HealthNutty Pick of the Week: A rockin' awesome lip balm

Thanks to a woman named Roxanne Quimby, we can now purchase Burt's Bees products in many stores worldwide.

The company started back in 1984 when she started making candles in an old schoolhouse with the leftover beeswax from Burt Shavitz's farm. Her business grew insanely fast, and has been a success for many years. She sold a large portion of the company to AEA, (a private investment group), and then in 2007,  the company was sold to Clorox for a whopping $925,000,000.

Fascinating, huh?

The HealthNutty Pick of the week is the most popluar Burt's Bees product:

Beeswax Lip balm.

Did your jaw drop when you learned Clorox was the owner of Burt's Bees? They aren't exactly a company that strives to be all-natural when they sell bleach and other powerful chemical-filled cleaners. But thankfully, after some research, Burt's Bees seems to stay a safe option for lip care. Yipee!

The Skin Deep Cosmetics Database is a great way to check the safety of many beauty products. After searching Burt's Bees Lip Balm, it came up as a 1. That's a low toxicity rating. Check out your beauty products and see how safe they really are: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

This lip balm is great because it's got 2 of my favourite things in it: coconut oil, and peppermint oil. This makes for a smooth, long lasting, tingly, clean, refreshing way to keep your lips moisturized in this crazy winter weather.

I am a little OCD when it comes to my lip balm. I must have it on every night before I go to sleep. It's the worst waking up to dry, cracked lips. I like to carry a tube in my jacket pocket, and a one at my bedside! I honestly love this stuff. And hey, it's safe to use.

Grab some Burt's Lip Balm, and perhaps some other great Burt's Bees products, by clicking HERE!

References

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

www.burtsbees.ca

www.treehugger.com

A Health Nutty Epic Fail: Volume 1

A Health Nutty Epic Fail is an all new series of my failures as a 'healthnut.'  (I am definitely still working out the kinks in our family's health program and trying to kick many of our bad habits!)

Here's the first of many to come in the new series:

 "Well dang, we were out of peanut butter, AGAIN!"

When you have a hard-workin' carpenter hubby who needs his protein, and a super-tight grocery budget that pretty much requires cutting expensive meat -and I don't mean with a knife- peanut butter sammy's are where it's at!

So, off I went to the store, and grabbed a low-fat container of smooth peanut butter. When I got home, it was sitting on the counter. My hubby gave me the stink eye. Why was he less than impressed?

The Health Nutty Epic Fail:  Not checking the label. It was loaded with corn syrup and hydrogenated oil.  Boo. Bad mama!


Hydrogenated oils are in most peanut butters. I'm talkin'  palm, soybean, coconut, kernel, or corn oil. Natural News describes the process of hydrogenation like this: "They inject a catalyst into the oil for several hours. The catalyst is typically a metal such as nickel, platinum or even aluminum. As this bubbles up into the oil the molecular structure changes and increases in density and rearranges it's molecules so that instead of a liquid at room temperature we now have either semi-solid or solid oil. This creates either partially hydrogenated or fully hydrogenated oils" (NaturalNews.com).  Basically the goal is to make a consistent looking, spreadable product that lasts longer and looks prettier.



Some say that eating hydrogenated oil is close to eating plastic. Since these oils are also worked so hard into being a more dense form, they don't break down, making it more difficult to make it's way through your body (many times, in the form of trans fats) It's hard on our blood...and therefore, our heart. That's why hydrogenated oils are often the result of high blood pressure, and high cholesterol (NaturalNews.com).

And corn syrup. A whole other can of worms. This most-of-the-time GMO'd stuff is linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. It "messes with the body's metabolism so that people can't stop eating...making it hard to control cravings, and slows down the hormone 'leptin' in your body to tell you when to stop eating...it's an addictive drug" (howstuffworks.com).   Yikes. No thank you.

What do we take from this epic fail?

Check food labels, and try to put anything back that contains these ingredients.
 It's tough, I know. Especially if these things are on sale. It's clear that I still fail on a regular basis. I know that with certain things, I need to get my healthnutty butt in gear and ditch the bad smooth peanut butter.

Let's be honest, sometimes the hydrogenated kind is tastier. It even spreads easier.  I'm glad I have a husband who keeps me in check. Maybe your hubby could care less about this stuff, and if that's the case, let the Health Nutty Professor be the one who gives you the stink eye! 

