Healthy household cleaning
19/01/11 21:18
I am a true believer in living as non-toxic as possible and therefore I seek to make the best choices I can for those things that are within my control (which is a lot!). This includes the substances I put on my body, in my body, and what I bring into my home. Today I’ll share with you my household cleaning choices.
First, I think good cleaning tools can go a long way and reduce your need to buy products, which saves money, conserves water, and minimizes adding wastes to our environment. I use E-Cloths a lot and really love them. I have the Glass and Polishing cloth for windows and mirror which works with just water and I use the General Purpose cloth for everything else. For tougher jobs I use a regular cleaning brush that I’ve had for many years.
My #1 most useful and favourite cleaning product is Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap! This stuff is really magic and they claim there are 18 uses. I’m not sure what all 18 are, but you can use it for all-purpose cleaning, laundry, dish soap, body wash, shampoo, and even toothpaste to name a few. I use it all over the house to clean surfaces, scrub the tub and toilet, or mop. It comes in lots of great scents and is organic, fair-trade, biodegradable, vegetable based. Apparently this is the top selling brand of soaps in North America! Who knew?
Something I’ve recently come to love is Nature Clean Oxy Stain Remover powder. I use it in the laundry for whitening, brightening, and stain removal, but I have also recently started using it to clean, as it works really well in the shower/tub and the toilet. I mix it with the Dr. Bronner’s soap and scrub the surface, then let it sit for a while before rinsing. This gets things very shiny clean!
Most of the time, these two products are enough for everything, but sometimes I like to use a spray cleaner, especially in the kitchen and bathroom if I’ve been procrastinating and haven’t cleaned in a while... Right now I’m using Parsley Plus spray, which literally has 3 ingredients! I kind of like the odd, parsley-like scent to this product and it works really great!
You may notice I don’t use any sanitizing or specific germ-killing products... For day-to-day life, I think these things are overkill and in fact prevent natural and useful immune “education.” Our bodies are incredibly well-designed to protect us from everyday exposure to pathogens like bacteria, viruses, etc. In fact, regular exposure to these things is incredibly important for our immune systems to develop and function properly. This is especially true for children, who are programmed to get themselves as dirty and grimy as they can! Basic good hygiene (like hand-washing), reducing the unnecessary spread of germs (like sneezing/coughing into your sleeve instead of all over the person next to you), and supporting the immune system (by eating healthy, getting enough rest, and dealing appropriately with illness) works with our body’s natural balance to keep us healthy. Exposure to man-made toxins and pollutants is far more disruptive to health than exposure to normal environmental pathogens!
There are some people who get sick easily/frequently and for those individuals it is important to investigate the causes behind that increased susceptibility (whether it be dietary intolerances, immune imbalance, overwork, energetic imbalance, unusual exposure, etc) and address that in order to solve the problem. This is what naturopathic medicine is all about!
First, I think good cleaning tools can go a long way and reduce your need to buy products, which saves money, conserves water, and minimizes adding wastes to our environment. I use E-Cloths a lot and really love them. I have the Glass and Polishing cloth for windows and mirror which works with just water and I use the General Purpose cloth for everything else. For tougher jobs I use a regular cleaning brush that I’ve had for many years.
My #1 most useful and favourite cleaning product is Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap! This stuff is really magic and they claim there are 18 uses. I’m not sure what all 18 are, but you can use it for all-purpose cleaning, laundry, dish soap, body wash, shampoo, and even toothpaste to name a few. I use it all over the house to clean surfaces, scrub the tub and toilet, or mop. It comes in lots of great scents and is organic, fair-trade, biodegradable, vegetable based. Apparently this is the top selling brand of soaps in North America! Who knew?
Something I’ve recently come to love is Nature Clean Oxy Stain Remover powder. I use it in the laundry for whitening, brightening, and stain removal, but I have also recently started using it to clean, as it works really well in the shower/tub and the toilet. I mix it with the Dr. Bronner’s soap and scrub the surface, then let it sit for a while before rinsing. This gets things very shiny clean!
Most of the time, these two products are enough for everything, but sometimes I like to use a spray cleaner, especially in the kitchen and bathroom if I’ve been procrastinating and haven’t cleaned in a while... Right now I’m using Parsley Plus spray, which literally has 3 ingredients! I kind of like the odd, parsley-like scent to this product and it works really great!
