2 Steps to Eliminate Food Dyes Linked to ADHD
Do your kids get hyper after eating candy? It might not be the sugar—but could be the color. Studies have found a link between food dyes and hyperactivity in children. Some even see a link between food dyes—which trigger the release of histamines, part of the body’s immune system—and allergies, as well as ADHD, which affects 5.2 million American children. Yet in 2012, an FDA advisory committee determined that the science was too weak to support a ban on artificial food dyes or a warning label on foods that contain them. Apparently, that’s not the case in Europe, where regulations require such a warning label, forcing European companies to substitute natural…
Want a Natural Pregnancy? 12 Tips to Protect Your Baby for Life
Getting ready for baby—or pregnancy? Congratulations! Going green for your growing belly—or for when you bring that baby home—sounds good on paper, but is a natural pregnancy doable in reality? Yes! Here’s how: 1. Eat organic: The dangers of common pesticide exposure are equal to those of smoking during pregnancy: low birth weight and early labor. Studies have shown that eating organic for just five days can eliminate many of the pesticides—linked to cancer, among other health problems—in our bodies. Following the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen lists can reduce your family’s exposure by 80 percent.
What is BPA? 6 Ways to Ditch It for Good
In 2012, the FDA announced a nation-wide ban on BPA in bottles and sippy cups. The following year, California placed the chemical on its Proposition 65 list, officially recognizing it as a reproductive hazard. So what is BPA? Simply put, it’s a chemical used to harden plastics, especially polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Despite federal and statewide action, our kids are still being exposed to BPA on a daily basis. The substance is still found in hard plastics, food-can linings and cash register receipts. In that year alone, studies linked BPA to: 1. Obesity: White children with the highest levels of BPA in their urine were six times more likely to…
When to Toss An Off Gassing Toy
Yes, I admit it. I killed Baby Ava. Now of course we’re not talking homicide—I’m a mother of three myself. No, this was far more insidious. Baby Ava was a doll. A Christmas doll that my daughter had grabbed from under the tree and didn’t let go. My daughter adored Baby Ava with a love bordering on obsession. Wanted to hold her in her arms during the day and sleep with her at night. Never let the doll out of her sight. The innocent little blue-eyed plastic wonder was a gift from my dad, who doesn’t think about potentially lethal lead poisoning or organic cotton options. Like most grandfathers, he just…
4 Steps to Keep Your Family Safe From Cell Phone Radiation
A few years back my son embarked on the bright and shiny adventure known as Middle School. Suddenly, his academic world quadrupled in size to a 2,000-kid student body. So my husband and I did what any responsible parents would do: We got him a phone. According to the non-profit Teens Turning Green, of the more than four billion people who have cell phones, half are under the age of 20. Yet because of their thinner skulls, children receive double the cell phone radiation exposure as adults, according to the Environmental Health Trust. Long-term cell phone use significantly increases brain tumor risk. And those who began using cell phones as…
Body by Vegan
A few years ago, a friend forwarded me a picture of Alicia Silverstone. The subject line was simple: body by vegan. It got my attention. Because even though I try to exercise two or three times a week, there remains that stubborn five pounds of fat that took hold right below my belly button while I was pregnant and never came off. Now I know that I’m active and healthy, and I knock wood daily for that. But there is a vain teenager inside of every woman. And on the day that my friend sent me Alicia Silverstone’s picture, that teen spoke up. I wanted to have a body by…
Head Lice Repelling Secrets, Revealed
If you have a child in school, chances are she will get head lice at some point or another. You can be the most vigilant hair-washer on the planet, your kid’s head could practically sparkle, but one day you’ll look over and she’ll be scratchy-scratching at her scalp. My daughter had it first. Now, this is not entirely surprising. Despite the tightness of my braiding, the firmness of my pony tailing and the sternness with which I lectured that she’d get lice if she didn’t keep her hair back, she always came home from school with it loose.
J.Crew is Fashion Porn
I want to live in the J. Crew catalogue. Seriously. Either that, or Anthropologie. Urban Outfitters is a close third. But J. Crew does it for me every time. Maybe it’s my nostalgia for an ‘80s childhood, but there’s something about the way they put together those skinny jeans with those cute little blazers that gets me all hot and bothered. It’s like fashion porn: When the catalogue hits the doorstep, I swoop for it, hiding it under my arm and away from the prying eyes of my kids, and then stash it under the old New Yorkers in the bathroom.