The Globe and Mail did an article recently on natural peanut butter. The kind that only has roasted peanuts, without the added sugars, salt, and hydrogenated junk. They reported that natural peanut butter is a good source of B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, and even though it's high in fat, it can help reduce inflammation and cholesterol (theglobeandmail.com). So, do yourself and your fam a favour, and get them into a healthier PB!

The best natural peanut butter for you: the jar that only has ONE ingredient...Roasted peanuts!

We love to add natural peanut butter to our steel cut oats. I love milky oatmeal...so I even put some unsweetened almond milk on top too. Natural peanut butter also tastes great in baking. So hey, give it a try! Let me know which natural one you like most.


And that's it for the first Volume of: A Health Nutty Epic Fail. 

References

http://thenakedlabel.com/blog/2009/03/18/is-your-peanut-butter-wearing-a-disguise/

http://www.naturalnews.com/024694_oil_food_oils.html

http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/Is-peanut-butter-healthy

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/ask-a-health-expert/is-peanut-butter-good-for-me/article547825/

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/avoid-fructose-corn-syrup1.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588

RAWesome Friday: The Eat Raw Series

What do constipation, antioxidants, potassium, and sugar fixes have in common?

The goodness of..........

Medjool dates!

There are plenty of reasons to add these guys to your pantry since they contain some great things like:

Fibre: Keeps you regular, full longer, benefits your digestive system, aids in absorbing nutrients, and helps to lower blood cholesterol (Netdoctor.co.uk)

Antioxidants: Here's thehealthnutty simple description of how they work: Nutrients that remove harmful things from our bodies and are said to help prevent disease. The more junk we are exposed to from diet or the environment, the more "free radicals" we will have in our bodies . In the end, this can can contribute to our health becoming unstable. We can help the cells in our bodies by eating antioxidants. (health.howstuffworks.com)

Potassium: Helps to balance the pH in our bodies, is beneficial for good blood circulation, and is excellent for brain and heart health.

B Vitamins: Most of the time, known as 8 vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, and biotin... A list that would be a whole other 10 blogs!) These B Vitamins are beneficial to the way your body breaks down carbs into sugar, breaking down fats and proteins, and they are all necessary for healthy muscle tone, intestinal tracts, skin, and hair.


So what do we take from all this?

1. Stay regular, folks. In other words, be nice to your colon!

2. Know that you're getting some great nutrients for your body when you devour a date.

3. If you have a sweet tooth, (I certainly do!) then grab some Medjool yumminess! Usually a date or two does the trick for this healthnut!

The Health Nutty Professor wrote about dates in a previous blog. Check out the recipe HERE to try them in a smoothie! Mmmm mmm! 


Happy Pooping and stay healthy ya'll!




References

http://www.herbcyclopedia.com/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=430&Itemid=193

 http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/nutrition/fibre/

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/antioxidant1.htm

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/vitamin-supplements/vitamin-b.htm

http://nutrition.about.com/od/foodfun/p/potassium_foods.htm

The HealthNutty Pick of the Week: Forks Over Knives

Plant-based diets. Sound appealing?

Never thought my husband would go for that! Are ya with me?

After seeing this life-changing documentary, it impacted our family so much, even my husband majorly cut down on meat. Trust me: That's a very. BIG. Deal.

The HealthNutty Pick of the Week isn't one food. It's many. All packed into this amazing, easy to follow, healthy, fun, cookbook. All recipes following a plant-based diet. Don't jump to conclusions yet, okay?

Forks Over Knives talks about losing weight, lowering cholesterol, and most amazingly: preventing or even REVERSING degenerative diseases. I'm talking things like diabetes, Arthritis,  Alzheimer's, and some have even testified to being cured of cancer. Sounds like eating more plant-based meals might do some good to the body! 

If you don't get the documentary on Netflix, you can find it in my recommendations through amazon on the blog. Or, take a peek, HERE.


If you're up for trying out some plant-based recipes, 
Grab the cookbook HERE and check out all 300 recipes!

We love the Easy Bean and Rice wrap recipe! Other fave's from the book include:
Shepherds Pie, Vegetable Stock, and my ultimate fave? Pumpkin Bread Pudding!

 Some other great recipes we are excited to try:  Quinoa Corn and Black Bean Salad, Summer Vegetable Pesto Bake, Cherry Pecan Granola Bars, Banana Almond Granola, Banana Date and Coconut Muesli, Gingerbread Smoothie, Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf, and Vanilla Bean Whip!

So get on it! Watch the documentary, then decide for yourself! Maybe your hubby will change his mind about plant-based diets, too.



References

www.forksoverknives.com 

We have a winner!

Congrats to..............

