Natural preservative free cosmetic stalemate

By now many health concious consumers are becoming very savy in terms of their choices with respect to the levels of preservatives in products, especially so in the area of skin care. Much has been publicised and quoted into wether the the use of parabens are in fact damaging to our skin in the long run. The unfortunate reality is that everything we consume is economy and price driven. It seriously is a fine line equation. The practicality is that companies need to produce products that not only have a good `shelf life' but at the same time produce safe products for the consumer, coupled with the need to merchandise it at a reasonable price. So therefore as a valid commodity the `100% preservative free' stance on cosmetic and skin care products does proceed with difficulty into the marketplace. The precise reasons are explained very well in the following article `7 Reasons They Aren't More Preservative Free' published in the beautybrains website, which comes highly recommended.

Labelling claims

By now many of us are aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and recent claims that go along with support of this. But what of the now numerous claims being made by manufacturers of partially or fully processed foods. Can their claims as stated on the labels be given equal validity? It's a grey area since it boils down to the `care wording' as to how the message is laid out in the first instance, and to which degree does it constitute a medicinal claim. The article `Health claims: food or medicine?' by Choice puts this issue under the microscope to find out how much of what is being claimed by the food consortium's as to it actually being relevant.

Straight from the source?

Unlike many parts of the world tap water in Australia employs very stringent methods in respect to the regulatory contents and purity in maintaining the integrity of the supply that Australians enjoy. However though the addition of Fluoride is very debatable wherein some countries which include Germany and Denmark have banned it's use. Fortunately here in Queensland we do not have it in our supply but for how long will this last. Anyhow thats another story. Anyhow an interesting article published in Essential Baby entitled `What's wrong with a drink from the tap?' raises the issue of the bottled water craze which is sweeping the Western World.

A good point made I thought. Personal need or just marketing hype. Has any studies been carried out to suggest that bottled water is indeed of superior quality than tap water? Or is it a con?

There is nothing new in this idea naturally as the following article `When did people first start drinking bottled water rather than tap water?' clearly shows us, explaining the the history of this habit very well including links to graphs to show the upward marketing trend of `health orientated bottled water drinkers, and again shown here in the first of a three part essay entitled `Bottled Water, Bottled Hype Part 1' shows the ramifications of this escalating habit on our environment and it's subsequent cost to us all. So what indeed is the cost we pay for our bottled water hit? The whole picture is not quite as healthy as one may at first hand imagine.

Free Implants

The internet media machine just keeps on getting bolder as time moves on. One recent article I came across apart from raising questions has it's supporters and much as it has detractors. Sara Bonisteel's recent report `Web Site Offers Free Breast Implants' for Fox News will certainly raise eyebrows. Wether one considers the online practice of giving away free breast augmentations to young women to be acceptable or not the reality is that it has taken off in a big way and the website in question MyFreeImplants shows quite a healthy Alexa rating of 60,960 (as of the time of writing). It is however a girl popularity driven online community site where male benefactors are charged via membership and messaging fee's, a proportion of which goes to the girl of their interest. Very questionable and only time will tell how this enterprise ventures.

Sleep your way to a better memory

Further to the previous article `Power nap yourself from the sleep deficiency nightmare' comes the article `Catnaps boost our memory' by David Derbyshire reporting new studies that have been undertaken by Dr Olaf Lahl of the University of Dusseldorf, Germany which would suggest that short sleep periods can aid concentration and memory recall. I feel assured we can all benefit from a better and clearer memory, this does indeed sound like good advice to me.

Nutrition education

After reading yet another `junk food' hazard orientated article `Fast Food: The Fast Track to Organ Damage' which it seems is just one of many you can find really did make me wonder. Yes I see the merits in focusing on the negatives of this lifestyle, and indeed sometimes by doing so it can inherently show us that which can be detrimental to our health. But really, how many more do we need to see? There seems to be far to much of a fixation on what is bad rather than good, or is that just me? Is this an education to fast tracking coronary heart disease?

If the law of attraction is engaging here then this showing of what is bad only compounds the situation measurably. Personally I'd like to see more articles on the beneficial aspects of our diet. Just like the lawn that has a growing weed population; the solution is not to pull out the weeds, more so to plant more grass seeds. The result being that through the law of survival of the
fittest, nature herself will eliminate them.