You may notice I don’t use any sanitizing or specific germ-killing products... For day-to-day life, I think these things are overkill and in fact prevent natural and useful immune “education.” Our bodies are incredibly well-designed to protect us from everyday exposure to pathogens like bacteria, viruses, etc. In fact, regular exposure to these things is incredibly important for our immune systems to develop and function properly. This is especially true for children, who are programmed to get themselves as dirty and grimy as they can! Basic good hygiene (like hand-washing), reducing the unnecessary spread of germs (like sneezing/coughing into your sleeve instead of all over the person next to you), and supporting the immune system (by eating healthy, getting enough rest, and dealing appropriately with illness) works with our body’s natural balance to keep us healthy. Exposure to man-made toxins and pollutants is far more disruptive to health than exposure to normal environmental pathogens!
There are some people who get sick easily/frequently and for those individuals it is important to investigate the causes behind that increased susceptibility (whether it be dietary intolerances, immune imbalance, overwork, energetic imbalance, unusual exposure, etc) and address that in order to solve the problem. This is what naturopathic medicine is all about!
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7 keys to achieving your resolutions
04/01/11 19:54
Do you make New Year’s resolutions? A lot of people I know don’t, but personally I love it! Of course I don’t always keep them, but I love that feeling of having a fresh start and I find I get more momentum to make changes at this time of year. Here are some rules I abide by when making resolutions:
1. Keep it simple
First, don’t try to change lots of things at once! Choose a few things that will make a positive difference in your life and focus on those. Also, don’t try to make drastic changes all at once. Figure out some small changes that will start you on a good path. For example, I once resolved to floss every day. This resolution was not that hard to keep and it was a small step that has created a long-lasting habit.
2. Write it down
People who write down their goals are far more likely to actually achieve them. Think about what you want in life and why your resolutions will help you get there. Write down your resolutions and the reasons for them. This will help keep you motivated! For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, write out all the reasons why you want to do this (prevent disease, feel healthier, breathe easier, smell better, etc). When you find yourself having trouble keeping your resolution, go back to this list to remind yourself!
3. Get excited!
This is kind of a no-brainer... Choose things you actually want and hopefully that will be enjoyable to do or achieve! If you find you are resistant to what you are trying to do, ask yourself why? Maybe that choice is not right for you or (more likely) there are strong subconscious forces within you that really WANT to hang on to your old behaviour. Addressing this is key to success. For example, nearly every patient I see wants to lose weight and most of them know things they need to change to do this AND are capable of doing it. So what holds them back? Most often I find that there are many other factors at work that prevent patients from truly being able to make a different choice. Homeopathy is one amazing naturopathic treatment modality to help shift this and open up new choices.
4. Change your brain
Did you know that you can actually change the way your brain works? There are so many ways to do this, but here I’ll mention visualization and meditation, which can work together. Visualization is a tried and true tool for achieving goals. If you can visualize something, you can make it happen. Meditation can encompass so many different things, but at the root it is a way to become more conscious of your mind’s activities and exercise control over them. Meditation is a skill that you build over time that pays off in so many ways, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. A great book to start with is Meditation as Medicine by Dharma Singh Khalsa.
And when you change your brain, you change what comes to you in life. The law of attraction is a powerful tool that you can use to achieve your goals. For more info on the law of attraction and the power of choice, check on my blog on this topic.
5. Plan, plan, plan!
Planning makes things happen. In addition to setting goals, you need to figure out HOW you will achieve them. Write this down too... For example, several years ago I wanted to reduce my stress levels and improve my mental focus, so I decided to learn meditation. If I had just made my New Year’s resolution “to meditate more” I would not have done much differently. Instead, I made the resolution “to meditate for 10 minutes every day” and I was successful in doing this the entire year! Having this specific plan in place helped me make time each day for this and it quickly became a new habit.
6. Get help
As part of your plan to achieve your goals, you might need some help from others. Support is a key factor in success, so write down what you might need to keep your resolutions. For example, if your resolution is to exercise more, your spouse can help you by taking care of the kids or cooking dinner so you have time to work out and a personal trainer can help you learn to make the most of the equipment available to you at the gym. If your resolution is to change your eating habits, your naturopathic doctor is a great support to teach you how to eat healthier and create a plan of action to help you accomplish this. One of the principles of naturopathic medicine is Docere - Doctor as Teacher.
7. Don’t give up!
Practice truly does make perfect! Nobody is ever good at something the first time they do it, so if you fall off the resolution wagon, climb back on and try again. The more you practice your new behaviour or habit, the better you will become and the easier it will be to continue! For example, getting to bed earlier so I can get more sleep has been a resolution of mine in a few different years. This one required (and still requires!) me to plan my time and get in the habit of doing my “going to bed” routine. And I’ve gotten better and better at this as years go by. Once you do something enough times, it is a lot easier to come back to, even if you stray.
