Organic, Natural, Sustainable - What's the Difference?

Current awareness of the importance of reducing our carbon footprint finds more consumers demanding Organic and Natural products. As a result, more designers and manufacturers are producing 'Green'. Manufacturers adhering to green practices are eliminating toxins from being introduced into the environment improving air quality; not contaminating our water and soil with post production runoff; and providing better quality products for our bodies and our health. Designers are searching for organic and natural materials to use in anything from clothing to home goods. Today's advertisements are laden with terms such as Organic, Natural and Sustainable. So what is the difference between each of these?


Organic pertains to something that is derived from living organisms. Grown with natural rather than synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, consuming less energy and less fuel and emitting less toxic gases, organic products actually have a lower carbon footprint. Organic and natural clothing and accessories are made using raw materials such as organic cotton and organic wool. Organic cotton then refers to cotton produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Production may include the use of fertilizers or pesticides that are plant or animal in origin. Organic wool must follow federal standards for organic livestock production. These standards include use of certified organic feeds, use of good management practices to maintain livestock health and adherence to the natural carrying capacity of grazing lands. Synthetic hormones, genetic engineering, synthetic pesticides, whether internal, external or on pastures, is prohibited.


Natural, as the opposite of artificial, means existing in or formed by nature. Lanolin, for example, is a greasy yellow natural substance found on wool. Natural lanolin serves as a base for cosmetic products such as ointments and hand creams. Recent trends show a boom in the natural cosmetic and personal care products industry. Consumers are finding the availability of more products made from natural ingredients such as citrus, honey, flowers, herbs, natural oils and so on. To keep a production process organic manufacturers are using natural dyes for color in fabrics. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable in nature made from plant sources such as roots, berries, bark, leaves and wood, but can also be derived from clays and minerals.


Sustainable refers to something that can maintain its own viability in a short amount of time allowing for its continual use. Hemp is a quick growing robust plant that grows in diverse soil conditions. As one of the fastest growing plants in the world Hemp also has a high yield ratio - about ten tons a year per acre - and it requires no herbicides or pesticides to grow. Hemp Clothing has become very popular especially with recent eco-friendly processes that soften the fibers. Another popular sustainable material is Bamboo. Bamboo is a highly renewable grass used for anything from clothing to furniture and kitchenware. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on the earth growing as much as 3 to 4 feet per day. Once planted and establish the intricate underground network of rhizomes keeps spreading making bamboo an extremely sustainable plant.


Do your part to reduce our carbon footprint by finding clothing made from Organic Cotton or Organic Wool, personal care products comprised of Natural ingredients like essential oils or plant extracts and home products made from Sustainable materials such as bamboo.


Stylishorganics.com is an e-commerce boutique that platforms 'one-stop-shopping' for fashionable organic and eco-friendly products for the entire family. Offered is the best collection of products made from organically grown cotton, bamboo, hemp, sustainable hardwoods and recycled materials. Products are representative of an environmentally friendly lifestyle and have been carefully selected from manufacturers who maintain green practices. Most products offered are made in the USA. Others are from organizations or manufacturers that globally support women. Furniture and home decor products range from chic home accessories to stylish furnishings constructed from organic or sustainable materials. Clothing includes fashions for men, women and children made from organic cotton, bamboo and hemp. Offered are personal care products without chemicals and preservatives, unique accessories, toys, gifts and pet products all made from organic, natural or recycled materials. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynn_Lavanga

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Sports and Energy Drinks Responsible for Irreversible Damage to Teeth

Driessen Post (May 2, 2012) A contempo abstraction appear in the May/June 2012 affair of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed analytic account of the Academy of General Dentistry, begin that an alarming access in the burning of sports and activity drinks, abnormally a part of adolescents, is causing irreversible accident to teeth -- specifically, the top acidity levels in the drinks abrade tooth enamel, the bright alien band of the tooth.

"Young adults absorb these drinks bold that they will advance their sports achievement and activity levels and that they are 'better' for them than soda," says Poonam Jain, BDS, MS, MPH, advance columnist of the study. "Most of these patients are abashed to apprentice that these drinks are about bathing their teeth with acid."