The engaging 2004 documentary/movie Super Size Me by film maker Morgan Spurlock encapsulated the dangers very well albeit rather drastically but without doubt proving the point. So why more surveys are needed I will never know. There is a counterpoint to this however, which comes in the form of the Raw for Life video made by a dedicated group of film makers under the guidence of executive producers Mark Perlmutter and Keith Lyons of the Raw for 30 Days website. Here we see the opposite in which eating foods primarily in their raw (or uncooked state) can substantially cause a turnaround in health given that it was not 100% on the offset. This team gets my heartiest support in intelligent guidance and information on the monumental topic of nutrition.

Reference: 1.

Super sized dilemma

From the sublime to the outright ridiculous it may seem that I am banging at the gates of the obesity high horse once more; and indeed this article entitled `Obesity crisis calls for more heavy-duty ambulances' from the Sydney Morning Herald seems to show this but let me say one thing. If this were not actuality and nor such a serious matter it would be farcical to the extreme.

Congratulations Australia you have now earned yourself the title of being the 2nd fattest nation on the planet next to the U.S.

Take a look at these stats, are these to be proud of?

• The 1999-2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study indicated over seven million adult Australians aged 25 years and over (60%) were overweight.
  Of these, over two million (21%) were obese.
  Men were more likely than women to be overweight, with 67% of men compared with 52% of women (aged 25 years and over) being overweight.
  
• There have been significant increases in the proportions of overweight and obese Australians over the last 20 years. From 1980 to 1999-2000, for people aged 25-64 years, the proportion of overweight women increased from 27% to 47%, and the proportion of overweight men increased from 47% to 66%.
  
• On average, women in 1999 weighed 4.8 kg more than their counterparts in 1980, and men 3.6 kg more.

Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

The latest figures published in the NSW Health Annual Report 2006/07 don't get any more promising either as shown in the article `Half NSW adults overweight or obese: report'.

Boy is this ever a wake up call, should this trend continue society will eventually restructure itself to cater for this escalation and this will bring about disastrous results bringing forth a pending meltdown in our health care system or whats left of it anyhow.

Obesity hardwired

Further to our article `The nature of food during pregnancy' comes another related follow up article entitled Obesity 'down to faulty brain wiring' Sebastien Bouret, an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles states conclusively that appetite and obesity could well be `hard wired' into the brains of individuals from birth. The problem seems to stem from behavioral patterns within the brain that interfere with leptin production, a hunger suppressing and energy metabolising hormone that regulates appetite.

Brain food

Indeed the brain follows the same rules as any other part of our anatomy, simply put use it or lose it. Just as physical activity is as important to our bodies, mental exercise and stimulation is vital for our brains. Especially so as we get older wherein it becomes even more so. Learning is a life long experience and never finishes until we do. Jennifer Goddard (pictured above), director of the Buzan Centre in Australia and New Zealand and the co-founder of Mind werx International explains this importance in further detail in her article `Age proof your brain'. Jennifer puts forward some useful tips that we can engage in to keep the grey matter functioning healthier especially into later years when we can most benefit.

References: 1.2.

The nature of food during pregnancy

Ellen Connelly of news.com.au reports on a world first discovery made by Australian Scientists at the University of NSW entitled `Mum's diet shapes a child's weight'. This of which apparently is backed up by a study that was published last year in the British Journal Of Nutrition reporting that the offspring of mothers who ate junk food (especially through pregnancy) gave rise to children that craved the same food types. This would definately suggest that a baby is not just genetically predisposed to it's mother in terms of physical characteristics.

Surely an absolute confirmation on these facts would prove the inherent `addictiveness' of some food additives, the likes of which junk food has now become notoriously known for. Processed foods are also not much better either, one only has to look at the labels to find it's array of preservatives, enhancers and stabilisers. So when will we learn? Education is the key I know but judging by the magnitude of the obesity problem within the Western world I personally thinking it's going to get a whole lot worse before it begins to get any better.

Fountain of youth

There can be no doubt that time and gravity can be our greatest enemies in respect to maintaining a youthful complexion which could also include our own environmental lifestyle in there, indeed the afore mentioned effect our bodies considerably. However whilst we cannot halt the process we certainly have a degree of control over it. Brook Phelps, an eDiet contributor penned an article entitled `10 Secrets of Looking Younger' which does represent some thoughtful advice on this topic. After perusing it I gather this information mainly pertains to women, however though since men have skin also I believe it could equally apply, and this has nothing to do with being a sensitive new age guy either, it just makes sense right?

