Oh My Neti Pot

Last week I called my agent Maria at M and to much of my dismay she was (gasp!) stuffed up with nasal allergy's due to the common cold. Oh no, I thought, how is this woman going to concentrate when she has sinus pressure. As she was saying, What's a Neti Pot?, I hung up the phone, grabbed my neti pot and headed to her immediately.

I have to give credit to the person who ever so humbly showed me the magic of the Neti Pot, my friend Yuliya. I love house guests but a house guest who can teach me holistic remedy's is priceless. Yuliya suffers from allergies, like millions of people, and instead of taking an allergy pill like Claritin every day she incorporated the neti pot into her nightly regime along with tooth brushing to help her sinus's. I watched her in awe every night as she used her travel, dishwater safe neti pot. How does it work? Where is the salt water going?

Okay, so back the story. I went to share my knowledge with Maria. We went to the bathroom and I gave her instructions. Fill up the neti pot with body/room temperature water, mix in the salt packet, tilt your head, put the sprout up to your nostril, let gravity do it's thing and Voila! The neti pot is working it's magic. Then repeat for the other nostril. I was saying encouraging things like, "It's so natural, like the ocean!" and "You're going to love the way you feel after this!" We hugged it out after as the drainage came out...

Here's some pertinent information on Neti Pots: www.healingdaily.com/exercise/neti-pot.htm)

P.S The Neti-Pot works wonders for me after a flight with all that stale air. I tend to use it with the first onset of a cold. Nib it in the butt with the natural Neti-Pot.

Soy...in my humble opinion.

I probably mooed when I was a kid after all of the milk I drank!

Now, a tall glass of cow's milk is not an option for me anymore, and
having read some research on soy, I've decided to cut waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back on that, too.

Soy contributes to thyroid disorder, especially in women, promotes kidney stones, weakens the immune system, and contributes to food allergies and digestive intolerances for starters.

A raw food chef stopped me in my tracks and told me that it was poison for our bodies and we are much better off eating almond, rice, or even hemp milk.

Since then, I've taken to Whole Foods' Unsweetened Rice Milk for $1.69!! Unsweetened Almond Milk and the Unsweetened Whole Grain Milk from Trader Joes are also excitable alternatives that I drink. And everything tastes better to me with a couple of full bodied tablespoons of coconut milk!

I have heard debates regarding organic soy beans healthful contributions, but the bottom line remains. Moderation is key.

At the fish market...

Jama and I have the B E S T fish guy ever!
(Big Love to Peter at the West Hollywood and Culver City Farmer's Market on Monday and Tuesday respectively).

Here's the list I buy by, because it is always a good idea to know where your seafood comes from...

Low toxin levels, healthy, and harvested in an environmentally sustainable manner:

• Wild Alaskan Salmon (fresh/frozen/canned)
• Sardines
• Oysters (farmed)
• Catfish (U.S. farmed)
• Tilapia (U.S. farmed)
• Trout (farmed)
• Arctic Char (wild and farmed)
• Mussels (farmed)
• Atlantic Mackerel
• Shrimp (U.S. farmed)
• Striped Bass (U.S. farmed)
• Herring
• Pollock
• Anchovies
• Bay Scallops
• Clams (farmed)
• Caviar (farmed)
• Skipjack Tuna (pole-caught)
• Barramundi
• Crawfish (U.S. farmed)

With elevated toxins or in danger of being over fished, limit yourself to a couple of times per month:

• Canned Chunk Light Tuna
• Yellowfin/Albacore Tuna
• Lobster
• King/Snow Crabs
• Squid
• Pacific Sole
• Mahi-Mahi
• King Crab
• Sea Scallops
• Pacific Cod

Avoid these fish with high toxin levels or harvested in environmentally damaging ways:

• Farmed Atlantic Salmon
• Shark
• Grouper
• Orange Roughy
• Chilean Seabass
• Marlin
• Swordfish (imported)
• Bluefin Tuna
• Pacific Rockfish
• Red Snapper
• Tilefish
• American Eel

Go organic with your tampons...please!

With the women in the world suffering from cervical cancer and womb tumors, it leaves little wonder why after knowing more about the tampons on the market.

Companies making tampons include asbestos. We end up bleeding more because of it and, therefore, needing to use more of the product. And since tampons do not fall under the category of ingestion, these products are not considered illegal or dangerous.

Tampons also contain Rayon for absorbency and Dioxin, which is used in bleaching the products. Dioxin is toxic to the immune and reproductive systems and has also been linked to endometriosis and lower sperm counts for men in addition to breaking down the immune system. Despite Dioxin's association with cancer, the EPA maintains that there is no set acceptable level of exposure given that it is cumulative and slow to disintegrate. How then do women quantify 4-5 tampons a day, five days a month, for 38 menstruating years??? And with tampons leaving behind fibers in the vagina, it creates a breeding ground for dioxin! And, thus, another reason TSS occurs.

Who really wants a chemical stick inside their birth canal during the most sensitive time of the month?

If you are wearing pads, you should also know that the "free and light and carefree" is made from cellulose gel and not cotton. More than 3 hours of usage maximum leaves you at risk to bacterial action in your genital area and may even result in cervical cancer or other complications!

Make the switch. It's worth it.
Use tampons made from 100% cotton that are unbleached. Organic tampons are free of GMOs, herbicides and pesticides, and chlorine. We buy ours from Trader Joes and Whole Foods (they also have organic pads). The price is comparable, and when you factor in future hospital fees, organic tampons actually are far less expensive.Essence magazine had a small article about this and mentions two manufacturers of a cotton tampon alternative. The companies are: Organic Essentials 800.765.6491 and Terra Femme 800.755.0212.

And Thank You Danielle Lawson of the NY State Health Field Insurance Examiner (dlawson@ins.state.ny.us) and Deloris Campbell of Women In Need, Inc (dcampbell@w-i-n.org) for turning women on to this important issue!

Feeling moved?!
Spread the word. Tell your friends, your friends' friends, your mother, your aunt, your sister, your cousin... You can also call and write to the 800 numbers listed on the boxes. Let them know that we demand a safe product ALL COTTON UNBLEACHED TAMPONS.

a lip licking 7 lbs...

Women will eat an average of 7 pounds of lipstick in their lifetime!

And it's not only that little statistic that is disconcerting, it is the fact that the FDA reviews a mere 11% of the some 10,500 ingredients in cosmetics. What that means is that we end up with a mouthful of irritating, toxic and even carcinogenic ingredients, some of which have even been banned by the EU but are still used in America.

Is beauty worth this???

After perusing this cosmetic database site several times over, looking up every possible skin cream to eye treatment that I've used, I am now feeling like a conscious consumer. Skin is our largest organ, and when healthy, is a thing of beauty. So let's stay kissable, ladies, and be aware of how we coat our body!

so act that your principle of action
might safely be made
law for the whole world.
--immanuel kant