Elizabeth Yarnell, Author, Innovator, Naturopath, Speaker
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BPA-free Waterbottles

One of my Jazzercise friends approached me during class this morning wondering if her plastic Nalgene waterbottle was BPA-free and therefore safe to drink from. Nalgene makes a line of BPA-free water bottles, so as long as her water bottle came from that product line, I would consider it safe to use regularly. (More BPA-free products here and here.)

“I do put it in the dishwasher,” she confessed next.

Here’s the problem: the dishwasher can overheat plastic, causing microscopic flaws in the material. These flaws allow the plastics to microscopically disintegrate and leach chemicals into the foods or liquids placed in them. Nalgene (the company) recommends using these methods to clean water bottles:

  • Soak in warm soapy water
  • Soak in warm water with lemon
  • Soak in warm water with baking soda

In our house, we now hand-wash anything we use that is made of plastic — including travel coffee mugs, food storage containers, and water bottles. We’ve got a pile of non-BPA-free water bottles waiting for the next garage sale and have transitioned the kids completely to glassware and ceramic dishes.

While we do not have a plastic-free house by any means — yet –, we are trying to eliminate BPAs little by little in our journey toward living naturally and robust health.

Turmeric Milk: An Anti-Inflammatory Remedy

I’ve written about the anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric here before, and about how I will take a tablespoon or more of high quality turmeric when I suspect a flare up of multiple sclerosis may be coming — with good results!

The problem is that turmeric can be overpowering and hence difficult to get down in great quantities. Sometimes I put it in food, as in this recipe for Taj Mahal soup, and sometimes I’ve simply mixed it with hot water to make a pretty nasty brew.

So I was excited to come across this great recipe for preparing turmeric in milk posted by Arun Shanbhag. Adding ginger gives it an extra anti-bacterial boost, and probably better flavor, too.

Looking at it, I’m likely to use soy or almond milk rather than real milk and agave nectar for my sweetener when I next feel the need to try this recipe. But I have no doubt that this will be the tastiest way I’ve ever taken my turmeric! Thanks, Arun!

 

*Be sure to check out my recipe for turmeric milk, a.k.a. golden milk.*

Toxins in Nailpolish

You may be surprised to learn this natural girl keeps her toenails prettily polished in fun magentas and reds. It’s a monthly ritual for my mother and I to steal an hour together at the nail salon while enjoying the decadent pleasure of a pedicure.

That’s why I was pleased to learn that OPI Products, the worlds’ largest nail polish manufacturer, responded to pressure brought on by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics by removing dibutyl phthalate and toluene from its nail polishes in 2006. These are petroleum byproducts (i.e., waste from refining) that are cancer-causing endocrine disruptors.

So when big companies whine that they couldn’t possibly find safer ingredients and still offer an effective product, we should remember the example of OPI and the millions of bottles of nail polish no longer emitting toxic fumes to sicken salon workers or leaching toxins through the nails of polish wearers.

Lifestyle changes as effective as angioplasty for heart disease

As obesity has increased in the United States, diabetes has reached near- epidemic levels. About 24 million people are afflicted, most of them with Type 2, also known as adult-onset, diabetes. Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common effects of diabetes: About 65 percent of diabetics die from heart disease or stroke.

The Los Angeles Times reports research results showing that, “for most patients with diabetes and clogged arteries who have not had a heart attack, treatment with drugs and lifestyle changes are as effective at reducing death as immediate bypass surgery or angioplasty.” (italics are mine)

A 2007 study of nondiabetics also found that drug treatment and lifestyle changes were as effective as angioplasty in preventing deaths.

Hmmmm… Let me get this straight. Does this mean that someone suffering from heart disease, be they diabetic or not, could get the same clear-artery results just from changing their lifestyle (diet and exercise) and drug regimen as they can from undergoing a traumatic and invasive angioplasty procedure?

I’m not going to address the drug regimen as I’m not a medical doctor, but as a Certified Nutritional Consultant I do feel absolutely comfortable with the statement that one of the best lifestyle changes you can do to manage or reverse heart disease and/or diabetes is to follow a Perfectly Whole Foods Diet as much as possible and eschew the processed, artificial foods so prevalent in our modern world.

The mainstream medical community is starting to recognize that the prescription for robust health and healing must include as a whole foods-based diet. More and more alternative therapies are being integrated into mainstream medicine. Maybe some day more doctors will prescribe better foods along with or instead of more drugs and surgeries. The change is coming.

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