Whilst it did have it's merits, the advice offered mainly concentrated on facial and neck complexion. This is all well and ok however health and youthfulness radiates from inside to out. In as much we should consider diet and regular exercise as part of the whole equation to looking good. Articles such as this are like pieces of a large puzzle and as such help us all on our path to a lasting healthier lifestyle. After all it makes no sense at all if our total wellbeing is in order if it does not express itself outwardly also. To look further for a moment at the `whole' self, absolute wellbeing is pivotal on 6 foundational factors which are:

1. Thoughts
2. Breathing
3. Hydration
4. Food
5. Exercise
6. Circadian rhythms
   

These (in order of importance) form the `backbone' of total wellbeing and are explained in further detail by Holistic Health Coach Terence M. Carfrae in his profile entitled Metabolic Typing.

Reference: Metabolic Typing explained

Burning of the vanities

Solarium's are in the news and under the spot light once again, this time resulting in legal action being taken against a number of solarium's by several Gold Coast women as reported by Australia Business in an article entitled `Lawyers sue solarium's'. It really did get my attention especially after reading the first line which I have quoted,

"LAWYERS are increasingly suing solarium's after repeated scientific studies linking them to the risk of developing skin cancer and other skin conditions."

This goes without saying does it not? Especially since there is now plenty of evidence to show that prolonged UV exposure increases the risk of skin melanoma by up to 98%! With this I had to ask the question. With whom exactly does the responsibility lie?

Certainly true and quite possibly some of these establishments may not be accessing their clients well enough for suitability for such treatments, whilst on the other hand users of solarium's should know better. It's all a question of choice and if one so chooses to do so out of the sheer vanity of beautiful glowing dark skin then the consequential risk factor of skin damage is high. This being the case then there is a price to pay.

Maybe I just see things far to simply who knows but suing them I believe will not eliminate the hazard by any means and makes no gains at all apart from the exception of lining the pockets of money hungry lawyers. All this is just a case of responsibility negligence and these individuals got exactly what they paid for. So if you wish to have natural healthy glowing skin simply don't use them. Period.

References: 1.2.

Power nap yourself from the sleep deficiency nightmare

The following article by the Sydney Morning Herald titled `The blanket lifted on a health nightmare' so brings to the surface a dilemma of living in a modern age. Whilst these stats are alarming they at the same time come as no surprise. Speaking personally I have in the past been reduced to getting only 5 - 6 hours of sleep a night, due to work commitments. While there may be other contributing factors I firmly believe that longer work hours and stress related factors are huge culprits to this problem.

Without saying more than needs to be said most would be well aware that sleep deficiency is detrimental to both mind and body and can over longer periods seriously reduce our concentration and work performance. Is there a solution here? One which I have found useful is the `power nap', a short half hour - hour rest period preferably where one will not get disturbed. Trust me this really does give you are boost, especially if you suffer from sleep deficiency.

References 1. 2. 3.

Mushroom madness

After the resent hospitalisation of 2 adults due to the consumption of the death cap mushroom within the ACT from the recent report by the ACT Health Department which also states of other occurring fatalities in the same manner really made me think. What happened to common sense here? Why would anyone unknowingly just consume anything out in the wild let alone mushrooms without having prior knowledge of their actions.

Anyone falling victim to such misadventure should be beaten with the proverbial `idiot stick'. Didn't their parents teach them anything? Within the mushroom world alone there are approx 14,000 differing species globally, and without prior knowledge to catergorise and guide you the consumption of any one of them can be detrimental to ones health and in some cases result in death. I seriously hope that others will heed to the advice given by the department and think before considering such.

Reference: 1.2.

Is your sex life normal?

Sexologist Yvonne. K. Fulbright (pictured left) blazes a trail of inquiry as to the sexual habits of Americans in an article entitled `Is your sex life normal?' Is there such a thing as normality within human sexual expressions given the fact that what may be considered freaky, kinky, bizarre, abnormal, weird and or downright disturbing to some may be entirely acceptable or dare I say it `normal' to some, whilst others could not even imagine such acts. It's really a question to the extent that an individual or couple will go to sexually gratify themselves. Personally I believe such extremes are only healthy as long as both individuals fully endorse and are in agreement with such actions and the other being that no physical and or mental harm arises because of such actions.

Throughout the ages humans have been torn by two forces, firstly their own internal natural drives and needs to express themselves fully and the external so called `social values' to be conformed to. External pressures then where usually forced upon us by religious doctrines through the ages. Out of these doctrines arose many accepted myths and beliefs which where perpetuated by the church and it's leaders to keep us in line.

