Category: Toxins

The facts about chemicals, pesticides, and clean water.

  • What’s On My Favorite Food: Applesauce

    What’s On My Favorite Food: Applesauce

    Its been a favorite since they were sitting in the high chair. Now that they are ‘growing up’ we get those conventional single serving sizes for quick snacks during outings and after school.
    I thought I was doing right by them. Instead of junk food, giving them whole food. I didn’t realize, what I was putting into their developing bodies. 
    Yet, check out the 14 Pesticide Residues found on apples by the USDA Pesticide Data Program.
    I will be choosing ORGANIC from now on – NO MATTER WHAT!
    How about you? Did you know how many residual chemicals were in your child’s after school snack?
  • As If We Needed More: Fumigants Turn Into Fluoride

    As If We Needed More: Fumigants Turn Into Fluoride

    As if fluoridated water and widespread fluoridated pesticide use like cryolite wasn’t enough, some food processors use sulfuryl fluoride as a fumigant on certain foods, and for pest prevention in warehouses and food containers. Sulfuryl fluoride breaks down into fluoride after application. 

    “Unlike virtually every other western country, the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] does not require that food processors remove food prior to the fumigation. As a result, any food that is being stored in the facility during a structural fumigation will be contaminated with fluoride.”

    According to EPA estimates, foods most commonly fumigated include cocoa powder (100 percent), dried beans (100 percent), walnuts (99 percent) and dried fruits (69 percent). Other “healthy” foods like brown rice are also very high in fluoride, despite only 3% of the crop being fumigated. Rice tends to have 12.5 parts per million (ppm) compared to 8.4 ppm for cocoa powder. 

    Love your morning coffee? According to a 2005 editorial by the late Albert Burgstahler, PH.D., who was a professor emeritus of chemistry, “Fluoride residues in food fumigated with sulfuryl fluoride are excessively high and are at levels known to cause serious adverse health effects, including crippling skeletal fluorosis.”5

    White grape juice is generally very high as well, due to the use of cryolite. 

    So, whenever possible, buy organic for foods that are likely to be fumigated to protect you and your family from more toxic fluoride. 

  • Lead and Lipstick: Shades of Darkness

    Lead and Lipstick: Shades of Darkness

    Coloring our puckers can come at a high cost – luxury-branded lipsticks aside. It’s the health cost that is causing more women concern as they think before they don the latest shades from global beauty brands. 

    A Food and Drug Administration study from 2012 showed that several hundred lipsticks from 20 popular brands all contained lead from the mineral pigments that color lipstick. 
    Lead is a nervous system toxin and can enter our bodies through drinking water, old paint and cosmetics. 
    If you’re pregnant, lead is particularly dangerous, and can cross into the placenta. When levels are high enough, permanent brain damage, learning, language and behavioral difficulties can occur. 
    EWG’s Skin Deep® database can help steer you in the right colorful direction. We can’t avoid all toxins, but we can be selective about some of the health and beauty brands that we put in and on our bodies. 
    Oh, and since manufacturers don’t have to label products with toxic ingredients, you might want to sign EWG’s petition and tell the FDA to update the law (largely unchanged since 1938) to protect us from unnecessary beauty toxins!

    Please add your name to EWG’s petition and tell the FDA to protect us from lead in cosmetics!





      
  • Parasite Cleanse Diet – Foods To Eat And Foods To Avoid

    Parasite Cleanse Diet – Foods To Eat And Foods To Avoid

    One of the best ways to help the body destroy and get rid of unwanted parasites is following a parasite cleanse diet. This diet should be taken for at least 2 months to give your body an opportunity to get rid of all kinds of parasites and eggs that are hidden in different organs.
    Parasites in the body can originate from several sources, such as raw meat, tainted water, pets or other animals.

    They can cause symptoms like: digestive disorders, fatigue, food cravings and unstable blood sugar.

    A good parasite cleanse diet involves eating herbs, natural whole foods and taking supplements that will help the body eliminate parasites.

    The diet should have high mineral and nutrient content and shouldn’t contain any kind of artificial stimulants.

    Here are some of the common foods and herbs that should be included in a good parasite cleansing diet. You can find them at your local grocery store or health food store.

    What to Eat to Get Rid of Parasites

    Wormwood

    Wormwood is an herb that helps to kill big, adult parasites by making their environment unfriendly to live in. You can find it in tea, capsules and in concentrated liquid form.

