Take a look at the talented Surgeorn

I wish I knew how they did that :)

Chemicals in our products that end up in our children

It seems like every week I learn some new possible danger related to our food supply, our toys, toothpaste, plastics, microwave popcorn and Teflon, any kind of pills, pressure treated wood, laundry detergent and I am sure I just scratched the surface when it comes to men-made items.

Every time I learn about these dangers, I am upset by the fact that 1) My family used or still uses some of these products 2) I can still purchase most of them in a store. 3) It's dangers had been known for years and nothing was done or ignored.

Over and over my confidence in the US government is depleted regarding health and safety standards. It's true that it's better then most countries but not by much. Here's a story that highlights double standards for US and EU from the same companies

Hazard-free products are sold in Europe, toxin-filled versions of the same product are sold in the US and the developing world.

I don't know if this makes any of you shake your head, but reading this I don't feel like our best interests are in our countries best interest.

• I started this blog entry when I pondered why the bottles I used for feeding my infant has bpa in it when it's clearly not as safe as the industry would have us believe. The same applies to the plastic containers labeled #7 that I had purchased not long ago and am now using them for dry food storage like beans or non food storage.
• Why does microwave popcorn and Teflon still on the store shelves?
  
• Why are there acrylamides in processed foods like cheerios given to kids?
• What about those rubber ducks having PVC's which have phthalates - which are now banned, but still, I am sure it was allowed for some time.  
• Christmas lights laiden with with Lead
• Lead in toys and jewelry
• Don't even get me started on procuce safety and use of conventional farming methods including GMO soy corn, etc, as well as synthetic chemicals that are sprayed on our food
• Cleaning products and their poisons
• Anti-bacterial soaps
• What about Nano?  What you don't know is in products you use daily may be harming you.
• Now concerns about Chinese drywall and autoparts made in china

I will continue to look at what's safe and what is not as part of selecting the best food and products.   I hope that the government will step up it's efforts at protecting the publics interests, but in the meantime buyer beware.  

All this makes one thing increasingly clear, we live in a world which is increasingly more and more toxic.  The true effects of all this will only be known years from now but you need to err on the side of caution and continually review what you use daily in order to minimize risk.  

The greatest way to minimize risk is by focusing on what you eat and drink daily since that has been shown to effect us most dramatically.  For these reasons, we choose to follow a high nutrient vegetable based diet recommended by Dr. Fuhrman which is by definition disease-protective.  

  

Plain Soap as Good as Antibacterial

Who said that antibacterial soap is better?

Researchers Say Regular Soap Kills Germs as Well as Antibacterial Soap. Salynn Boyles from WebMD reports

Plain Soap as Good as Antibacterial

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health reviewed 27 studies examining the safety and effectiveness of antibacterial products containing the active ingredient triclosan.

"Washing your hands is extremely important for preventing the spread of infectious illness, especially at critical points like after using the toilet, changing the baby, or handling raw foods. But consumers can't assume that antibacterial soaps are better for this than other soaps."

But do Antibacterial Soap use lead to Antibiotic Resistance? Not outside a laboratory. Read more to find out

Baby scans: do we need them?

Blare Murphy, a BBC News health reporter asks
"Are ultrasound is just a waste of money?"

For many women, the scan which shows their unborn squirming, kicking and sucking its thumb is one of the important milestones of pregnancy.
In a paper published in Ultrasounds this week, retired Dr Hylton Meire not only argues there is no scientific evidence to prove the 20-week scan is worthwhile, he also casts doubt on the reliability of the principal method of testing for Down's Syndrome - the nuchal fold measurement.
These tests do not give a yes or no answer to whether a baby has Down's, but an indication of risk. Those deemed to have a higher possibility are offered an amniocentesis, where a needle is inserted into the womb to give a much more accurate analysis.

Every amniocentesis carries a small risk of miscarriage, so women who are not carrying a disabled foetus in the first place can end up losing a perfectly healthy baby.

Using various figures, Dr Meire, formerly of King's College Hospital, calculates that as many as 3,200 healthy babies are lost in this way each year.

For every 50 live births of children with Down's Syndrome prevented, he says 160 women miscarry non-affected babies. ... Read more here