Is this intended to scare you? Well, let’s hope so!  It would be great if you get concerned enough to actually take actions that can help protect you and your family from plastic ‘pollution’ as much as possible and perhaps allow you to live longer and healthier lives. Many of us have been complacent for far too long assuming that ‘business’ and government agencies have been looking out for our best health interests.  Unfortunately, that is just not always the case.

Who cares, what’s the big deal anyway? The big deal is that there are components in plastic containers that break down and leach into the liquid and food they contain. One of major concern is BPA or bis-Phenol A.  BPA is a building block of plastics and has long been known to be an endocrine disruptor. That means the human body ‘sees’ this man-made substance as a hormone that can be taken up by our endocrine system and used in place of one of our many human hormones that are essential for so many of our proper body functions. 

Our endocrine system includes our gonads,  hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, adrenal, and pineal glands. These are all critical components of our endocrine system and their proper functioning is essential for good health. Imagine what could happen if a little piece of BPA is mistakenly taken up by your body to be used in place of a human produced hormone.  It certainly could ‘disrupt’ your endocrine system and cause untold havoc in your body.

Bisphenol A is found in hundreds of household products, including plastic bottles, as well as, baby bottles and food containers.  It is also present in the linings of canned goods such as sodas,  soup, baby formula and canned fruits and vegetables.

According to a recent The Washington Post article a growing body of scientific studies has linked BPA to breast cancer, testicular cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity, obesity, low sperm count, miscarriage and other reproductive problems in laboratory animals. More recent studies using human data have linked BPA to heart disease and diabetes. And it has been found to interfere with the effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

Furthermore, researchers have found that BPA leaches from containers into food and beverages, even at cold temperatures. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health published recently found that subjects who drank liquids from plastic bottles containing BPA had a 69 percent increase in the BPA in their urine.

Things you can do to minimize your exposure to BPA from your food and water:

1.  DON’T buy or use plastic water bottles!  Remember – The longer they’re stored and the higher their temperatures get the more BPA will leach into the liquid.
2. Buy a non-plastic bottle instead of using plastic and REUSE it (on average every American uses about 150 disposable water bottles a year)
3. Refill your non-plastic water bottle from home  (tap water is better regulated than bottled water anyway)
4. Use a filter like Shaklee’s BestWater® pitcher to filter your tap water
5. DO NOT store foods in plastic
6. DO NOT microwave anything in plastic. Microwaving will drive BPA from the plastic container or plastic wrap into your food.
7. DO buy foods in glass instead of plastic whenever possible.  Most Canned foods and sodas are lined with plastic containing BPA.
8. Purchase only BPA free toys and other consumer products

Plastics are not only detrimental to your health but to our environment also. Eight out of ten plastic water bottles end up in landfills and take centuries to breakdown.  So anything you can do to minimize using plastic bottles will not only help your health but will help the health of our planet also.  For more everyday solutions to health challenges you may not even be aware of check out more information at  Environmental Working Group.

Good Health IS Your Greatest Wealth!

Ever even think about it?

Well, here are 10 very powerful factors that contribute to a healthy lifestyle and optimal health:

1. Having a well balanced and nutritious diet

2. Augmenting that diet with high quality vitamins and mineral supplements to ensure you’re getting all your essential nutrients

3. Exercising regularly …… that means doing something everyday to help keep your body in shape.  Whatever it is you enjoy doing as exercise, do it for at least 30 minutes each day without fail.

4. Maintaining a weight that’s appropriate for your height. Being overweight is the leading cause of declining health in America today.

5. Eliminating or reducing stress on a day to day basis. It’s not what happens to you as much as how you react to a particular circumstance that creates stress…..practice patience and acceptance.

6. Being grateful and content with your current situation regardless of what it is.  Find things to be grateful for daily.

7. Being loving and kind towards others……. Smile and laugh often, it can be contagious and brighten someones day

8. Living with purpose. Have a reason for getting up everyday and doing what you can to make this world a better place today and for tomorrow. Remember, everything you do counts and IS important.

9. Being the example for what you would like to see in the world.  If you’d like it to be a kind and peaceful place, then you be kind and peaceful.

