Green cleaning doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it can be very inexpensive if you have a few non-toxic products on hand. You can find some of the basics listed below. These are some of the things our great-grandmothers probably used to keep their homes clean for their families.

• Baking Soda can be used in place of harsh and toxic cleansers. It also deodorizes and softens water. You can use it to clean your oven by sprinkling it on the oven floor, spraying with water until damp and letting sit overnight. Scrub in the morning and you’ve got a clean oven!
• Castile Soap is great for disinfecting, cutting grease and it is a great all-around cleaner. The term castile tells you that the soap is vegetable, rather than animal-based.
• Lemon Juice is effective for bleaching, deodorizing, cutting grease and removing stains.
• Olive Oil is a great furniture polish.
• White Vinegar actually kills bacteria, as well as deodorizing and cutting grease and wax buildup. It also removes mildew and dissolves hard water lime buildup on the inside of teapots. Just add four ounces of vinegar to a pot of water and boil. Rinse well.
• Cornstarch will clean windows and pick up spills on your carpet, especially the ones from juice, coffee and wine.

If you would like to create your own safe cleaning solutions, here are some ‘recipes’ for you (I also like to add disinfecting essential oils to my cleaning recipes, tea tree, eucalyptus, lemon, lavendar and many others are great for cleaning):

A Safe Softscrub

Mix ½ cup of baking soda with enough vegetable-based liquid soap to create a frosting-like mixture. Use with a sponge to wash your surfaces. Doesn’t leave any grit and rinses easily.
You can make this as you need it, or store it in a covered glass jar with 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin, which will help keep it moist.

Non-Toxic Widow Cleaner

1/4-1/2 teaspoon natural liquid detergent
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle
Mix all of the above ingredients in a spray bottle and shake it up. The soap in this recipe cuts the wax residue from the commercial brands you might have used in the past.

Oven Cleaner

1 cup or more baking soda
Water
A squirt or two of natural liquid detergent
Wet the bottom of your oven generously and then cover all the grime with baking soda. The surface should be totally white. Spray some more water over the top and let the mixture sit overnight. Wipe up the grease the next morning. When the worst is cleaned up, go ahead and wipe up the rest with a sponge and a little castile soap. Using enough baking soda and water is the key – no skimping.

All-Around Cleaner

1/2 teaspoon washing soda
A dab of natural liquid soap
2 cups hot tap water
Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle until the washing soda is dissolved. Spray and clean!

Furniture Polish

1/2 teaspoon oil, such as olive (or jojoba, a liquid wax)
1/4 cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice
After mixing the ingredients in a glass jar you can use on a soft rag to wipe onto wood surfaces. Keep covered when not in use and store indefinitely.

Vinegar Deodorizer

Straight 5 percent vinegar in a spray bottle is a great deodorizer to use on your cutting board, on the counters and in the bathroom. You can let the vinegar sit on the cutting board overnight without wiping. The smell will dissipate. It is also great for getting the toilet rim clean.

Mold Cleaner

Combine 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil and 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray on moldy areas. Do not rinse. Vinegar also works well to kill a lot of mold. Just spray at full strength and let sit.

Both of these homemade products have strong odors, but they dissipate and they are much safer than the majority of mold products on the market.

Written by Angelle Batten M.A., H.H.C.
Source – http://www.nourishmd.com

Thanks to MSN Health & Fitness contributor Jean Weiss, a list of the most medically questionable and harmful additives in everyday foods has been compiled to educate the masses. There are several that may be recognizable due to news reports and popular opinion, but others may be new to some and worthy of notation.

1. Sodium nitrite
2. BHA & BHT
3. Propyl gallate
4. Monosodium glutamate
5. Trans fats
6. Aspartame
7. Acesulfame-K
8. Food colorings (Blue & , Red , Green , Yellow )
9. Olestra
10. Potassium bromate
11. White sugar
12. Sodium chloride

There are many reasons that some people choose to shop and eat a completely organic range of foods, but the primary reason seems to center around the additives in various non-organic food items. Those additives have been studied and linked to various diseases, and instead of taking the chance that unhealthy preservatives and flavorings might be integrated into grocery store items, people often opt for the strictly organic route so as to avoid them altogether.

But everyone cannot afford the prices of organic foods or the time it takes to shop at specialty markets for them. Thus, becoming informed about the additives in everyday food items can make for an easier shopping experience and healthier items being ingested by everyone. In addition, a mass boycott of foods that contain such additives could prompt food manufacturers to remove such harmful ingredients from their products in the future.

HealthNews Dozen
Top 12 Food Additives to Remove From Your Diet
By Jennifer Newell
Health News, June 29, 2009
Straight to the Source

Children should not be treated routinely with flu drugs such as Tamiflu because there is no clear evidence that they prevent complications and the medicines may do more harm than good, British researchers said on Monday.

