What is environment?

We generally think of the environment as being outside of ourselves. But just think about it for a moment. If we look at our planet from outer space and see the globe, we are part of that picture. Yes, we are too small to be seen by the physical eye but we are in that picture. So technically we are part of the environment not separate from it.

Our environment consists of land and water. There are many creatures both in the water and on the land. All connected in what we call the web of life. In this environment, the human creatures grow food from the land and drink the water that is potable.

What is food?

Food starts from a seed and that seed grows in the soil and we humans eat various parts of the end result, either the root or the above ground part. Humans also kill animals and fish for food as well. There is a whole cycle of life involved here.

Have you ever marveled at the miracle of the seed? Inside the seed is an imprint of a plant along with the initial nutrients needed to get the seedling stage. The seeds need some good soil, the right temperature, oxygen, water and sun in order to germinate. Each seed produces a life form with its own circulatory system and roots for assimilation of soil nutrients. Each seed knows every possible detail of the plant or tree it is to become. All that information is wrapped up in a tiny seed. Isn’t that amazing?

When we grow our food or we buy it from stores (who buy the food from food producers through a whole distribution channel), we get the results of the seed interacting with the environment. When we grow the food ourselves, we are in control of the kind of soil we use, the fertilizers and the growing conditions like where we place the seed.  We can choose not to spray any pesticides or herbicides and have everything organically grown. When we purchase from a store we have to be more careful of our choices. There is some organic produce available but it may take some extra effort to find it.

As the plants grow, they take in water and mineral elements from the soil through the root system. They absorb carbon dioxide from the air and through the action of light, directed by chlorophyll, liberate oxygen into the environment. This process is called photosynthesis and the chlorophyll makes more simple substances such as sugars, starch, cellulose, acids, lignin, tannins, amino acids, etc.  The living material of the plant is called protoplasm. Many plants have their own unique substances formed exclusive to that plant. So really plants are energy converters. This is truly a miracle when you think about it.

There are minerals in good rich soils that we can’t absorb until the plant takes them in through the root system and converts them through this whole process of photosynthesis. The energy in the earth comes through the plants and after we eat and absorb these plants, we get the kind of energy we need.

Energy vibrates.

Everything vibrates at different frequencies. Let’s think about what we are putting into our bodies.  Remember we are not only physical; we are also vibrating mentally, emotionally and spiritually. So when we nourish our bodies, we are nourishing all aspects of us. Every meal gives us a chance to energize physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

All the plants and all our food vibrate. If our food has been treated in any way, that changes the vibration.  There are too many factors that change the vibration to list, but bottom line, the more fake a food is, the more the vibration has been changed.

The vibration we are looking for is the one that keeps our energy high. So the more alive and untreated the food is, the more it will nourish us on all levels. So going back to we are the environment, what we do to our food, we do ourselves. What we do to our water, we do to ourselves. Everything is connected.

Our planet is in a state of disarray presently. I believe we are getting signals to remind us to go back to nature and everything natural. I hope that this blog made some connections for you. A gentle reminder to be more aware of what we are putting into our mouth if our desire is to be healthy.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Stay tuned for more on the vibrational effects of food.

Charlene

One Food That Can Save the Day

We are faced with numerous environmental challenges these days. This one is particularly dangerous and I wanted to inform you where you are being exposed to these chemicals and the effects it is having to our future generations.

The word “xenoestrogens” means foreign estrogens. They are man-made environmental chemicals, which are taken up by the estrogen receptor sites in the body and seriously interfere with natural biochemical changes.  These estrogen-like mimics have an uncanny ability to mimic natural estrogen and/or block natural hormones. They have distinct effects in different species and organs. Xenoestrogens are fat-soluble, not biodegradable or well excreted, and accumulate in fat tissue of animals and humans.  They are also dangerously toxic. The principle function of estrogens is to cause cellular proliferation and growth of tissues of the sexual organs and other tissues related to reproduction. So the union of hormone mimics to receptors, triggers genes that stimulate the production of proteins that accelerate cell division. This cell division is leading to a host of health challenges.

