Nutrinotes

Trying raw chocolate

Lucy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:42:04 +0000

Today my order of some raw chocolate came through the post. My expectations for the taste weren’t too high having never been a fan of dark chocolate, however this stuff is amazing. The only thing I’m going to have trouble doing is not over eating it!!

I got mine from: Mood Foods. It’s expensive but it’s full of natural anti-oxidants and still full of the enzymes as it’s not been cooked. I’d recommended it to anyone!

To start with I got two different types:-
Shazzie’s Naked Chocolate – Empress (regal handmade raw vegan chocolate bar bestowed with purple corn & pineapple).
And Ombar, superfood chocolate acai.

I prefer the first one as it’s not quite such a strong flavour but both are delicious.

There are plenty more places to buy raw chocolate from on the net, so if you’re looking for some why not try putting it in google. Please let us know your favorites.

You are what you eat

Lucy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:49:52 +0000

What would happen if you took 6 diabetics and put them on a raw food, no meat, dairy, or sugar diet for just 30 days?

RAW FOR 30 DAYS

Macular degeneration

Lucy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:28:36 +0000

I’ve never been too unlucky with my eyesight, but I’ve not been able to properly see long distance since I was 13. My prescription has got worse over the last few years and it’s now beginning to worry me as I don’t want it to deteriorate any more. In my mid 20s I found a book called “Perfect Sight Without Glasses” by William Horatio Bates, but I found it very difficult to read and never completed it or any of the exercises discussed in it.

If I had more money then I would certainly be taking supplements to help stop my sight getting any worse, but I would love to know if there is any way to actually improve my vision. I’ve even had a try at using pinhole glasses which are supposed to strengthen the eyes, but as with most things they have got put aside and not used everyday.

I was getting headaches after wearing my glasses or contact lenses for a long period of time, and at my appointment at specsavers yesterday the optician thinks my sight has got a bit worse and my glasses are no longer balanced properly. My new prescription is as follows:

EYE	SPH	CYL	AXIS
right eye	-1.50	-0.50	180.0
left eye	-1.00	-0.50	180.0

And here is what it all means:
SPH equals sphere and represents the amount of long or short sight that is present. The larger the number the worse the sight is.

CYL equals cylinder and represents the amount of astigmatism that is present. Astigmatism is caused when the eye is not completely spherical and it is shaped more like a rugby ball. The cylinder may be plus or minus regardless of whether the sphere is positive or negative.

AXIS is the angle at which the lens is set into the frame.

At the present time there seems to be a lack of studies done on eye exercises and vision improvement, however there are people who swear that the Bates method works, and in my opinion it is better to give this a go before going for something as drastic as laser treatment.

Toxic toxic toxic…

Lucy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:45:49 +0000

It seems it is almost impossible to eliminate toxins in the environment when they are even present in the water that we drink or wash in. Whilst most of us realize that what we put in our mouths is full of chemicals if it is not organic, few of us think about what is being absorbed through our skin.

We are all told that sun is a danger to us; aging our skin and causing cancer… but whilst I’d never advise anyone to sunbath there is still a question about how many more problems come about because of the products we put on ourselves to “protect” us.

A few weeks ago I got burnt after an hour in the sun without any product on me, after the winter my skin was very white and at the best of time I find it difficult to tan. So with this in mind I don’t want to get burnt over the summer months and my budget for skin care is not a lot, I’ve come home with two products from Boots. A Simple sun sensitive protecting lip balm, SPF 20, and Simple sun sensitive protecting facial hydrolotion SPF 25 and now I’m on a mission to find out just how “safe” it really is.

Interestingly on my search I’ve found that some Dermalogica products with SPF score a 7 out of 10, equaling high hazard when tested by Environmental Working Group – Skin Deep. I thought that Dermalogica were a company that prided themselves on reducing chemicals from skin products. One reason for this high score seems to be the ingredient Oxybenzone, which by itself scored a whopping 9 out of 10, with possible side effects including infertility, reproductive organ cancers and birth defects!

Annoyingly on the Simple skin care box the active ingredients is not listed which means trawling through the long list of ingredients to see if there is anything there which is not great. They do state on the box however “simple say – never use harsh chemicals, colours or perfumes” whicht sounds promising.

Below is the list of ingredients from Simple sun sensitive protecting facial hydrolotion SPF 25, and scores as determind by EWG Skin Deep.

Ingredient	Score	Details
Dicaprylyl Carbonate	0	Low hazard
Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane	0 or 3	Low hazard
Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate	0 or 2 or 3	Low hazard
Propylene glycol	0 to 5	Classified as skin irritant
Glyceryl stearate	0 – 4	Low hazard
4-Methlbenzylidene Camphor	6	A UV filter not approved as an active ingredient for sunscreen in the U.S., but listed as an inactive ingredient in some products.
Isohexadecane	2	Low hazard
Potassium cetyl phosphate	0	No hazard
Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer	3	Moderate hazard
Cetyl palmitate	1	Low hazard
Ethylhexyl triazone	1	Low hazard
Panthenol	2	Low hazard
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer	0	No hazard
PEG-4 Laurate	6 or 9	Moderate to high hazard depending on use
Methylparaben	8	High hazard
Disodium EDTA	3	Moderate hazard
Disodium EDTA	3	Moderate hazard
Tocopheryl Acetate	5	Moderate hazard
Sodium Hydroxide	4	Moderate hazard
2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3	10	High hazard
Helianthus Annuus Seed Extract	0	No hazard
Linum Usitatissimum Oil	0 or 1 or 3	Low hazard
Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate	2 – 3	Low hazard
Camellia Sinensis Extract	2	Low hazard
Pantolactone	0	Low hazard
Butylene Glycol	1	Low hazard
Glycerin	2	Low hazard
Avena Sativa Kernel Extract	0	Low hazard

Hay-Band

Lucy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:42:07 +0000

The LI-11 pressure point or “QuiChi” has been traditionally used in Chinese acupressure in the treatment of allergies. It is located on the elbow, and the new hay-band has been developed primarily for the relief of hay-fever but is thought to also help other airborne allergies such as dust mites and animal dander.

What is hay-band and does it really work?

I suffer on a regular bases with hay fever, dust, animal, and other allergies and keep them in check with my diet and supplement routine, however I still find that in the worse months I need to take anti-histamine tablets at worst would be every day for seven days.

So… over the next month I’ll be testing the hay band.

I purchased mine from www.hay-band.co.uk for £11.50

Thanks to George who says if you goto www.qu-chi.com and type in green at the checkout you can get one for just £8!

Date: 25th June 2009 – Update on my experience

Well I have to admit that this really does work for me. I was skeptical but every morning recently I’ve been waking up full of sneezes and itchy throat/eyes etc. which lasts until I put on my hay band.

It’s not the most comfortable thing to wear which is why I tend to take it off over night and towards the end of the day when my allergies don’t seem do bad.

I still think that diet makes the most difference, after all we are what we eat, but I can’t knock the hay-band and I think it’s good value for money and has saved my health bank as I don’t need to take anti-histamines now.