Enviro Mentality

What’s on your food?  Below is a list of the highest pesticide contaminated fruits and vegetables published by the Environmental Working Group.

This list allows you to make better choices when buying food.  Obviously, for the most tainted products, organic produce is best.   If you can’t get organic, check at your local farmer’s market to see if  local farmers use chemicals.  Many farmers are opting not to because of consumer concerns.  Although local food providers are not ‘certified organic’  (which is a very expensive and paperwork-intensive process) some farmers call themselves ‘beyond organic.’  This means that they go far beyond what the current USDA specifications for organic are.

Notice, too, that imported grapes (from Chile, for example) are higher in pesticides that their U.S. counterparts.

This makes it even more important that you adopt a detox regimen, drink pure water and rid your life of as many chemicals as you can.  This is why herbal detox remedies are important, as well as detox baths.  Add to this the benefits of massage and you’re on your way to a healthier life!

FoodNews: Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides

The Full List: 47 Fruits & Veggies

Note: We ranked a total of 47 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.

Sweating isn’t the only way to detox.  Many spa products: facial scrubs, aromatherapy, body scrubs, facial masks,  facial scrubs, bath tea blends and herbal tea blends can help do the job also.

Most people believe that you only start detoxing from the inside out. Yes, that’s true but you can start from the outside in.  By removing dead skin, stimulating the outer skin layers down into the deeper areas through massage or bath salts or herbal detox baths, the entire body system is invigorated and prompted to move out toxins.

Drinking herbal teas before, during and after your bath can assist in getting out toxins.  You’re detoxing from the inside (with the tea), from the inside TO the outside (with the removal of toxins) and from the outside in via your bath!

A massage before your detox bath also assists in moving out toxins. and is essential for pain relief.  By stimulation lymph systems, release from muscle and tissues it it very beneficial in detoxification.

Regularly bathing is a spa bath is a good way to keep illness at bay.  By strengthening your immune system, consistently removing toxins, your body already has a head start on fighting flu and colds during winter months. Using bath salts is a great way to help rid yourself of toxins and pain.

Toxins make pain.  It’s a well documented fact that the more junk you’re carrying around in your system, the more you’ll be in pain.

Again I use myself as a case study.  Years ago worked at Lowe’s in the garden center and inside seasonal department.  I was around the pesticide area constantly.  I swept floors, handled the bags for customers, restocked the shelves. (never without gloves)  I started experiencing pain all through my body.  Sometimes at night it would wake me out of a dead sleep;  I’d wake up screaming as if I were being stabbed!

After I left Lowe’s, my constant pain stopped.  I was being poisoned by pesticides!

Being more conscious of what I eat, I find that when my diet gets ‘junky’ with processed foods slipping in, and dehydration,  I start to experience more pain.  Toxins are building up.  My movement is restricted, I hurt more all over and I find myself reaching for the bottle of aspirin.

A good detox bath with either Epsom salts or Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath takes the edge off that.  It helps the cells release and rebuild. Damaged cells allow more toxins in.

Follow these rules:

• Go on a healthy, all natural (uncooked) food diet for a few days or a week.
• Eat enough fiber.  Elimination of toxins through waste is very important.
• Hydrate - Drink water, green teas, fresh juices - NO soda, fizzy water, juices with sugar or caffeine.
• Go for massages to help drain your lymph system and remove toxins and acids
• Take a detox bath using mustard bath and/or Epsom salts.
• Do what you can to eliminate stress:  learn meditation, go for walks outside; whatever calms you.

You can help your body heal, relieve pain and regenerate.

This is flu and cold season.  The best defense is an offense, and doing a detox with mustard bath is a good way to stay ahead of the germs and the H1N1.

A hot bath with Epsom Salts or other bath salts, coupled with Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath will detox your body. Eliminating toxins, which weaken the immune system, helps rid your body of potential bouts with flu and colds. The idea here, though, is to keep on top of it.  By regularly taking a hot detox bath - which raises body temperature - you are killing off germs.  That’s what a fever does where you’re sick.  It’s the body’s natural reaction to the virus.  Why not help it?

When my throat feels scratchy and I fear I might be bitten by some errant bug, I jump in the tub and ‘boil’ myself for an hour or two.  I guess, too, that I am blessed with a good immune system, but I never get sick.  I don’t get colds and haven’t had the flu in over 30 years.  (knock wood)

I’m not saying that Dr. Singha’s Mustard bath will cure the  H1N1 flu  or a cold once it’s gotten a good grip on you. No, it’s just a good cold and flu fighter and keeps your system running better to fight off illness.

This is my own testimony to the healing effects of detox baths and bath salts.

On Christmas Eve, I took a nasty fall on the stairs inside my home.  I missed the last step and went down like a ton of bricks.  Most of my weight landed on my right hand and knee, but my fall was broken (thankfully) by some boxes at the foot of the stairs.  As I was falling, and apparently by instinct trying to find balance, I yanked down the brass hall tree, which fell on top of me.  I got ’stabbed’ on the back by one of the arms of the tree, leaving a cut and nasty bruise.  My leg had a bruise that ran from my kneecap half way up my thigh!  (I’m gettin’ too old for acrobatics!)

That night I knew the best thing to do was to take a hot bath in Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath. This I knew from other ‘over-exertions’ would draw some of the soreness and pain out of my body.

Being injured produces a myriad of chemical reactions in the body.  Physical effects include stiffness wherein the affected area tries to immobilize itself to heal torn or stretched  ligaments or bruises.  We also react unconsciously, by limiting our movements. Taking a hot bath in salts or a detox solution helps to relieve pain and stiffness.  It draws toxins from the injured area away and out. Old blood that has pooled due to bruising is stimulated to move out, reducing more pain.

