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9 Natural Uses for Baking Soda

by June 11, 2016

Baking soda can do a whole lot more than just sit at the back of the fridge. There are dozens of natural uses for baking soda!

What is it?

Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is a highly alkaline salt with dozens of various uses. It has a slightly bitter, salty taste and is often used for things like baking and deodorizing.

Natural Uses:

It is important to buy baking soda that is aluminum free before attempting any of the following.

Toothpaste

Make a “toothpaste” by mixing 3 percent hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, or you can just dip your toothbrush into the baking soda.

Clean Brushes and combs

Remove the oil and hair product residue by soaking your brushes and combs in a tub of warm water and 2-3 tsp of Baking soda. Rinse the brushes and set out to dry.

Bathroom scrub

Add 1/4 cup of baking soda to 1 Tbsp of Detergent, Splash of vinegar it should come out like a thick paste. Use the paste to clean every part of your bathroom.

Natural Deodorant

Using baking soda as a deodorant is a simple way to combat body odor without subjecting your pits to a variety of harmful chemicals. Mix 1/8 tsp baking soda with a small amount of water, and rub it under your arms.

Kidney Health

Bicarbonate is an alkaline substance that is naturally produced in the body, it helps to buffer acids and keep the Ph in check. People who have chronic kidney disease have a harder time removing acid from the body; resulting in a condition known as metabolic acidosis.

In one study, British researchers treated patients with advanced kidney disease and metabolic acidosis with oral sodium bicarbonate in conjunction with their usual treatment for two years. The sodium bicarbonate slowed the rate of kidney decline by two-thirds, and only 6.5% of the patients required dialysis by the end of the study. Discuss this with your doctor and encourage him to look into this promising therapy.

Detox

Try mixing ¼ cup Sea Salt, ¼ cup Epsom Salt, ¼ cup Baking soda, 1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar, and 10 drops of your favorite essential oil. Add all the ingredients together, and mix them in with your bath water. Soak in the bath for at least 30 minutes.

Because this is a detox bath, you might feel tired or lightheaded when you get out.

Skin Conditions

For insect bites, make a paste out of baking soda and water, and apply it as a salve onto affected skin. To ease the itch, shake some baking soda into your hand and rub it onto damp skin after a bath or shower.

Skip harsh soaps and gently scrub away ground-in dirt and neutralize odors on hands with a paste of 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, or 3 parts baking soda to gentle liquid hand soap. Then rinse clean.

A paste made from three parts of baking soda combined with 1 part water can be used as an exfoliator for your face and body. It’s natural, inexpensive and gentle enough to use every day.

For splinters, add a tablespoon of baking soda to a small glass of water, then soak the affected area twice a day. Many splinters will come out on their own after a couple of days using this treatment.

If you can’t afford a standard spa treatment, create a foot soak by adding baking soda to warm water. It’s a well-known way to heal athlete’s foot, but it’s also great for easing calluses.

Cold & Flu

In a booklet called “Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Medical Uses,” which was published in 1924, Dr. Volney S. Cheney stated that he “treated all cases of ‘cold,’ influenza and LaGripe by first giving generous doses of bicarbonate of soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated.”

You simply Dissolve the recommended amount in a glass of cold water. The doses recommended in the book were:

Day 1- Take six doses of ½ tsp baking soda, in two hour intervals.

Day-2 Take four doses of ½ tsp baking soda, in two hour intervals.

Day 3- Take two doses of ½ tsp of baking soda, once in the morning and once in the evening. For any additional days take ½ tsp once daily until symptoms are gone.

Heartburn, Indigestion and Ulcer Pain

Most store bought antacids contain some sort of bicarbonate. Baking soda works by immediately neutralizing stomach acid, helping to relieve heartburn, indigestion and even ulcer pain.

Dosing is typically ½ teaspoon fully dissolved in a half a glass of water, taken every two hours (do not take more than seven ½ teaspoons in 24 hours, or three ½ teaspoons if you’re over 60).

Do not use this for the treatment of chronic pain. Be careful not to consume excessive amount, which can cause serious electrolyte and acid/base imbalances.

 

 

59% of the ‘Tuna’ Americans Eat Isn’t Tuna, It’s Actually This

by June 10, 2016

I love tuna, when I go for sushi I always choose the fresh tuna sashimi or the spicy tuna roll to start off my dinner. But when you pick up a can of tuna or go for a tuna lunch, do you ever consider than what you are eating may not be what it seems?

A study has revealed that over half of the tuna sold at restaurants and stores in the United States is a completely different type of fish. The findings were made by Oceana, a non-profit organization for the protection and restoration of the world’s oceans.

The lengthy investigation found that 59% of the ‘tuna’ was not tuna at all. Oceana took over 1,000 samples of fish from across the United States and genetically twisted them. They found that 52% of all seafood tested in Southern California had been mislabeled.

The study also found that sushi restaurants are far more likely to mislabel fish in general than other restaurants or grocery stores. 74% of sushi restaurants are guilty of the offense according to Oceana, compared with 38% of other restaurants and 18% of grocery stores.

“Our findings demonstrate that a comprehensive and transparent traceability system – one that tracks fish from boat to plate – must be established at the national level.

At the same time, increased inspection and testing of our seafood, specifically for mislabeling, and stronger federal and state enforcement of existing laws combatting fraud are needed to reverse these disturbing trends.

Our government has a responsibility to provide more information about the fish sold in the U.S., as seafood fraud harms not only consumers’ wallets but also every honest vendor and fisherman cheated in the process – to say nothing of the health of our oceans.”

90% of seafood is imported into the United States, but only 1% are inspected for fraud.

Oceana said that consumers should always ask plenty of questions about the intended fish purchase, and they also advise people to buy whole fish, rather than portions. ‘This makes it more difficult to swap one species for another,’ states the report.