They called for a reconsideration of the widespread use of antivirals among those under 12 in light of an analysis of clinical data from previous seasonal flu outbreaks showing scant benefits and potentially harmful side effects.

Governments around the world have built up large stockpiles of Roche’s Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza to deal with the H1N1 swine flu pandemic.

In Britain, hundreds of thousands of doses of Tamiflu have been handed out to people with the disease, around half of whom are children.

But Dr. Matthew Thompson from the University of Oxford said that, while antivirals shortened the duration of flu in children by around a day, they didn’t reduce asthma flare-ups or the likelihood of children’s needing antibiotics.

Tamiflu also was linked to an increased risk of vomiting, which can be serious in children because it can result in dehydration.

The analysis was based on a systematic review of seven clinical studies looking at use of Tamiflu and Relenza in seasonal flu outbreaks in 2,629 children aged 1 to 12 years.

There is no reason to think that the conclusions would not apply to the present relatively mild outbreak of swine flu, Thompson said.

Fellow Oxford researcher Dr. Carl Heneghan told reporters, “The strategy of giving out this treatment in a mild infection is inappropriate.”

The researchers also found that 13 people need to be treated to prevent one additional case, meaning that antivirals reduce transmission by a modest 8 percent.

“While morbidity and mortality in the current pandemic remain low, a more conservative strategy might be considered prudent, given the limited data, side effects such as vomiting, and the potential for developing resistant strains of influenza,” they wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Copyright Reuters

“We demand the systematic publication of the results of these tests, which we could only obtain on a case by case basis by taking legal action… It [the study] brings to light a significant underestimation of the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others… The health crises may be more important than the international financial crisis because of the lack of transparency of the regulators.”

Source: An alarming study published in the Journal of Biological Science this week points toward serious health hazards from genetically engineered foods and pesticides. The research, conducted by scientists from France, Italy, New Zealand, U.K. and U.S., corroborates the decade-long criticism by public interest organizations such as the Organic Consumers Association, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth that European Food Safety bureaucrats and the U.S. FDA have used unreliable tests to assess the safety of food and products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are now found in more than 80% of (non-organic) foods sold in conventional grocery stores in the U.S., as well as the majority of animal feed in the EU.

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Summer means strawberry season throughout the northern United States. Fresh, juicy and sweet berries can be readily found in markets and farm stands. They make excellent snacks and desserts.
Strawberries are rich sources of phenolic antioxidants that can help:
1. reverse inflammation
2. aid in weight loss
3. reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Strawberry extracts may have direct anti-inflammatory effects, helping to inhibit the activation of genes and enzymes that promote inflammation.
Most of this benefit is due to another group of phenolic antioxidants called anthocyanins, which give ripe strawberries their lush red color. Anthocyanins may decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke by protecting blood vessels from the effects of wear and tear.
The ellagic acid and anthocyanins found in strawberries may aid weight loss in at least three ways:
1. Chronic inflammation blocks the hormones involved in keeping you lean. Foods like strawberries help restore normal function to weight-reducing hormones.
2. Anthocyanins can actually increase the body’s production of a hormone called adiponectin, which stimulates your metabolism and suppresses your appetite.

3. Both ellagic acid and anthocyanins can slow the rate of digestion of starchy foods, controlling the rise in blood sugar that follows a starchy meal. This effect can help control blood sugar in people with adult-onset (Type 2) diabetes.
You can eat fresh or frozen strawberries as a snack or dessert anytime. Add plain, fat-free organic yogurt for a creamy topping and chopped walnuts or ground flax seed for crunchiness.
I recommend organically grown strawberries, besides the fact that conventional strawberries have one of the highest amounts of herbicides and pesticides, organic strawberries have been shown to have higher levels of vitamin C.

Teflon is one of the most popular bakeware materials in America. Teflon and other non-stick brand names comprise up to 77% of the entire bakeware market.

So what’s wrong with it?

Well, for starters, Teflon is made from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a synthetic chemical used in production that creates the soap-like slipperiness and non-stick finish.

Once heated, Teflon and other non-stick bakeware will quickly reach temperatures at which toxic fumes release into the air. And it doesn’t take much heat to do this – the coating begins to break down and release toxins at a temperature of only 446° F.

PFOA has become very controversial because of potential health dangers…

In animal studies, PFOA posed health hazards like:

• Serious changes in organs including the brain, prostate, liver, thymus, and kidneys, showing toxicity.
• Death of several rat pups due to PFOA exposure.
• Changes in the pituitary in female rats, at all doses. Changes in the size of the pituitary indicate toxicity.
• PFOA contributed to tumor growth in at least four different organs in animal tests, and indicated in an increase in prostate cancer in PFOA plant workers.

