Posts Tagged ‘working’

Eating foods you need on a healthy budget?

I hear often from my clients how much more expensive it is to purchase whole foods, especially of the organic, free range, grass-fed kind.  I too have experienced that “safe”, more nutrient dense foods can be more costly.  But I also have found that there are shortcuts to saving money while eating really really well.  Some of my practices include purchasing some bulk foods from a wholesaler (frozen grass-fed meats) and frozen organic fruits and berries.  But what are other ideas?

I’ve praised the environmental working group (ewg.org) in other blog entries for their services that they offer including toxins evaluation of over 60,000 products.  But they’ve done it again with a tremendous FREE resource of how to eat healthy on a budget.   In this link you’ll find:

  • suggested vegetables that are less costly and most nutrient dense
  • suggested meats and fish that are safe to eat and affordable
  • meal ideas and recipes
  • and even how to budget specifically.  Like this really great tool below:

For every $25 you can spend on food, experts suggest:

• $6 for vegetables• $5 for fruits • $4 for grains • $4-5 for proteins • $4 for dairy • $1-2 for oils and other foods (check it out on page 28)

This is a “must read” for any household that wants to eat healthy but needs resources and direction.

Be well,

Lynn

An easy stressor that we can remove from our daily practice.

Topical applications including shampoos, hair products, lotions, lip moisturizers, sunscreens, skin creams, makeup and nail polish can contain toxic substances such as pthalates and parabans that are heavily absorbed into the body adding to the toxic load.  According to the EWG.org (the Environmental Working Group) about 70% of commercial skin/hair/body products contain contaminants. 

Pthalates, often referred to as plasticizers, are chemicals that are used to make plastic products more durable.  They are used in hundreds of products including vinyl flooring, detergents, personal care products, adhesives and oils.   Plasticizers release diethyl pthalate (DEHP) and it’s been declared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “a probable known carcinogen”.  What does this mean? High exposure to DEHP OR low resources to detoxify DEHP OR both, may lead to cancer.   For these reasons young children that crawl on the floor, put their fingers in their mouth and have under-developed detofixification systems  are extremely vulnerable to DEHP exposure.  Adults with full “kettles” are also at risk of reach the “tipping point” by chronic exposures to DEHP (refer to my article here on “How full is your kettle?”)

Parabens are inexpensive chemicals used in hundreds of manufactured products as preservatives that kill viruses and fungus.  Parabens can be found in shampoos, moisturizers, shaving gel, topical pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, sunscreens, processed meats, for examples, but can be found in less thought of products as pancake syrup, pudding and muffins.   Parabens mimic estrogen and have been linked with premature development in young girls, damaged DNA sperm in men, diminished ovarian reserve and breast cancer. 

What to do?  The Environmental Working Group (www.EWG.org) has evaluated over 69,000 skin/hair/makeup products for harmful toxic substances.  All you need to do is enter your product in question and the EWG will produce a green, yellow, or red rating system.  You can find the specific link here. 

This may take a bit of time to research safe products so that you can reduce your toxic load,  but I believe you are worth it.

Be well,

Lynn