Was using my salt and pepper grinders today and realized that they BOTH have plastic grinding gears … yet another way for microplastics (or not-so-micro-plastics) to break off, get into our food, and then be consumed.
I’m throwing them out!!
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but apparently tea bags are coated in a type of plastic or teflon, which is then heated in the boiling tea water and then goes into our bodies and stays, for years. Ugh. 😵💫😵
This is one more source of microplastics that are unfortunately accumulating in our bodies and especially our brains. 🧠 So last week, I started doing things a little differently.
I do have a couple of mesh tea balls, which can hold the contents of a tea bag or loose tea. Generally, the holes are a little too big, and the tea particles go rogue. And to be honest, I have no idea what metal they are made of…
I used a French press to make tea last week, and it worked pretty well. However, some little bits of tea found their way into my mug and then my teeth. Not a big deal… I did like putting lime slices into the press along with my hibiscus tea and pressing them together.
Then my husband found this cool little gadget on Amazon. The holes are crazy tiny and its made from stainless steel:
You empty the tea bag or put loose tea into the cup, put the little cup inside an empty mug, and pour the hot water into/through it. Then, put on the little cap on while your tea steeps.
After a minute or two of steep time, you can use the cap as a coaster when you take it out of the mug.
P.S. Doctor Li talks about microplastics in the video interview I posted recently.
Here’s more research on it: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31552738/
I watched TV with my husband last night, and every commercial break was for things we would never buy, knowing what we know now. Mainstream things that carry hidden harms and toxins, which most people don’t realize…
Time to put the roast on.
Sorry for the snark, but it’s as a “buyer beware” sort of world. Don’t let yourself be persuaded, fooled, or robbed of your money and health. XO.
I recently spoke with an old friend who had heard of my diagnosis through the grapevine. He asked if I was doing all the things… all the things a person does when they get a diagnosis like this. Yes, I replied.
But what are the things? Well, there’s a lot of ’em, so I’m breaking them down by the phase of a typical day.
Here’s Part 1: Morning Routine.
I’ve wavered in consistency lately in terms of my morning routine. Months of extra-snowy and cold winter, plus traveling & staying with family are just a couple of the reasons why. There’s also “couch inertia,” aka “warm blanket in front of the fire,” inertia.
Yeah, its a thing.
Here’s the morning routine I strive for (and often achieve):
Ok, that’s it for the wake-up routine. Tune in next time… 📻
I’ve written before about the need to filter your water. Every time I look at the news, there’s a new reason to do so. If it’s not the herbicides and pesticides, it’s the PFAS and forever chemicals, it’s other people’s pharmaceuticals that can’t be filtered out 😦, it’s contamination from industrial areas, it’s… just a really long list that keeps growing.
So yes, filter your water … like your life depends on it … because it does.
This video is a great explanation of PFAS and related risks and also covers types of filters and filtration systems.
This YouTuber is a great source of inspiration, especially during spring cleaning, as she knows her stuff about household contaminants and hidden sources of toxins. Check her out!
Many years back, at a rained-out fourth of July party, stuffed in a garage apartment with a bunch of people, I was talking to my friend Corey about an idea I had to investigate food additives and sources.
This must have been an idea for a newspaper column because the internet was (at the time) still in its infancy. Blogs hadn’t been invented yet, nor social media.
She thought about it for a moment and then foresaw how paralyzed a person would become, unable to make decisions about eating, unable to trust food and food sources, unable to relax and enjoy a meal.
Which got me thinking about the pressure on papers back then, needing advertising revenue to keep afloat, and needing to NOT offend the advertisers.
I didn’t pursue the idea.
Years later, I became aware of The Food Babe, Vani Hari, and was glad that someone had done this and was gaining a following.
This woman recently gained national attention when she spoke at a healthy foods round-table, which included Senator Ron Johnson and now-HHS secretary RFK, Jr., and other folks I’ve talked about on this blog, showing us the visible difference between the US formula for Froot Loops vs. the Canadian product.
Soon after, she led a group of protesters to the General Mills headquarters, where company officials refused to even come outside. She delivered a petition signed by thousands of people (including me), asking them to follow through on an old promise to remove dyes linked to ADHD and other behavioral issues.
Some General Mills employee even put a hand-written “Get Off My Lawn” sign in the window.
Her actions sparked change, and many people will benefit from it.
She is now part of the push to clean up infant formula. It’s so upsetting to find out that formulas often contain seed oils, corn syrup, and heavy metals. Are you kidding me?
I breastfed my kids, but I remember being admonished/warned by the pediatrician not to give my infant plain old water, or weak chamomile tea.
These were things that my mom and grandmother had given their babies (including me) in the heat of summer…. and we turned out fine!
Anyway, check out her website, sign up for her newsletter, or give her some likes or a follow on the socials.
It’s eye-opening!
If you’ve got 4 hours of spring cleaning to do this weekend, listen to the entire round-table while you work:
I have wanted to write about this for a while but I’m a bit out of my depth, and so I’ve put it off… but it is critically important and the little that I know has really changed my eating habits.
I recently came across this Instagram post by Dr. Mark Hyman, which sums it up nicely.
Christmas has come and gone, and yes, we did make cookies. Knowing that food dyes are linked to cancer, I went out in search of non-toxic alternatives.
I didn’t find any in the local stores. I did find them online, but after exhausting local options and then returning to my search bar, I found them out of stock.
Does that mean that other folks are looking for non-toxic alternatives? 🤔 I hope so!
So this year, we went without. Our cookies were the color of our non-GMO organic flour, and the frosting was transparent. And we loved them anyway (though it was hard to tell the lemon cookies from the almond ones).
This weekend, I found the colors I was searching for at the Abundance Co-op. My daughter gave me a share & membership for Christmas.
Fun Fact: The old dyes in my cupboard actually have a resale market! At least the brown glass bottles do. I found them online today priced between $10 and $25 per bottle. Huh!
Yesterday, the FDA banned Red 3 from foods and medicines.
While this is technically a good thing, its more of a baby step / half measure in the move toward a healthier society…
Why?
The best thing this ban can do is simply awaken the consumer to the problem and lead them to change what they buy and eat.
Recently, I bought some Justin’s brand peanut butter. It’s usually more expensive than other brands and has a great reputation for being a clean product. It’s often seen on the shelves of healthy grocery stores or in the “Greenwise” area of a mainstream grocer.
I was a bit disappointed to see that it contains palm oil.
Here’s the healthy choice from Aldi. No added oils! Lower cost, too.
This weekend, I was at my daughter’s apartment and noticed her jar of peanut butter. It was a store brand, in a family-sized giant jar… look at the difference. 😨
I’ve asked her to throw it out, and she said yes! Replacing with Aldi’s brand.
Little steps. 👣
The Cancer Canary 