March 29th, 2008 cate
From webmd:
“Whoever coined the term “necessary evil” might have been thinking of pain. No one wants it, yet it’s the body’s way of getting your attention when something is wrong. You’re probably sufficiently in tune with your body to know when the pain is just a bother, perhaps the result of moving furniture a day or two before or eating that third enchilada. It’s when pain might signal something more serious that the internal dialogue begins:
“OK, this isn’t something to fool around with.”
“But I can’t miss my meeting.”
“And how many meetings will you miss if you land in the hospital?”
“I’ll give it one more day.”
Etc.
You need a guide. WebMD consulted doctors in cardiology, internal medicine, geriatrics, and psychiatry so you’ll understand which pains you must not ignore — and why. And, of course, if in doubt, get medical attention.
No. 1: Worst Headache of Your Life
Get medical attention immediately. “If you have a cold, it could be a sinus headache,” says Sandra Fryhofer, MD, MACP, spokeswoman for the American College of Physicians. “But you could have a brain hemorrhage or brain tumor. With any pain, unless you’re sure of what caused it, get it checked out.”
Sharon Brangman, MD, FACP, spokeswoman for the American Geriatrics Society, tells WebMD that when someone says they have the worst headache of their life, “what we learned in medical training was that was a classic sign of a brain aneurysm. Go immediately to the ER.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in articles, body, dangerous / warnings, general, health, men, news, pain, parenting, seniors, women | No Comments »
March 27th, 2008 cate
From discovery:
“How long has it been since you really enjoyed a glass of water?
Odds are, any number of things in your H2O (both better and worse for you than just regular water in its unspoiled state) have tainted your chance to experience this life-giving liquid at its best.
I recently had the chance to taste water at its most pure – straight from an iceberg – and it changed my outlook on it forever.
Inspired by that eye-opening glass, here – in my opinion – are the five best glasses of water on Earth:
5. Waste water never tasted so good
Folks in Sweden are so into water purification that Stockholm even has an annual water wastewater reclamation prize, offered up to the most deserving innovators. The city boasts a global reputation for doing things right when it comes to the environment.
From an area of the city that gets rid of its garbage and recycling through giant vacuum tubes and incinerators, to systems that recycle waste water to drink (from sinks, not the other place waste water comes from) the city has made some tough decisions to stick to a green agenda.
Having tasted this water (in regular and snazzy “sparkling” form), I can tell you it’s tastier than anything I’ve ever had out of a tap before – Hints of charcoal, but that’s maybe my reaction to a complete lack of fluoride or the bottled water I usually drink in Europe.
4. Tap water that doesn’t offend
According to the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Awards (legitimately acknowledged as an authority on water taste), Clearbrook (near Abbotsford), British Columbia has the best-tasting tap water on Earth.
The BC town won the Virginia spa’s annual world-wide water taste-off for 2008, along with the water district of Southern California.
3. Best spring water on Earth
Though some die-hard environmentalists consider bottled water a big no-no, we’re talking taste here – and I can tell you that U.S.-based Tumai bottled water is the best-tasting liquid I have ever guzzled from a 500 ml prison of polycarbonate…
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in articles, body, diet, eco living, eco travel, environment, fitness, health, healthy recipes, news, organic, real food, success stories, travel | No Comments »
March 22nd, 2008 cate
Instead of using chemical dyes that are not friendly to the environment and are not always necessarily that safe – especially if you eat the eggs later, use dyes made from nature. You may have to soak the hardboiled eggs in the liquid much longer than with commercial dyes but the wait is worth it later when seeing the beautiful, natural colors. Experiment a little if you have some time to get the hue you want. In general, boil the ingredient until you get a dark hue, wait until the liquid is cool then soak your already hardboiled egg. In some cases you might want to boil your eggs and the ingredient together. Here are some eggsamples of colors and what to use to to get your egg the color you’d like:
Purple: Red Wine and crushed blueberries
Red and Pink: Fresh beets, canned cherries or frozen, Pomegranate juice, crushed (fresh) cranberries, red onion skins (use a lot of these then gather onion skins, boil for about 35 minutes, let cool, then soak your boiled eggs)
Orange and reddish brown: yellow onion skins (gather onion skins, boil for about 35 minutes, let cool, then soak your boiled eggs)
Lime Green: Spinach (put leaves through a juicer first)
Brown: Just get naturally brown eggs! 
or use strong coffee or strong black tea
Brown Orange: Chili Powder
Light Yellow: Lemon peels, orange peels or ground cumin
Golden yellow: Saffron or ground Tumeric
Blue: Crushed blueberries, red cabbage leaves (first boil the leaves for 35 minutes, let cool and then soak boiled eggs in the liquid. If you soak them overnight, you should get a rich, royal blue!)