10. Lastly, and perhaps the most important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle is  Loving Yourself.   No matter where you go, there you are ….. so enjoy being You!

Remember, Health IS Your Greatest Wealth, so why not do everything you can to make it as good as you possibly can?  Practice these 10 factors of a healthy lifestyle and plan to live longer and live healthier.

There are many factors that may influence the vitamin and mineral content we receive from the foods we eat daily;

SOIL

• One of the most important factors is the soil in which it is grown. That soil is probably alot more important than most people realize. Various studies by the US Department of Agriculture has shown declining nutrient content in several foods over the last 30 years because the nutrients are no longer in the soil for the plants to absorb.
• Paul Bergner shows in his book The Healing Power of Minerals …..’ that between 1963 and 1997 several fuits and vegetables studied by the USDA were found to have their calcium content down nearly 30%, iron down 32%, magnesium down 21%, phosphorus down 11%, and potassium down 6.5%.
• Similarly, a 50 year British study from the UK Ministry of Agriculture shows that from 20 different fruits and vegetables considered there was a decline in vegetables of 81% in calcium content, 65% for magnesium, and 86% for potassium, just to name a few.
• Modern farming practices use massive amounts of fertilizers (nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus) to prepare the soil for further planting but this doesn’t replace other needed nutrients. Also, phosphorus actually interacts with iron, sodium, calcium, boron, and aluminum and may keep those nutrients from being available to the plants, thus lessening their availability
• Plants take about a dozen nutrients from the soil but typical large scale farming practices only add three (nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus) ….. ever wonder why that is?

GLOBAL WARMING ?

• A recent study by Southwestern University has shown rising CO2 levels correlates with a decline in protein content of certain grain products, barley has declined 15.3%, rice 9.9%, and wheat 9.8%. Soybeans protein is down 1.4%. Current atmospheric CO2 levels are around 380 parts per million (ppm) compared to 280 ppm in the late 18th century.
• Keep in mind that over 40% of the world gets their dietary protein from grains and root crops

CONVENIENCE FOODS

• A diet of highly refined carbohydrates with sugar, white flour, and fatty foods puts a great strain and demand on minerals and B group vitamins needed for proper food processing and assimilation. Such a refined diet contributes to major nutrient deficiencies and is often related to such conditions as irritability, lethargy, and sleep disorders

OTHER FACTORS

• Transport, storage, processing, packaging, and preparation also result in nutrient loss and the addition of toxins to our foods
• Food processing significantly reduces vitamin E, B1, and C. Foods frozen once defrosted lose considerable vitamin E
• According to Dr. Richard Brouse’s book, Build A Better You, more than 80 million pounds of antibiotics are consumed each year in America with the majority being fed to food animals. Residues of antibiotics are being found in eggs, pork, chicken, turkey, farm fed fish, and beef. Some antibiotics kill friendly bacteria in the intestines which normally help process B group vitamins to be absorbed through the intestinal wall. B vitamin deficiency can result in a number of nerve related conditions.
• Overcooking and reheating can oxidize and destroy vitamins such as B group, C, and E.
• Poor digestion and lack of proper absorption robs the body of needed nutrients
• Laxative overuse can result in poor absorption by quickening the intestinal transit time. Your intestines are where most of the vitamin and mineral are absorped into the body, not in your stomach as many people believe.

Okay, so what to do if you believe that supplementation is necessary? How do you know what are the best products on the market? Well, as a Shaklee Distributor I can absolutely guarantee you that there are vitamins and minerals that are natural safe, toxin free, and proven effective and have a 50+ year track record to back it up. Try us out and see for yourself.

The bottom line is that no matter how hard you try the average person simply cannot get all the nutrients their body really needs everyday only through the foods that are eaten. For optimal health one simply must eat high quality nutritious foods, take daily supplements, cut back on convenience foods, buy organic whenever possible or grow your own, and be careful how you prepare and process foods at home. The old adage that ‘you are what you eat’ is becoming more and more clear as evidence mounts that more and more of todays ills can be traced to inadequate diets that lack in complete and proper nutrients. Please consider using high quality all natural supplements daily if you’re not already! Your life really does depend on it.

Health IS Your Greatest Wealth!