    Garlic

    Garlic is a natural antiparasitic and antibiotic food; it also helps support bowel movements and bowel detoxification.

    Cloves

    Cloves help to kill the parasitic eggs that are laid daily by adult parasites. These eggs can remain dormant for a while so it’s important to let them hatch and then destroy them using more cloves.

    Black Walnut Hulls

    This herb helps to kill large adult parasites wherever they are in the body. Black walnut hulls is a powerful anti-fungal and anti-parasitic supplement. 

    Vegetables

    Green leafy vegetables with high nutrient content and probiotics help the body to get rid of toxins.

    Vegetables rich in anti-oxidants like cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and blueberries help feed the body organs and glands infected with parasites.

    Coconut oil

    Coconut oil contains about 50% of lauric acid, a saturated fat which is contained in coconut products. After conversion by the body it produces a substance that effectively kills parasites, viruses, yeasts, as well as bad bacteria in the digestive tract. Make sure that you choose organic, extra virgin coconut oil for best results. 

    Apple Cider Vinegar

    Need to increase your hydrochloric acid for better digestion (especially meats)? One tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water about 30-60 minutes before meals will increase your stomach acid and prepare your digestive system for absorption. Just rinse your mouth with fresh water after consuming and then let your saliva remineralize your teeth. 

    Increasing your HCL will help keep your stomach free from parasites and also ensure that you eliminate any larvae you accidentally eat during your meals.

    If you’re concerned about the acidity, ACV actually becomes alkaline in the body. 

    Papaya

    This fruit has a powerful ability to destroy worms, such as tapeworms and most intestinal worms. To enhance its potency, peel off the skin before soaking in apple cider vinegar. Then eat 8 ounces of the papaya and take two ounces of this vinegar solution for four days.

    Green onions

    Like garlic, green onions release an enzyme called alliinase when they’re crushed or cut. To prepare onions and avoid the ‘tear factor’ caused by onions, refrigerate them for one hour and then cut them using a sharp knife.

    For an antiparasitic boost, juice the white section of the onions and add two sesame seed oil teaspoons. Drink twice a day for 3 days without any food.

    Pineapple

    This fruit contains an antiparasitic enzyme known as bromelain. Some studies show that a 3-day pineapple fast can help kill tapeworms.

    Fish and organic meats

    These high-quality protein sources can support your immune system and provide the body with the essential fatty acids needed for fuel.

    Pumpkin seeds

    Pumpkin seeds are usually used for eliminating tapeworms and roundworms. You can mash them and then mix with juice, chew them or make pumpkin seed butter in your food processor. 

    Carrots and carrot juice or cranberry juice (unsweetened)

    You can dilute cranberry juice in water. Carrots or carrot juice kills parasites as well.

    Fennel seed tea

    This mild laxative can irritate certain kinds of parasites in the body.

    You essentially flush them out with fluids in the process. If you have a sensitive stomach, be sure to ingest the tea in small doses so that you know it’s affect on your digestive system. Fennel seed tea is a great remedy for irritable bowel syndrome in general. 

    Pungent spices

    Parasites don’t like spice! Spices like cayenne, chilies, horseradish, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves all make parasites disappear.

    Add a kick to your parasite cleanse diet and you’ll feel the results quickly.

    Fermented foods/probiotics

    Some options that you can make at home include rejuvelac (a drink produced from fermented grains like wheat berries, and sauerkraut (fermented cabbage). You can also use probiotic supplements, which help kill the bad bacteria and replenish good bacteria. We love Bio-Kult Advanced Probiotic Multi-Strain Formula for its widely reported effectiveness and personal results with GAPS and other leaky gut diets. 

    What foods should you AVOID in a parasite cleanse diet?

    Sugar

    Sugar feeds parasites and also eats up the supply of B vitamins and minerals in the body. A parasitic infection may lead to cravings for carbohydrates and refined sugar, so it’s best to avoid these kinds of food to starve parasites off their energy and fuel.

    Refined carbohydrates

    Refined carbohydrates like cakes, bread, cookies, cereal and pasta should be avoided. All of these lead to major fluctuations in blood sugar control and therefore put an extra strain on an already burdened system that’s infected with parasites.

    Thank you to the Total Cleanse Detox Diet site for these great parasite cleansing tips! 

