We all know that you can tell a lot about your health from the state of your hair but did you know that a simple hair mineral analysis using a few strands of your hair can reveal more about your health than many expensive blood tests?

When we talk about minerals we usually refer to the nutrients that are vital to your health and are essential to your detox system. But some minerals that get into your body such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and aluminum are toxic.  These toxic metals can interfere with or block your detox system. Your hair can reveal all the minerals present in the body so hair mineral analysis is an ideal way to assess their levels in your body.

Why are minerals so important?

Minerals cannot be made by the body and must be obtained from your food or supplements. They are needed for many biochemical functions  including digestion, metabolism (the rate at which your food is turned into energy), detoxification, muscle response, transmission of messages through the nervous system, and the production of your hormones.

They are the constituents of your bones, teeth, muscle, blood, your soft tissue and nerve cells. In fact every cell in your body needs minerals to function. Vitamins tend to get all the attention but minerals are known as the spark plugs of the chemistry of life. Your cells need energy to detox and minerals as well as vitamins are involved in the process that produces energy from the food you eat. They also nourish your thyroid that helps regulate energy production and drives detoxification.

Minerals are essential for detox

Your liver transforms harmful toxins into substances that can be released through the kidneys and bile by a two step process known as Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase I detox relies on 50 to 100 enzymes to break down a wide variety of toxic chemicals from food and water, alcohol, drugs, nicotine, toxins absorbed from the intestinal tract as well as numerous other substances that result from normal body metabolism. These enzymes are dependent on minerals such as magnesium, zinc and copper to function and can be blocked by toxic minerals.

Read more »

Since Oprah Winfrey started raving about the benefits of  Acai Berries that she included in her detox and weight loss regime many companies have rushed to launch their own products. There are sites all over the internet offering free trial bottles and these are some of the outrageous things that they claim this latest superfood can do for you:

• Flush out Excess Pounds!

• Break Up and Remove Harmful Toxins!

• Have More Energy! Fight Fatigue!

• Reduce Gas & Boating, while Flattering your Tummy!

• Risk Free Trial!

Wow! Sounds like a miracle to me. I was intrigued to know how a few capsules filled with an extract of Acai Berries (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) could do all this or is it just another elaborate scam?  What is it about this little berry that has suddenly got the media into a frenzy?

Here are some facts:

The Acai Berry grows in the rainforests of the Amazon and has been known for it’s health benefits by the local people for thousand of years. The berries are said to contain twice as many antioxidants as blueberries, 10 times more than red grapes, are rich is fiber, minerals and omega 6 and 9 fatty acids.

Dermatologist and skin care expert Dr Perricone rates Acai berries as the number one superfood in his latest book overtaking both pomegranates and blueberries. There is no doubt that it’s a great food if you can eat enough of it but here’s the problem:

Read more »

For years we have been told that we should apply plenty of chemical sunscreen before any exposure to sunlight. We are urged to slather our children with it too. Cosmetic manufacturers and doctors have warned us that we could get skin cancer unless we used these sun cream  despite any adequate safety testing of the chemicals used in them. So it will probably come as a shock to you to learn that if you use sunscreen you are applying toxic chemicals that are absorbed into your body and could in fact cause cancer.

Some new research from the US shows that 97% of all Americans are contaminated with benzophenone-3 (BP-3), a toxic chemical that is used in sunscreens.The toxic ingredient that absorbs UV radiation is widely used in sunscreen products worldwide so people in the UK and other countries are very likely to have the same problem.

You may have assumed that you do not absorb significant amounts of chemicals from applying products to your skin but studies have shown that BP-3 goes on being excreted long after the last use of the sunscreen indicating that it accumulates in the body.

Estrogen mimic

The chemical and a derivative called oxybenzone are  linked to a number of adverse effects. Studies show it is an estrogen mimic and can disrupt several hormone systems, damage cells as well cause allergic reactions to sunlight. It can also increase absorption of other chemicals.

Read more »

Sugar is one of the most addictive substances in the world and it has a devastating effect on your health. Excessive use contributes to long term health problems and diseases. It seems to be in just about every product you pick up in the supermarket so it is hardly surprising that people are asking how to detox sugar?

A sugar detox simply means avoiding sugar to improve your health but because it is in so many foods it is hard to do so. Because it is so addictive you might not realize how much you were depending on it for a quick energy or mood boost. Shocking statistics reveal that the average American and British person consumes about 150 lbs of sugar a year.

Why do you need to detox sugar?

Your body is designed to use glucose that it obtains from carbohydrate as a fuel for energy. Protein and fat can be used as well but they have to be turned into glucose first. When you eat whole grains, vegetables, beans or lentils the carbohydrates they contain are broken down and the sugars are released slowly into your blood stream. These foods contain the minerals and vitamins that are needed by your cells to convert the glucose into energy.

Read more »