Mounting research is now revealing an alarming situation worldwide created by the inundation of these hormone-mimics. In the book, Our Stolen Future, authors Colburn, Dumanoski, and Meyers have identified 51 families of hormone mimics each able to unleash a torrent of effects such as reduced sperm production, cell division and sculpting of the developing brain. These mimics are not only linked to the recent discovery that human sperm counts worldwide have plunged by 50 per cent between 1938 and 1990 but also to altered sexual behaviour, lowered immunity, increased genital deformities, breast, ovarian, uterine, prostate and testicular cancer, and interfered with behavioral and neurological development.

For women, fibrocystic breast disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and pelvic inflammatory diseases are also suspected. These may be influenced by developmental or chronic lifetime exposure to estrogen mimics.

These estrogenic chemicals are everywhere: in the air, water, food, soil, and over-abundantly in our bodies. These chemicals are mostly from the petrochemical industry and unfortunately for our health, petrochemicals are everywhere. Our machines run on petrochemicals such as gasoline and kerosene. Organochlorines are produced by chlorine gas reacting with petroleum hydrocarbons. Today there are organochlorines being used in plastics, pesticides, solvents, dry cleaning agents, refrigerants and other chemicals. Thousands more are by-products of the disinfection of water, bleaching of paper and incineration of chlorinated products.  Millions of products, including various plastics (polycarbonated plastics found in babies bottles, toys, food containers and water jugs), PCBs, microchips, medicines, even our synthetic vitamins, clothing, foods, household cleansers, air deodorizers, personal care products (such as cosmetics, antiperspirants, soaps, toothpaste and mouthwash), pesticides and herbicides (such as DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, etc.) and perfumes, either contain or are made from petrochemicals.

Some proven environmental estrogens used as pesticides, most notably DDT, toxaphene and dicofol, have been banned in most western industrial countries but are still used in many developing nations. Averages of over 25% of all regular Canadian and imported produce show residues of pesticides. In just one example, California raisin and strawberry growers and Washington State apple growers are permitted to use DDT-laced pesticide dicofol on food crops.

Drinking water may be contaminated by other proven estrogenic compounds  (nonylphenol (NP), endosulfan) still being used in plastics manufacturing and pesticides.  NP from our liquid laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaners, soaps and shampoos also taint our water.  Airborne ash from industry or hazardous waste incinerators is often high in hormone disrupters like dioxin (one of the most virulent) as well as lead, mercury, and cadmium. The ash lands on grass or hay eaten by livestock and then is passed along, concentrated, to humans.

Our food is one of the most common pathways for these hormone-disrupting chemicals to gain entry. Processed foods now comprise 80% of our food supply. Packaging, excess sugar and hydrogenated fats, preservatives, artificial colour and flavourings may all be hazardous.  For example, Red Dye No. 3, a powerful carcinogen, is still widely used. Plastic containers, styrene cups, food packaging or can liners may contain PVCs (polyvinyl chlorides), alkylphenols, nonylphenols, bisphenol-a and phthalates. These are known xenoestrogens that migrate into food when heated or stored for long periods.

Food animals and dairy fat are a major source of hormonally active chemicals in our food and waterways. The highest concentrations are in beef and dairy products, with high residues of DDT and other chlorinated pesticides, antibiotics, veterinary drugs and growth-stimulating sex hormones. Fish from industrialized waterways are contaminated with a wide range of xenoestrogens. All Great Lakes salmon show enlarged thyroid glands in recent years.

Taking it one step further, synthetic estrogens are also being dumped into the waterways through the urine of women and enter our food chain. This has also increased our levels of estrogen exposure.

So we see xenoestrogens are everywhere and that we are being bombarded with them. Many women are considered “estrogen dominate” because of our over exposure to these foreign estrogens.  Because this is a big topic, I will deal with this subject next week. What I want to cover this week is that there is a safe alternative that can actually protect us from this over exposure.

Plant estrogens, called phytoestrogens, compete with natural and xenoestrogens for binding to receptors in the body. The phytoestrogens protect us from the toxic, synthetic petrochemical estrogenic compounds. They act as weak estrogens and appear to produce estrogen effects in postmenopausal women and anti-estrogen effects in premenopausal women.  Phytoestrogens thus have this ability to act as “balancers” – by raising low levels of estrogen and by lowering high levels by replacing a strong estrogen with a weaker one.

