Ease Thanksgiving Indigestion... without TUMS

There are many natural ways to prevent and ease indigestion before or after any meal, especially the grandest: Thanksgiving. Before taking an antacid like Tums, read the ingredients below. If this is one of your favorite things to pop, take warning of the very concerning ingredients like the TALC (toxic) and DYES (derived from coal tar) in this product.

TUMS ingredients:

• Calcium Carbonate USP Grade (1000 mg per tablet)
• Sucrose
• Starch
• Talc (is toxic; see http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/cosmetics/talc.htm
• Mineral Oil
• Natural & Artificial Flavor (can mean anything, e.g., MSG)
• Sodium Polyphosphate
• Blue 1 Lake
• Red 40 Lake
• Adipic Acid
• Yellow 6 Lake
• FD&C Yellow 5 Lake

Here are some natural ways to help ease tooting, bloating and indigestion before or after a meal.

• Before your meal, eat fresh-cut pineapple. Pineapple contains an enzyme called bromelain that supports the digestive process.

• An after-dinner cup of tea can relieve gassiness and bloating. And these essential oils are calming to the intestinal tract. To make a tea, place only 3 drops of essential oils (Roman Chamomile or Di-Gize essential oil blend) to a cup of hot water, add 1 Tablespoon of Agave or Honey, stir well and sip slowly.

• After you've literally stuffed yourself, blend 3 drops of Peppermint essential oil and 3 drops of Di-Gize essential oil blend with 1 Tablespoon of carrier oil (Grapeseed, Olive, V-6 Mixing oil) and massage well on the belly. This feels soooo good. You will feel the results in as little as 10 minutes.

• Before eating, blend 1 Tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar to glass of clean water and drink. The apple cider vinegar will balance the acid immediately.

• A brief, 10-minute walk around the block - after turkey - can help boost digestion, too.

I'd love to hear how you prevent or ease indigestion naturally.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Amy

Here are the essential oils found Di-Gize essential oil blend:

• Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus)
• Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
• Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
• Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma and J. scopulorum)
• Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
• Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus)
• Anise (Pimpinella anisum)
• Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin)

Where's the Fruit and Yogurt?!

I love reading labels and learning all I can about ingredients in personal care products, household cleaning chemicals and food. Those of you who know me know that I don't eat boxed cereal for breakfast and if you read the list of insane ingredients below (for Kellogg's Special K fruit & yogurt) will hopefully understand why.

Instead of ingesting cardboard breakfasts saturated with chemicals and sugar, what about a bowl of organic, plain yogurt with some real, organic fruit? I love to prepare organic oatmeal (found in your local bulk section) with local, non-sprayed apples, dates and raw alomonds and a little bit of agave. What about an organic banana - or sliced pineapple for breakfast? Have you ever tried the Apricot Manna bars from Young Living? They are delicious - and great to have when you travel or stuck in the car for a long trip. Common sense tells me that any of these ideas have to be safer and more nutritious than this "Fruit and Yogurt" cereal.

And then there's the "but organic food costs toooo much".

Eating whole/unprocessed foods is a long-term investment (not cost) for health and wellness. The cost of injesting junk goes far beyond the cheap price. Just look at the consequences of ingesting sugar, white flour and synthetic chemicals: http://www.sugarsandflours.com/default.htm

I'll take organic apples and oatmeal any day. Please read your labels.

In natural health, sincerely,
Amy

Kellogg's Special K fruit & yogurt

Ingredients:

RICE
WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT
SUGAR
BERRY FLAVORED OAT CLUSTER (TOASTED OATS [ROLLED OATS, SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, HONEY, MOLASSES]
SUGAR
ROLLED OATS
STRAWBERRY FLAVORED APPLES [DRIED APPLES, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, RED #40, SODIUM SULFITE]
CORN SYRUP
BROWN SUGAR
NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR
BHT FOR FRESHNESS
VANILLA FLAVORED CRUNCH (SUGAR, TOASTED OATS [ROLLED OATS, SUGAR, CANOLA OIL (WITH TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS) MOLASSES, HONEY, BHT TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS, SOY LECITHIN]
ROLLED WHEAT
CRISP RICE
RICE
SUGAR
BARLEY MALT
SALT
CORN SYRUP
POLYDEXTROSE
HONEY
CINNAMON, BHT TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS
VANILLIN
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL
SALT
MALT FLAVORING
NONFAT DRY MILK
NONFAT YOGURT POWDER (CULTURED NONFAT MILK, YOGURT IS HEAT TREATED AFTER CULTURING)
WHEY
ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C)
CONFECTIONER'S GLAZE
LACTIC ACID POWDER
CORN SYRUP
NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS
TAPIOCA DEXTRIN
DISTILLED MONOGLYCERIDES
SOY LECITHIN
REDUCED IRON
NIACINAMIDE
PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6)
RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2)
THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1)
VITAMIN A PALMITATE
BHT (PRESERVATIVE)
FOLIC ACID
VITAMIN D
VITAMIN B12

Dishwashing Detergents: Source of Water Pollution

Automatic Dishwashing Detergents:
Important Source of Water-Polluting Phosphorus

When phosphates were banned in most laundry detergents in 1974 to clean up the Great Lakes
and other water bodies, an exception was made for automatic dishwashing detergents because dishwashers wouldn’t function properly without some phosphorus in the mix.