Researchers advised the acidity levels in 13 sports drinks and nine activity drinks. They begin that the acidity levels can alter amid brands of beverages and flavors of the aforementioned brand. To analysis the aftereffect of the acidity levels, the advisers absorbed samples of animal tooth apply in anniversary cooler for 15 minutes, followed by captivation in bogus saliva for two hours. This aeon was again four times a day for 5 days, and the samples were stored in beginning bogus saliva at all added times.

"This blazon of testing simulates the aforementioned acknowledgment that a ample admeasurement of American adolescence and adolescent adults are subjecting their teeth to on a approved base if they alcohol one of these beverages every few hours," says Dr. Jain.

The advisers begin that accident to apply was axiomatic afterwards alone 5 canicule of acknowledgment to sports or activity drinks, although activity drinks showed a decidedly greater abeyant to accident teeth than sports drinks. In fact, the authors begin that activity drinks acquired alert as abundant accident to teeth as sports drinks.

With a appear 30 to 50 percent of U.S. adolescence arresting activity drinks, and as abounding as 62 percent arresting at atomic one sports alcohol per day, it is important to brainwash parents and adolescent adults about the downside of these drinks. Accident acquired to tooth apply is irreversible, and afterwards the aegis of enamel, teeth become ever sensitive, decumbent to cavities, and added acceptable to decay.

"Teens consistently appear into my appointment with these types of symptoms, but they don't apperceive why," says AGD agent Jennifer Bone, DDS, MAGD. "We analysis their diet and snacking habits and again we altercate their burning of these beverages. They don't apprehend that something as acutely controllable as a sports or activity alcohol can do a lot of accident to their teeth."

Dr. Bone recommends that her patients abbreviate their assimilation of sports and activity drinks. She aswell advises them to bite sugar-free gum or bathe the aperture with baptize afterward burning of the drinks. "Both approach access saliva flow, which by itself helps to acknowledgment the acidity levels in the aperture to normal," she says.

Also, patients should delay at atomic an hour to besom their teeth afterwards arresting sports and activity drinks. Otherwise, says Dr. Bone, they will be overextension acerbic assimilate the tooth surfaces, accretion the cutting action.

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Want to Undermine Science in Public Policy? Start With Sex

For thousands of years, every reasonable person knew that the sun revolved around the earth. After all, people could see it happen with their own eyes. And when Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler used science to show otherwise, people laughed at them. It took a century for the idea that the earth revolved around the sun to even begin to catch on.

History is full of popular ideas that science has disproved -- but which still remain popular. The reasons are typically religion, politics, or economics -- but the fact remains that, well, facts are not the only determinant of what people believe.

When the subject is sexuality, facts have a pretty poor reputation in America. The media, cynical politicians, and various pressure groups get tremendous benefits from misinforming -- and frightening -- the American public. And when someone speaks up with the facts, they're often shouted down, dismissed as simply having a personal belief. Bill O'Reilly is famous for equating a progressive's facts with his own, albeit differing, opinion.

Let's look at some popular beliefs about sex that science conclusively disproves -- and which continue nevertheless.

The Internet

Myth: The Internet is a hotbed of sexual predators, and children are at terrible risk.

Science: The overwhelming majority of the "unwanted sexual solicitation" on the Internet reported by young people is from their peers, and is generally benign. According to the state-of-the-art Harvard/Berkman Institute report, the main risk faced by minors on the Internet is bullying, not sexual predation.

Sex education

Myth: Talking about sex honestly and using the proper names for body parts inflames kids' curiosity; teaching them about sexual decision-making and safer sex encourages them to have sex.

Science: Young people taught comprehensive sexuality information that does not focus on promoting fear or religious messages tend to postpone their first intercourse, are more likely to use condoms the first time they have intercourse, and tend to have fewer sexual partners.

Strip clubs

Myth: Strip clubs destroy neighborhoods with crime and prostitution.

Science: No police department in the U.S. has documented an increase in police calls or violence in neighborhoods with strip clubs when measured against comparable neighborhoods without strip clubs.

Swingers' clubs

Myth: Swingers' clubs are a hotbed of STDs and drug use.

Science: Swingers do not have a higher rate of STDs than their non-swinging peers; in fact, people with open relationships use more safer-sex behaviors than people having clandestine affairs. Police departments that raid swingers' clubs (typically for minor zoning infractions) virtually never document illegal drug use.