Significant amounts of phytoestrogens are found in many foods including soy products, flaxseeds, chickpeas, cashews, oats, corn, apples, and almonds.  One of the best sources of phytoestrogens is called isoflavones found in soy.  By eating these foods on a daily basis, we can protect the cell receptor sites from the xenoestrogens. This is an important awareness as most people do not know the benefits of these foods. Phytoestrogens are therefore the “good guys” and can counteract the bad effects of the “bad guys”. So do yourself a favour and protect your cell receptor sites on a daily basis.

Every morning I take my water washed soy protein powder and mix it with water. After I drink it, I know that I have protected my cell receptor sites for the day. I highly recommend that you do the same for increased health and wellness. Feel free to contact me for more information on the difference in the brands of soy protein powder.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover the different types of estrogens and estrogen dominance.

Stay tuned.

Charlene Day

Earth Day This Thursday!

Healthy Soul-utions is all about being healthy in all areas.  This month there is a great focus on planet earth with Earth Day this week.

Everything is interconnected. Our environment is really an extension of us. What we do the planet, we do to ourselves. This week we are going to look at what we are doing to our water resources. Taking our interconnection to another level, we can think of a human body being the smaller scale microcosm and the planet being the larger scale macrocosm.  About 70 percent of the planet is covered in waterways and oceans and the human body contains an average of 70 percent water or fluids. So we can see the mirroring of the microcosm and macrocosm.

Groundwater and fresh water are what humans use for drinking water. The Great Lakes are a vast shared resource containing a significant portion of the world’s freshwater. These lakes are a direct source of drinking water for millions of people as well as sustaining a rich variety of plants and wildlife.

The sustainability of the Great Lakes ecosystem is threatened. The lakes need immediate attention according to government officials.

What we do to our waterways, we do to ourselves, and to our children. How have our waterways become such a chemical soup?

When I was younger and not as educated, I used to blame industry, and it is true, they must plead guilty, and accept the responsibility for cleaning up their act. But then I realized that the combined households had a greater impact on the waterways than the industries. In a typical city of 100,000 people, approximately 14 tons of household cleaners go down the drain each month. Researchers are now saying that 70% of soil and groundwater contamination in North America comes from household cleaners. So it is time to look our home environment and see how we can improve it both for our personal heath and the planet’s health.

How do household cleaners affect our environment? What chemicals are we talking about? I will touch on only a few, There are many more.

1. Sodium Hydroxide found in dishwashing liquids, laundry products, oven cleaners, scouring cleansers and tub and tile cleaners, when inhaled is immediately irritating to the respiratory tract. Contact can cause severe damage to the eyes, skin, mouth, and throat and it can cause liver and kidney damage.

2. Butyl Cellosolve found in all-purpose cleaners, cleaning wipes, degreasers, floor polish, rug shampoos, toilet bowl cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, and window cleaners, contains neurotoxins and cause irritation and tissue damage from inhalation. A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the acute exposure limit.

3. Chlorine found in bleach and other cleaning products is a very hazardous substance. It causes neurological damage, memory impairment, behavioral disorders, spontaneous abortions, low birth rate, reduced testicular size, infertility, low sperm count, immune effects, immune cell abnormalities, and respiratory infections. Chlorine exposure causes a 44% greater risk of gastrointestinal cancer or urinary tract cancer, according to the National Health Federation.

Mitchell Gayor, M.D., Cornell University, states: “Chlorine bleach is potentially carcinogenic  … among its by-products are chlorinated hydrocarbons, chloroform, and trihalo-methanes, all of which act like estrogens and cause breast cells to divide more rapidly.  These by-products have been shown to cause breast tumours in animals.”

We could go on and on, there are many chemicals and these are all going down the drain and into our waterways and groundwater.

How these chemicals are affecting the wildlife? Chemical toxicity is very evident in fish. There is a large increase of fish with tumours and deformities. The World Wildlife Fund reports that not a single salmon in the Great Lakes over the age of two years has been found without an enlarged thyroid gland. Every year the provincial government publishes a fish advisory called “Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish” because of serious health concerns.

It is time that we realize that toxic household cleaners can damage the environment and return to us through water and food. What goes down the drain can come back to haunt us. So chose your cleaning products with care. The ones I choose are Get Clean as they are completely safe for the wildlife and the lakes. In fact those products already regenerated one small lake in upper New York State.

