Scrap N’ Crafts

U.S. sales of organic foods and beverages increased from $1 billion in 1990 to $20 billion in 2007. People are willing to pay more for organic products because they think they’re healthier. Researchers at Copenhagen University disagree. In a study that included apples, carrots, kale, peas and potatoes, the researchers found organic produce doesn’t contain more nutrients than non-organic produce grown with pesticides. Of course, the study, published in the “Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture”, didn’t look into the health risks of pesticides. JSFA is a chemical industry journal.

Increasing health risks from raw produce led to the FDA’S discovery that modern radiation techniques can kill food-poisoning germs without compromising the safety or nutrient value of some vegetables. As of August 2008, the FDA has allowed food producers to treat fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce with “enough radiation” to kill E-coli and other dangerous germs. Who knows - maybe kids will eat more spinach if it glows in the dark.

There’s no problem, however, getting Americans to eat iceberg lettuce. They eat more of it than any other lettuce variety - 22 pounds per person in 2005. Although romaine is a distant second at 8 pounds per person, acreage for growing romaine is increasing while acreage for iceberg is decreasing. Because iceberg in 95%-96% water and contains few nutrients, it’s becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of lettuces. To give it more respect David Still, a plant science professor at California State Polytechnic University, is trying to cross iceberg with butter lettuce. This would boost iceberg’s levels of antioxidants, as well as vitamins A, C, E and K. Although iceberg has only 1/20 of the vitamins as darker/softer greens, it’s perfect for crunchtimes.

Because being a vegetarian isn’t perfect for everyone, more people are becoming flexitarians - people who eat meat occasionally. A growing number of experts and famous foodies feel that cutting back on meat is a practical compromise that benefits our bodies and our planet. Dawn Jackson Blatner, registered dietitian and author of “The Flexitarian Diet”, believes that vegetarianism is a healthier lifestyle, but too hard to do 100% of the time. Mark Bittman, gourmet food writer and author of “Food Matters” believes the average American eating 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish a year - twice the global average - affects both global warming and global obesity. As for flexitarians, they believe the meat of the matter is - less meat.

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Growing vegetables year round can be a challenge in most of the US. The winter months won’t support any type of outdoor gardening in most of the US, and in the southern states many types of vegetables won’t survive the summer heat and drought.

But Indoor Gardening can be a real challenge as well. Proper lighting is always an issue, as most vegetables want 8 hours or more of sunlight a day. Of course many vegetables such as corn or large vining plants like cantaloupe are just not practical even if you could create enough lighting to support them.

But it’s not at all out of the question to grow small leafy vegetables for salads, and many herbs can be grown indoors as well. These generally are not heavy feeders, so they are also well suited for a Hydroponics Systems.

One of the more popular systems for growing container vegetables indoors is the Aerogrow Aerogarden system. It includes room for several seed pods and a built in adjustable height grow light. With a microprocessor based controller, the flow of nutrients in the hydroponics system and the timing of the grow lights are optimized for the specific type of plant that you are growing at the time. By varying the height of the grow light as the plants increase in size, you are able to maintain the optimum growing conditions for weeks at a time.

Another advantage to the Aerogarden indoor garden system is the variety of seed types available for the system. You can grow a variety of lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, herbs, chili peppers and even petunias. With this large a variety of plants, some folks find they need more than one Hydroponics system to keep up.

Cosmetic and medical products that get in contact with our skin are absorbed through the skin, get in the blood stream and can accumulate in high quantities in different parts of our bodies. The absorption of substances from outside the skin to positions beneath the skin, including entrance to the blood stream, is referred to as Percutaneous Absorption. Usually, shampoos contain very aggressive cleaning ingredients that desroy hydrolipidic film. Hydrolipidic film is an emulsion of water (hydro) and fat (lipos). Its main function is an external barrier, a defense against bacteria and fungi. In addition it keeps the skin supple. The cleaning ingredients of shampoos destroy external barrier of the scalp and all the dangerous ingredients found in shampoos enter our bodies.

This is why all cosmetic products not just medical products must be tested for safety.