Sex offenders

Myth: Sex offenders are snarling predators with no conscience, whose behavior is so compulsive it cannot be controlled or influenced.

Science: According to the Department of Justice, sex offenders have a strikingly lower recidivism rate than any other non-sexual felony.

Pornography

Myth: Consuming pornography leads men to be more sexually violent.

Science: According to the FBI, in the 11 years since the Internet has flooded America with porn, the rates of sexual violence have decreased. And while crimes of sexual violence are typically under-reported, there is no reason to think that under-reporting has increased; in fact, public awareness campaigns have almost certainly decreased the under-reporting.

Child sexual exploitation

Myth: Children are in danger from strangers lurking around playgrounds, parks, and similar places.

Science: Most childhood sexual exploitation is done by someone the child knows, such as a blood relative, friend of the family, religious figure, or coach. According to the Department of Justice, the overwhelming majority of kids who go missing are taken temporarily by a family member, typically as part of a custody dispute.

Pornography

Myth: The porn industry is populated with actors and actresses who are recklessly spreading STDs.

Science: Porn actors and actresses are tested for STDs regularly. Their rate of HIV infection is a tiny fraction of the rate in the general population.

The ongoing lies spread by the Sexual Disaster Industry have tangible, serious effects on individuals and on our country.

Irrational fear about the amount of stranger kidnappings, for example, has led to an enormous, nationwide apparatus (including Megan's Law, Adam Walsh Act, and Amber Alert) that is inefficiently sucking up taxpayer dollars intended to protect children.

Sex offender laws are increasingly being used to punish people who are not a danger to the community (for example, teens who have sex with teens, or who "sext" pictures of themselves). As sex offender registries expand and become more punitive (in Florida, absurd residency restrictions have created colonies of sex offenders living under freeway overpasses), more and more people are prevented from living normal lives -- putting communities, ironically, at greater risk.

We already know what happens to kids exposed to abstinence-only sex "education": They have sex before marriage anyway, but they're less prepared to make good decisions and to be honest with adults.

On a societal level, it turns out that if you want to discredit or simply ignore science, sexuality is a great place to do it. Recall that in 2005, many "decency" groups such as the Family Research Council effectively blocked the widespread American distribution of Gardasil, claiming that inoculating twelve-year-olds against HPV would encourage "promiscuity." Not only did they present no evidence, their lack of evidence was not seen as a weakness in their position.

And a year ago, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) announced that "abortion is well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does."

Everyone knows -- or can know -- that Congress already prevents Planned Parenthood from using any government funding to provide abortions. And it's easily verifiable that abortion comprises some 3 percent of Planned Parenthood's total medical procedures.

When challenged about this lie, Kyl's press secretary explained that the senator's remark "was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives millions in taxpayer dollars, does subsidize abortions." Put another way, Senator Kyl made up a story, used it to crank up the public's support of his position, and then admitted it was not "factual." "Factual" has become simply one position, competing with others.

The facts about sexuality should not be trivialized into a matter of opinion. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but everyone is NOT entitled to their own facts.

When science is reduced to just one among many ways of relating to reality, science suffers. So does our Republic.

Adapted from Dr. Marty Klein is a sociologist and policy analyst in Palo Alto, CA. This article is adapted from his book America's War On Sex: The Continuing Attack on Law, Lust & Liberty, released this week in an updated second edition.

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Exercise Could Lower Fatigue And Depression In Breast Cancer Patients: Study

Exercise could be the secret weapon to help breast cancer patients combat common side effects of cancer and cancer treatments.

A new study that was presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine shows that physical activity could help women being treated for breast cancer to have less fatigue and depression.

The study included 240 women with non-metastatic breast cancer, who were enrolled in the study anywhere from four to 10 weeks after they'd undergone surgery for their cancer. Some women who were put in a 10-week program where they learned Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management, while the other women completed a one-day "self help" group. Researchers also kept track of how much exercise all the study participants were getting.

The researchers found that the women who exercised the most during the time between the surgery and starting their assigned therapy were also the ones whose fatigue got in the way of their daily lives the least. In addition, these women's moods were not as depressed.