My goal now is to regenerate the Great Lakes starting with Lake Ontario. I need one million households using Get Clean products in order to get the tipping point we need to start the regeneration of the ecological balance for Lake Ontario. I need your help.

For more information on these healthy safe products, check out the healthy home section at www.healthyday.net. In honour of Earth Day, I will give out free samples to anyone who contacts me this month.

Together we can choose to become conscious stewards of our planet earth. Our individual actions can and do make a difference to water quality and the environment as a whole. Caring for the environment really does begin at home.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover some more ways we can protect the planet as we wrap up our Earth Day month.

Stay tuned.

Charlene

The Environment – Borrowing it From Our Children

Healthy Soul-utions is all about being healthy in all areas. This month there is a great focus on planet earth with Earth Day in a few weeks.

Everything is interconnected.  So our environment is really an extension of us. What we do the planet, we do to ourselves. We see the environment is in trouble. As the Native Americans say, “We have not inherited the earth from our fathers. We are BORROWING it from our children.”

As a health care professional, I am appalled at the number of children I have seen in my practice over the years. Upon investigation, I realized a major factor for this, is the environment these children have to cope with.

Now environment means both interior and exterior. We are all willing to point the finger and blame our external environment, but how many of us have really cleaned up our interior environments? I believe we need to look at our personal environments first and educate ourselves.

Most of the moms I met did not know that their choices of cleaning agents were harming their childrens’ health. Ammonia, ammonium hydroxide, ethanol, phenol and naphthalene are examples of some the chemicals in laundry detergents. Residues of these chemicals remain in the clothing and bedding and come in direct contact with the skin and respiratory system. By changing the laundry soap to a safe biodegradable one, I have helped many children eliminate asthma and allergic symptoms.

A note here about biodegradable. According to government standards, it means that it breaks down but there are no standards as to whether these chemicals have to be harmless. Also it has to break down within a hundred years. (Not acceptable in my books)

It can be very easy to make a few changes in our own homes and this gives us a sense of control. I know it certainly helps me to know I am not contributing to any further polluting of our planet.  Now we can make a difference to our internal environment and health. If each of us makes a difference, then we will create a hopeful picture for our future generations.

After many years of careful research, I recommend Dr. Shaklee‘s biodegradable products called Get Clean. Dr. Shaklee coined the word “biodegradable” back in the 50s. He saw what we were doing to our planet back then. NASA, the Biosphere 2 (World Renowned Environmental Project) in Arizona and the Cousteau Society use only the Get Clean products because they break down into harmless chemicals in a very short period of time.

Get Clean has something for every cleaning need. A good place to start is with the general cleaner. The Basic H2 concentrate has over 1,000 different cleaning uses. I used to bathe my grandchildren in it because it is pH balanced. I also use it for my entire general cleaning, windows to floors and everything in between.

Get Clean outperformed 11 National Brands in Independent Laboratory Testing. It also offsets its carbon footprint and was the first climate neutral company. Since 2007 through sales of one product alone (Basic H2), Shaklee Corporation eliminated 4.1 billion bottles of conventional 26-oz window cleaner from landfill sites. If placed end-to-end, these bottles would wrap around the earth more than 28 times! The neat thing is that is less expensive than all the other cleaners on the market. So not only do you save the planet, you also save money.

For more information on healthy safe products, check out the healthy home section at www.healthyday.net. In honour of Earth Day, I will give out free samples to anyone who contacts me this month.

Together we can choose to become conscious stewards of our planet earth.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover the project I have started to clean up the lakes.

Stay tuned.

Charlene Day

Environment is an Extension of Us

Healthy Soul-utions is all about being healthy in all areas. This month there is a great focus on planet earth with Earth Day in a few weeks.

Throughout my experience in the health field, I have seen it over and over again, that when we try to heal in just one area, it is not a total healing.

Everything is interconnected. So our environment is really an extension of us. What we do to the planet, we do to ourselves.

The next few blogs will be a few reminders of becoming conscious with our buying habits. Here are 7 questions to ask when considering purchasing a product or material for your home or business.