    Best herbal supplements for parasite cleanse diet

    The Health Freedom Idaho team and their families have tested a number of protocols and supplements for parasite cleansing. Below are some of the best-rated and most effective supplements and books for parasite cleansing.

    • SCRAM Internal Parasite Formula. This is one of the most highly rated anti-microbial supplements on Amazon and contains high-quality organic herbs such as black walnut, wormwood, clove, milk thistle, enzymes to break down a microbe’s cellular walls and probiotics. It is also vegan and non-GMO. This is a staple to have on hand when you travel and when you’re choosing to do a parasite or candida (yeast) cleanse. 
    • Intestinal Cleanse for Kids by Cedar Bear Naturale. This formulation was designed by a master herbalist to be safe for children and their developing digestive systems. 
    • ParaGuard by Zahler contains the heavy hitters of clove, wormwood and black walnut hulls, but also features powerful anti-microbial oils like oregano and peppermint, along with pumpkin seed (a powerful anti-parasitic, as listed above) and garlic bulb. 
    • Black Walnut Hulls is a powerful anti-parasitic and anti-fungal on its own. This tincture is made according to the standards of Dr. Hulda Clark and has no magnesium stearate or excipients, thereby improving absorption. 
    • Clove Bud Powder is not only a key herbal remedy for parasite cleansing, but also increases circulation and oxygenation in the blood, strengthens arteries and can reduce excess iron in the body. 
    • Wormwood (artemesia) is a go-to for balancing and strengthening the digestive system and ridding the intestines of parasites. Wormwood helps maintain a normal balance of bacteria and other microbes in the intestines and enhances digestive enzymes and the secretion of bile.
    • IntestinePro Intestine Support has 15 ingredients that support digestion and parasite control. By using a supplement like this, you’re approaching microbe balance from a number of angles, including probiotics and lesser known herbs. 
    •  Hulda Clark’s book, “The Cure For All Diseases” is one of the standards in parasite education and supplementation protocols.

    Want more immune-boosting tips? Click on over to these recent articles:

    Using Vitamin C to Recover From Illness and Disease  |  21 Natural Remedies Instead of the Flu Shot  |  Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels to Boost Immunity, Lower Depression and Cancer Risk  |  Apple Cider Vinegar, a Silver Bullet for Health  |  Turmeric Tea, an Anti-Inflammatory Remedy

  • What’s On Our Favorite Food: BLUEBERRIES

    What’s On Our Favorite Food: BLUEBERRIES

    We LOVE a fresh ripe blueberry. We LOVE a fresh frozen blueberry. We LOVE warm from the oven blueberry baked into something good. 
    WE DO NOT LOVE that there are 52 Pesticide Residues Found by the USDA Pesticide Data Program.
    Can you believe it? A blueberry can have 52 pesticides. 
    My youngest is highly sensitive to pesticides. This child must eat PESTICIDE FREE foods. After looking at the list of effects of these 52 pesticides – NO ONE should eat a convention blueberry. 
    Makes me want to grow my own.  How about you? If you’re ambitious, check out how to grow blueberries in Idaho.
  • $671 Million Payoff for Poisoning the Water with PFOA

    $671 Million Payoff for Poisoning the Water with PFOA

    Residents whose water was poisoned by a cancer-causing chemical use to make Teflon received a settlement. Yet, the toxicity remains in the water and the health of those exposed. PFOA contaminates the tap water of 7 million American and pollutes the blood of virtually everyone. Non-stick compounds will continue to threaten our health for a long, long time. 

    SAN FRANCISCO – DuPont and its spinoff company Chemours agreed today to pay $671 million to settle about 3,500 lawsuits from West Virginia and Ohio residents whose drinking water was poisoned by a cancer-causing chemical used to make Teflon.
    Although the settlement closes the most infamous case involving the chemical PFOA, its toxic legacy lingers worldwide, said EWG President Ken Cook.

    PFOA is the best known of the class of chemicals called PFCs, which were used for decades in hundreds of consumer products – including DuPont’s Teflon and 3M’s Scotchgard – even as chemical companies covered up internal studies of its hazards. PFOA and its cousin, PFOS, never break down in the environment. They build up in people’s bodies, and can be passed from mother to child in the womb and though breast milk.

