Shaving Naturally for Healthy Skin (Part 1)

This post is the first in a series on men’s bodycare by our Customer Service Specialist, Zach.

For many people shaving is a frustrating chore that results in nicked cheeks and legs, irritated skin, and thinner wallets from all those expensive blades. Not to mention all of the chemical exposure from conventional creams, gels, and balms. An alternative shaving technique called wetshaving has been gaining a following in recent years and for good reason: most people have drastically better shaving experiences as well as results using wetshaving methods and products. What’s more, with double-edged razor blades costing on average under $1.00 each and properly cared for safety razors and shaving brushes lasting decades, the savings add up quick. And many people experience far less irritation simply by choosing shaving products free of harsh synthetics.

Book Review: Good Calories, Bad Calories & Why We Get Fat

Good Calories, Bad Calories & Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It
By Gary Taubes, Correspondent for Science magazine
Reviewed by Rosalind Michahelles
July 26, 2013

Gary Taubes, science writer for Science magazine and other publications, including the New York Times Magazine, has written two books that cover the same subject.

The first one, Good Calories, Bad Calories is more compendious and more technical in following the relevant scientific research into what makes people fat. After enough readers had asked Taubes for a simpler, more condensed version for equally motivated but less scientifically trained readers he wrote Why We Get Fat.

Health Article: Tart Cherries Relieve Osteoarthritis Pain

HIGHEST ANTI-INFLAMATORY CONTENT OF ANY FOOD

By Margie King, Health Coach

Tart Cherries Relieve Osteoarthritis Pain

If you are among the millions of Americans suffering from joint pain and arthritis, there’s good news about a favorite summer treat. According to research from Oregon Health & Science University, tart cherries help reduce the chronic inflammation that leads to pain.[1]

In fact, the Oregon researchers declared that tart cherries have the “highest anti-inflammatory content of any food” and can help osteoarthritis patients manage their condition.

Book Review: Wheat Belly

By William Davis, MD (Rodale, 2011)

Reviewed by Rosalind Michahelles, Certified Holistic Health Counselor

Dr Davis has it in for wheat. He claims it provokes more insulin and does that faster than even table sugar. He and others are reporting disturbing news about that important hormone, insulin. Insulin is like an army’s quartermaster, making sure that the supplies (blood sugar) get to the right destination to be used for energy now or stored as fat for later. So one problem with wheat – bread, crackers, cake, cookies, and pasta, too – lies in its high glycemic load, even when not sweetened with added sugars.

Click here to read the full article.

Health Article: The Rest and Digest State!

HOW YOU EAT IS AS POWERFUL AS WHAT YOU EAT!
By Brittany Wood Nickerson, Practicing Herbalist

Our digestive system takes in and breaks down food and experiences. It is through the process of digestion that bits of food are transformed into vital nutrients – complex chemical processes work to extract vitamins and minerals, break down fats into lipids, and proteins into amino acids. A well functioning digestive system has the wisdom to break down, absorb and utilize the nutrition it needs from the food we eat and let go of the parts and pieces that it does not.

Book Review: BEYOND BROCCOLI: Creating a Biologically Balanced Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn’t Work

BEYOND BROCCOLI: Creating a Biologically Balanced Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn’t Work
By Susan Schenck, Lac
Reviewed by Rosalind Michahelles, Certified Holistic Health Counselor

For those who are, were, or might become vegetarians, this is a useful book. Written by a woman whose earlier book The Live Food Factor extolled the nutritional benefits of raw plants. Courageous woman! When she found after six years of raw veganism that she didn’t thrive, she looked “beyond broccoli,” and, once her health was restored, she wrote this book.

Health Article: The Power of Peppermint

A favorite herbal medicine of the ancients, peppermint leaves have been found in Egyptian pyramids dating back to 1,000 BC. Modern scientific investigations have now confirmed that this remarkable plant has over a dozen healing properties.

In our continuing effort to educate folks to the vast array of healing agents found in the natural world around us, we are excited to feature peppermint, a member of the aromatic mint family that you may already have squirreled away somewhere in your kitchen cupboard. While most have experienced peppermint as a flavoring agent, or perhaps as a comforting cup of herbal tea, few are aware of its wide range of experimentally confirmed therapeutic properties.

Book Review: Coping with Heartburn, GERD, SIBO, and IBS

Coping with Heartburn, GERD, SIBO, and IBS
Fast Tract Digestion by Norman Robillard
Reviewed by Rosalind Michahelles, Certified Holistic Health Counselor

For anyone puzzled about GERD (Gastro-esophageal reflux disease) or SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) – puzzled despite reading books and seeing doctors, Fast Tract Digestion by Norman Robillard may help.

This ‘alphabet soup’ of digestive ailments is very likely one brew connecting different symptoms that vary according to where you feel the distress. Excessive and painful belching oresophagus is called GERD. If the symptoms are intestinal cramps, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and flatulence – it may be either SIBO or IBS. (N.B., IBS differs from IBD, inflammatory bowel disease, in that IBD is considered an autoimmune disease and a more serious problem.)