Posted in articles, diet, eco living, environment, general, kids, organic, parenting | No Comments »
March 22nd, 2008 cate
From the Whole Earth Generation Contect (Whole Foods):
Now’s your chance to inspire the world and make the planet a greener place.
Are you under 18 and thinking green? Show us what you’re doing to be a part of the Whole Earth Generation. Are you recycling at your school? Planting trees? Forcing your parents to go green? Get in front of the camera and tell us about it.
Sing a song, rap, shoot a documentary, whatever – just send us a short video response showing how you’re making a difference. If we pick yours it’ll be featured leading up to Earth Day. You might even get to co-host one of our Whole Earth Generation Podcasts sponsored by Whole Foods.
Whole Earth Generation Details:
* Keep your video under two minutes.
* Be original and express your green self – we just want to see you being you.
* Keep it clean. No violence, profanity or direct attacks on individuals.
* Your video must be original and cannot infringe on any third party rights.
* Your video cannot have been previously published, broadcast, or otherwise publicly distributed.
* Winners will become “Green Ambassadors” and be featured as hosts in upcoming Whole Earth Generation podcasts.
* Make sure you follow YouTube’s Terms Of Service: http://www.youtube.com/t/terms
How to submit your video:
* Log in to YouTube. If you don’t have an account already, it’s easy and only takes a minute or so.
* Go to the YouTube video where our host is introducing the contest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGoOwRC1uU
* Under “Comments and Responses” click on “Post a video response”.
* If you haven’t uploaded the video you’d like to submit for the contest to YouTube yet, do so by going to “Upload a Video”.
* If you have uploaded the video already, select it by going to “Choose a Video”.
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
ELIGIBILITY
Contestants must be between 8 years and 17 years of age and a legal resident of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia or Canada at the time of their audition to be eligible. All submissions become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. Officers and employees of Whole Foods Market, their respective affiliates, subsidiaries and agents, and the immediate family members of the foregoing, are not eligible to enter. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, destroyed or misdirected entries. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received. Each entry must be submitted with a Submission Agreement to be eligible.
Full rules and regulations:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/weg_rules.html
To see a video about what you need to do to enter the contest, click here.
Posted in creativity, eco living, eco travel, general, healing, health, healthy recipes, hope, inspiration, kids, kindness, laugh, online self help, organic, personal development, personal growth, real food, self improvement, setting goals, success stories | No Comments »
March 22nd, 2008 cate
Reduce your negative impact on the earth and have an eco wedding (also called eco friendly weddings, green weddings, sustainable weddings). How? To start, here are some suggestions regarding eco-wedding dresses:
Forget White White Dresses
You might not know that many people die because of the toxic chemical process used to make wedding dresses that sparkly white. Also, there are 300,000+ illnesses (and mortalities) related to non-organic cotton farming practices (pesticides and other harmful toxins). I personally find that shiny whitey white, ugly. Anyway, get a dress that is natural, not chemically treated, not made in a sweatshop, but is made with earth-friendly materials and fabrics like: organic silk, organic wool, hemp silk, organic cotton, tencel and bamboo are the main fabrics available. You can still find eco-friendly white, that is much more natural looking than the chemical white counterparts. A note: many famous fashion designers use sustainable fabrics to make fabulous wedding dresses.
Simplicity – If you’re not into ultra fancy fashion, keep it very simple. Get a simple dress and make personal embellishments and designs yourself.
Shop Locally – Yes, this doesn’t just apply to veggies! Buy a dress from a local designer. You’ll save on transport costs and contributing to the local economy. You might also want to check out fashion design school budding students, who can make you a unique beautiful dress that will cost a fraction of what you’d spend if you’d bought a designer gown.
Lastly, about tuxes: Make sure tuxes are not chemically (dry) cleaned. Do try to find sustainable tuxedos.
Posted in articles, coaching, eco living, eco travel, environment, general, health, hope, inspiration, kindness, lifestyle, online self help, organic, recommendations and favorites, safe products, setting goals, spirit, women | 1 Comment »