    PFCs’ dangers came to light in a 2001 class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 50,000 residents of the region surrounding Parkersburg, W. Va., the home of DuPont’s Teflon plant. In 2005, acting on a petition from EWG, the Environmental Protection Agency fined DuPont a record $16.5 million, and the company and other manufacturers agreed to phase out PFOA and PFOS.

    A scientific panel funded by DuPont found probable links between PFOA and illnesses including testicular and kidney cancers and thyroid disease, and subsequent studies showed other health effects at even the smallest doses. Although PFOA and PFOS are no longer manufactured in the U.S., chemical companies have replaced them with very similar chemicals that have not been proven safer.

    “The story of PFOA is a tragic tale of how the worldwide spread of toxic chemicals in our everyday products – even when their manufacturers know they are harmful – has turned everyone on Earth into unwilling participants in a dangerous chemistry experiment,” Cook said. “Are we going to learn in the decades to come that the chemicals replacing PFOA are also threatening our health? The chemical industry’s history says yes.” 

  • What California’s Cleaning Product Disclosure Bill Means For You

    What California’s Cleaning Product Disclosure Bill Means For You

    As many of us know, a lot of the cleaning supplies we use to “clean” our homes are actually “dirty” for our bodies.
    According to this post by EWG, a bill was introduced this week by California State Senator Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, that would require all ingredients of household and professional cleaning products made or sold in California to be completely disclosed on the label and online. 
    Here are EWG’s top takeaways about the bill: 

    1. It would give Californians the right to know about potentially harmful ingredients in cleaning products, helping them make informed decisions about the products they use in their homes and businesses. But its effect could reach well beyond California. Because the state’s market is so big, it’s likely that manufacturers would choose to label their products nationally, rather than incur the cost and bother of making one package for California and another for the rest of the U.S.

    2. If passed in its current form, this would be the first state or national law known to require full ingredient disclosures for cleaning products. A federal cleaning products disclosure bill was introduced in Congress last year but didn’t make it out of committee for a full vote. No implemented regulations require manufacturers to completely reveal to consumers or workers what’s in their cleaning products. New York state passed a law, expected to go into effect sometime this year, to increase disclosure of ingredients in cleaning products. But instead of requiring ingredients to be listed on the label, the state will collect some information – the degree of which remains unannounced – in a central, searchable database.

    3. Although some companies are beginning to voluntarily disclose many ingredients,  the bill will unify a patchwork of disclosure initiatives by manufacturers. Some companies, such as Seventh Generation and Dr. Bronner’s are models of transparency. But only about one in seven products EWG reviewed last year fully disclosed ingredients on the company website. Most still used vague terms like “fragrance” or “preservative.”

    4. Manufacturers would not be able to hide ingredients behind “trade secret” claims. Manufacturers have protections to keep “trade secrets,” but these exemptions from disclosure don’t cover simple lists of ingredients. Thanks to modern analytical methods, companies can easily figure out what’s in a competitor’s product. Innovation can continue to flourish in tandem with ingredient disclosure, despite disingenuous industry arguments to the contrary.

    5. Labeling could be a critical first step toward reformulating products to be safer. Some product makers will likely choose to reformulate their products, rather than disclose ingredients and contaminants that raise health concerns. Reformulations prompted in California may also impact products sold throughout the country.

    Interested in protecting your health from toxins? Please check out our Toxins category for loads of useful information!  
  • Dirty Truth about Dryer Sheets

    Dirty Truth about Dryer Sheets

    Most commercial dryer sheets are loaded with all sorts of toxic chemicals including Benzyl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, Chloroform and Linalool; none of which are good for your health. In addition to all the chemicals that end up on your skin, when heated, the fumes are also toxic.  These toxins go straight to their brain’s most sensitive neurological centers and wreck havoc.

     

    5 Killer Reasons to Ditch Dryer Sheets Artificial Fragrances

    When people use dryer sheets, they are coating their clothes with  artificial chemical perfumes. These fragrance chemicals are extremely toxic. They are known carcinogens that cause liver damage and cancer in mammals.

    In a recent study performed by UW professor Dr. Anne Steinemann, a research team conducted a small study to understand the effects of fragrances in laundry products (both detergent and dryer sheets). The results discovered more than 25 VOCs emitted from dryer vents, with highest concentrations of acetaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol (two of which are considered carcinogenic). To put it into context, one of the carcinogenic VOCs, acetaldehyde, had emissions that would represent 3% of total acetaldehyde emissions from automobiles in the study area. This is a major omission of toxic chemicals.

