April 2008 Earth Day

EARTH DAY 2008: APRIL 22nd
Mark your calendar for the 38th anniversary of Earth Day!

FAST FACTS:
~Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin,
who wanted to create a grassroots movement as he was frustrated by the
government’s lack of action in preserving our environment
~On April 22, 1970 more than 20 million American celebrated the first Earth Day.
~Earth Day has since become a worldwide campaign to protect our global environment

WAYS YOU CAN HELP TO PROTECT OUR PLANET:

• Recycle
• Conserve Water
• Buy energy efficient products
• Drive energy efficient vehicles
• Raise thermostat in summer/lower it in winter
• Limit or stop personal use of pesticides
• Eat organic food & wear organic clothing
• Use chemical free cleaners and detergents
• For more information & tips go to www.epa.gov/earthday
• For Earth Day events, to sign the Sky Petition or register to vote visit: http://ww2.earthday.net/~earthday/

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY:

• Plant a tree
• Organize a community clean-up
• Volunteer to clean-up rivers, lakes, and beaches
• Take a hike or walk, visit a park, or go to the beach to appreciate the miracle and beauty that is nature’s gift

Tips for Saving $$$ on Organic Food:

Marshall Loeb with Marketwatch recently wrote a great article with several good ideas for saving money on organic foods:

• Search the Web for Coupons: Many major organic brands like Stonyfield Farm, Annie's Homgrown, Organic Valley, Earthbound Farm and Health Valley offer coupons at their Web sites.
• Shop at Discount Stores: Large discount chains such as Sam's Club, Costco, Wal-Mart and Target now carry organics and claim their prices are lower than those of many other retailers. Many grocery stores are now carrying organic rice, flour, beans, granola, nuts, pasta and peanut butter for less in bulk bins.
• Look for Store-brand Organics and Bulk Packaging: Examples are Whole Foods Market's 365 Organic Everyday Value (I save almost $5 on each jar by buying their brand of organic almond butter!), Safeway's O Organics, Stop & Shop's/Giant'sNature's Promise, Kroger's Private Selection Organic, and Costco's Kirkland Signature organics, andTrader Joe's. They often cost less than national name brands.
• Join a Food Co-Op: They are independent grocery stores that usually offer local and organic foods. Some have a memembership fee and may require members to volunteer at the co-op a few hours each month. Members get a discount when they shop. To find a local co-op go to www.coopdirectory.org or www.localharvest.org/food-coops.
• Buy Produce in Season: That's when prices are lowest. Tos see what produce is in season near you, clcik on your state at www.sustainabletable.org/shop/eatseasonal. If possible, freeze or preserve produce for later. You may be able to get a discount from local farmers by buying a membership in a community supported agriculture progarm and sharing it with friends.

Other suggestions include: Learn to spot organic rip-offs...grocers are legally required to stack organic fruits and vegetables where they won't be exposed to water runoff from the misting of conventional produce, which could contaminate them with pesticide residue. So if you see organic produce stored below conventional produce, find someplace else to shop. He also reminds us to read labels carefully - products labeled "natural" does not mean the same as organic!



Trying to Lose Weight??
If you are still trying to shed those extra holiday pounds, or already starting to think about bathing suit season, Parade Magazine offers these steps for losing weight:

Step 1: Buy A Scale
A recent study by Brown University Medical School showed that daily weigh-ins are key. Place your scale on a flat, uncarpeted surface and weigh yourself at the same time every day (first thing in the morning is best). Use the number as a way to track your progress. A realistic goal is a weight loss of one to two pounds a week.

Step 2: Clean Out Your Cupboards
Toss all of those naughty goodies that might prove too tempting when you're tired or hungry. Or put them in the back of the cupboard or refrigerator so you won't be faced with them every time you open the door. And divide large bags of snacks into single-portion baggies or buyrepackaged 100-calorie options.

Step 3: Keep A Journal
Write down your weight each day, plus everything you eat. You're the only one who has to see this - so be honest. Estimate the calories of each entry as you write it down. (You can buy a calorie count book or visit Parade.com).

Step 4: Tell Everyone
Sit your family down and tell them your goals. Be clear that losing weight is important to you and that you would appreciate their support. A weight-loss buddy can also improve your chances of success. If you don't know anyone who fits the bill, consider joining an online support group.

Step 5: Eat Several Small Meals A Day
It is natural to be a little hungry during the first few days of any diet. Remind yourself that it is just a physical sensation and you can handle it. Still, any diet that leaves you hungry all of the time will lead to overeating. Many people find that having 5-6 small meals work best for them.

Step 6: Give Yourself Treats
If you deprive yourself endlessly, you'll end up going on a binge at some point. Consider adding a treat to your daily or weekly plan, but pay attention to portion size and calorie count. A 1/2 cup of low-fat ice cream or 3 pieces of chocolate can work as long as you limit yourself to that

Step 7: Start An Exercise Plan
Besides burning calories, exercise also builds muscle and boosts your metabolism as you progress. One of the best things you can do is walk. Invest in a pedometer and aim for a goal of 10,000 steps or more a day. This is the only number you want to see go up, up, up!

~ Michael O'Shea

Note: Go to Parade.com to talk with other people trying to lose weight, as well as calorie-counters, body-mass index calculators and other weight loss tools.



Thanks to Healthy Chef Creations (www.healthychefcreations.com) for sharing this important information:

"Consumer Alert on Soft Drinks"

As Daniel Reid, author of The Tao of Detox, explains, the sugary sweet, fizzy 'soft drink' is actually an 'acid bomb'.

