The Dangers of Air Fresheners

Air fresheners or 'room deodorizers' are becoming increasingly popular. But did you know that they contain many harmful toxins? Even some of the commercially sold 'natural' ones!

These products have been linked to an increase in asthma symptoms and pulmonary diseases. Aside from this, general symptoms of sickness and migraine have been noted from use of room fragrance products.

Most air fresheners including some scented candles, plug-ins and timed aerosols contain phthalates. This a chemical compound mainly used to soften plastic and is what gives P.V.C its flexibility.

Although in recent years some companies claim to have removed these phthalates from their products other key ingredients can also be very harmful.

Learn more about the toxins found in air fresheners:

• Genotoxins are chemical agents that damage DNA.  Damages to cellular DNA can result in cell mutations and even lead to cancer.
• Mutagenic chemicals, as the name suggests, can increase the recurrence of  some types of mutations. 
• Broncho-constrictors narrow the airways along the bronchial tube and cause them to constrict or tighten. These symptoms are very similar to asthma, which may give rise to the association to asthma symptoms.
• Neurotoxins, the name literally translated means 'nerve toxins'. They damage the brain or nervous system by killing neurons in the body.
• Hepatoxins damage the liver. 
• Reproductive toxins have been found to decrease fertility. The rate of infertility has *increased by over 4% since the 1980's.  

*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infertility

Learn how to make your own natural room freshener:

http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2013/05/make-your-own-toxin-free-natural-room.html

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Make Your Own Toxin Free Natural Room Deodorizer

Here is a recipe to make your own room spray without the nasty chemicals that commercial fresheners give out. The bonuses of this are endless and the cost is way cheaper in comparison. 

What you will need:

1 pump action spray bottle

Distilled Water

2 -4 drops Essential oils of your choosing

1 Tbsp Baking Soda

Directions: 

Mix baking soda and essential oils together.

Pour into bottle.

Add water, put lid on and shake.

This can be used as a room fragrance, fabric freshener, carpets,clothes or whatever you choose that needs a freshen up. ( Please remember that certain fabrics such as silk don't like oils though!)

Image courtesy of Hustvedt via wikimedia commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spray_bottle.jpg

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Healing Herbs And Spices

Foods have super powers! 

Get to know them!

Healing Herbs and Spices:

Spice up your life, and your health!

Oregano - helps soothe stomach muscles - 

Thyme - relaxes respiratory muscles -

Mint - can ease hiccups - 

Turmeric - Anti cancer -

Ginger - anti nausea remedy - 

Basil - can relieve gas and soothe stomach upsets -

Garlic - Natural antiseptic - 

Black Pepper - helps relieve indigestion

Fenugreek - helps flush out harmful toxins - 

Cayenne - can stop a heart attack

Fennel - can reduce bad breath and body odor - 

Cinnamon - helps lower blood pressure

Clove - anti microbial - 

Dill - Treats heartburn - colic and gas

Sage - antiseptic and antibiotic - 

Rosemary - antioxidant -

If you like natural cures 

check out a couple of our last posts!

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Anti inflammatory foods and Inflammatory foods

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"Eating healthy is nature's health insurance!"

Health benefits of acupuncture

Ok, we all know how it looks, painful!  But, it could actually reduce the amount of pain you have to endure in daily life!

A popular alternative treatment used for thousands of years throughout the China, acupuncture is now widely used across the world and is designed to interact with the body's natural energy pathways.

Although it is not without controversy within the medical community, acupuncture has spread like wildfire from the far east all the way to western Europe and the United States.  Acupuncture is now being used in combination with other treatments and on several different conditions and, oddly enough, is even being used and researched for veterinary applications.  It is not uncommon to find an acupuncture practitioner in chiropractic offices and spas.  The World Health Organization has claimed that acupuncture is an effective treatment for over two dozen health conditions and the U.S. army began teaching battlefield acupuncture in 2009 to field medics for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  So, while there are many staunch advocates for acupuncture, the controversy with this treatment is born of placebo trials which are also hard to conduct.  Despite studies that suggest placebo can yield similar results, several alternative and mainstream health experts and institutions tout multiple health benefits related to this ancient Chinese practice.

