Healthier Choices for a Healthier Life

Eating only healthy organic foods, using only clean products or the best natural cosmetics is very desirable but not always possible. However, it only takes a little bit of effort and some info to switch to better choices in our lives.

Here you have a list of smart tips which will help you live a better life with little or no extra cost and effort.

1. Water
Filter your tap water - both drinking & cooking (ideally for bathing too as your entire skin absorbs contaminants).

2. Regular Table Salt vs. Natural Salt

Salt is essential for life, you cannot live without it. However, regular ‘table salt’ and the salt found in processed foods are NOT identical to the salt your body really needs. In fact, table salt has practically nothing in common with natural salt. One is health damaging, and the other is healing.

-Processed "regular" salt is 98 percent sodium chloride, and the remaining two percent comprises man-made chemicals, such as moisture absorbents, and a little added iodine. These are dangerous chemicals like ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate. Some European countries, where water fluoridation is not practiced, also add fluoride to table salt.

-Natural salt is about 84 percent sodium chloride. The remaining 16 percent of natural salt consists of other naturally occurring minerals, including trace minerals like silicon, phosphorous and vanadium.

3. Meat, Eggs and Dairy Products - Conventional vs. Organic

As much as possible, buy and eat organic produce and free-range, organic meats to reduce your exposure to added hormones, pesticides and fertilizers.

Also avoid milk and other dairy products that contain the genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST).

-At all costs, avoid the Margarine, which contains many unhealthy components such as trans fats, free radicals, emulsifiers/preservatives or toxic solvents. The trans fats (unnatural fats) in margarine, shortenings and spreads are formed during the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into a solid fat. Trans fats contribute to heart disease, cancer, bone problems, hormonal imbalance and skin disease; infertility, difficulties in pregnancy and problems with lactation; and low birth weight, growth problems and learning disabilities in children. Free radicals and other toxic breakdown products are the result of high temperature industrial processing of vegetable oils. They contribute to numerous health problems, including cancer and heart disease.

- Eggs - choose organic. Organic eggs are laid from hens that may be kept in any kind of caging system, but generally are cage free. They eat an organic feed and don’t receive vaccines or antibiotics.

4. Fish - conventional vs. wild

Rather than eating conventional or farm-raised fish, which are often heavily contaminated with PCBs and mercury, supplement with a high-quality purified krill oil, or eat fish that is wild-caught and lab tested for purity.

5. Whole Wheat vs. White Bread/Pasta

There are two big differences: how they a’re processed and how healthful they are. The flour for both is made from wheat berries, which have three nutrient-rich parts: the bran (the outer layers), the germ (the innermost area) and the endosperm (the starchy part in between). Whole wheat is processed to include all three nutritious parts, but white flour uses only the endosperm. When put head-to-head with whole wheat bread, white is a nutritional lightweight. Whole wheat is much higher in fiber, vitamins B6 and E, magnesium, zinc, folic acid and chromium. But of all these nutritional goodies, fiber is the star:
In a 10-year Harvard study completed in 1994, men and women who ate high-fiber breads had fewer heart attacks and strokes than those whose tastes ran to bagels and baguettes.

6. Cooking Oils

When looking for healthy cooking oils, there are a lot of options, depending on what you’re looking for in terms of nutrition, heating capacity, and flavor. The first thing to remember is that anytime you cook with an oil, you risk heating it too much, which can cause oxidation and lead to the formation of carcinogens (cancer causing compounds) and other unhealthy compounds. When your oil starts to change color, that’s a sign that it’s starting to degrade from too much heat. Look for those with a high smoke point. (for more info on types of oils, read: http://irisnutrition.blogspot.ca/2013/11/cooking-oils-we-all-know-that-raw-foods.html)

7. Fragrance-free products

One artificial fragrance can contain hundreds (even thousands) of potentially toxic chemicals. When choosing your cosmetics, washing & cleaning products, etc. try and stay close to the more natural/organic choices.

Also avoid artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners or other synthetic fragrances.

You can even make your own cleaning products - for example baking soda or vinegar are known as very effective cleaning products.

8. "Healthy" Breakfast Cereals & "Healthy" Drinks

Choosing a healthy breakfast cereal is not a simple task. The cereal aisle is a long one, full of contradictions. You'll find cereals made with refined grains with nearly no fiber, and cereals made with whole grains and bran boasting 7 grams or more of fiber. There are cereals with so much sugar they seem more like boxes of little cookies. And there are cereals with sugar listed far down on the ingredient list.

But it's well worth the effort, experts say. If you eat cereal almost every day, either for breakfast or as a snack, the cereal you choose can say a lot about your health. It can add a lot of good stuff to your diet - or it can add a whole lot of nothing.

The same goes with the "healthy" Juices. Before buying, always check the labels.

9. Candles

Avoid / eliminate the candles. They are one of the most common unrecognized causes of poor indoor air quality as they release toxins (dangerous levels of lead, etc.) when burning.

Candle sales in general have skyrocketed in recent years, part of the candle craze may be due to new interest in aromatherapy, a type of alternative medicine in which odors are used for relaxation or to treat illness. Ironically, the very candles sometimes used for aromatherapy can cause serious health problems. The chief culprits are candles with wicks made with metal cores.

Some candle makers use metal-core wicks because cotton wicks are often limp and fall over into the wax, extinguishing the flame. Lead poisoning can lead to behavior changes and damage internal organs, especially the kidneys.

10. Plastic products

Buy products that come in glass bottles rather than plastic or canned, since chemicals can leach out of plastics and into the contents. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a serious concern; make sure plastic containers and canned goods are BPA-free.

Store your food and beverages in glass rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap. Also when buying your sandwich bags go for the BPA-free ones (like Ziploc).

