Three compelling reasons not to wear synthetic perfumes:

Our cultural fascination with fragrance has spanned back thousands of years. Our ancestors did not spray a multitude of new-era chemicals on their body to achieve an appealing scent though. Instead, they often used plant materials to achieve desirable scents. Modern times have spawned literally thousands of chemicals for use in fragrance.

When you apply anything labeled with a "fragrance" ingredient today, you can be assured you are subjecting yourself to anywhere from tens to hundreds of various chemicals. This includes lotions, which you may apply to your entire body, facial skin care products and other beauty and self care items that you may use every single day, multiplying your exposure exponentially. None of these chemicals need to be directly disclosed in labeling since they are considered proprietary in nature.

Today, the perfume industry is worth an estimated 5.1 billion dollars as consumers continue to buy fragrances and perfumed products. Why should you not partake in using these synthetic fragrance products?

1. At least 900 of the 3,000 fragrance chemicals used are toxic

There are somewhere around 3,000 chemicals that have been identified as being used in today's modern fragrances. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has identified at least 900 of these chemicals that are known toxins.

This means that these chemicals can cause problems at the cellular levels once your body absorbs them transdermally (through the skin). Some popular brands of perfume have been found to be toxic to the respiratory tract when inhaled and the nervous system which occurs both through inhalation of airborne particles and transdermal absorption.

2. Perfume linked to depressive disorder in chemically sensitive individuals

More and more people are being diagnosed with chemical sensitivity these days. This is likely due to our near-constant exposure. Chemically sensitive individuals may have more than allergic reactions and toxicity at stake. Studies have linked perfume use with severe depressive disorder and anxiety in individuals who exhibit sensitivities tochemical fragrances.

Since these chemicals can have varying effects on the nerve cells, it is no surprise that they also may impair brain function. Scents evoke emotions since our emotional center is closely tied to our olfactory sense. Those who are chemically intolerant may have extreme reactions to the multitude of scents they are bombarded with every day.

3. Thyroid and hormone disruption, respiratory toxicity and headaches

Many of the top selling fragrances on the market today, used by literally millions of women worldwide, contain unregulated and largely unstudied chemicals. The most recent study was commissioned by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

It found several chemicals in the top selling perfumes that can cause damage to the thyroid gland. The thyroid regulates several important metabolic processes in the body. Thyroid disorders can cause obesity, problems losing or maintaining a healthy weight, serious hair loss, mood disorders and feelings of lethargy.

Chemicals that interfere with healthy thyroid activity may also promote cancer of this important gland. Since it is the largest of the endocrine glands, it has some very important processes to control and therefore, it is utterly important that we keep this gland healthy and in top operating condition.

The thyroid is responsible for controlling how fast our body goes through our energy stores. It also plays an important role in producing much-needed proteins and controls how sensitive our bodies are to the plethora of other hormones that are present at any given time.

Many of the chemicals in perfumes present a dual problem for the thyroid in that they can add more synthetic hormones (in the form of synthetic and harmful estrogens) to our system. In addition, they often can cause damage to the very gland that helps control our sensitivity to these excessive hormones which only compounds the problem.

Beware of Fluoridated Antibiotics that Can Ruin Your Gut Flora and Your Health

Your lifestyle can and does influence your gut flora on a daily basis. All of these common exposures can wreak havoc on the makeup of bacteria in your gut, but researchers are now increasingly looking at the cascading ill effects of antibiotic drugs in particular. For example, your gut bacteria are extremely sensitive to:

• Antibiotics
• Chlorinated water
• Antibacterial soap
• Agricultural chemicals
• Pollution

Antibiotics are severely overused – not just in medicine, but also in food production. In fact, about 80 percent of all the antibioticsproduced are used in agriculture – not only to fight infection, but to promote unhealthy (though profitable) weight gain in the animals. Hence, if you want to avoid overexposure to antibiotics, it's also crucial to avoid conventionally-raised meats.

That said, certain antibiotics prescribed in medicine are so harmful they probably shouldn't be used at all. Medications such as Avelox, Cipro, and Levaquin have been named in over 2,000 drug injury lawsuits.⁵

These are all fluoroquinolones, a class of fluoridated antibiotics associated with a number of serious side effects, such as potentially blinding retinal detachment, kidney failure, and permanent tendon damage. Fluoroquinolones do carry a black box warning for tendonitis, ruptured tendons, and its potentially detrimental effect on neuromuscular activity, but many patients simply do not read the warning labels before taking the drug. Other serious injuries linked to fluoroquinolones include:

Injury to central nervous system	Injury to your heart	Liver problems
Gastrointestinal problems	Injury to musculoskeletal system	Injury to renal system
Injury to visual and/or auditory system	Altered blood sugar metabolism	Depression
Psychotic reactions and hallucinations	Phototoxicity	Disfiguring rashes
Staphylococcus aureus infection	C. difficile infection	Severe diarrhea

Learn More about the Dangers of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics

Shockingly, despite all these risks, fluoroquinolones are one of the most commonly prescribed classes of antibiotics in the world. John Fratti, who was hired by the FDA in a part-time position as an FDA Patient Representative for drug safety, is on a quest to raise awareness on the dangers of fluoroguinolone toxicity. He filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the FDA on two of the top fluoroquinolones, Levaquin and Cipro, and learned that they are associated with over 2,500 deaths.