Healthy Chocolate Avocado Pudding

by June 9, 2016

There are many things I think of when I think of a delicious dessert, and avocado is not normally one of them. This underestimated dessert is a timeless classic, but for a fresh and healthier take on tradition try making it with this rather unusual ingredient and you will be pleasantly surprised!

The benefits of avocado are plenty! They have powerful anti-aging properties contained in both the flesh and the oil. Avocados are able to penetrate deeply inside out cell structures, enter the mitochondria and activate its energy production, allowing cells to function properly even while being constantly attacked by free radicals.

Avocados are also a wonderful source of healthy raw fat, which is missing in many people today. They also contain around 20 essential nutrients which include:

  • Fiber
  • Potassium
  • Vitamin E
  • B-vitamins
  • Folic Acid
  • Calcium
  • Magnesium
  • Sodium
  • Iron
  • Boron

Avocados also boost the body’s ability to absorb fat-soluble nutrients from other fruits and vegetables, such as alpha, beta-carotene, and lutein.

So with all of that being said, let’s make a healthy, creamy and delicious chocolate pudding!

Ingredients:

  • 3 Large avocados, soft and ripe
  • ¼ Cup cacao powder
  • 3-6 Tbsp coconut milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup

Directions:

Combine avocado, cacao powder, coconut milk, vanilla, coconut oil and honey in a blender. Blend on high for 1 minute or until smooth.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before eating.

3 Ancient Healing Methods Your Body Can Benefit From

by June 9, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz2eFpVxjfU

Tai Chi

Like yoga, this calming, low-impact exercise comes with many scientifically backed physical and mental health benefits. Tai Chi was originally developed as a type of Chinese martial art and a moving meditation, with a focus on attention, breath and mindful movement. The practice is thought to unlock the Chinese concept of qi, the energy force that flows through the body, and encourage proper flow.

Studies have found that Tai Chi can help improve quality of life for breast cancer patients, maintain bone density, reduce pain for patients with severe osteoarthritis in the knee, promote heart health, reduce hypertension and more.

“A growing body of carefully conducted research is building a compelling case for tai chi as an adjunct to standard medical treatment for the prevention and rehabilitation of many conditions commonly associated with age,” Peter M. Wayne, Harvard Medical School professor and director of the Tai Chi and Mind-Body Research Program at Harvard, said.

Reiki

According to practitioners of this ancient Japanese art, the power of touch is able to heal a variety of different physical ailments and relieve stress. In a Reiki session, the practitioner places his or her hands over various parts of the patient’s body, with the goal of directing and stimulating the flow of “life force energy.”

“Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing,” according to the International Center For Reiki Healing.

Research on Reiki’s benefits have revealed that Reiki may be helpful in reducing anxiety, stress, and pain, improving symptoms of fatigue and depression, and boosting well-being. The technique has started to become more accepted in the West, and is increasingly used as part of an overall emotional care plan in disease treatment in U.S. hospitals.

Ayurveda

As the popularity of meditation and yoga have risen in the U.S., so has interest in Ayurveda, the 5,000-plus-year-old Indian “science of life” that deals with healing through food, lifestyle and herbal supplements. The theory goes that Ayurveda can help heal imbalances in the body’s doshas — the three basic energy types — which include pitta (the principle of transformation), vata (the energy of motion), and kapha (the principle of growth).

Practitioners of Ayurveda believe that each person has some vata, pitta and kapha in them, but that one or two is typically dominant, “Many things can disturb the energy balance, such as stress, an unhealthy diet, the weather, and strained family relationships. The disturbance shows up as disease. Ayurvedic practitioners prescribe treatments to bring the doshas back into balance.”, explains the University of Maryland Medical Center. Research has looked at the effectiveness of Ayurvedic programs in the treatment of depression, anxiety, hypertension, Alzheimer’s and other medical conditions.

Terrifying Warning For All Mothers Of Boys This Summer

by June 9, 2016

Summer is here and that means lots of swimming and fun in the sun. It also means that you might want to pay more attention to your boys and possibly change the type of trunks that you buy them.

Most of the time when you buy swim shorts there is a white mesh synthetic mesh inside the outer fabric. To one mom an innocent purchase turned into a dangerous nightmare.

Laura Collins was on vacation in Spain with her five-year-old son Jack, after a day of swimming, she took him into the shower to remove his swim trunks. As she pulled them down she realized that his penis was caught in the netting, and as she wrote on her Facebook the netting was “literally strangling it.”

“He was screaming a scream I hadn’t heard before,” she wrote. As he wailed in pain, she raced him to the medical center at the hotel where she was staying, only to learn they were unable to help her.

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“I carried him to reception and asked for some scissors,” she told The Mirror. But neither she nor the staff were able to free the distressed child’s penis. “There were two little bubbles, like skin, on either side,” she said. “Like it was going to burst.”

In her panicked state, Laura raced to the nearest hospital where doctors gave him a local anesthetic and managed to cut his penis free. They were concerned at first that there would be permanent damage to the boy’s urinary tract, thankfully, soon after he was able to urinate properly. Doctors confirmed that there was no lasting damage.

The doctors also confirmed that they had seen this sort of thing before, and warned that it is more common than parents realize.

Laura says that Jack has recovered without issue, however, she is warning parents to be extra careful with the netting in boys swim ware.

“Jack was very upset about it afterwards but as five-year-olds do, he’s bounced back,” Laura told The Mirror. “He keeps talking about it now but he’s fine. He talks about how he nearly lost his willy on holiday and goes on about the naughty netting. He’s been warning all his friends as he doesn’t want the same thing to happen to them.”

“Please, those with young children,” Laura begged on Facebook, “remove the netting in swim shorts.”

I suggest cutting out the netting or purchasing some without it.

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