20/12/10
Do yourself a favour and check out the chemicals in the items you wash with and slather on your skin. Apart from avoiding chemicals and toxins in foods and health
supplements – in recent years I have become more concerned about parabens and other destructive chemicals in cosmetics, shampoos, shaving gels, toothpastes and
soaps. It’s an insidious thing and hard to combat!
There’s some alarming stuff going on and what I thought were eco friendly and gentle – toxin and chemical free – are in fact NOT so. The whole thing is
overwhelming so I decided just to focus on one step at a time. So soap is first off the ranks. Applying the “less is more” approach – I figured that a bar of
soap or body wash with 20 ingredients in it has to be suspect. But I also found some chemical nasties in so called “natural” and “pure” soap. In fact the only
thing natural about it was the cardboard box it came in!
So you may be wondering why you should avoid parabens, for instance? And of course there are pros and cons – but if you are serious about health it would be wise
to err on the side of caution. Parabens mimic the hormone estrogen, which is now known to play a role in the development of breast cancers. Back in the July 2002
issue of the Archives of Toxicology, (and there’s been many more disturbing studies since), Dr. S. Oishi of the Department of Toxicology, Tokyo Metropolitan
Research Laboratory of Public Health reported that exposure of newborn male mammals to butylparaben “adversely affects the secretion of testosterone and the
function of the male reproductive system.”
In various articles I have read, the increasing infertility rates in males seems to be connected to this and other chemical pollutants in our food chain. Add to
this the whole issue around plastics and their contribution to alarming negative estrogen levels in our water and foods and you can see this is cause for some
concern.
Anyway I got so frustrated trying to find paraben and chemical free soap that I started to investigate making my own! I intend spending the Xmas break
experimenting with several different combos. I have already managed to make two sample batches – and they now need a few weeks to cure. But I know that only
distilled water, organic coconut, olive, almond and grape seed oils along with sweet orange and lime essential oils are in them. They smell good enough to eat!
I have a rough plan to try and make some more – and give them to Health Script customers as part of washing away the worries of last year and enjoying 2011 to
the fullest with a clean “slate” approach. I will have to think of something amusing along those lines – it’s only a kernel of a thought at present but have a
look at www.soapcraft.co.nz and give it a go. It’s fun and creative – AND you are avoiding all those nasty chemicals in your soap. Now how to tackle the other
long list of other things I need to replace with good ingredients………..
6/12/10
As a relative new comer to the market, Health Script has launched its third health supplement in as many months, with its new JointFX vitamins. While there are other products that say they
assist bone and muscle health, Nicky Webber, General Manager of Health Script says,” JointFX offers the best of both worlds. It blends ancient remedies within a modern vitamin formula to
deliver the best results.”
Health Script took a good hard look at competitor’s offerings and the latest global research to ensure they got the most effective combination of ingredients. Some commonly sold contents
in bone and muscle products have recently been found to be ineffective, so the team agreed not to include them in the mix.
This product has been designed to assist those with vitamin deficiency, which could be contributing to bone and muscle aches and pains, as well as people who need to recover from age
damage to their body or over exertion in sport or exercise.
There is substantial research and evidence of the excellent anti-inflammatory response to Tumeric and Ginger for joint and muscle health. They have been studied for decades
and have proven effectiveness. Tumeric is a powerful antioxidant and has continued to be widely used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for the past 4,000 years.
“Not many people realize that Ginger has analgesic properties similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, without the side effects of gastrointestinal bleeding, ulcers
and constipation,” she explains. “Both these spices have a long medicinal history spanning ancient remedies. When we looked at the studies, it was clear we needed to include
these in our new JointFX.”
But why stop there? Health Script included the effective supplements of MSM and Glucosamine to ensure modern vitamin health was part of the mix. “We wanted connective tissue and
cartilage regeneration to be part of our offering to our customers, so they experience overall mobility by reducing inflammation and joint damage.”
“We make sure we update our online site with the latest information about all the ingredients used in our formulae,” says Nicky. “ We want our customers to be aware of the
quality and the logic we have used in carefully combining these minerals and supplements in our new Joint FX.”