5 Unusual and Effective Natural Health Products

We are used to seeing pills, powders and dried out mushrooms as part of the whole food multivitamin product range. However, as the industry becomes more developed and differentiated, manufacturers of holistic health products are coming up with more and more unusual, and effective, ideas! Today we are looking at 5 odd-seeming, but effective, nutritionist recommended products.

New Chapter Life Shield Throat Defense

We are used to taking our dietary supplements and defenses internally … but more usually as a pill than a spray! This odd product makes perfect sense - the lining of our throat is very thin, and there are so many airborne viruses and pollutants in our crowded modern world. This product is based on the immune-boosting properties of mushrooms.

MyChelle Guava Cactus Mask

Again, antioxidants are sually delivered via the teeth, tongue, throat and stomach … not the skin! This nourishing antioxidant mask has anti-aging ingredients like organic green tea and tocotrienols to clean up the antioxidants that can really damage our skin. Better out than in, in this case!

Tea Trio by Garden of Life

It is rare that tea manufacturers and whole food multivitamin manufacturers get together to create a product. Usually herbal teas have only scanty evidence for their health benefits - these teas are made by one of the pre-eminent manufacturers of natural health products.

Ginger Honey Tonic for Digestion

When was the last time you saw anything advertised as a 'tonic'? It was probably in an advertisement from the 60s, however the old-fashioned name is a disguise for quite an advanced product. Ginger and papaya support digestion, and there are an additional 12 anti-aging ingredients that neutralize free-radical activity.

Clenzology by Garden of Life

One of the few products that recognizes that good health and avoidance of disease is most easily achieved by simply killing germs before they get to your body … immune boosting is a very worthwhile exercise, but certainly limited in its effectiveness. This unusual product cleans under the fingernails as well as refreshing the breath … amazing!

5 Things You Didn't Know You Could Buy Organic

Going organic is a big lifestyle change … it means paying more attention to what is in your home, going into your lungs, entering your stomach, and being put on your skin than you ever have in your life! However, there are thousands of people that swear they have much healthier, more vibrant lives because of the change to organic. It simply makes sense to live as close to nature as you possibly can. If you are thinking about a change to organic (or have started already), today we take you through five products that many people don't know there is an organic version of, from organic vitamins and gut bacteria, to organic t-shirts.

Fruit and vegetables

This is an obvious one. But while you probably know there are organic fruits and vegetables out there, what you probably don't realize is the range that is available. You can get just about anything, from raspberries to pawpaw to dates to baby corn to prepacked lettuce, spinach and squash. Look for stores online that will deliver to you -- you can often get a better price than in the supermarket.

Gift Hampers

There are a hundred stores that sell gift hampers, but only a few that sell organic ones. Hampers are a great way to introduce your friends and loved ones to the awesome taste and better nutrition that organic foods provide. Of course, you can always make up your own organic hamper, too!

Organic maitake mushrooms

Mushrooms are often heavily coated in chemicals to help protect them from environmental factors they are so vulnerable to. You can get the benefits of maitake mushrooms in organic form, with no counterproductive chemicals, from the famous whole food multivitamin company New Chapter.

Shampoo and Conditioner

If you have an aversion to chemicals, you probably avoid reading the back of your shampoo bottle … it is just too depressing. You can actually get organic shampoo and conditioner that is just as good as the synthetic version at cleaning and conditioning your hair … and much better at looking after your body!

Wine

Growing winegrapes can use a lot of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Many people that drink organic wine claim the hangover is almost non-existent, compared to standard wine. Good enough reason for me!

Three FAQs About Organic Vitamins

There is currently an unprecedented level of intrusion into our lives by chemicals … where we used to pick something straight out of ground and eat it (and in fact, evolved quite highly while doing so!), now there is chemical intervention in many areas of our lives. The exposure to chemicals and other non-natural particles and waves concerns many people, who believe that the diseases that currently plague our society could be almost wiped out by using organic products. You probably know you can get organic apples … but did you know you can get organic vitamins? Today we answer five question about them.

What is organic, anyway?