Erin Smit who won the GIVEAWAY to receive Nova Scotia Fisherman Xtreme Skin Care! She will be getting the entire product line mailed to her doorstep! How cool is that!

Be sure to check out www.novascotiafisherman.com to try these amazing products. Canadian owned, and totally affordable. I'm not sponsored by this company people, I just love their stuff!

Stay tuned for the next HealthNutty GIVEAWAY!

Finally, I found one that works.

You stink. Just kidding!

Everyone sweats. Some of us more than others.

Did you know we have between 2 and 5 million sweat glands? That's a lot. 

I've been searching high and low for a natural deodorant that works. I came to a point where I had tried so many brands of sprays and crystal, I decided I was never going to find something that worked as much as the aluminum-filled 'Dove' brand I guiltily love so much.

You might be happy to know that sweating can be a very natural thing. It's the body's way of cooling itself down, and how we release toxins. Sometimes our pits smell rank though! That's why most people want to play it safe, and wear a strong antiperspirant.

That means we're blocking our body from doing what it naturally should.

Depending on the studies you look at, there are many Doctors saying that there is no proof that the aluminum in deodorants or antiperspirants (yep it's true, aluminum can be found in both) hasn't been proven to be harmful. But if you look deeper into the scientific studies that have been done, you see that there may be some links to breast cancer.




A British Doctor named Chris Exley did a study on breast cancer patients. They had all had mastectomy's as a result of breast cancer, and there was aluminum found in their breast tissues. Another study showed breast cancer patients with a higher aluminum content in their body, and most of it was found in their armpit.

Well, Dang.

Although aluminum does a good job in stopping the body from sweating, it's not supposed to be in our bodies. Doctor Exley admits that it's not proven that the cause of aluminum in the armpit was from antiperspirant; although, doesn't that make the most sense?  I appreciate his honesty in admitting that we just don't have enough evidence, and more studies need to be done. He states, "not knowing is not a reason to assume safety." The article goes on to discuss aluminum that can also be found in certain sun screens, as well. See the whole article, here.

This Health Nut would rather play it safe, and find the best natural deodorant that works, without aluminum and parabens.

Join the Health Nutty Professor in switching to a natural deodorant that works! 

I'm so excited to share this awesome brand, Green Beaver. The tea tree oil smells great, goes on clear, and you feel dry all day! My trick is, applying in the morning and the afternoon.

Click here to check out Green Beaver's Awesome Tea Tree Oil Natural Deodorant

Did you know that your body odour is often a result of your diet? Want to change your diet to a "non-stinky" one? Check out this article from Discovery Health that talks about red meat changing the smell of our sweat! See this interesting article, HERE.

Already switched to a natural deodorant you like? Tell me which one! Tried changing your diet and noticed a difference? Tell me about that too!

LAST DAY TO GET IN ON THE GIVEAWAY!! CHECK IT OUT: HERE!

Until next time, stay healthy ya'll!




References

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/men/sweating-odor/why-do-i-sweat-so-much.htm

http://www.fitness19.com/why-do-some-people-sweat-more-than-others/

http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/diet-body-odor2.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-479559/Deodorant-linked-breast-cancer.html

Rawesome Friday: The Eat Raw Series

This week, theHealthNuttyProfessor is adding this fantabulous, orange, crunchy, sweet veggie to the Eat Raw Series.


Carrots.

Here's some reasons theHealthNuttyProfessor thinks you should get munchin':

• Vitamin A - cleansing the liver and flushing out toxins from the body
• High amounts of potassium, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and calcium
• Help with skin problems like acne and blemishes or even dry skin
• The minerals can benefit your teeth and gums and can kill germs (helps keep plaque down)
• They are an antiseptic (prevent infection)
• Can decrease your chance of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol (up to 10-20!)
• Contain falcarinol, which has anticancer properties
• Beta-carotene in carrots can help improve vision 

Thanks to The Carrot Museum for some incredible info! Check out their page HERE.

Let's be honest, the health benefits of carrots easily make them worth putting on your grocery list this next week!

They're one of our favourite things to juice because they are fairly inexpensive, and they are a great combo with oranges and apples.  Add them to your salads, stir fry's, or just plain old munch on a delicious, raw, carrot stick!

Until next time, Stay healthy Ya'll!

Don't forget to get in on the GIVEAWAY HERE! It's simple to enter, and there's only a few days left!


References

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/nutrition2.html

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-benefits-of-carrots.html

http://www.healthonlinezine.info/7-health-benefits-of-carrots-nutritional-value-of-carrot.html