Sodium Lauryl Sulfate(SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate(SLES) are used as foaming and thickening agents in many of the body care products we use everyday. Almost everything that foams or lathers uses these chemicals because they are very cheap to use. And the scary thing is there are around 100 chemical derivatives of these agents that all have different names so it is very hard to know what you are using. In other words these agents may be hiding under different names.

Anybody that has any skin sensitivity at all should stay far away from these products. Many reports have been published about the very irritating properties of these agents. Some soap has concentrations of up to 30% which are very irritating and dangerous. These chemicals cannot be metabolized by the liver so they twill build up in concentrations in the body and ultimately cause toxicity in many people.

Studies show that these agents penetrate into the eyes, brain, heart and liver. They are retained in body tissue. These studies also show evidence of preventing young children’s eyes from developing properly and contributing to cataract development in adults. The bottom line is that because of the penetrating power of these agents they are believed by many experts to be known carcinogens.

There are many natural body care lines on the market that do not use these chemicals, or if they do use them they use them in far smaller quantities. Yes, natural often cost a little bit more and are sometimes harder to find, but isn’t your health and well being worth it? Or you can use the conventional products half the time and use the more expensive natural products the other half. This will at least cut your exposure to these toxins in half.

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I was at a nutritional supplement seminar last week and all the guest speakers were ranting about all the toxins in our environment and how it was such a bleak picture for humanity. Then last night on Letterman I saw the man who is blowing the horn regarding the two Texas sized plastic garbage area that is out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

With so many people out there saying the sky is falling with concern about all the chemicals and toxins in our environment, I just want to remind people of one undisputable fact among all the environmental hysteria. The fact is that human life expectancy continues to go up year after year. In the year 1900 the average human life expectancy was around 50 years old and today it is almost 80 years old.

I am not saying the natural environment does not need to be protected and I am not saying that we should not be doing much better to keep out only planet clean. But fact are facts and the fact is that we keep living longer. If the world is really so toxic and dangerous than how can this be possible? I sometimes think people just like to have something to worry about.

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Omega 3 fatty acids and children’s mental health may offer an explanation as to why all these mental disorders are increasing at a fast pace in our society. The human rain is about 60% fat by weight, DHA is one of the two essential fatty acids that form the fish oil omega 3 and is the most abundant natural fat in the brain.

Imagine a child learning at school. The process of learning requires the brain to form new neural connections. DHA is needed in this building process, especially for the delicate neural synapses which are composed entirely of DHA. This child, like the vast majority of U.S. children, eats almost no Omega-3 fatty acids. What does the brain do? Again, it struggles and finally uses other types of fats, which are the wrong type Trans Fats or omega 6.

DHA is particularly important for fetuses and infants; the DHA content of the infant’s brain triples during the first three months of life. Optimal levels of DHA are therefore crucial for pregnant and lactating mothers. Unfortunately, the average DHA content of breast milk in the United States is the lowest in the world, most likely because Americans eat comparatively little fish.

The good news is that if you begin to supply adequate amounts of fish oil for kids, they will react quickly to this improved nutrition. Do your children a great favor and make sure they are getting a good natural omega 3 supplement in their daily diet.

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Nightmare sleeping disorder is sometimes called a dream anxiety attack. Most patients with nightmare disorder are children. Nightmares are frightening dreams that occur during natural REM sleep and are associated with an increase in heart rate, an increase in the rate of breathing, profuse sweating, and eventually waking up. About 50% to 85% of adults report having a bad nightmare at least every now and then. They tend to become less frequent and intense as people get older. Females report nightmares more often than do males.

Nightmare sleeping disorder is generally treated with counseling. Effective counseling methods can help to resolve conflict that produces nightmares. A good therapist can attempt to address the underlying causes of the nightmares. He or she will also help you deal with the thoughts and feelings that are involved. Sometimes the person can be very confused by the nightmares and wonder if it is a sign of something. Intensive therapy may be needed for a person whose nightmares stem from a traumatic event in life.

Medications are not commonly used for this problem, although they may be considered in some extreme cases. Some medications may help by reducing the percentage of REM sleep, but REM sleep is considered the deepest sleep and is really needed for natural health.

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These studies prove that during the teen years, the body’s natural circadian rhythm for some reason  temporarily reset, telling many teens to fall asleep later and wake up later. This change in the circadian rhythm seems to be due to the fact that the brain hormone melatonin is produced later at night for teens than it is for kids and adults. This can make it harder for teens to fall asleep early. So, this curiosity why teens stay awake so late and sleep so late is not just them being lazy, it has been shown to be indeed biological.

The changes in the body’s natural circadian rhythm usually coincide with a time when they are busier than ever. For many teens the pressures in life are more intense than when they were kids, and it’s difficult to adjust to the new stress levels. Also, teens have other time demands such as sports, school activities or a part-time job to save money for college.

Early start times in some schools definitely play a role in this sleep deficit. Teens that fall asleep after midnight may still have to get up early for school, meaning that they regularly only get 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night. A few hours of missed sleep a night may not seem like a big deal, but can create a substantial sleep deficit over time.

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Many parents are often at a loss as how to help the newborn and really do not know where to turn. For hundreds of years many women in Europe have turned to natural gripe water to treat colic.

Gripe water is a natural herbal blend that is dissolved into water. The water is sterilized and usually contains herbs such as peppermint, chamomile, fennel, or ginger or a combination of these herbs. Many of these natural herbs have been used for centuries to help with stomach upset, and they have been proven to help infants as well.

I have recommended gripe water to my customers for years and have received very good feedback from many parents. I may not work on one hundred percent of the infants I know, but it is definitely worth trying to spare yourself and your infant from many sleepless nights

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Common indoor plants may also provide a natural weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are also finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

Not only do plants provide us with fresh oxygen like we have always known. The real power of plants may be their amazing ability to remove unhealthy chemicals from our indoor air. Studies have shown that the atmosphere in rooms filled with houseplants typically contains between 50% to 60% fewer mold spores and bacteria.

House plants absorb chemicals in the air via microscopic leaf openings called stomata. Once absorbed inside, the plant either breaks down the pollutant in question, or it sends the contaminant down to its roots where it’s released as food for the colonies of microbes that typically live in a plant’s root zone.

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