"Women who are physically active may also have more confidence in their own ability to continue with family-related, household, work-related, or social activities, which bring meaning and satisfaction to their lives," Jamie M. Stagl, M.S., doctoral student in at the University of Miami, said in a statement. "This may lead to appraisals of lower fatigue, heightened quality of life, and less depression."

Similarly, a study published earlier this month in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons showed that taking regular walks could help to decrease exhaustion commonly felt by cancer patients.

That study included 102 people who had just had surgery done for their pancreatic or periampullary cancers. Eighty-five percent of them reported having fatigue at a moderate to severe level.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/exercise-breast-cancer-patients-fatigue-depression_n_1424271.html?1334374792&ref=health-news

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Diet Drinks: Helpful or Harmful to Kick the Sugar Habit?

If you saw the recent 60 Minutes segment by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the dangers of sugar, you might be scared off the sweet stuff for good. It causes heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer and it makes super bad, super dense, super dangerous cholesterol particles. The data is pretty strong on this. Scientists even locked kids in a hospital, fed them sugar and measured their blood every 30 minutes. It didn't take long for things to turn bad inside.

But if you are thinking that diet soft drinks or artificial or even natural sweeteners are the answer for getting off sugar, think again. Diet drink consumption has increased 400 percent since 1960. It may or may not cause cancer, but the evidence is mounting that it leads to weight gain rather than weight loss. Those who consume diet drinks regularly have a 200 percent increased risk of weight gain, a 36 percent increased risk of pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome, and a 67 percent increased risk of diabetes. A study of 400 people found that those who drank two diet sodas a day or more increased their waist size by five times.

Seems you can't outsmart Mother Nature. Tricking your brain into thinking you are getting something sweet plays dirty tricks on your metabolism. Artificial sweeteners disrupt the normal hormonal and neurological signals that control hunger and satiety (feeling full). A study of rats that were fed artificially sweetened food found that their metabolism slowed down and they were triggered to consume more calories and gain more weight than rats fed sugar-sweetened food.

In another alarming study, rats offered the choice of cocaine or artificial sweeteners always picked the artificial sweetener, even if the rats were previously programmed to be cocaine addicts. The author of the study said that, "[t]he absolute preference for taste sweetness may lead to a re-ordering in the hierarchy of potentially addictive stimuli, with sweetened diets ... taking precedence over cocaine and possibly other drugs of abuse."

The use of artificial sweeteners, as well as "food porn," the sexy experience of sweet, fat, and salt in your mouth, alters your food preferences. Your palate shifts from being able to enjoy fruits and vegetables and whole foods to liking only the sexy stuff.

My advice is to give up stevia, aspartame, sucralose, sugar alcohols like xylitol and malitol, and all of the other heavily-used and marketed sweeteners unless you want to slow down your metabolism, gain weight, and become an addict. Some may be worse than others, like aspartame, which is what we call an excitotoxin, that can cause neurologic symptoms like brain fog, migraines or worse. And some may just give you bad gas because they ferment in your gut, like the sugar alcohols (anything that ends in "ol" like xylitol). Others like stevia, which comes from a South American plant, may be slightly better and could be enjoyed from time to time, but they all keep us yearning for more and more -- so our brains get confused, we eat more food and we get fatter. There are ways to cut cravings by naturally balancing your blood sugar.

So if you want something sweet, enjoy the real thing from time to time. But stay away from fake sugars or fake food or factory made science projects of any kind.

To learn more please see The Blood Sugar Solution. Get one book or get two and give one to someone you love -- you might be saving their life. When you purchase the book from this link you will automatically receive access to the following special bonuses:

• Special Report -- Diabetes and Alzheimer's: The Truth About "Type 3 Diabetes" and How You Can Avoid It.
• More Delicious Recipes: 15 Additional Ways to Make The Blood Sugar Solution as Tasty as It's Healthy!
• Dr. Hyman's UltraWellness Nutrition Coaching -- FREE for 30 days!
• First 30 minutes of The Blood Sugar Solution Workshop DVD

Now I'd like to hear from you...

Do you drink diet soda?

How have they affected your health and your weight?

Do you use artificial sweeteners and will you continue to do so?

Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/diet-drinks-health_b_1406366.html?ref=healthy-living 

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