The next morning -  I could not believe how sore I wasn’t! I thought for sure I’d really be hobbling and unable to move.  Yeah, my knee was touchy and the immediate area where it was bruised was tender, but all in all - I truly believe the detox bath helped!

‘Tis the season for slipping and sliding on icy stairs and sidewalks.  A Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath and oil in your medicinal arsenal will do wonders to help with winter acrobatics!

Thank you MONSANTO!  Thank you ORTHO!  Thank you to ALL those wonderful scientists who  thought they were helping this world when some of this stuff was invented.

OK…, OK…, I know about the miracle of plastics and synthetic compounds  and how they have revolutionized life on this planet.

Let’s also remember that as we are finding out, ‘fake’ isn’t better.  Synthetic isn’t necessarily better.  Why?  Because it’s killing us.

Modern science is gathering evidence that artificial ingredients are making us sick.  Decades have passed since this stuff was first introduced into our food.  Look at us now?  We’re fat and sick… some of us are dying from cancer BECAUSE of the stuff.

Our bodies cannot metabolize those fake ingredients.  They cause all sorts of havoc in our bodies as they try to deal with them.  The result:  cancer, hormonal disruptions, illness, allergies and mysterious diseases.

Pesticides are endocrine disruptors, carcinogenic and weaken the immune system.  They are also NEUROTOXINS.  How do you think they kill bugs?  The chemical makes their systems shut down - BANG !  Little by little, with enough exposure, humans suffer a different reaction.  These insidious compounds lodge in fat cells and organs and sit there for decades.  By then - there may be other factors, coupled with the weakened immune system and the whole body goes nuts and says “I GIVE UP!”  Result:  cancer.

I heard a story of a woman who worked at a company where she was in contact with chemicals on a regular basis.  I don’t know what the extent OF the exposure was; direct, indirect, exposure to fumes,  or what chemical.  I do know that her hair started falling out, she had terrible pain and many other symptoms.  Doctor after doctor dismissed her as a hypochondriac because their standard blood & urine tests revealed nothing.

Finally she went to a doctor who was inquisitive enough to run some different tests which evidenced that this poor woman was slowly being poisoned!

This is how insidious these things can be.  If you or someone you know has been diagnosed as a hypochondriac, tell them to get a different doctor who will do some extensive tests for poisonings.

It could save their life!

In the meantime, we all need to DETOX on a regular basis.  A mustard bath or a bath with healing salts can help detoxify your body.  Plenty of fresh water to help wash out toxins, too!  Using organic personal care items can help keep toxins out of your system, too

Pesticides pose a health risk to humans, especially children.  Because the ‘pests’ they are designed to kill - insects, fungi and plants, their use in the past half century has become the norm.  Not only farmers use them but the average household uses a frightening amount each year.

Pesticide manufacturers will SWEAR that these products are safe.  I once attended a seminar given by some of the folks at Ortho, Spectracide and others.  I was absolutely enraged to hear these men LIE about being able to put these toxins on FOOD, then eat them an hour later!  I wanted to stand up and scream…, alas, it would have meant the end of my job.  They will defend them to the minute they are pulled off the market!

Recent studies show that they cause damage in the following areas of human health:

Skin, lung and eye irritations

Neurological systems

Hormone

Carcinogenic effects

What can you do?  Limit your exposure as much as possible and detox your body often. This list gives information of how you can help yourself avoid pesticides and why!

Just a simple start of a detox bath once or twice a week, plus eating organic food, drinking purified water can go a long way to help reduce the toxic load.  These poisons accumulate in the body, so it’s time to get rid of them - for a healthier YOU !

Until a few years ago, only the most savvy spa worshiper had probably even heard of detoxing with salts.  Now, however, bath salts, aromatic bath salts, along with Epsom salts have become well known.

Salt has long been used as a purifier.  Salt was, and still is in some cultures, used as a preservative.  Now, however, it is used for detoxification and cleansing.

Containing many different minerals depending on its origin, salt’s healing properties have been extolled for centuries.  Its exfoliating action not only strips dead skin cells but actually draws out toxins upon contact with the skin.  When mixed with organic oils, which also have their own healing properties, salt promotes rejuvenation of the skin through many layers.

Bathing in itself is relaxing and healing, perhaps taking us back to our time in the womb…, who knows?

Tis the season for colds and flu which makes taking a hot detox bath even more important for overall health.  Add some aromatic bath salts and organic oils to your next bath and see if you don’t instantly feel better!

Improve your skin’s health and keep wrinkles at bay with these simple strategies:

Exfoliate is the key to renewing your skin. Dead cells dull your skin’s appearance.  Using an exfoliating natural scrub or en exfoliating soap helps maintain a clear, smooth, even-toned complexion.  It also helps your body detox itself more quickly and efficiently.

If you’ve got oily skin try a exfoliating soap or aromatic bath salt containing tea tree or lavender.  You can easily make your own salt scrub using quality, 100% organic (never synthetic) oils and Himalayan salt.

Another important step is to moisturize. Daily moisturizing not only keeps skin soft and supple, but it enhances the barrier function to help ward off toxins.  It also improves the skin’s ability to retain moisture. Look for products containing botanicals, such as the Benedetta Rosemary & Geranium Massage-In Cleanser, which exfoliates and moisturizes in one step.

Finally, drinking plenty of water helps cleanse your skin and your entire body.  Why not make a start today to glow on the inside and the outside, too!