Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Health, Illness, Safety, Shopping, Toxins on Jul 13th, 2010
You have, no doubt, heard about the 28 million box Kellogg’s cereal recall. The company recalled select boxes of Kellogg’s Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks cereals. Consumers said there was an “off” taste and smell. Oh, and that they were giving some people nausea and diarrhea. Kellogg’s said the packages were [...]
Two women in my life have ovarian cancer. One is my sister’s sister-in-law. She’s in her 30s. She found her cancer by accident; she thought she had a hernia. The other woman is one of my closest friend’s mothers. Her cancer is pretty advanced. She found out thanks to a routine abdominal sonogram. They have [...]
This past Friday I was all ready to take a half-day. We were supposed to go to my beach club’s big post-school pool party. We even invited a friend to come along, paying a $20 guest fee. In the morning we hit Trader Joe’s to get some snacks and stuff we needed for the weekend. [...]
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Health, Illness, Toxins on May 26th, 2010
I read another story today that made me sigh. CNN posted it: Companies, hospitals move away from toxic material. It talks about vinyl and PVCs. How, when burned, they release dioxins, which cause cancer and a slew of other health problems. And how companies and hospitals are trying to phase out their use because PVC [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Environment, Going Green, Health, Illness, Toxins on May 13th, 2010
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics this week released a report about perfumes and — yes I know this is cliché — it definitely stinks. The organization assessed 17 different perfumes, which listed “fragrance” on their labels. On average, there were 14 different unlisted ingredients in each of the perfumes. The reason: manufacturers are not required [...]
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Health, Illness, Organic, Preventative medicine, Safety, Toxins on May 8th, 2010
Yesterday the President’s Cancer Panel — I can’t believe I didn’t know it existed — released its most recent annual report, Reducing Environmental Risk: What We Can Do Now. Download it. It’s worth a read. The report explains that, in 2009, more than 1.5 American men, women and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Health, Illness on Apr 1st, 2010
I went for a bunch of blood tests about a week ago. Again, nothing serious. Just a check up. The doctor’s office called this morning. Everything was normal except my Vitamin D levels. I was stunned. Well…maybe not. Vitamin D comes from two main sources: Sun exposure and certain foods like milk and fish. Most [...]
I can remember going to church when I was little. We dressed up in cute outfits and piled into the car with my mom and dad. When my dad died when we were all so young — I was almost six, my sister was two-and-a-half, my brother was 15 — we stopped going to church. [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Food, Health, Illness, Preventative medicine on Mar 9th, 2010
When my daughter was about 15-months-old I took her in for a well-check. “Whoa, she’s gained a lot this month,” my doctor told me. “What is she eating?” My answer was sort of complicated. Big Girl was a hungry kid and a good eater. This was a good thing, I thought, which is why I [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Food, Friendship, Health, Illness, Preventative medicine on Mar 3rd, 2010
I almost hate saying it, but I am surprised I am not hacking up a lung. Usually when I go away — and definitely after spending an afternoon in a kids’ ER — I get a cold. It’s been 48 hours now, and I am sniffle-free, but we’ll see what the week brings. I thought [...]