A 350 ml serving of Coke, Pepsi or similar drink delivers a sugar fix equivalent to about 9 teaspoons of sugar straight into the blood stream. This instantly acidifies the bloodstream to the extreme point that without an immediate emergency response from the body, it would kill you in a mater of minutes. To counter act this rise in pH, you'd have to drink 32 glasses of alkaline water to netralize the blood pH.

Soft drinks contain carbon dioxide, which is a waste product of human metabolism and a primary contributing factcor to blood acidosis. In addition, soft drinks contain phosphoric acid, which has a very high pH of 2.8. Since blood must be maintained at a slightly alkaline ph of 7.35 at all times, this causes a further drain on your bdies calcium resources.

Soft Drinks are extremely acidic and can eat through the bottom of a liner of an aluminium can. This can leach aluminium from the can into the drink if it sits too long on the shelf. Alzheimer patients who been autopsied ALL have high levels of aluminium in their brains. Heavy metals in the body can lead to many neurological symptoms and other diseases.

Soft Drinks have a pH of about 2.5, bellow pH 6.5 means Acidity which in turn means you are putting something into your body that is thousands of times more acidic than your body is designed to cope with. Critical pH is 5.5 at which tooth and mineral will dissolve! Unhealthy cells flourish in an acidic environment. Soft Drinks and acidic foods deposit acid waste in the body which accumulates over a period of time. These wastes manifest themselves as joint problems and organ dysfunction. The Body pH of cancer or arthritis patients is always low/acidic.

Alkalosis is another scenario, in that your body could have a very high pH, this is caused by an acidic cell base. However, as a rule of thumb the more ill a person is the lower their Body pH. Soft Drinks are one the most acidic forming substances that you can possibly put into your body, especially avoid these when you are ill, even with a cold, flu or something that may be worse, the acidic content of the drink will help to maintain the condition.

• It will be much harder for your body to ward off any illness whilst it is also trying to correct your pH.
• If you have amalgam fillings and drink soft drinks then having a soft drink will bring about what is known as an acid attack on the fillings and so leach out more of the mercury vapour in your amalgam fillings.
• Combine this with the possible leakage from the aluminium of the can and you have a potent cocktail of acidity and heavy metals attacking your precious pH levels, as well as enabling disease processes that may be going on to consolidate or proliferate

Soft Drinks acidity can remove rust from a car bumper or other metal surfaces like coins. Can you imagine what it's doing to your digestive tract as well as the rest of your body?

Soft drinks steal water from the body:They work very much like a diuretic, which takes away more water than it provides to the body. For your body to process the high levels of sugar in soft drinks it uses a considerable amount water, which is required for other bodily functions.

In order to replace the water stolen by soft drinks, you need to drink at least 8-12 glasses of water for every glass of soft drinks that you consume. Soft Drinks never quench your thirst, certainly not your body's need for water, in fact they make you want more of the same especially diet drinks. The elevated levels of phosphates in soft drinks leach vital minerals from your body.

Soft Drinks are made with purified water that also leaches vital minerals from your body. A severe lack of minerals can lead to Heart Disease (lack of magnesium), Osteoporosis (lack of calcium) and many other diseases. Most vitamins can not perform their functions in the body without the presence of minerals.

Constantly denying your body an adequate amount of water can lead to a Chronic Cellular Dehydration, a condition that weakens your body at the cellular level most symptoms are DRYNESS e. g. dry skin, dry mouth, constipation etc. This can lead to a weakened immune system and all your system really needs is hydrating with WATER.

Soft drinks lead to a sugar crash: the high amount of sugar in Soft Drinks causes your pancreas to produce an abundance of insulin, which leads to a "sugar crash". This abundance of insulin removes too much sugar from the blood stream leaving you with low blood sugar level. You feel tired, get forgetful, can't concentate and need a sugar fix! You then repeat the process. Chronic elevation and depletion of sugar and insulin can lead to diabetes and other imbalanced related diseases. This is particularly disruptive to growing children and can lead to life-long health problems.

Soft drinks shut down the digestive process: Soft Drinks severely interfere with digestion, the caffeine and high amounts of sugar virtually shut down the digestive process. That means your body is essentially taking in NO nutrients from the food you may have just eaten, even food that was eaten hours earlier. Soft drinks consumed with french-fries can take WEEKS to digest. This can also lead to a syndrome where large proteins pass into the blood via the small intestine and cause allergic reactions.

Diet soft drinks and Aspartame: Out of the frying pan, into the fire! Diet soft drinks contain Aspartame, which has been linked to depression, insomnia, neurological disease and a plethora of other illnesses. The FDA has received more than 10,000 consumer complaints about Aspartame, that is 80% of all complaints about food additives. Soft drinks with Aspartame left in the sun/heat can turn the drink into Formaldehyde. Ask anyone who drinks diet drinks how much they consume they think they are being healthy but in fact the opposite is true and these drinks also make you gain weight! Formaldehyde is a very toxic substance. There is an increase in sensitivity to formaldehyde when there is a disruption in the methionine (sulfur) pathway. It has been listed as carcinogen by EPA, its vapours intensely irritating to mucous membranes. Topical application (ie on the skin) may produce an irritant dermatitis. Ingestion may cause severe abdominal pain, hematemesis, hematuria, proteinuria, anaemia, acidosis, vertigo, coma, and death.

Thanks to Healthy Chef Creations (www.healthychefcreations.com) for sharing this important information.