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Natural Skin Care 101

Natural skin care products may be the answer if you are concerned about the chemicals in most commercial cosmetic products. Some of these chemicals may be toxic enough to actually accelerate the aging process, which is the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish with your skin care. Even in these days of increased regulation and consumer watchdog groups, there are a number of new products introduced each year that still contain damaging chemicals.Almost nine hundred toxic chemicals have been found in commercial cosmetic products by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. The Cancer Coalition has stated that cosmetic and personal care products pose a higher threat of cancer than even smoking cigarettes. Compounding the problem is...

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all natural organic deodorant, cosmetics bad for the environment, green beauty products, green living, natural skin care, natural skin care products, natural skincare

How to Make a Perfect Smoothie

Smoothies are a great way to get your daily servings of fruit and vegetables, especially for kids!  To make the smoothie colder and more like a Jamba juice or Nekter smoothie, use frozen berries.  If you really want to be creative, you can blend frozen acai berry with steps 1-3, and then top with step 4 for a homemade acai bowl.  What's your favorite juice smoothie ingredient or recipe?  

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fruit, healthy food, juice, smoothie, vegetables

Fresh Fruit Watermelon Birthday Cake

Fresh fruit watermelon cake. Simply cut 4 or more round slices of watermelon to make tiers, and stack on top of each other. Cookie and fondant cutters are used to cut out flower and leaves, with toothpicks to keep fruit in place. Place the watermelon "cake" on a stand (filled with fruit) in a large bowl,  filled with a fruit salad.  Enjoy your unprocessed, raw, added-sugar free birthday cake!

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Herbal Remedies for Children

Herbal Remedies for Children   Guest Post by Western Botanicals Herbal treatments for children are often an inexpensive and safe way to treat colds, flu, fever, and other common illnesses. In fact, natural remedies are in many ways preferable to their manufactured counterparts as they are often gentler on the body and when correctly used, much more effective. Children's bodies are far more sensitive to herbs than adults, and they also respond much more quickly to them. With some brief study of herbal use, parents can safely and effectively treat their children's basic sicknesses and discomforts. Western Botanicals' Herbal First Aid List contains a comprehensive list of herbs that can be used to treat infection, sickness, and injury. All of these herbs...

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children, eco friendly living, herbs, natural remedies

Soaking and Sprouting Seeds, Legumes, Grains, & Nuts: Why & How To

Seeds, legumes, grains, and nuts are powerhouses of nutrition. Fortunately for those little seeds, legumes, grains, and nuts growing in and above the ground, nature has built in a defense mechanism against their natural predators. Those defense mechanisms are nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances, including enzyme inhibitors, phytates (phytic acid), polyphenols (tannins), and goitrogens. These “bad guys” can slow or stop the absorptions of many nutrients in those foods, and they can also wreak havoc on the digestive system of the predator (i.e., those creatures eating those foods, which includes humans).
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Fortunately for us, we can soak these foods (and sprout them), which has the effect of breaking down the “bad guys,” and increasing the nutrient bioavailability and absorption. 

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