Fratti has established a non-profit organization called Quinolone Vigilance Foundation to spread awareness of the dangers associated with this class of drugs, and the Foundation's website contains both information and support for those injured by these drugs. Fortunately, fluoroquinolones have started getting some well-deserved media attention as of late.

According to a recent article in The New York Times:

"A half-dozen fluoroquinolones have been taken off the market because of unjustifiable risks of adverse effects. Those that remain are undeniably important drugs, when used appropriately. But doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have expressed concern that too often fluoroquinolones are prescribed unnecessarily as a 'one size fits all' remedy without considering their suitability for different patients.

Experts caution against giving these drugs to certain patients who face higher than average risks of bad reactions – children under age 18, adults over 60, and pregnant and nursing women – unless there is no effective alternative. The risk of adverse effects is also higher among people with liver disease and those taking corticosteroids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

When an antibiotic is prescribed, it is wise to ask what the drug is and whether it is necessary, what side effects to be alert for, whether there are effective alternatives, when to expect the diagnosed condition to resolve, and when to call if something unexpected happens or recovery seems delayed."

Why I Stopped Using Vicks Vapor Rub.........

Many of us have used Vicks Vapor Rub over the years, I want to share with you why I stopped.........

The ingredients in Vicks are as follows: Camphor 4.8%, Eucalyptus oil 1.2%, Menthol 2.6%, Cedar leaf oil, nutmeg oil, special petrolatum, thymol and turpentine oil. 
A lot of people in the mothering communities feel that this is a safe product and is relatively natural. 
I cannot get past the presence of petrolatum, or petroleum jelly. 

Do you know what petroleum jelly is? It is simply a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons. It does not oxidize with exposure to the air, and is not readily acted on by chemical reagents. It is insoluble in water. It is soluble in chloroform, benzene, carbon disulphide and oil of turpentine. Petroleum jelly is a byproduct of oil drilling. Oil drilling, you know, the kind of oil that winds up in gasoline. Nope. I'm not going to put a cousin of gasoline on my or my family's skin. 

IS YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE HIGH?

• According to the CDC, high blood pressure is the second greatest public health threat in the US, and 36 million people – about half of all with hypertension – have uncontrolled high blood pressure
• Uncontrolled high blood pressure is a very serious health concern that can lead to heart disease and increase your risk of having a stroke. However, following a healthy nutrition plan, along with exercising, maintaining vitamin D levels, and implementing effective stress reduction techniques will normalize blood pressure in most people
• Insulin resistance and elevated uric acid levels are significantly associated with high blood pressure. Any program adopted to address high BP needs to help normalize these two factors
• Items that need to be excluded from your diet if you have high blood pressure include: fructose, grains, beer and caffeine
• Potentially helpful supplements and other alternative strategies include calcium and magnesium, vitamins C and E, olive extract, electrical acupuncture, and techniques for increasing nitric oxide in your blood

What Does Excess Fructose Do To our Body?

It's a fact that excess dietary fructose can harm your body by setting up the conditions for diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver, but what does it do to your brain? Studies have not addressed this question—until now.

A new UCLA study1 is the first to show how a steady diet high in fructose can damage your memory and learning. The study was published in the Journal of Physiology.

Researchers investigated the effects of high-fructose syrup, similar to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a cheap sweetener six times sweeter than cane sugar, which is used in most  soft drinks, processed foods, condiments, and even many baby foods.

The team sought to study the effects of a steady intake of this super-processed, concentrated form of fructose, which is quite dissimilar from the naturally occurring fructose in fruits. They fed rats a fructose solution as drinking water for six weeks, then tested their ability to remember their way out of a maze.The results certainly grabbed the researchers' attention.

The rats fed fructose syrup showed significant impairment in their cognitive abilities—they struggled to remember their way out of the maze. They were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the route they'd learned six weeks earlier.

Additionally, the fructose-fed rats showed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls your blood sugar and synaptic function in your brain.

Because insulin is able to pass through your blood-brain barrier, it can trigger neurological processes that are important for learning and memory. Consuming large amounts of fructose may block insulin's ability to regulate how your brain cells store and use sugar for the energy needed to fuel thoughts and emotions. The average American consumes roughly 47 pounds of cane sugar and 35 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture2.