While Chinese medicine has focused on the energy pathways in the body while using acupuncture, several authorities on health and nutrition have claimed that the benefits are purely scientific and don't rely on ancient philosophies.  The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Treatment Center has concluded that semi-weekly acupuncture sessions helped relieve extreme dry mouth, or xerostomia, in patients who underwent radiation treatment for cancers of the head and neck.  A peer reviewed British Medical Journal also claims the benefits of acupuncture to be rooted in science.  

The University Medical Center in Berlin, Germany found that acupuncture helps with osteoarthritis while the Mayo Clinic claims this treatment to be effective for people suffering fibromyalgia.  Acupuncture has shown great promise for treating migraines and pain after a dental procedure.  Lower back pain is also believed to be treatable using this ancient method.  Acupuncture is also believed to be an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy, adding to the value of this treatment for cancer patients.  Patients who would like to avoid heavy pharmaceutical pain relievers that carry many side effects can turn to acupuncture.  Acupuncture is also useful for women's health issues.  The practice of acupuncture is safe and growing in popularity outside of China and even has electro and laser versions that are thought to be just as effective and less invasive.   

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Natural Cures T Shirts

Are you ready to help Natural Cures Not Medicine upgrade our website and get something cool in return?

We are giving away free Tshirts! All you have to do is donate 20$ and we will send you a free Tshirt! ;) If you donate 35$ we will send you 2 Tshirts! Make sure you give us your shipping address / color / and whether you want small / medium / large or XL. We have 4 designs.

Our Tshirts are being made in Seattle- USA for the North American orders and Made in Portugal for the European and beyond orders. We posted about this a few weeks ago and we are finally ready to move forward! We don't like the idea of raising money and not giving you anything in return... so here you go! We will send out a "free" Tshirt to all of those that help! Thanks a lot for being here! Our desired upgrades will give our website a new faster layout and we will establish a Free App for your smartphone / tablets that will allow you to have access to all our natural cures.... FREE. Yeah and that one will actually be free. Free is good. Everyone can afford free. Pay it forward peoples! It's not all about money! It's about love - learning - and helping others if you are strong enough to help yourself. One love. One family. Never give up. We're going to make it.

Please allow us until the end of the month to send your Tshirt. Everyone will have them before the end of May. We will only make 50 of each Tshirt. So these will be rare! Collect them all! :) Obviously only do what you want. No force-feeding here. Once again. Thanks!

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Health Benefits Of Swiss Chard

Also called Roman kale, this leafy green veggie is packed with protective agents and nutrients.

If you have not tried swiss chard, here are a few reasons to jump in:

-Antioxidant power:  The leaves of Swiss chard are known to be a good source of vitamin C, also called the detox vitamin.  Tissue is protected from damage due to free radicals and toxins in the blood stream thanks to this important nutrient.

-Blood health:  Copper, iron, potassium, and manganese are among the minerals that are found within this leafy green.  Potassium helps to counter the effects of sodium in the blood which helps to naturally prevent heart disease.  Swiss chard also contains iron which is absolutely necessary for the production and maintenance of blood cells.

-Brain health:  Packed with vitamin K, which protects neurons in the brain from decline and is often suggested to naturally treat Alzheimer's disease.

-Bone health:  The vitamin K in Swiss chard helps to maintain bone strength and also stimulates bone production.  This veggie is also credited with preventing osteoporosis.

-Omega 3:  Swiss chard is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids and beta carotenes.  Flavanoids convert to vitamin A in the body and help to protect against toxic agents in the blood stream.

-Weight loss:  Due to its high nutrient density and extremely low caloric and fat values, Swiss chard is a recommended component of the diet for those hoping to shed some extra body fat.  

-Anti Cancer:  Some data shows that regular consumption of Swiss chard can help to prevent some cancers including prostate cancer and colon cancer.

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Why Baby Carrots Should Be Avoided

What could I possibly have against these cute little “healthy” snacks that can be found in school lunchboxes across America? Well as it turns out many "baby carrots" aren't actually baby carrots at all...