1.  Apply life-cycle thinking
(think in a way that includes our future generations).

This includes:

• Does the product contain toxic materials?
• Where do the raw materials come from and where is the product manufactured?
• How much energy is used to extract and ship components or parts of a product?
• How much energy, water and resources are used to create and package the product?
• How can it be disposed of or recycled at the end of its useful life?
• Are there any environmental or health impacts of its use?

2.  Do you even need to purchase the product new?

Sometimes a used item is just as good.

3.  Exactly how much of it do you need?

Don’t buy more than you need; this wastes money and resources. Are you paying to have water shipped to you, meaning is the product concentrated?

4.  What type of packaging does it come in?

Environmentally-conscious companies are doing all sorts of creative things to green their packaging. This addresses the materials that packaging is made from, as well as the amount of it.

5.  Is the product well-designed for its intended purpose?

Often, cheaply made goods fall apart and are thrown away within 3 months of purchase. Think about our already full land fill sites.

6.  Does the use of this product require special ventilation?

If so, don’t buy it! There are plenty of alternatives for no-VOC cleaning products, paints, and adhesives. Check out the Get Clean products for instance. Not only are they safe for you, your home or workplace and the planet, they also save you thousands of dollars. Visit www.healthyday.net and click on ‘Healthy Home’.

7.  Labor Practices.

Depending on how far you want to take it, ask about labor practices. Does the manufacturer pay a living wage?  Do they give their employees benefits, and do they have a diverse workforce? Do they contribute to their community? Does the company offset the carbon emissions? Are they climate neutral? The social aspects of sustainability/green are sometimes overlooked, but have huge potential payoffs.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover some more ways we can protect the planet.

Stay tuned.

Charlene

Health is a Choice – Environmental Choices

The human body is a self-repairing, self-regulating system that will maintain good health if we properly support it. Almost all chronic illness can be prevented or put into remission by making different choices.

On the physical level, these imbalances are brought about by making inappropriate choices regarding our diets, environment, and conscious behavior. So in this post, let’s look at our environmental choices. When we think environment, we sometimes think outside the house, but our home environment is one of the most important areas to look to make healthy choices.

During this century, we have introduced over 100,000 man-made chemicals into our environment. We have little information on how these operate in the human body and almost no information on what happens when combined. We do know that many of these chemicals are toxic and that some are carcinogenic (cancer causing).

According to a 15-year study presented at the Toronto Indoor Air Conference, women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who work away from home. The study concluded that this was a direct result of the increased exposure to toxic chemicals, many of which are found in common household products.

Toxic chemicals are things our cells don’t need because they jam the cellular mechanisms and interfere with normal cell function. It’s not always possible to completely avoid toxins because we have polluted the entire planet.

However, it is possible to minimize our toxic exposures. Begin making different choices with the things you use on your body such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. Most of these products, when you research the ingredients, contain toxic ingredients. The toxins go through your skin, bio-accumulate in your tissues, and eventually cause cellular malfunction. Avoid fluoride, mineral oil, phthalates, parabens, talc, collagen, BHT, formaldehyde, isopropyl palmitate, lead, mercury just to name a few.

Buy products that are safe for you and safe for the planet.

Use environmentally safe household cleaners. Avoid solvents and toxic chemicals such as kerosene,  phenol,  cresol,  lye,  hydrochloric acid,  sulfuric acid,  sulfamic acid,  petroleum distillates,  ammonia,  sodium hydroxide, sodium bisulfate,  butyl cellosolve,  phosphoric acid,  ethoxylated alcohols, formaldehyde, phosphates chlorine bleach,  morpholine, crystalline silica.

I have helped many kids over the years with their asthma, simply by helping their parents make different choices with their laundry detergent. I showed them one called Fresh Laundry Concentrate that Dr. Doris Rapp recommends that is non-toxic and therefore safe to breathe in. Result – no more asthmatic attacks at night.

There are many things we can do to make different choices around our environment. This blog just scratched the surface on a few ways to avoid toxins. In the current marketing environment it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between hype and good information. Making solid health choices is more than ever about becoming educated and connecting with reliable and trusted sources.

For more information on healthy safe products, check out the healthy home section at www.healthyday.net

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover the behavioral choices that we can make for our health.

Stay tuned.

Charlene Day