1. Keep it simple
First, don’t try to change lots of things at once! Choose a few things that will make a positive difference in your life and focus on those. Also, don’t try to make drastic changes all at once. Figure out some small changes that will start you on a good path. For example, I once resolved to floss every day. This resolution was not that hard to keep and it was a small step that has created a long-lasting habit.
2. Write it down
People who write down their goals are far more likely to actually achieve them. Think about what you want in life and why your resolutions will help you get there. Write down your resolutions and the reasons for them. This will help keep you motivated! For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, write out all the reasons why you want to do this (prevent disease, feel healthier, breathe easier, smell better, etc). When you find yourself having trouble keeping your resolution, go back to this list to remind yourself!
3. Get excited!
This is kind of a no-brainer... Choose things you actually want and hopefully that will be enjoyable to do or achieve! If you find you are resistant to what you are trying to do, ask yourself why? Maybe that choice is not right for you or (more likely) there are strong subconscious forces within you that really WANT to hang on to your old behaviour. Addressing this is key to success. For example, nearly every patient I see wants to lose weight and most of them know things they need to change to do this AND are capable of doing it. So what holds them back? Most often I find that there are many other factors at work that prevent patients from truly being able to make a different choice. Homeopathy is one amazing naturopathic treatment modality to help shift this and open up new choices.
4. Change your brain
Did you know that you can actually change the way your brain works? There are so many ways to do this, but here I’ll mention visualization and meditation, which can work together. Visualization is a tried and true tool for achieving goals. If you can visualize something, you can make it happen. Meditation can encompass so many different things, but at the root it is a way to become more conscious of your mind’s activities and exercise control over them. Meditation is a skill that you build over time that pays off in so many ways, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. A great book to start with is Meditation as Medicine by Dharma Singh Khalsa.
And when you change your brain, you change what comes to you in life. The law of attraction is a powerful tool that you can use to achieve your goals. For more info on the law of attraction and the power of choice, check on my blog on this topic.
5. Plan, plan, plan!
Planning makes things happen. In addition to setting goals, you need to figure out HOW you will achieve them. Write this down too... For example, several years ago I wanted to reduce my stress levels and improve my mental focus, so I decided to learn meditation. If I had just made my New Year’s resolution “to meditate more” I would not have done much differently. Instead, I made the resolution “to meditate for 10 minutes every day” and I was successful in doing this the entire year! Having this specific plan in place helped me make time each day for this and it quickly became a new habit.
6. Get help
As part of your plan to achieve your goals, you might need some help from others. Support is a key factor in success, so write down what you might need to keep your resolutions. For example, if your resolution is to exercise more, your spouse can help you by taking care of the kids or cooking dinner so you have time to work out and a personal trainer can help you learn to make the most of the equipment available to you at the gym. If your resolution is to change your eating habits, your naturopathic doctor is a great support to teach you how to eat healthier and create a plan of action to help you accomplish this. One of the principles of naturopathic medicine is Docere - Doctor as Teacher.
7. Don’t give up!
Practice truly does make perfect! Nobody is ever good at something the first time they do it, so if you fall off the resolution wagon, climb back on and try again. The more you practice your new behaviour or habit, the better you will become and the easier it will be to continue! For example, getting to bed earlier so I can get more sleep has been a resolution of mine in a few different years. This one required (and still requires!) me to plan my time and get in the habit of doing my “going to bed” routine. And I’ve gotten better and better at this as years go by. Once you do something enough times, it is a lot easier to come back to, even if you stray.
Breast health and cancer prevention: risk factors
09/11/10 17:39
In October (breast cancer month) JD Kato and I did a presentation at a local library about breast health and cancer prevention. Here is a summary of some of the more interesting information we shared. This first part will cover risk factors, which JD discussed. There are several non-modifiable risk factors that most people are aware of, such as age, gender, family history, etc. Let’s focus on risk factors you CAN modify…
Radiation exposure:
Ionizing radiation such as x-rays can damage the DNA of cells promoting mistakes that could lead to development of cancer. The amount of radiation of a mammogram is considered small, but yes mammograms use radiation. Other sources of radiation may be from occupational accidents and radiation treatment.
Smoking:
Smoking raises your risk for many types of cancer: lung, esophageal, bladder, stomach, and others including breast cancer.
Alcohol:
Postmenopausal women who drank alcohol had a 22% higher relative risk of breast cancer than those who do not drink alcohol. It is estimated that every additional 10g of ethanol consumed per day (approximately one drink) was associated with a 10% increase in relative risk.