    According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry-generated Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) from the 1990s, the following is a list of chemicals in fabric softener products, most in untested combinations.

    1.  Alpha-Terpineol–This chemical has been linked to disorders of the brain and nervous system, loss of muscle control, depression, and headaches

    2.  Benzyl acetate–Benzyl acetate has been linked to cancer of the pancreas

    3.  Benzyl alcohol–This upper respiratory tract irritant can cause central nervous system (CNS) disorders, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and dramatic drops in blood pressure.

    4.  Chloroform–Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic. Really toxic to your brain. Inhaling its vapors may cause loss of consciousness, nausea, headache, vomiting, and/or dizziness, drowsiness.

    5.  Ethanol– Another fabric softener ingredient which is on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list and linked to CNS disorders.

    6.  Ethyl Acetate–causes headaches and is on the EPA Hazardous Waste list

    7.  Linalool–in studies, this chemical caused loss of muscle coordination, nervous system and brain disorders, and depression

    8.  Pentane–causes headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness, and depression

    What’s the alternative to toxic dryer sheets?  Wool balls.  They are 100% natural  and are effective at getting rid of static cling and wrinkles, soften clothes.

    Sources and References:
    livingtraditionally.com
    ewg.org
    healthwyze.org

    This article originally appeared at: http://www.realfarmacy.com/dryer-sheets/.
  • Teen Talks About GMO’s

    Teen Talks About GMO’s

    Fifteen-year-old activist Rachel Parent believes that the use of these chemicals is negatively affecting our health, and that consumers have a right to know when they’ve been used to modify ingredients in the food we’re buying on a daily basis. In her informative TEDxToronto talk, Rachel urges Canadian officials to make it mandatory for food manufacturers to list the use of GMOs in labelling, so we can make informed decisions as consumers. 

    At age 12, Rachel did a school project on Genetically Modified Organisms and became alarmed by what she learned. This sparked her into activism fighting for GMO labels to become a law in Canada. By 14, she had a heated TV debate with Kevin O’Leary, which instantly went viral. Now a veteran of the media public speaking circuit, Rachel is part of the United Nations Youth Leaders Education program and founder of Kids Right to Know, an organization created to inform the public, especially the youth, about food safety.

    This article originally appeared at: https://youtu.be/b4sMMWJYUOs.
  • Toxins and Our Kids

    Toxins and Our Kids

    During the past 50 years, more than 85,000 industrial chemicals have been registered in the United States alone.  The US is not alone as countries around the world including Canada and the United Kingdom face the same issues.  Many of these chemicals have found their way into children’s environments: in the food they eat, the water they drink, the air they breathe and the products to which they are exposed.  Some children may even be exposed to them while still in the womb.  Alarmingly, the majority of these chemicals are largely unstudied and unregulated until proof of harm is already established.  With their still developing bodies and high metabolic rate, children are the most vulnerable to their effects.  Exposure to these carcinogens by children is widespread, and the harmful effect on their still developing bodies is a cause of concern for parents worldwide.

    Children are exposed to chemicals, toxins and other carcinogens in many ways:

    • A mother’s breast milk can be contaminated with toxins that are inconsequential to adults but are a detriment to an infant’s health
    • Drinking water can often contain pharmaceuticals and farming pesticides
    • The ingredients of baby food may have been grown or treated using pesticides and other agricultural chemicals
    • Common household products (cleaners, personal care products, carpet and flame retardant found in furniture) can all be dangerous to a child’s health
    • Children’s toys may be manufactured with the use dangerous chemicals
    • Diesel exhaust and other manufacturing byproducts pollute the air supply of children

    How to we support our immune systems and the natural processes of detoxing? The Natural Health Symposium has several speakers who will help answer the question in great detail:
    • Dr Rostenberg of Red Mountain Natural Medicine will share how genetic dispositions such as MTHFR keep our bodies from detoxing and provides insights on how to work around those blocked detoxed pathways 
    • David DeHaas of Living Water Cleanse shares with us the THE ART & SCIENCE of HEALING THRU CLEANSING and DETOXIFICATION
    many other practioners will share insight in optimizing health and wellness supporting the body’s natural ability to detox from everyday toxins. 
    Don’t miss it! Natural Health Symposium get your tickets.