Hairdressers and estheticians are considered to be at high professional risk, because they come in contact with cosmetic products more than anyone else. Most importantly, there are a lot of different ingredients in cosmetic products, especially shampoos that can be very damaging to our health. In particular, there are lot of ingredients widely used in the cosmetic industry that are not being studied as much as food products and drugs, but they can be very dangerous and carcinogenic (can cause cancer). The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says the number of cancers being diagnosed each year is growing faster than the overall population. Skin cancer has increased by more than 350% in last five years.

This is why all Allatolia products have been extensively tested and analyzed for safety and clinical effectiveness.

Allatolia products are manufactured without the addition of colorings, perfumes, and thickening ingredients since their origin (1978), because the very high quality of raw materials used allows avoiding any kind of covering. Colors and perfumes are often added to products in order to cover bad quality of raw materials (low quality raw materials often smell very bad). Dermatologists and Allergologists consider perfumes and colors which are added to cosmetic products as the most responsible for contact dermatitis. Contact dermatitis is a localized rash or irritation of the skin caused by contact with a foreign substance. Professionals in the cosmetic field, especially hairdressers are at higher risk for developing irritations and allergic reactions due to the fact that they use cosmetic products all day long.

Allatolia products are made without formaldehyde since the origin (1978). Formaldehyde (or formic aldehyde) is a preservative considered to be very dangerous, although widely used for its low price. Formaldehyde is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. International Agency for Research on Cancer states that there is sufficient evidence that formaldehyde causes nasopharyngeal cancer in humans. Formaldehyde also causes allergies.

Under certain dosage the present laws do not yet force producers to declare the presence of formaldehyde. In Switzerland the use of formaldehyde is forbidden for both medicines and cosmetics since 1967. Therefore, the voluntary procedure to submit the products to the composition exam to the laboratories of Swiss Hygiene and the consequent certification of conformity means that, under precise responsibility of the producer, the products are made without formaldehyde. All the certificates that state that all Allatolia products do not contain formaldehyde can be found on our website.

Villa Bofghini products are manufactured without Methylene Chloride since the origin (1978). Methylene Chloride has always been considered as a very dangerous substance for human health. In spite of this, it has been largely used to manufacture hair sprays and hair fixing products mainly because of its low cost and of its high volatility characteristic (it is able to let the other ingredients exhale very quickly, thus allowing to fix hair almost immediately). Obviously, Methylene Chloride and other substances heavily pollute the environment. This bears dangerous consequences to the health of people using such toxic products. Only in 1998 did the European Commission finally classify it as “R-40” meaning dangerous substance able to cause irreversible noxious effects to human health.

Allatolia products have been clinically studied and tested for maximum safety by Repeated Insult Patch Test. All Allatolia products have passed this test. Under normal conditions it takes 28 days for the basal layer of skin cells through their death and physiological transformation to finally reach the skin surface. This is the cycle of the skin, called cellular turnover. This is what allows the skin to have the power of self-defense from anything that comes in contact with it.

There are two clinical-pharmacological tests used to evaluate safety of products for topical application. They are Patch Test and Repeated Insult Patch Test. The Patch Test usually lasts 48 hours. As previously explained, the cellular turnover of the skin lasts 28 days. This means that the product tested only for 2 days cannot be called hypoallergenic, because 2 days are not enough to really test the product. The Repeated Insult Patch Test lasts for 30 days, that is to say two more days of the skin cellular turnover. This is why the product that managed to over come such a rigid test is certified as “Incapable of causing irritation or allergic reactions”.

According to the FDA, there are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term “hypoallergenic”. The term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean. Manufacturers of cosmetics labeled as hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenicity claims to FDA.

Allatolia products have overcome the strictest clinical-pharmacological test in the University Laboratories for Maximum Safety: “The Repeated Insult Patch Test”. All Allatolia products are certified as incapable of causing irritation or allergic reactions.

Up to today, Allatolia is the unique whole range of products in the world that was able to overcome the hardest test for maximum safety.

The scalp is at the top of the list among the body parts affected by Allergenic Contact Dermatitis. Shampoos are the most dangerous products, because they destroy the hydrolipidic film of the skin (extreme barrier for the protection of the skin) and that provokes the dangerous rebound effect of the sebaceous gland, and in turn canceling the skin power to self-defense. That is why they are considered to be the most dangerous cosmetic products. For this reason hairdressers are at a higher risk.