Recommendation for alcohol intake for women: 0-2 drinks per day, maximum 9 drinks per week
Estrogen:
Estrogen exposure can be a contributing factor to many breast cancers. Therefore, both exogenous (outside the body) and endogenous (inside the body) sources estrogen can increase risk.
Hormone replacement and birth control pills are exogenous sources that contribute to estrogen exposure that can be avoided.
Estrogen production within the body is also important. At puberty the brain (the pituitary) tells the ovaries to start to produce estrogen and because there are receptors in the breast tissue they are signalled to grow and develop. Although they grow in number, the cells of the breast tissue do not fully mature. With each monthly cycle there are fluctuating levels of estrogen, which can contribute to the cells that could possibly develop into cancerous cells. A first full-term pregnancy after the age of 30-35 contributes a slightly higher risk.
While a woman is pregnant, there are even high levels of estrogen and so the breasts enlarge to prepare for breast feeding – again putting a woman at higher risk. When a pregnancy reaches full-term and a woman breast-feeds, then the cells finish their maturation, which then helps protect against them developing into cancer. Breast-feeding for one year is protective against breast cancer. It does not matter if this period of breast-feeding is for one child, or combined over more than one birth.
Body fat and exercise:
After menopause a woman’s ovaries do not produce estrogen as before, so most of the estrogen come from fat tissue. Estrogen comes from testosterone and in fat tissue there is the enzyme called aromatase that converts testosterone to estrogen. So having excessive body fat means you have more of these enzymes to produce estrogen which can stimulate cell reproduction in breast tissue and thus increasing the chance of tumour formation.
Excess body fat, especially around the midsection, promotes inflammation in the body, which is a risk factor for many cancers. Chronic inflammation disrupts normal cell growth and development, which can promote.
Excess body weight and low physical activity together may account for one quarter to one third of all breast cancer cases! Contrast that to 3-5% of breast cancer caused by heredity…
Recommendations for exercise: 30 min 3-5 days per week (initially), then 30-60 min 5-7 days per week
Radiation exposure:
Ionizing radiation such as x-rays can damage the DNA of cells promoting mistakes that could lead to development of cancer. The amount of radiation of a mammogram is considered small, but yes mammograms use radiation. Other sources of radiation may be from occupational accidents and radiation treatment.
Smoking:
Smoking raises your risk for many types of cancer: lung, esophageal, bladder, stomach, and others including breast cancer.
Alcohol:
Postmenopausal women who drank alcohol had a 22% higher relative risk of breast cancer than those who do not drink alcohol. It is estimated that every additional 10g of ethanol consumed per day (approximately one drink) was associated with a 10% increase in relative risk.
Recommendation for alcohol intake for women: 0-2 drinks per day, maximum 9 drinks per week
Estrogen:
Estrogen exposure can be a contributing factor to many breast cancers. Therefore, both exogenous (outside the body) and endogenous (inside the body) sources estrogen can increase risk.
Hormone replacement and birth control pills are exogenous sources that contribute to estrogen exposure that can be avoided.
Estrogen production within the body is also important. At puberty the brain (the pituitary) tells the ovaries to start to produce estrogen and because there are receptors in the breast tissue they are signalled to grow and develop. Although they grow in number, the cells of the breast tissue do not fully mature. With each monthly cycle there are fluctuating levels of estrogen, which can contribute to the cells that could possibly develop into cancerous cells. A first full-term pregnancy after the age of 30-35 contributes a slightly higher risk.
While a woman is pregnant, there are even high levels of estrogen and so the breasts enlarge to prepare for breast feeding – again putting a woman at higher risk. When a pregnancy reaches full-term and a woman breast-feeds, then the cells finish their maturation, which then helps protect against them developing into cancer. Breast-feeding for one year is protective against breast cancer. It does not matter if this period of breast-feeding is for one child, or combined over more than one birth.
Body fat and exercise:
After menopause a woman’s ovaries do not produce estrogen as before, so most of the estrogen come from fat tissue. Estrogen comes from testosterone and in fat tissue there is the enzyme called aromatase that converts testosterone to estrogen. So having excessive body fat means you have more of these enzymes to produce estrogen which can stimulate cell reproduction in breast tissue and thus increasing the chance of tumour formation.
Excess body fat, especially around the midsection, promotes inflammation in the body, which is a risk factor for many cancers. Chronic inflammation disrupts normal cell growth and development, which can promote.
Excess body weight and low physical activity together may account for one quarter to one third of all breast cancer cases! Contrast that to 3-5% of breast cancer caused by heredity…
Recommendations for exercise: 30 min 3-5 days per week (initially), then 30-60 min 5-7 days per week