Shaklee

13 Secret Toxins Lurking in Your Food, and How to Avoid Them

Here are some tips to help you steer clear of hidden toxins that masquerade as safe products. 

Various shelves throughout every aisle of your grocery store are stocked with wolves in sheep’s clothing. Colorful packaging, appetizing pictures, and nutrition claims hide the truth: unhealthy chemicals are lurking in many these seemingly harmless foods. Here are some tips to help you steer clear of hidden toxins that masquerade as safe products.1. Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate accounts for their appetizing red hue, but this additive can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.
2. Stick to low-mercury fish like American-farmed tilapia instead of swordfish or tuna. Overexposure can cause memory problems, fatigue, and other health issues, and besides, most wild fish stocks are threatened these days. (Looking for an alternative? There’s branzini, the fish you’ve never heard of.)
3. Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. Cans are commonly lined with bisphenol-A, an organic compound that, according to the Lang study, may be associated with diabetes and heart disease.
4. Cut back on meat and dairy products. These animal products may contain trace amounts of harmful contaminants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyl and dioxins. Although many of these toxins have been banned, they are still present in the soil. Reducing your intake of animal products is also more friendly to the environment.
5. Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches. Besides, anything that gives rats brain tumors is worth avoiding in my book.
6. Choose the farmed fish carefully. Studies show that farm-raised fish contain more polychlorinated biphenyl and over ten times the amount of dioxin.
7. Opt for organic chicken. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.
8. Only drink milk that says “no rBGH” on the carton because recombinant bovine growth hormone has been linked with breast cancer. Better yet, opt for responsibly-produced, unsweetened soy, nut or rice milk.

9. Avoid manufactured snacks. Hydrogenated oils are used to lengthen the shelf life of products like crackers and cookies, but they are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. Another reason to stay away from the middle aisles: snack foods are generally loaded with salt, corn syrup and other unhealthy ingredients.
10. Stay away from artificially-colored foods like candy, maraschino cherries, and gelatin. Mice and rats exposed to blue 1 and 2, red 3 and yellow 6 suffered from brain, adrenal gland, thyroid, and kidney tumors.
11. Always buy organic produce. This one’s a no-brainer, but the list wouldn’t be complete without it. Lingering pesticides can lead to nervous and reproductive system damage, not to mention cancer.
 
The real dirt on clean.
You know that good, healthy feeling you get when you’ve just
cleaned house? Sorry to spoil it, but you may have just made
your home dirtier.
Think of it this way. You wouldn’t let your kids play with toxic
chemicals, so why would you let the baby crawl over a floor that’s
just been wiped with them? That’s much more dangerous than the
orange juice that was just there. Check out Shaklee and I will keep posting more information on my favorite products! : )

Products You Can Trust for the Most
Important Person in Your Life

Nothing is more valuable than your baby’s health. What you do for
baby today can make a huge impact in their later years. And when
it comes to keeping baby safe and healthy, everything counts—from
what you put on their skin to what you put in their bodies. ShakleeKids and ShakleeBaby!

10 Reasons to Love Basic H2

1. Stop living in a toxic home
Some of the most questionable chemicals used regularly
in household products are ammonia, chlorine bleach, phenol,
butyl cellosolve, and formaldehyde—all of which can be
found under your kitchen sink. Basic H2 is nontoxic and safe
for your family.

2. Everything and the kitchen sink
Basic H2 cleans it all from kitchens and bathrooms to
appliances, woodwork, mirrors, painted walls, and floors—
it even does windows. So, toss those single-purpose
cleaners like sink and tile cleaners. Mix ¼ teaspoon in 16 oz.
of water in a Get Clean spray bottle for all purpose cleaning,
and 2 drops in 16 oz. of water to clean windows.

3. Eliminate your ammonia-based
window cleaner
Basic H2 cleans windows without streaking while being
a great alternative to leading brands. Basic H2 window
cleaner is equivalent in performance to Windex® Original.*

4. Removes the impossible
From lipstick on a linen napkin to crayons on a painted wall,
full-strength Basic H2 comes to the rescue.

5. Great for cutting grease
Tough on greasy barbecue grills, ovens, and even oil spots
on concrete. Mix 2 oz. per gallon of water for a superdegreaser
formula.

6. Does odd jobs
One tablespoon of Basic H2 in a bucket of hot water lifts off
old wallpaper. One and a half teaspoons in a half gallon cleans
sticky paintbrushes. Just soak for 24 hours and rinse with
hot tap water.

7. Saves money
One 16 oz. bottle of Basic H2 diluted per label directions
makes 214 bottles (28 oz.) of ready-to-use all-purpose cleaner.

8. Camping and traveling companion
Take along a small size of Basic H2 to keep clothes, dishes,
and everything else clean. And you’ll help by keeping the
great outdoors unpolluted.

9. Easy on the planet
Biodegradable and environmentally friendly, Basic H2 handles
even hard-to-clean jobs without phosphates, borates, nitrates,
or other stuff the planet doesn’t appreciate.

10. Less in the landfill
Basic H2 is superconcentrated, so you’ll use fewer bottles
of cleaning products throughout the year.