It has been a pretty up and down month. Lots of emotion, highs and lows. I've spent quite a bit of time pondering life and trying to find a way to make every day count.
What I've learnt:
- The toothpaste I've been using for years and the one I've been giving my children is apparently banned in the US as it contains some serious carcinogens,
- Without all the nasties, products I make act differently to the other 'natural' products,
- I can spend hours making a loaf of bread from scratch and my children will devour the whole loaf within 20 minutes of it coming out of oven.
I learnt that my toothpaste - Colgate Total - is apparently banned in the US and contains cancer causing chemicals.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2017/07/why-experts-say-most-people-should-avoid-colgate-total.html
How on earth does this happen? It freaks me out to be honest. My husband even called me to tell me and said 'do you know any recipes for natural toothpaste?'. I don't, but we have changed toothpaste brands in the meantime. It makes me wonder what else we are consuming that is making us sick. I don't want to go all hairy armpits and happy clappy but I do want to try to do what I can to limit the toxins that we are exposed to in every day life.
As you may have read in my other blogs, I am completely addicted to my body scrub. It makes my skin feel so so good. Anyway, my daughter had been given a similar type of product as a gift some time ago which looked and smelt delicious. So one morning I went to use my scrub and thought that I might 'borrow' some of my daughters instead. When I opened hers up it was all smooth and creamy looking and smelt amazing. I though about my scrub and wanted to compare it so opened it up as well. Mine had gone hard. It was cold in the bathroom so the coconut oil and solidified. I don't use waxes or clay in my scrub so it will be impacted by temperature. If it gets too hot it is best to keep it in the fridge or you will have liquid scrub. It made me think about how that product managed to keep looking so beautiful. So I had a look at the ingredients. Firstly, there were so many that the label was full. Secondly, I couldn't even pronounce most of them. I decided against using hers and stuck to mine.
The bread. I have to honestly say that I spend most of my life in the car, cleaning or making food. I spend so much time in the kitchen that the varnish is wearing off in the path I walk along the bench, to the sink and to the fridge. Although I choose to do this, it can be so frustrating to work for ages on something for it to be gone within minutes. Bread, that is what I'm moaning about today. I could go to the supermarket and buy a loaf for $1. This would probably last 3 or 4 days in my house. It doesn't makes lots of crumbs, it always stays soft and fluffy for days and the kids happily eat it. I choose to make my own bread so that I know whats in it. However, I do find it so disheartening when the loaf is gone in seconds or it is hard and inedible after just 2 days! Like the products I've made to use on my skin, I've made the choice to make a change in my life, to try to reduce toxins, to give myself the best chance of health. So I will continue to make bread, every second day until I can't I guess.
Keep at it Phil, it’s fantastic work you’re doing… not just the immediate benefits of removing some toxins from your life but also the example you’re setting for your girls. They’ll be learning from your wonderful habits and will grow up to be smarter consumers who read labels and ask questions about how things in our world are made.
Love ya xx
It’s scary what is in our foods, drinks, beauty and health care, cleaning products and our environment. You might notice though that a lot of “home brand” products have way fewer chemicals and numbered additives than a lot of the more expensive brands.