Current
Research
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Dryer Sheets and Fabric Softeners Contain
Toxic Chemicals
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Dryer Sheets and Fabric Softners Contain Toxic Chemicals |
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Dryer sheets and fabric softeners are not only costly, but they are
incredibly harmful to your health and they contribute to ozone
depletion. These laundry products are the number 2 consumer
complaint behind perfumes. This is a list of the chemicals
contained in dryer sheets and fabric softeners: Alpha-Terpineol,
Benzyl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, Camphor, Chloroform, Ethyl Acetate,
Limonene, Linalool and Pentane. Some of these chemicals appear on
the EPA’s hazardous waste list. Liquid fabric softeners additionally
may contain Formaldehyde.
(Listed at the end of the article is information regarding the
dangers of these chemicals.)
People and pets are exposed to these chemicals by breathing the
aromatic molecules in the air near the clothes or by absorbing them
through the skin via direct contact with the clothes – clothing
will retain some of the fabric softener/dryer sheet molecules
indefinitely! The warmth and moisture of the body dissolves these
chemicals and like a sponge the skin absorbs them and takes them
directly into the blood stream. These products were designed to
stay on clothing for a long period of time and slowly release their
chemicals throughout the day which leads to prolonged exposure.
Chronic exposure to these chemicals usually takes years and the
effects are often subtle and emerge slowly. These chemicals used in
fragrant products can induce a narcotic effect in humans, while
enticing a craving for more. Some of the symptoms include
headaches, nausea, fatigue, difficulty breathing, skin irritation,
difficulty concentrating and remembering, cancer, dermatitis,
irritation to the mucous membranes and respiratory tract, liver
damage, numbness in the face and blurred vision. There are numerous
cases of SIDS associated with the use of fabric softeners and dryer
sheets.
In addition, various toxic chemicals are being emitted in the air
through the dryer vent, contributing to the pollution and ozone
depletion. Some of these volatile chemicals will linger in the air
for hours and pollute the air for blocks from the site of the user(s).
Fabric softeners leave an oil coating on clothing, which don’t
really leave them softer |
or
fluffy. This oil builds up on the fibers and takes the absorbency
out (oil repels water). Dryer sheets and fabric softeners actually
water proof clothing.
Furthermore, fabric softeners and dryer sheets were created for
synthetic fabrics. Synthetic fabrics, when heated in a dryer, or
for that matter, heated by our bodies, will emit an unfavorable
smell, hence the development of these products. These products were
designed strictly to mask these odors!
Reconsider the use of these products; there are safe alternatives
available at your neighborhood Natural Food store or contact For the
Good of It for more info.
1,4-dichlorobenzene and Para-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-Dioxane know
chemicals that penetrates the skin. Look at the ingredients of your
moisturizers and other body lotions. 2-bromo-2nitropropone-1,3-diol
or Bronopol used as preservative forms carcinogenic nitrosamines in
cosmetics, shampoo, lotions and even baby products.
2-Butoxy-1-Ethanol or butyl cellosolve are in most aerosol
propellants. Alkyl Phenoxy, Polyethoxy, Ethanol or phenol is a
natural pesticide and in everything. Read your labels on every
bottle or propellant you have in your home. Ammonia and ammonium
chloride, ammonium hydroxide, benzalkonium chloride and quaternary
ammonium compounds irritate skin, eyes and breathing passages and
cause skin cancer. Take a look at your stff under the sink in the
bathroom! The EPA lists ammonia as a toxic chemical so why is it in
a wide range of household cleaning products including glass
cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, disinfectants and more. Watch out
for Ammonium Chloride, Ammonium Hydroxide, Amyl Acetate from banana
oil, pear oil that irritate skin and affect the brain cells’.