Allatolia finished products have been registered and approved by the FDA. The finished product is the result of mixing together various ingredients. Every ingredient has its own characteristics which can be changed by combining it with another ingredient. It is evident that by advertising a product only because it contains a particular ingredient does not show the proven scientific value of the finished product. So, it is very important to test the finished product as well as each ingredient separately. All ALLATOLIA products have been tested as finished products.

For most shampoos, the manufacturing process starts with making a large amount of concentrated shampoo in one shot, and then it is diluted. Allatolia, on the other hand manufactures their shampoos differently. It is done by addition of ingredients to each bottle one by one. We add the ingredients, not dilute a high concentrated solution.

According to the results of the tests and analysis of Allatolia products, the use of Allatolia products allows achieving important clinical results with no side effects.

The whole range of Allatolia products has very advanced scientific characteristics, because we are able to achieve both aesthetic and curative results simultaneously. This is another scientific and technical innovation called Product Dynamism.

The unique distinctive characteristics of Allatolia line shows that Allatolia manufacturing levels and quality of the ingredients were almost 30 years ahead of the modern European Regulations.

We offer safe shampoos. As our reader, you are entitled to 5% discount on any purchase in our store. Just use the coupon code: READERS5 at checkout.

Every day, men and women with relationship “challenges” go through this little dance. It’s a dance of avoidance, avoiding what’s really bothering them. Avoiding what’s really important. Broken vows and broken promises serve up a multitude of problems that today’s couples are finding harder and harder to avoid. For certain, marriage ain’t what it used to be.

Yet avoiding these little problems can have huge implications for you and all your other relationships. A snowball effect occurs. If you’re not happy at home, it will eventually find its way into other parts of your life as well. Maybe your production at work drops off or you simply don’t smile anymore. Either way, your friends, family, and co-workers start to notice that you’re not yourself anymore. Suddenly, you’re different.

They might ask if you’re not feeling well. They might just start avoiding you altogether! You end up feeling like you have no one to talk to. You’d talk to your family, but they might just tell you it’s all in your head or, even worse, just tell you to grin and bear it. Your friends all have their own issues and have little time to solve your problems. You’d go to therapy, but it’s both time-consuming and costly, and you have only so much to give. Whatever you decide to do, the truth is undeniable. Your overall prosperity hinges on how successful your love relationships are.

In general, your relationships are going to be as good as your ability to communicate with the men in your life. Given that we guys don’t share our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions as much as we should, wouldn’t it be great if there were an instruction manual included?

Unfortunately, you’re not given one by your clergyman after you’ve said your vows. Even worse, the same skill set that brought you and your man together has little to do with the long term health of your relationship.

I was once told that it’s far easier to get into something than it is to get out of it. Those who have gone through a breakup or worse a divorce know this all to well. All you know when starting a new relationship is that you really don’t know. The journey that men and women embark on is often not the journey they end with.

Love comes and goes to many. Passions flare and love burns only to be extinguished with one wrong word or mistake. Love is and never was easy. In the end isn’t that what makes love so grand?

Alan Bentley, God’s gift to female/male communication, helps single women across the country unravel mysteries of the male mind helping improve their relationships with men they love. To discover how you can crack the guy code, go to http://www.cracktheguycode.com or email

Diabetes is something that is becoming more common. When you are first diagnosed with Diabetes you may be confused by all the strict rules and guidelines that you must follow. Here are some ways to make cooking for Diabetics easier.

Cooking for diabetics can be easier if you understand this disease. Diabetes is having an imbalance of sugar in the blood also known as high blood sugar and the body’s inability to use sugar, glucose normally. When your body is unable to balance the levels of glucose in the blood, you become diabetic. Glucose builds up in the blood because the body is slow in breaking down or using glucose and some of this build up of glucose is discharged through the kidneys. Fats and proteins cannot be used by the body in a normal manner when the diabetes becomes severe. Diabetes can have a harmful affect on the heart, kidneys, eye sight, and nerves. Diabetes is an incurable disease but can be controlled with medication, diet, exercise, lifestyle and daily monitoring. It is manageable if you follow the advice of your physician and have regular checkups to stay in control of Diabetes.