It’s almost back to school time and baby carrots are one snack to keep out of your child's lunch. It may shock you... but baby carrots don't come out of the ground that way (Normally but some organic companies have designed ways to do this right... WITHOUT CHLORINE). There is no little baby carrot garden where these are harvested. Manufactured baby carrots are a result of taking all the broken and “ugly” big carrots they can’t put in the package, grinding them all up, processing them into the “baby” carrots and giving them a bath in chlorine to give them a bright happy orange color.

There are also “Cut & Peel” baby carrots that are widdled into a miniature form. If you look on the package it doesn’t say “Chlorine”, because it was added as part of manufacturing and not added as an ingredient…why is that? Packaged foods contains lots of chemicals both in the ingredients and in the manufacturing process. The tricky part is chemicals added as part of the manufacturing process are not considered to be an ingredient therefore does not have to be listed on the food label. So there is no way to tell what else is hiding in that box or package.

As defined by the EPA, Chlorine is a pesticide. Its purpose is to kill living organisms. So it would make sense that when you ingest chlorine, it kills some parts of our body like the healthy bacteria in your gut and intestinal flora for instance. Chlorine is a highly toxic, yellow-green gas most heavily used in chemical agents like household cleaners and can be found in the air near industrial areas especially around paper processing plants. Exposure to Chlorine has been linked to health problems such as sore throat, coughing, eye and skin irritation, rapid breathing, narrowing of the bronchi, wheezing, blue coloring of the skin, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, pain in the lung region, severe eye and skin burns, lung collapse, a type of asthma known as Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS). Chlorine is also added to the public water supply. So not only are you drinking it, but you are absorbing it through the largest organ in your body, your skin. In fact, 2/3 of human absorption of chlorine is from inhaling the steam in the form of chloroform and fast absorption through your open pores in the warm shower or bath. The inhalation of chloroform is a suspected cause of asthma and bronchitis, especially in children… which has increased 300% in the last two decades. Other health risks associated with chloroform is cancer, potential reproductive damage, birth defects, dizziness, fatigue, headache, liver and kidney damage. Chloroform is also found in the air and in food, like baby carrots.

Conclusion: Stick to organically grown whole carrots. They are really easy to find as you can buy them at your local farmers market or grocery store. Wash them and cut them into sticks for your childs lunch box. Carrots are an excellent snack that we enjoy all the time. Enjoy!

Thanks to www.facebook.com/asheepnomore for this warning.

Mind blowing facts about Onions

Forget the smell, embrace the flavor, and avoid the doctor's office!

By the time you finish reading this post, we want you to crave onions!

Onions have been used for thousands of years in cooking and remedies.  Known for their pungent aroma and various flavors depending on preparation, onions sometimes get a bad wrap.  But, here are some redeeming qualities that will have you loading up on onions the next time you are at the supermarket.  The juice of onions can be used topically for a cooling sensation but when eaten, onions have a warming effect internally.  Bug bites, bee stings, and even burns can be naturally treated with onion juice applied to the irritated area.  Also, onions have been used as a remedy for nose bleeds.  What is more, the onion is being shown to rival pharmaceutical drugs when it comes to helping women with menopause who suffer from bone loss.  It is believed that consuming onions regularly will help with sexual function as well.  Onions show promise in fighting and preventing colon cancers and possibly other types of cancer.  

The flavonoids contained in onions, the most notable being Quercetin further the detox effects of vitamin C and also pack a heavy anti cancer punch.  Heart disease costs more lives in developed countries than most other conditions and can be avoided by keeping onions in your regular diet.  By reducing bad LDL cholesterol and raising good HDL cholesterol, onions can greatly reduce your chances of a heart attack and also boost and maintain the health and strength of blood vessels.  The chromium that is found in onions helps to maintain blood glucose levels by assisting the cells of the body respond properly to insulin, a huge plus for diabetics.  

Now that you know some of the health boosts that come from onions, pick a variety: white, red, or sweet and chow down.  Remember that eating vegetables is very advantageous from a health standpoint, but the effects are much more profound if you consume them raw.  Though it may be a challenge, adding raw onion or onion juice to your diet could have a huge impact on your well being.  Try a shot of onion juice in the morning mixed with a little bit of honey and lime juice.  And don't be too quick to lob off the green tops of your onions because those shoots are an excellent source of vitamin A.

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