Anything that is labelled as organic should also have a certification mark from the USDA National Organic Program, otherwise it may not adhere to the strict standards needed for the term to be correct. Organic products should not contain, be treated with, or be exposed to any:

• Pesticides
• Synthetic fertilizers
• Sewage sludge
• Genetically modified organisms
• Ionizing radiation
• Antibiotics
• Growth hormones.

In other words, they should be 100%, completely, all natural.

Why do organic vitamins cost more?

Like many other organic products, organic vitamins cost more than their synthetic counterparts because of the lower yields that organic crops have, and the effort involved in converting land to organic status (a 3 year process). However, most people feel the extra cost is well worth it.

There's no taste factor with organic vitamins .. why is it so important to buy organic?

One of the big reasons that people advocate organic food is the taste difference - they believe that organic food has a fresher, more natural, sweeter and fuller taste. Obviously, this doesn’t matter with vitamins, but there is another concern. Scientists have recognized for quite a while that it is better to get your vitamins from whole food rather than in a pill, and it is possible that the chemicals and process of isolating vitamins takes away their value to your body. This is why organic vitamins are recommended.

Symptoms of Candidiasis

Candida overgrowth puts an enormous strain on the body's defences. Many of us are naturally prone to candida overgrowth, or you may be taking medications (such as antibiotics or the contraceptive pill) that break down your body's fungal defense systems and predispose you to candida overgrowth. However, you may not even know that you have it! Today we look at some of the symptoms of candidiasis, to help you know when to start a fungal defense course.

White patches in your mouth

These may appear on your tongue, inside your cheeks or in your throat. They are nothing more than little colonies of yeast cells, setting up camp in your pristine mouth. Ugh!

Frequent vaginal or penile thrush

Most of us have experienced the horrible itchiness that comes along with vaginal or penile thrush. If you have a general candida overgrowth in your body, you will be very prone to thrush outbreaks, the OTC medications that you get will take up to their maximum time to work and you'll usually have fast recurrence of symptoms.

Skin rashes in warm, damp areas

You might get a rash under your arms, under your breasts, around your groin or in other skin folds (which you'll notice more, the more skin folds you have). Yeast likes to live and breed in warm, moist places, and if you have serious overgrowth, even being occasionally exposed to the air like your armpits and the area underneath your breast are, won’t bother it. These rashes will usually be itchy, just like genital thrush is … a horrible, unsatisfiable itch that doesn’t stop until you've scratched it to the point of pain.

Skin blisters

In extreme cases, skin blisters may develop due to the irritation of little colonies of yeast living on it!

If you find that you are prone to yeast infections, or even if you are on the contraceptive pill or antibiotics, it is a good idea to take a fungal defense as a preventive action. It is much easier to stop colonies becoming established than fight them once they are.

Is Your Water Sabotaging Your Health Regime?

We hear volumes about the health benefits of water … we are supposed to drink 8 glasses daily, use it wash our hands thoroughly, and shower in it every day. However, in some cases, your water might be sabotaging your health regime. The quality of our drinking water is actually fairly poorly regulated. While we certainly have developing country standards of water safety (where you can get typhoid or giardia just from your morning glass of water), there are still plenty of nasties in our water. Today we look at how to combat the baddies in your water!

Where do impurities in the water come from?

Our water supply is not a closed system. It comes from aquifers or dams, that are in contact with the soil. It is fed by rainfall, which can quite easily have low levels of harmful chemicals in it - think acid rain. Agricultural runoff (fertilizers and pesticides) and improper use of household chemicals are two of the major sources of chemical pollution in our water.

What do these chemicals do?

This is very difficult to say with any certainty - it would take decades fro scientists to properly study the effects of having isolated chemicals in the drinking water of a certain population … not to mention pretty unethical. However, many people believe that the increase in a wide range of degenerative diseases is caused by the constant low-level exposure to chemicals that we all deal with every day, some of which come from our water.

So, if you’re taking whole food multivitamins to help prevent osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis, for example, your water could certainly be sabotaging your health regime!

So, should I drink bottled water?

