me know if you want more specific information on ways to accomplish these steps with proven and safe products.

I'm Baaaak!

Hi Everyone.

We are back from our amazing convention trip and so full of excitement for what we can share with all of our friends and acquaintences. More of that in a post soon.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to post while we were gone. Internet access trouble. Got home a couple of days ago and now I'm finally able to get things going.

My next post will be on how to reduce stress.

Take care,
Sandy

NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS MEDICATION

I SURE HOPE WE HAVE MORE CHOICE THAN A RAT!

I just read an article that triggers some anger in my brain. Anger because the article is just one more example of making a natural occurrence into a medical condition and jumping at the chance to make a lot of money from proprietary drugs to control it.

Some researchers report that they found that if we just anticipate eating a tasty food, that we may be triggering an area of the brain that is associated with reward.

What the scientists seem to have taken away from the studies that were conducted is that the anticipation of eating chocolate stimulated a part of a rat’s brain called the orexin system, and that activated orexin neurons – which are associated with eating especially tasty foods as well as associated with taking addictive drugs.

They then looked at the possibility of developing drugs to regulate orexin as well as other brain systems to help regulate food reward behaviours. It seems that they think that a pleasant anticipation of eating something really good can make us overeat and get fat.

The Lead researcher Derrick Choi said: “It entirely possible that future treatments for obesity will involve a combination of lifestyle changes as well as pharmacological therapies aimed at orexin and other brain systems, to regulate food reward-related behaviors.”

“Our research program is focused on identifying brain systems that are activated by palatable food intake. The hypothalamic orexin system is known to promote wakefulness and arousal; however, it is now clear that this system also participates in the regulation of reward-related behaviors, including overconsumption of palatable foods,” said Choi.

The fact that orexin system in rats “participates in the regulation of food reward behaviours, including overconsumption of palatable foods” seems to have set off some other area of the researcher’s brains that triggers rewards for making money from drugs that are not needed. They don’t say if they found the same result in humans, and if they do, will that mean that we will lose the pleasure we feel at the prospect of eating food we love?

I know of no drug in any amount that has no side effects, and sometimes the full extent of those effects may not appear for decades. To add another pharmacological assault to the brain seems to me to be unconscionable!

There are natural ways to help us to feel satisfied with reasonable amounts of any kinds of foods, even our favorites. We know that having fiber at the beginning of a meal promotes a feeling of fullness sooner than just having meat and potatoes. There is long standing evidence for having a bowl of soup before eating a main meal to curb the appetite and craving. Behavior modification for those with a bigger problem has also proved effective. None of these have side effects…only benefits.

We know that when we have superior nutrition, we lose cravings and the desire to overeat! If you want to explore a way to get nutritional help to balance your body and lose the cravings, click here and go to page 15. http://bit.ly/1Y7kX

Let’s get back to the concept of personal responsibility for our actions. Eating too much food makes us fat. Eating the wrong kinds of foods makes us fat. Other than the extremely rare disease that causes constant, unremitting, uncontrollable hunger, and for which there is no medication, we have it in our power to take whatever steps are necessary to reach a point where we eat reasonably.

The researchers trained rats to expect a piece of chocolate in certain environmental conditions. They found that when mice were placed in the same environment with no chocolate, the orexin system of the brain was still stimulated, perhaps explaining why people have a tendency to overeat in situations where they have previously eaten well, even when they are not hungry.

Lead researcher Derrick Choi said: “It entirely possible that future treatments for obesity will involve a combination of lifestyle changes as well as pharmacological therapies aimed at orexin and other brain systems, to regulate food reward-related behaviors.”

“Our research program is focused on identifying brain systems that are activated by palatable food intake. The hypothalamic orexin system is known to promote wakefulness and arousal; however, it is now clear that this system also participates in the regulation of reward-related behaviors, including overconsumption of palatable foods,” said Choi.

Simply expecting to eat a tasty food can trigger the areas of the brain associated with reward, raising the possibility that drugs could be developed that could achieve these goals, but at what cost, both in possible loss of pleasure and in short and long term effects of a drug that tampers with brain function?

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