Sunday, September 2, 2018

DIY -- back to herbals

So the vendor I normally buy from, to make my herbal hair mask, had been out of yucca powder for months. Actually it seemed like a year but I wasn't paying that much attention. I was using Ivory soap, my bath soap of choice for nearly 60 years, on my hair. Even with a rosemary tea chaser, I wasn't happy.

So I bought a commercial chemical shampoo. Before I went herbal, I had used this company's products. What could it hurt?

Well. I didn't have an allergic reaction, but what happened was scary because it could have been a sign of fibroids or even cancer.

Then I ditched the chemical shampoo. A situation that had lasted for three months cleared up in five days.

I reported the batch number to the FTC and also to the FDA because of the medical implications.

And I found a different vendor for the yucca powder.

Now it's time for all of us to look at our personal habits around the home.

Ditch things in plastic bottles. You've heard of the growing island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean? That's your fault. Chill your drinks in multi-use plastic bottles or re-use glass bottles. Ditch plastic wraps; there are multi-use microwavable BPA-free food storage boxes in every grocery store.  They range from pasta and cereal containers down to baby food containers, and include juice "boxes" with straws built into the tops. Support your locality's efforts to charge people for plastic bags in grocery stores -- and buy multi-use non-plastic bags for yourself. I've been doing these things for years.

Ditch sodas. Even the diet ones. It's not the chemical or the calories that promote Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It's the sweet receptors on your tongue. Artificial sweeteners trick them into telling your body to start hauling sugar out of your bloodstream, which wears out your pancreas, and store it as -- FAT. This is based on 8 years of clinical studies. You also have BPA in the lining of the cans, which the makers are hanging onto while all other manufacturers are advertising BPA-free products.  Aluminum cans are not better than plastic bottles; aluminum is involved in tariff wars just now. Drink juice, drink water, drink milk, drink tea and coffee. I haven't had a soda in 5 years.

Ditch alcohol based hand sanitizers. The alcohol gets into your bloodstream through pores on your hands -- the same way the shampoo got into my bloodstream. I am really worried for pregnant hospital employees like those nurses. Doctors show up with alcohol in their bloodstreams from these sanitizers, and no level of alcohol is safe for fetuses. Hospitals must ditch these sanitizers, which because of this problem are worse than plain soap and water.

Ditch "anti-bacterial" cleaners. Notice that they say they kill 99% of bacteria. That last 1% do not move out of your house. You breed superbugs from them. Same thing as the rise of MRSA due to incorrect use of antibiotics.  The chemicals they use have been banned because they waste your money for no more benefit than normal cleaners. Use thyme tea for a disinfectant.

Ditch Dow bug products. They contain the banned chlorpyrifos. Ditch Roundup which contains glyphosate. Ditch Bayer herbicides and pesticides, they kill bees. My garden guru Mike McGrath at WTOP can tell you plenty of ways to have a great landscape without these chemicals.

And look at your hair products. The ingredients in that shampoo -- it was a Suave product -- are in most hair products. Especially propylene glycol which is poisonous to pets. A relative's dog got very sick and since he is known to have an oral fixation, I suggested he had been licking bottles in the bathroom that he was able to reach. (The dog is fine now.)

This is strictly anecdotal evidence. If there are reports going around about this, I missed them. Or maybe Suave simply turned out one bad batch -- but that's the stuff of recalls and that's what I asked FTC to do about this, have Suave recall the batch number that I got off the back of the bottle.

Personally, I have cut ties with them for good.

Think globally, act locally.

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