Food Exchange System

The best way to cook for the diabetic is to follow the food exchange system which was developed in 1950 to help those suffering from diabetes to control their sugar intake and lower the amount of glucose in the blood.

The food exchange system has 3 main groups or categories of food and simply by exchanging one food for another, you will be able to eat the nutrients your body needs while balancing the glucose in your blood. These 3 groups are: fats, carbohydrates and protein like meat or protein substitutes like cheese and eggs. When you first begin using this food exchange system, it can be confusing but as you use it to maintain balanced blood sugar levels you will be more familiar of how it works and you shouldn’t be hungry.

The carbohydrates are broken down into starches, breads, fruits, vegetables, milk and sweets. A meal plan may say you can have 2 1/2 servings of carbohydrates to eat at your meal, you choose 2 full servings of 2 different foods and 1/2 of another. These are measured proportions of a serving or grams. For example: 1 bread or 1 starch food, 1 small fruit, and 1/2 cup of milk or you may choose 1 cup of milk, 1/2 slice bread or 1/2 serving of potatoes and 1 small fruit. The thing to remember is to exchange one for the other. Total grams you should consume at a meal is 12 to 15 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat.

After using and becoming familiar with the grams or servings of the food exchange system, you will be able to choose foods that you enjoy eating, balance your sugar intake, maintain your weight and receive the proper nutrients to maintain a healthy body and lifestyle. If you have any questions about diet or your diabetes, your family care physician is the best one to give you the advice needed to stay healthy and in control of diabetes.

Crock pots are a great way to prepare quick meals for busy people. Many modern crock pot recipes are very nutritious and the best thing is the recipes can be easily altered to suit your own dietary needs. Try a delicious chicken crock pot recipe today for a new dimension to your meals.

There are many different definitions of a scrapbook, and ideas about what a scrapbook is supposed to be. The main thing to remember when thinking about your scrapbook is that there will always be one thing central to a scrapbook- keeping memories.

Just like photos, scrapbooks are keepers of precious moments that you would always want to return back to. The moments that you have captured in photos and the moments of your creativity are deeply embedded in every page, note, captions and journals in your scrapbook. One day, you’ll take a look at the scrapbooks you have created and they will deliver you back in time.

The hardest part of scrapbooking might be starting from scratch. Everyone has their own scrapbooking style and you will want to find yours. This can be challenging when just getting started but there are many ways to do this, and with time and practice you will refine your personal style.

Let your personality shine through your scrapbook. If you are not sure what your preference is when planning the design or the layout of your scrapbook, it is best that you analyze yourself first. Know your personal tastes and refrain from following the hypes and fads as presented in the scrapbooking industry. This way, you will be more likely to produced original and personal ideas that will work best in your own ways. Of course starting with someone else’s ideas or layouts, or even pre-printed pages is a good way to discover your style when starting out.

Many find great uses in other people’s designs. For beginners, it is often easier to follow someone else’s ideas than to try to create your own. Along the way you will find your own methods and style. You can start by looking at scrapbooking books, magazines, websites and blogs to find ideas. Most of these will include dimensions used for a layout and what papers, embellishments and other items were included. Remember that any layout can be adapted to your colors and style. Do not feel like you have to follow the layout exactly; just use it as a guide to get you started. Once a good inspiration breaks out, you may find yourself immersed in the confidence of doing things your own way.

Another idea for getting started is to create your own mood board.

Mood boards are commonly used in the fashion industry as testing grounds for new ideas. These are boards wherein cutouts, drafts of designs and fabric swatches are portrayed to provide initial impressions of the new trend. In fact, anything that will help the viewers see the direction and concepts of the designers are placed on the mood board.

By making use of mood boards, you can easily find your style. Placing concepts into more tangible mediums will construct foundations for your layouts and intentions. Cut out pictures in magazines that you like, print pictures off the internet, you can also include paper scraps, fabric scraps and ribbon in your mood board. Anything that you think may provide good inspiration for a layout can be included. Think, color, texture, and design when searching for things to include in this board. Look at layouts others have done and if there is a specific paper you like ask them if they have a small scrap piece of it so you can include it. Crops are a good place to gather ideas and samples.

