I subscribe to (too) many health and nutrition publications to feed my interest and to stay current in my field so can help my clients more effectively.  Sometimes the magazines and newsletters just pile up, one issue on top of the other until I end up recycling them or giving to a friend.  Recently while trying to clear clutter from my life, I went on a reading binge while my son was taking an unusually long nap.  In just a few hours, my reading had gone from innocuously informational to paranoia-inducing when subjects ranged from finding the right bra for your body, the best way to roast a chicken, how to choose paint colors for a room to scary articles on breast cancer, misdiagnosed stroke and heart attack in women, swine flu, and the superbug MRSA all meaning to be informational but were on the verge instead of creating panic.

I shouldn't be surprised by this-scare tactics sell issues and keep people watching-and reading.  The downside is that there has to be a balance between staying informed and inadvertently reading too many articles about life threatening diseases (ie. bird flu, swine flu, superbug, mad cow disease, cancer, etc.) so much so that you feel unhealthier after reading your favorite health publications.

To cut down on information over-load, cut down on the internet research you do and be choosy about the health publications you subscribe to.  A big giveaway for poorly written and scare-selling mags that may be hurting instead of healing you is if they advertise an article on the front cover that taps into everyone's worst fears (ie: Could it be Cancer?? see pg. 60).

Remember that there is staying on top of health news to better empower yourself and to help you take better care of yourself and loved ones by bringing up health related concerns and suspicions to your primary care physician, and then there is reading articles meant to bring awareness around a certain health subject but are actually written with the intent on selling more issues than saving lives.   These articles only induce fear, dread, and paranoia in it's readers instead of wellness and empowerment as they distort the reality of the statistics behind a disease or illness.  I'm not trying to say that awareness around issues such as breast cancer or heart disease are not serious and should be ignored.   But often the over-publication and nightly news coverage on diseases can create a sense in informed readers and viewers (even unconsciously) that everything isn't alright or that these diseases are imminent and just looming, waiting to surface, instead of focusing on living life in the moment and disease prevention without fear.



 

Just before I was about to toss all of my son's plastic sippy cups in the trash, I decided to do a little digging to see just how toxic the ones he has really are.  I started contacting some of the major brands-Gerber, Playtex, Avent, etc.

Continue reading More On BPA and Sippy Cups-Which Ones to Avoid.

Despite some wacky warmer weather we've been having here in New York this month, as a recent snow storm just proved, winter is still in full effect.  The nights are still chilly and our house is brrrrr cold.  My son kicks off blankets in his sleep and wakes up with hands and feet like little icicles. We used to dress him in the typical polyester footed sleepers until we realized that doing so was possibly exposing him to dangerous flame retardants, PBDE's (polybrominated diphenyl ethers known to cause thyroid problems in lab rats and is linked to neurological damage) used to protect children from catching on fire. Unfortunately, initially intended as an precautionary additive to consumer products such as sofas, textiles, clothing and electronics to make us all safer, these dangerous chemicals are now in most of our bodies at alarmingly high levels, and with a structural similarity to PCB's (Polychlorinated Biphenyls banned in the USA in 1977 but still present in the environment) which are known to have neurotoxic and carcinogenic effects.   

This is an issue that makes my head spin. 

Continue reading PCBE's and Finding Non-Flame Retardant Children's Sleepwear.

Most people are chronically dehydrated and don't even realize it.  Coffee, alcohol, caffeinated carbonated beverages and simply forgetting to drink enough during the day are major contributors to dehydration.  Subtle and not so subtle signs include fatigue, weakness, a "spacey" feeling, dry skin, nails and hair, constipation, poor digestion and absorption of foods.  Children can also get dehydrated easily, especially if they are sick, so it's important to make sure that they are drinking enough fluids throughout the day as well. 

One way to figure out how many cups of water you need to drink for your particular body is by multiplying your weight by .5- this will give you the number of fluid ounces your body needs- then take that number and divide by eight.  This last number will give you a good estimate of how many cups of fluid you need a day.  If you are pregnant, nursing, exercising vigorously or live in a warmer climate, it is always a good idea to drink a little more throughout the day.

Continue reading Are You Drinking Enough Water?.