More than thirty years later, apparently this problem hasn’t been solved (though other detergents have been formulated to work very well without phosphates) so automatic dishwashing detergents continue to contain quite a lot of phosphorus.

We should be concerned about phosphates in detergents because phosphorus is the “limiting
nutrient” for most fresh water, including Canandaigua Lake. “Limiting nutrient” means that relative to the other basic nutrients needed for growth, in fresh water phosphorus is usually the most limited.

Adding a source of nitrogen or potassium to a water body will cause some response in plant growth; adding phosphorus gets a major response!

The usual measure of growth per unit of phosphorus added is 500:1, so that one pound of added
phosphorus will spur the growth of five hundred pounds of algae. This means that the one gram of phosphorus available in a tablespoon most dishwashing detergents will spur the growth of 1.1
pounds of algae, PER LOAD.

Here are locally available automatic dishwashing detergents and their ratings.

PRODUCT PERCENT Phosphorus AMOUNT of Phosphorus
Cascade Dawn Pacs 8 1.1 g / tspn
Electrasol Tabs 8.7 1.74 g / tblspn
Electrasol Powerball 8.7 1.8 g / tblspn
Electrasol Gel 8.7 2.2 g / tblspn
Cascade Liquid 4.5 1.0 g / tblspn
Casacade Complete 5.0 1.0 g / tblspn
Wegmans Gel 4.0 0.8 g / tblspn
Cascade Powder 6.9 1.1 g / tblspn
Cascade Powder Lemon 6.4 1.0 g / tblspn
*Wegmans Powder 5.3 0.6 g / tsblspn
*Palmolive Gel 3.3 0.6 g / tblspn
*Electrasol Powdr Advanced 4.5 0.72 g / tblspn

*Of the products currently available with phosphorus, we recommend:

Palmolive Gel

Wegman’s Powder

Electrasol Powder Advanced

and urge you to use them according to instructions. You may be able to find non-phosphorus automatic dishwashing detergents either in the “earth-friendly” section of your supermarket or through catalogue sales. Their efficiency is so dependent on the chemistry of your water source that we cannot make any claims for them.

You should check the capacity of the detergent holder built into your dishwasher. Most
of these detergents are rated to wash a load with a tablespoon of liquid or powder, but the
holder is often sized to suggest that 4-8 tablespoons are “normal.” Such a large amount of
detergent may, however, damage the washing machine. Four to eight tablespoons of most of these detergents will grow four to eight POUNDS of algae per load. The phosphorus content of your wastewater is little affected by a septic system, aerobic treatment system, or sewage treatment plant.
Source: http://www.canandaiguawatershed.org/files/October_Page_08.pdf

Are Air "Fresheners" Bad for your Health?

Finally, research is catching up to what I've been reading for years - air fresheners are deadly!

Dr. Weil delivers the news in an article that appeared on MSN Health from Prevention
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cancer/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100216588

Toxic Effects of Air Freshener Emissions
http://www.toxicsinfo.org/canary/ToxicEffects.htm

Electric Air Fresheners Can Cause Cancer
http://www.mercola.com/2004/may/26/electric_air_fresheners.htm

Air Fresheners May Damage Your Lungs
http://www.mercola.com/2006/aug/10/air_fresheners_may_damage_your_lungs.htm

Air Freshener Hazards
http://www.makeripples.com/Newsletter/MarApr2004/MarApr2004.pdf

Many Cleaners, Air Fresheners May Pose Health Risks When Used Indoors
When used indoors under certain conditions, many common household cleaners and air fresheners emit toxic pollutants at levels that may lead to health risks, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. from Science Daily

How "Fresh" Is Air Freshener?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1664954,00.html?cnn=yes

Household cleaners and air fresheners emit toxic pollutants
http://www.rxpgnews.com/Pollution/Household_cleaners_and_air_fresheners_emit_toxic_p_4312/4312.shtml

How to Truly Freshen a Room without Toxic Chemicals

• Open the windows
• Diffuse Essential Oils blends from Young Living: Purification, Christmas Spirit & Thieves
• Light a match after a poo
• Simmer a blend of spices (Clove, Allspice, Cinnamon) on the stove
• Bouquet of fresh flowers
• Buy Plants that clean the air: Chineese Evergreen, Peace-lilly, Arrowhead vine, Engligh ivy, Cornplant, Devil's ivy
• Clean with baking soda and white vinegar
• Place a bowl of ground coffee in stinky space up to 3 days; the ground coffee will absorb the odors