Neurotoxins cause central nervous system and depression. It’s in
your furniture polish; nail finishes, nail polish remover and
perfume. Benzalkonium Chloride is used as a disinfectant in hand
soaps, dishwashing detergents, disinfectants and cleaners. Benzenel
kills off your mucus membranes, poisons you if you swallow some and
the fumes are toxic. The EPA and OSHA admit it’s threat to the
public health but oven cleaners, detergents, furniture polish, spot
removers, nail polish remover all have this..
As for the dryer, fabric softeners leave a sticky residue on all the
components such as the moisture sensors and drum of the dryer. This
residue is very flammable, which is why on the back of some fabric
softeners it’s written not to use on towels, terry cloth or fleece.
And by the way fabric softeners take the fire retardant out of
baby’s clothes.
Overtime, after using dryer sheets, this waxy film can actually
encase the mesh of your lint filter, causing your dryer to overwork
and eventually burn out the heating element. The number one cause
of house fires is from the dryer. |
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 LIST
OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IN
DRYER SHEETS AND FABRIC SOFTENERS |
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 Continuing Research for Blood
Sugar Support |
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Biotin and
Chromium are probably the most extensively researched nutrients for
blood sugar support. Here’s just a sampling of some of that
research.
▪ One
double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial on Biotin showed that it
sparked two specific glucose-metabolizing enzymes - called ACC and
PC – into action.
▪ Another
study done in Japan showed that, in experimental animals, Biotin
improves the body’s ability to use glucose, without affecting
insulin levels. |
▪ In research
done over 50 years ago, scientists discovered that Chromium could
actually reverse impaired glucose metabolism. In addition, both of
these nutrients are crucial for burning protein, carbs, and fat.
They help you burn off what you eat, instead of storing it
throughout the body, on your hips, thighs, and midsection!
Say goodbye to
the 2 o’clock slumps and caffeine and junk fixes. |
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An Ohio State University entomologist
affiliated with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development
Center has recommended a new, innovative and chemical free variety
of pest control, in the form of beneficial nematodes. The
microscopic pest-killing nematodes aim to execute the same functions
as traditional chemical pesticides, but minus the potential
hazardous pollution. According to the scientist, nematodes also
promise to be animal, human, and environmentally friendly.
The nematode first tracks down an
insect, invades its body, releases bacteria, and it is dead within
48 hours. The nematode eats the bacteria and insect to mature into
an adult to reproduce hundreds of thousands of nematodes looking for
a new bug. "So their life cycle continues by finding newer insects,"
Dr. Grewal says.
They are already
part of the ecosystem and are natural -- and they don't pose harm to
people and wildlife. So, it's cheaper in the long term. "We cannot
keep producing chemical pesticides," Dr. Grewal says. Biocontrol
agents are becoming more popular as both the public and regulators
recognize the environmental and human health risks associated with
chemical pesticides. Nematodes can be used with standard sprayers,
and could even be shipped to you at home -- collected in a sponge.
Pest-killing nematodes are tiny
roundworms that can be applied through sprayers or irrigation
systems to do the same job as chemical pesticides -- minus the
potential pollution. Unlike parasitic nematodes, which cause disease
in plants, animals and humans, beneficial nematodes are used to
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costly insect and slug pests in
vegetables, turf grass, citrus, strawberry, cranberry and ornamental
crops. They have also shown promise against fleas, ticks and lice.
For instance, citrus growers in Florida rely on the microscopic
worms to combat the root-feeding citrus weevil.
Nematodes eat grubs and rid lawns and
groves of other common insect pests, such as black vine weevils,
beetles, leas, and cutworm, by releasing a bacterium that kills the
pest. Nematodes are best applied when soil conditions are wet --
right after it rains, for instance -- with a soil temperature of at
least 60 degrees F. They should be applied late in the day, or when
it is cool and overcast, since exposure to ultraviolet light will
kill them. Nematodes are non-toxic, and start becoming effective
within 72 hours of being released into the soil.
