Personal Body Care

Did you know that what you put on your body is just as important as what you put into your body?

Unfortunately, cosmetic and skin care products have very little regulations and can be quite dangerous.

Most people assume that you absorb in everything that you put on your skin, but that is not true. If that were true, you would blow up like a balloon every time you sat in the bathtub. Instead, the body has an amazing mechanism for blocking substances from overwhelming the system. That being said, the body does still absorb quite a bit of it, but it is eliminated by the kidneys and liver. You could argue that because the liver and kidneys can eliminate these ingredients that it doesn’t really matter, but unfortunately, you have to think of toxic burden as well. Maybe one toxic ingredient will not hurt your body, but we rarely use just one cosmetic in a day. Most women use an average of 12 personal care products per day, while men use an average of 6.

So, all of this is to ask, do you know what is in your cosmetics and skin care? There are some great companies out there that are trying to bring safe yet effective products to the market. A good way to tell if your products are safe is by putting them through the Skin Deep Database or by downloading the app on to your phone.

I love using Savvy Mineral Makeup by Young Living. I’ve also switched all of my household cleaners over to essential oil and plant based cleaners and they still work! I use recipes that I’ve found on Pinterest to make our body wash and hand soap (they are extremely easy!)

So what have you been using? Do you have any products that you love? Share below!

Why Do I Need an Antioxidant?

Antioxidants are a big buzz word in the natural health world. We all know that we need them, but sometimes it's unclear why we do. 

To understand antioxidants, you have to understand first what free-radicals are. Free-radicals are atoms with unpaired electrons. These are created when oxygen splits them. These free-radicals then go around trying to find an unpaired electron which causes more damage. 

What this means is that they are natural byproduct of living. The more movement and energy you expend, the more free-radicals are created. This does not mean that it's best to sit on a couch doing nothing all day long, but you do have to take in to account that the more you are moving, the more you need to make sure you're getting enough antioxidants! Especially since they slow down the aging process! 

The best way I have heard of it being described was with a car engine. Free-radicals would be the exhaust fumes from an engine. You need to have the exhaust fumes, but you also have to get the exhaust fumes out of the engine or else the engine will break. That's where antioxidants come in! Antioxidants help to release the free-radicals from the body. 

The best source of antioxidants always come from foods. Making sure that your'e getting 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables every day is extremely important! Wolfberries (goji berries) have the highest amount of any foods, followed by pomegranates and blueberries. Taking them in juice form is also an excellent way of getting them in. I drink 2oz of wolf berries per day. 

Taking antioxidant supplements can be helpful, but please remember that the body will always use food sources more efficiently than anything found in a pill! 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/ 

Ningxia Red 30-Day Challenge!

Ningxia Red is made from the Wolfberry (Goji) super fruit from northern China. This superfruit has one of the highest percentages of fiber of any whole food and contains zeaxanthin—a carotenoid important to maintaining healthy vision. It also contains polysaccharides, amino acids, and symbiotic vitamin-mineral pairs that when present together promote optimum internal absorption. By using whole wolfberry puree—juice, peel, seeds, and fruit—Young Living is able to maintain more of the desired health-supporting benefits in every bottle of NingXia Red.

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Ningxia Red also is made with Young Living’s pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils: Orange, Yuzu (not sold as an oil), Tangerine, and Lemon. These oils are carefully selected because of their maintenance of normal cellular regeneration, not to mention high levels of of the antioxidant d-limonene, which is important for overall well-being. These pure and potent essential oils blend synergistically and deliciously with the other components of Ningxia Red to support normal digestive health, healthy immune function, normal brain function, a healthy cardiovascular system, and much more. Ningxia contains grape seed extract that may help support a healthy cardiovascular system. Additionally blueberry, plum, aronia, cherry, and pomegranate juice contains naturally high levels of anthocyanins and polyphenols, which block oxygen-based free radicals from damaging body tissues.

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Lastly, you will see on the Ningxia Red bottle and pouches, that it contains Stevia as a sweetener. Stevia is a zero-calorie sweetener and is 300 times sweeter than sugar, allowing for a delicious beverage with lower overall sugar content. We recommend you drink 2-4 ounces daily with confidence knowing you are not consuming excess calories and sugar.

https://ningxiared.com/benefits/

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Drink 2oz daily (I usually drink it around 2:00pm instead of a coffee, but most drink it in the morning) and it is equivalent to eating: 
• 34 large onions 🥟
• 100 oranges 🍊
• 814 blueberries 🔵
• 22 medium carrots 🥕
• 10.85 pounds of spinach 🥗
• 55.33 pounds of almonds 🥔
• 59 broccoli florets 🥦
• 73 medium strawberries 🍓
• 93 apples

Let me know if you're doing the challenge with me and my family! If you're looking to buy some of this amazing drink, let me know and I'll point you in the correct direction!