-If your you are using a microware, under no circumstance use any plastic recipients because when plastic heats up it releases dioxin, a highly toxic compound which play a big role in cancer rates.

- Replace your vinyl shower curtain with one made of fabric.

11. Organic Veggies/Fruits vs. Conventional - the DIRTY DOZEN

It is ideal to buy only organic products but many times not possible for a number of reasons. However, taking into consideration the famous "dirty Dozen" list which may help you reduce up to 85% of the pesticide & chemical fertilizers in your grocery products. Here you have it:

12. Vinegar
The distilled white vinegar is the lowest grade of vinegars. However it makes a great house cleaning product....keep it for cleaning your house.

When it comes to your salads and food, eliminate the regular vinegar from your kitchen and use the healthiest alternative of Apple Cider vinegar, heralded as a potential healer of many of today's most common serious ailments. It is believed that apple cider vinegar can help prevent or even heal heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, aging-related ailments, and a host of other conditions. It is full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, enzymes, and pectin.

13. Canned Vegetables

The resin linings of tin cans contain Bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. One of the worst on would be the canned tomatoes, as acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food.

Always try and choose the glass bottles or even better, cook your own fresh veggies.

14. Raw Food vs. Processed Food

Eat mostly raw, fresh foods. Processed, prepackaged foods (of all kinds) are a common source of chemicals such as BPA and phthalates.

15. Microwave Popcorn - a big no no

When cooked properly, popcorn is one of the healthier choices when is comes to a little snack. However, the Microwave Popcorn couldn't be further from the "truth".

The chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize and migrate into your popcorn.

16. Aluminum
Hundreds of studies demonstrate that aluminum is not safe. The metal is the most abundant in the Earth’s crust, naturally absorbed from the soil by plants and foodstuffs. But while 50 years ago we may have ingested minute amounts from vegetables (and possibly from some of the pots they were cooked in), today aluminum is found in almost everything. When the amount of aluminum consumed exceeds the body’s capacity to excrete it, the excess is then deposited in various tissues, including nerves, brain, bone, liver, heart, spleen and muscle. The 'silent visitor’ creeps into the body and beds down in our bones and brain. The researches led to believe that accumulation of aluminum in the body is a risk factor not only for Alzheimer’s disease but may also be linked to other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

The aluminum can migrate to food from cookware and packaging materials such as foil and cartons. One study found that around 20 per cent of aluminum in the diet came from the use of aluminum cookware and foil, according to the Food Standards Agency.
PS: a healthy alternative to aluminum foil is the banana leaf.

Putting on antiperspirant is a routine part of most people's day, and you may not think much about it. But here's why you should: if you use one containing aluminum, you could be increasing your risk of breast cancer.
Antiperspirants work by clogging, closing, or blocking the pores that release sweat under your arms - with the active ingredient being aluminum. Not only does this block one of your body's routes for detoxification (releasing toxins via your underarm sweat), but it raises concerns about where these metals are going once you roll them (or spray them) on.

17. Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame can stimulate your appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings, and stimulate fat storage and weight gain. In one of the most recent of such studies, saccharin and aspartame were found to cause greater weight gain than sugar.

Aspartame is perhaps one of the most problematic. It is primarily made up of aspartic acid and phenylalanine. The phenylalanine has been synthetically modified to carry a methyl group, which provides the majority of the sweetness. That phenylalanine methyl bond, called a methyl ester, is very weak, which allows the methyl group on the phenylalanine to easily break off and form methanol.

If sweetening your drinks is a must, than go for healthy products like organic Stevia or organic Agave syrup. Also stay as much away from the white refined SUGAR. Sugar (or the "white poison") has been linked with numerous health problems such as obesity, cancer, tooth decay, etc. (for more info, read: http://irisnutrition.blogspot.ca/2013/11/blog-post_8315.html)
Choose the better alternative such as Agave nectar, organic brown sugar, honey (packed with vitamins and antimicrobial properties), Stevia, maple syrup, molasses or brown rice sugar. 

18. Feminine Hygiene Products

Replace feminine hygiene products like tampons and sanitary pads with safer alternatives. To give tampons and pads that “clean” white look, the fibers used must be bleached. Chlorine is commonly used for this, which can create toxic dioxin and other disinfection-by-products (DBPs) such as trihalomethane.

Choose the safer alternatives, ideally the 100% Organic Cotton Tampons.

19. Cosmetics & Toiletries

Switch over to organic/natural brands of toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirants and cosmetics (lipstick containing lead, aluminum free antiperspirants, etc).

20. Cookware
Replace your non-stick pots and pans (Teflon) with ceramic or glass cookware.
The non-stick cookware is made using a carcinogenic chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which starts emitting toxic fumes that you inhale every time you cook with a non-stick pot or pan. At high temperatures, the coating of non-stick cookware will also break down into a chemical warfare agent known as PFIB, and a chemical analog of the WWII nerve gas phosgene.

21. Baby Products

Make sure your baby's toys are BPA-free, such as pacifiers, teething rings and anything your child may be prone to suck on. When buying the baby bottles, always go for the glass ones. Buy the BPA-free Sippy cups or the stainless steel one.

Always use a bottle warmer instead of a microwave.

22. Furniture, Mattresses,  Carpets

Avoid items containing PBDEs, antimony, formaldehyde, boric acid, and other brominated chemicals. Select those that contain naturally less flammable materials, such as leather, wool and cotton.

23. Vacuum
Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to remove contaminated house dust.

24. Plastic and Microwave
Microwaving foods in PLASTIC containers release cancer-causing agents into the foods. DIOXIN carcinogens cause cancer (especially breast cancer). 
And don't freeze your plastic bottles as this also releases dioxin into your water.