The seemly innocent shopping bag

    We head to the store, pick up a few items and the cashier puts them into a shopping bag for the journey home. A daily, and seemly innocent occurrence we encounter practically every day. But, there are consequences many are unaware of and are worth sharing.
    A staggering number—100 BILLION! Thats how many plastic bags people in the U.S. use each year! Just in the United States! It took approximately 12 MILLION barrels of oil to produce these bags. The problem—plastic bags are NOT biodegradable but instead they go through a process called photodegradation, breaking down into smaller and then smaller toxic particles. This process takes over 1,000 YEARS!!! This means the bags we consume today will be on this earth until the year 3012!
    How do plastic bags fit into Heath and our Wellness? Let me sum up a few important points:

• The tiny bits that the bags break down into, contaminate our soil and water. Millions of bags end up in the water and are accidently ingested by animals. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from this. On land, the same happens to cows, goats and other animals. This obviously has an impact on our environment. 
• The toxic chemicals that are used to make the bags produce pollution contaminating the air we breathe. 
• The production of the bags requires petroleum and often natural gas, both non-renewable resources that increase our dependency on foreign suppliers. That needs no explanation.

    What can we do? One might think of using paper bags instead. Surprisingly, paper grocery bags are not a better option. 14 million trees are cut down each year to produce paper bags and the production produces more pollution than plastic bags.

    Here is what you can do. Putting a crate or bin in the back of your car to keep reusable bags in. This will keep the bags organized and in one spot so they are readily available. When heading into a grocery, convenient, big-box or department store, bring in the bag. If you only need a few items at the store, you can use the bag(s) to hold them while shopping. If you forget the bag and only have a few items, say “no bag please.”  When in a pinch, plastic is the  best choice, just try to use as few as possible.

Check out the story in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/10/03/GR2007100301385.html

    These small changes will make a big impact on the environment, our health and the health of our generations to come. 

To the best of health including a clean, healthy and safe environment,
Dawn

Sources:
http://www.reuseit.com/learn-more/myth-busting/plastic-bags-are-free
http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/reusablebags.htm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/10/03/GR2007100301385.html

C. Diff

    Clostridium Difficile, known as "C. Diff" is a bacteria in your intestines.
Why am I talking about C. Diff? Just over a year ago I slowly developed stomach cramps that progressively got worse and turned into severe stabbing pains which would come and go. The symptoms continued, I went to the doctor and was finally diagnosed after a slew of tests and a colonoscopy.
    Needless to say, I had to quickly learn about what was ailing me. Although this can be a personal subject, I think it is important to share since you, or someone you know, may get this vicious bacteria. To me, it's more important to share my experiences so others can be armed with some of this knowledge I had to obtain.
    C. Diff is a bacteria in the intestines of healthy and ill people. Healthy intestinal bacteria, as you know, is important since it aids in digestion, keeps us healthy and assists in food digestion. When some people use antibiotics, there is an imbalance of bacteria and C. Diff takes over. It creates two main toxins causing intestinal cramps and then flu-like symptoms (weakness, dehydration, fever, nausea, vomiting). Advanced stages include blood and mucus in your stools and damage to your intestines. Severe cases that go untreated can cause death!

    Most C. Diff spores are found in:

• hospitals, in fact - after a stay of only two days in a hospital, 10% of patients develop infection 
• nursing homes
• extended care facilities, and
• nurseries for newborn infants.

    C. Diff spores can live on a counter top unseen by the human eye and cannot be killed by bleach or soap or antibacterial wash. The only way to get rid of the spore is to wash it off the hands, or sponge, or rag down the drain. If a spore is left dormant in a hospital room, bathroom, hotel room, etc. it can be passed on. This is why it is imperative to WASH YOUR HANDS! Trust me, this is NOT an ailment you want to deal with. If you get it, it is very difficult to get rid of. My GI doctor explained "it hides out," especially when you are on being treated to get rid of it.
Here is a great image that explains the cycle from http://www.cdiffinfection.net/138/c-diff-infection-what-is-this-situation/:

If you develop these symptoms and had visited a facility and/or was on antibiotics, you might mention it when seeing the doctor. If you had not visited a facility or taken antibiotics but do have the symptoms, it might still be a good idea to remind them about this possibility. The reason I mention it is because this was my case.

    Links with more info (and sources):
    http://www.cdiffsupport.com/aboutcdiff.html
    http://www.medicinenet.com/clostridium_difficile_colitis/page2.htm
    http://www.keely.net/leisure/cDiff/about.html
    I hope this blog has been informative and helps if you, or someone you know is plagued with this vicious bacteria.

    To Health & Wellness,
    Dawn

Food Inc. - Have you seen it? You wont believe it!

Food Inc. is a film I saw a year or two ago. I could not be happier I watched it, I want to share it with you! "It reveals surprising—and shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going." Since what we eat effects everything involving our health and wellness, we need to know what we're eating. This film helps arm us with that knowledge.
  How to watch it:
It had such an impact on my life, I purchased it to loan out to my friends and family. Please let me know if you would like to watch it & I will ship it to you free of charge. 
or
You can rent it on Amazon.com or Netflix.
  Check out the trailer: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0

To the best of health, and arming ourselves with the knowledge,

Dawn

Spinach

The flavonoid compounds found in spinach have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Hello -

We got the opportunity in the past day to watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, a film our nutritionist challenged us to watch. Really, quite an amazing video of a regular guy, out of shape, tired and suffering from an ailment (could be any ailment quite honestly). It is an inspiring video, with great information.

http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

xxoo Dawn

Greetings

Hello -
Throughout the years I have come across a wealth of information that has not only been enlightening, but has helped make us healthier and given us so much more energy. A path we have been on, and became more dedicated to mid October, 2011. The information comes in the way of articles, doctor consultations, including naturopathic, studies I have come across, documentaries, movies, nutrition consultants, places of business with treatments and information, and talking with others. I would like to share the information in hopes that my friends & family might gleam even one spec of information and utilize it. If it gives us just one more second together in life, it's worth it!  lots of love. 
xxoo Dawn