Now the various PFOA doses used in these animal experiments weren’t necessarily the same exposure levels you might get from Teflon. But they clearly show the potential danger from PFOA.

And there’s more evidence:

• In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), close to 98% of the population returned detected PFOA levels. While PFOA can come from sources other than Teflon, that’s startling information.
• A study reported in 2007, conducted by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, showed alarming evidence indicating newborn infants face exposure to PFOA while in the womb.
• Though not necessarily related to Teflon, PFOA has already been implicated in increased instances of cancer in the pancreas, liver, testicles, and mammary glands, as well as miscarriages, thyroid problems, weakened immune systems, and low organ weights.

So, from a health and safety standpoint, Teflon bakeware is not a good choice.

Also, there are many other non-stick brand names that contain this toxic PFOA coating, including: Silverstone, Fluron, Supra, Excalibur, Greblon, Xylon, Duracote, Resistal, Autograph and T-Fal, to name just a few. So, avoid these as well.

In fact, if you have any bakeware made from this non-stick material, I would recommend you throw it out and replace it immediately.

Why You Should Avoid Aluminum

So, what are some of your other choices for baking appliances?

What about aluminum – it’s also very popular and lightweight? In fact, consumers choose metal bakeware products 73% of the time.

But I would not recommend aluminum pans for baking if you want to enjoy your golden years. Aluminum is a causal factor suspect in Alzheimer’s disease.

In my experience, people dread Alzheimer’s disease more than cancer and heart disease, for good reason.

Aluminum is a “reactive” metal, meaning that it reacts with salty or acidic foods to release itself into your food. Sources of aluminum include any size cookware or bakeware containers, foil, and utensils.

And many if not most aluminum bakeware manufacturers choose to coat their products with Teflon or other non-stick materials. So, you could face the same hazards detailed above from Teflon.

In addition, you can also face exposure to aluminum when Teflon chips off your coated aluminum baking dish or pan.

So, aluminum might satisfy one of our selection criteria by being lightweight – but I feel the safety risks are too high. Plus, I’m convinced there is a better alternative available for you.

Article taken from various articles on Mercola.com

The Pesticide Action Network has launched a new online searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more understandable. Whether you want to find out what’s in your apple juice, milk, peanut butter, or bottled water, this innovative tool links pesticide food residue data with the toxicology for each chemical, making this information easily searchable for the first time.

Bookmark this link! and share it with everyone you know!

My nutritional philosophy is, “If it has a label, don’t eat it.”

That said, I realize that’s not always realistic for all of us all of the time. We like to have convenience foods to help us deal with our time crunches, and that’s OK. But I recommend that you read the labels. Choose packaged foods made with real-food ingredients over those with factory-created components.

Be a smart consumer and look for things that are going to help your body thrive. When you pick something up, ask yourself the question: “Is this something my great grandmother would have eaten?” If the answer is “no,” you should probably put it back. Things like frozen blueberries or canned black beans can still be good for you, as long as they don’t contain a bunch of unhealthy and unnecessary ingredients.

STOCKING A HEALTHY PANTRY

Now that you know what to avoid, go to your cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer and toss out any foods that contain the ingredients on the avoid list.

Here’s a list of foods that you can replace in your pantry with healthier foods.

· Refined White Sugar – replace with stevia, agave nectar, honey, brown rice syrup, or Rapadura Whole Cane Organic Unrefined Sugar

· Margarine – replace with organic real butter

· Table Salt – replace with natural Celtic Sea Salt

· Skippy, Jif or other Peanut Butter – replace with natural peanut butter with only two ingredients: peanuts and salt.

· Canned veggies/fruit – eat fresh fruits and veggies

· Soft drinks – good clean water, sparkling water, herbal teas

· Pasta – replace with brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta, or whole wheat pasta if your not sensitive to gluten or wheat.

· White Flour – replace with 100% whole wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour or other non-gluten flours.

· White Bread – replace with a good 100% whole grain bread. The ingredient list should be short with only a few ingredients such as whole wheat flour, yeast, honey, salt.

· Crackers – replace with whole grain crackers – try Ak-Mak, Mary’s Gone Crackers, or Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheats

· Breakfast Cereals – Go with a whole grain one, look for short ingredient lists.

Written by Dee McCaffrey, CDC

One of the most widely used pesticides in the world has been linked to brain, intestinal and heart defects in fetuses, according to the results of a scientific investigation released Monday. According to the study authors, the doses of herbicide used in the study “were much lower than the levels used in the fumigations,” and so the situation “is much more serious”.

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