With more people becoming aware of their health all the time – and more people not wanting to poison their family and friends for Christmas – gift giving can be a bit more complicated. Where once a scented candle or Bath & Body Works lotion was an easy gift to grab, knowing how toxic those items are makes it difficult to inflict them upon your loved ones.
What can you do to keep your gift giving healthy and non-toxic this year? Here are some ideas! (And remember, you can treat yourself with these, too!)
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I saw my first mosquito of the year the other day. There really should be more of a break between the snow melting and the mosquitoes arriving, wouldn't you agree?
Since you're reading this post, you probably already know you should avoid conventional bug sprays. The ingredients are almost all toxic, and DEET is gaining a reputation as a poison to be avoided at all costs.
Certain agencies encourage an abundance of caution regarding mosquito-borne illnesses. However, the reality is that the insecticides recommended to deal with the problem are actually far more dangerous.
West Nile is the most common mosquito-borne illness in the U.S. yet very few mosquitoes carry it. And even if you are somehow bitten by an infected mosquito, your chance of becoming infected and severely ill are around 1%.
So weigh the risks – way less than a 1% chance of illness OR guaranteed poisons in your system?
But even though mosquito bites are more of a nuisance than a health threat, no one wants to deal with mosquitoes or any other biting insects, so what can you do that is effective but also natural?
Several years ago, I became aware of what the products I was using on my body were doing to my health, and I didn’t like it.
I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know where to begin.
There were just so many ingredients in products, and I didn’t know what 90% of the items on the ingredient labels were.
Did I really need to research every single one? Spend hours standing in the aisle at the store, looking up ingredients on my phone?
It had to be easier than that!
Then, I realized there was one ingredient that was common in almost all products which contained other toxic ingredients.
And I knew that if I eliminated that one ingredient, I would also avoid a lot of other toxins.
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Cleanses are all the rage, especially at the beginning of a new year when many people are focused on their health and losing weight.
I learned about cleansing and fasting in my health coaching course this past week, and one thing stood out to me.
Cleanses and fasting allow your body to release toxins they have been holding on to. And the important part was that if your body isn't able to eliminate those toxins, they stay in your body. Except now that they're free, they can basically float all over and make you sick.
So here it is, the one thing to know about cleanses:
If you're cleansing, you need to have your avenues of elimination open.
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