Not if you care about the environment! Current estimates are that it TAKES three bottles of water to CREATE one bottle of water. That is waste, water used in processing, water used in making the plastic, water used in transporting and refrigerating it, etc. Not to mention the affect of petrochemical production, fuel for transport... bottled water isn't even guaranteed to be a purer than tap water. Tap water is the best delivery system for water - it is just that it needs to be cleaned up a bit.

Water filtration systems

These are generally accepted as the best solution to the water purity/environmental conundrum. They require an investment, but your will use them every day for the rest of your long, long life … no more negating the effects of all those vege stir-fries and whole food multivitamins!

7 Groups at Increased Risk of Bone Diseases … and What to Do About It

Our poor old bones … they are one of the most ignored parts of our bodies, after our spleens and medulla oblongatas! The terrible thing about that ignorance is, though, that in later life your mobility and capability is enormously reduced, if you might shatter a hip simply by steeping down off something the wrong way. Today we are looking at some groups that are at increased risk of bone diseases, and the organic vitaminsthey should be taking to offset that risk.

1. Athletes
   Crazy, isn’t it … we are told that exercise is needed for peak bone mass, and yet athletes are at increased risk of osteoporosis! Before you throw your gym shoes in the corner in disgust at medical science's ineptitude, read on. It is only when people undertake elite level competition, during the main bone formation years up to 25 that they are at increased risk. When female athletes stop menstruating, that is a strong signal they are at risk of early osteoporosis. Organic vitamins can help.
2. Breast cancer survivors
   Chemotherapy often destroys the ovaries' ability to produce and release eggs, and the resulting hormonal changes are a great danger to the health of breast cancer survivor's bones.
3. Early onset menopause
   Every post-menopausal woman is at increased risk of osteoporosis, and needs to take special care of her bones, usually with gentle weight bearing exercise and whole food multivitamins. Early menopausal women may still be working, carrying children around, etc, and are at risk of fractures.
4. Eating disorders
   When adolescents develop eating disorders, they have severely impacted peak bone mass, due to the malnutrition.
5. Elderly women
   The combined action of menopause's hormonal changes, lack of ability to exercise and lowered appetite make elderly women prime candidates for osteoporosis.
6. Corticosteriod therapy patients
   It is a well know n side effect of medications for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and some skin conditions that bone density loss can occur.
7. Over and Underactive thyroid
   If you have an over or underactive thyroid, in addition to whole food multivitamins for glandular support, you should be taking a bone strength formulation.

Whole Food Multivitamins for Bone Health

We tend to think that if we take the trouble to drink milk with our coffee a few times a day, our bones will be just fine well into old age. Unfortunately, that just isn’t so! Maintaining healthy bones might not be high on the short-term health watchlist, but it is vital to your wellbeing after menopause. Today we are looking at the whole food multivitamins, minerals and supplements that can help you maintain good bone health for life.

Calmag Bone Health by New Chapter

This blend contains calcium as well as the synergistic nutrients it needs to do its special thing with your bones, in a whole food base form. It contain calcium and magnesium in a 1:1 ratio, plus 6 other trace elements that are needed for bone health.

Bone Strength Take Care by New Chapter

Your body recognizes this supplement as food, so you get the benefits of drinking milk or eating cheese, but without the calories. You also get the beneficial effects of having the nutrients delivered in complex format rather than in isolation.

Living Calcium Advanced by Garden of Life

This whole food multivitamin contains MHCA calcium, as well as many supporting cofactors, minerals etc. It contains vitamin K as well as betaine and Poten-yme B Vitamins.

Capraflex by Mt Capra

This organic vitamin formulation supports not only your bones, but all those supporting structures that are necessary for movement - your joints, ligaments, and other connective tissues. Mt Capra is famous for delivering vitamins in natural, organic bases that make them easy to utilise.

In addition to all the whole food multivitamins above, you should endeavor to get 5-20 minutes of sunshine a day on your arms and face, just about every day. If you live above 42 degrees north latitude, you should spend more time than this outdoors for vitamin D synthesis. And don't forget to do 20 minutes of weight-bearing exercise a day -- jump around while you still can!