Don’t be too critical in this process. While gathering ideas, you need not know why a picture or an image attracts you. If it produces positive reaction then go ahead and include it. This is one good test to determine your style. Just include everything that you like, later you will mix and match to plan color and texture combinations. You can even get inspiration for embellishments from these cutouts.

Second, you would want to check on color combinations. Some of us have already set definite grounds on what our favorite color is, and what we will most likely not use. Using a single group of shades is good if you can manipulate and mix them into varying combinations.

Many people find it hard to detract themselves from a single concept. Make sure you experiment with different color and texture combinations. You may be surprised with colors that complement each other well. Also keep in mind the colors of a photo when planning the colors for a layout.

When inspiration turns bad and there seem to be no color available for you, look at the butterflies for inspiration.

Sabrina Scheerer is a scrapbook consultant for Close To My Heart and runs a website for scrapbookers. She also does cardmaking and some other forms of paper crafts which she touches upon in her website and blog. http://www.sobystamps.com and http://www.sobystamps.blogspot.com There is currently a free scrapbooking e-book on the website.

SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is one of the most horrible and heartbreaking losses a family can endure. Striking an otherwise healthy baby of between 1 month and one year old, SIDS is the diagnosis given when a child of this age dies suddenly and an exact cause can’t be found even after a full medical and legal investigation. And while amazing strides have been made in cutting the risk of SIDS, about 2,500 infants continue to die suddenly in the United States each year.

For these parents it is the worst kind of pain… a living nightmare you don’t wish on your worst enemy. It hurts every minute of every day of the rest of your life.

These parents can take some small comfort knowing that investigations into exactly what causes SIDS are moving forward. There is a lot of good work being done. Many experts are coming to believe the condition involves an underlying abnormality (like a brain defect that affects breathing) combined with sleeping in an unsafe position or being exposed to an environmental challenge during a key period of growth.

Other things we do know:

- SIDS is most common in babies 2 to 4 months old.

- 90% of SIDS cases happen in babies less than 6 months old.

- 20% of SIDS deaths happen in childcare settings.

- SIDS is more common in cold weather.

- SIDS happens more often during sleep, between the hours of 10:00 pm and 10:00 am

Researchers in California at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research found that babies who slept in a room with a fan running had a 72% lower risk of SIDS compared to those who slept without a fan. Opening a window, another way to circulate the air in the sleeping space, brought the risk of SIDS down 36%. The study appears in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine and is the first to look for an association between better air circulation and reduced risk of SIDS.

Financed by the National Institutes of Health, this research involved data on 185 babies who died of SIDS from 1997 to 2000 in ten Northern California counties as well as Los Angeles County. The SIDS babies were compared to 312 infants who were a match in age, socio economic status and ethnic backgrounds in those same counties.

Dr. De-Kun Li, study senior author said, “The baby’s sleeping environment really matters. This seems to suggest that by improving room ventilation we can further reduce risk.”

The researchers noted that using a fan reduced the risk of SIDS most for babies in poor sleeping environments. Of course using a fan doesn’t mean you should stop doing all the other very easy, sensible things the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to prevent SIDS.

- Babies should always sleep on their backs.

- Firm mattresses should be the only sleeping surface — no waterbeds or air mattresses either.

- No thick quilts or comforters — being overheated during sleep puts your baby at risk.

- Pillows and stuffed toys should not be in the bed with babies.

- A dedicated sleeping space that’s free of drafts and is of a comfortable, steady temperature.

- Don’t smoke (or let anyone else smoke) around your baby.

More work is needed, but because the idea of circulating the air in a baby’s room is in line with some Sudden Infant Death Syndrome theories, it’s certainly worth a try. Fans are affordable, and offer another benefit, the sound offers a soothing setting for a baby to sleep, blocking out much of the other routine noise of the house. Good for you, perhaps life saving for your baby.

Over 14,000 people have joined Kirsten’s popular (and sometimes controversial) Daily Health Bulletin, so why not join them and stay up to date with the latest on avoiding sudden infant death risks and other health news daily. You also get 5 health reports free when you join - giving you all need to treat common ailments, lose weight, look younger & feel healthy