There have been many individuals in history who have attempted to liberate us by setting the records straight. One such was the now legendary 18th century French aristocrat Donatien Alphonse-François de Sade, better known as the Marquis De Sade. Clearly in his day he was persecuted for many of his writings, which resulted in his enforced 32 year imprisonment. However if anyone (dares to) take the time and read say the classic `Justine' for example De Sade was merely holding the `mirror of contempt' to the established order of the day and revealing their so called outwardly displayed values as being nothing more than hypercritical and deceitful.

De Sade lived in a world wherein the nature of the deeds in his writings was indeed actuality not fiction and that various sexual vices were used by those in power to control and manipulate the less fortunate and poor within society, in particular younger persons of both genders, purely for their own gratification and sexual perversions. However despite all his efforts his works were systematically destroyed by the crushing religious dogma of his time and he was labeled as nothing more than a protagonist of pornography and filth.

However one more advocate for sexual liberation of the masses was non other than the more recent Alfred Kinsey who once again rocked the establishment, although this time far more successful in breaking down the barriers. Without such daring individuals we would still well an truly be gripped within the oppressive mindset of the those that seek to control our freedoms. Our needs to feel accepted `and know our place' within the scheme of things continues to this day as can be seen by the ongoing surveys published in women's magazines such as Cleo.

So in conclusion once again we must ask what is normal? Normality I believe is an illusion and non existent. Never was and never will be, thats the beauty of being individual, the continual striving for total personal expression. Being only true to oneself.

`Intelligent Bra' Stops the Bounce

You've got give it to the researcher's at the University of Wollongong in Australia they can certainly find some creative ways to spend taxpayers money. Also I doubt it could not have been an easy task especially when they take on the arduous challenge of solving women's breast movement during periods of exercise. Was it at all difficult to find recruits for this project to study the `breast biomechanics' of varying sizes of 2 willing female participants during such prescribed workout sessions?

Much of the data taken was done via a bra made from what has been termed `intelligent fabric' which included imbedded electronic sensors to record breast movement. So I guess all of their hard earned efforts are not in vain since the resulting data will help manufacturers to find better materials to design more comfortable bra's that will eliminate or at least reduce the age
old feminine problem of breast bounce.

Reference: 1. 2.3.

Age of Sex

Hot on the heals of the recent myth debunking article featured in the last post here comes another. `Age of sex' by Prof Low Wah Yun (subtitled How misunderstandings can deprive an elderly the pleasures of sexual activity) is quite a taboo torn topic. Most younger people cannot or even would not subscribe to the notion that their parents where still enjoying any manner of carnal activity let alone anyone older than them. Yes indeed it may seem quite a conscientious subject, however if most younger people feel that way when they are young then they may be sowing the seeds of a self fulfilling prophecy for themselves later on in life. Is sex only for the young and beautiful as the media would like us to believe and alternatively is sex then which is enjoyed by our more mature citizens considered perverse? I sure hope not, after all it is as natural to us as any other human need. Sure the whole act may take slightly longer than the `quickie' one once might have had but who cares since it's main importance goes well beyond this in long standing relationships.

On the same topic there can be no denying an enduring sex activity with your preferred partner in later years can be good for your overall health just as long as it doe's not include anything to risque such as activities involving a chandelier and or executing a multitude of positions from within the volumes of the Karma Sutra. In the following articles Mark Stibich Ph.D. entitled `Top 10 Sex Tips for Older Men' and `Top 10 Sex Tips for Older Women' is some very thoughtful commonsense advice for individuals and couples who believe that activity within the the bedroom (and anywhere else for that matter) should never cease.

Medical Myths Even Doctors Believe

In the supposed `age of reason' we now live in it is quite interesting to find many `old wives tales' or `unquestioned beliefs' that have persisted for so long given the totally inadequate scientific data available in support of such unsubstantiated excepted dogma. As such an article entitled `Medical Myths Even Doctors Believe' which I recently come across debunks many of these so called `excepted truths' which lie quite happily within the mainstream of (so called) common knowledge. I wouldn't entirely agree that all doctors (as mentioned) subscribe to these but no doubt some still do. These include such statements as:

People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
We use only 10 percent of our brains.
Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker or coarser.
Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.

just to name a few. The article states only 7 of these so called common myths, however many of us would be well aware that they are many more, some others of which appear as subscriber comments at the articles end. In general and in conclusion one should always be judicial when disseminating information of any descript and only a half wit who actually does use only 10% of their brain capacity would believe all is unquestionable.