There are more than 15,000 known
species of nematodes, and a single handful of garden soil may
contain thousands of the creatures. They can lay more than 200,000
eggs in a single day. The nematode has an unusual skin that secretes
a thick outer shell -- called a cuticle -- that is tough yet
flexible, and is shed four times in the nematode's lifetime before
it reaches adulthood. The head has a few tiny sense organs and a
mouth so food can be pulled into the throat and crushed. Because
they have no discrete circulatory or respiratory system, they are
vulnerable to environmental conditions. Many nematodes can exist in
a state of suspended animation (called cryptobiosis) in order to
survive extreme conditions, such as dryness, heat or cold, returning
to life when the environment becomes more favorable. |
 NPA
Says JAMA Study on Ginkgo Biloba Effects on Rate of Cognitive
Decline
‘Still Misses the Boat’ |
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The study
population should have been one situated closer to the onset of
cognitive decline.
A study released on
Tuesday in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the
American Medical Association stated that adults who used the herbal
supplement Ginkgo biloba for several years did not have a
slower rate of cognitive decline compared to adults who received
placebo. The researchers analyzed results from the 2009 Ginkgo
Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study to determine as a secondary outcome
if G. biloba slowed the rate of cognitive decline in older
adults who had normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
at the beginning of the study.
The Natural Products
Association has previously issued comments on the GEM study, which
was originally released in November of 2008, questioned the
benefits of Ginkgo biloba on preventing dementia and
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Alzheimer’s disease (AD), saying the study “missed
the boat entirely” because
the universe of people studied was too limited to make broad
statements about the benefits of the popular dietary supplement:
[New JAMA Study on Ginkgo Biloba and Alzheimer’s Misses the
Boat Entirely; NPA Member Update, November 18, 2008].
“As we stated in our
comments regarding the GEM study last year, the boat has left the
dock and this study isn’t on it,” said Daniel Fabricant, PhD., vice
president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the natural
Products Association. “When one considers that age-related
cognitive decline may initiate in healthy adults as early as their
30s, it would seem that if the authors were indeed serious about
investing prevention as a secondary outcome, they would have
selected a population that was situated closer to the onset of
cognitive decline instead of one where its effects most likely have
already taken hold.” |
Keep This in Mind When
Buying Gifts |
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For some years,
scientists have known that both bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates,
two chemicals frequently found in a variety of consumer products,
can mimic human hormones and disrupt the endocrine system.
Bisphenol-A (BPA)
is a basic building block of polycarbonate plastics. In the
bloodstream and body tissues, BPA mimics the hormone estrogen.
Low levels of BPA, including those well below the current regulatory
safety threshold, have been shown to affect prostate development,
promote prostate tumors, affect breast tissue development and sperm
counts, and possibly even create and enlarge fat cells.
Scientists have also linked BPA exposure to premature puberty,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, miscarriage, and birth
defects like Down Syndrome.
For their part,
phthalates are a group of industrial compounds widely used in common
products. About 7.6 billion pounds are produced throughout the world
each year. The largest use of these chemicals is as a
plasticizer in polyvinyl chloride and other soft plastic to keep
them flexible. Without the addition of phthalate plasticizers,
these materials would be fairly stiff and difficult to use for their
intended purposes. |
used in food and
soda can linings, toys, and dental sealants. The molecular
bonds that bind this chemical to its host material weaken over time,
especially (though not exclusively) when those materials are exposed
to heat, washing, or acidic materials like certain foods. As a
result, BPA is able to easily leach out of products that contain it
and enter the bodies of people that some into contact with those
products. In fact, the Center for Disease Control has detected
BPA in 95% of the people it tested.
Phthalates are also used as solvents that help
keep other ingredients in a chemical formula dissolved and dispersed
throughout the product. Their oily texture helps lubricate other
materials; and this ability to keep a chemical product evenly mixed
makes phthalates an ideal additive in things like cosmetics,
personal care products, perfumes, inks, and insect repellents, among
many others. Phthalates are also used in things like lotions to
help them penetrate and soften skin. In fact, these chemicals are
now used in so many products and in so many places that they’ve even
begun to appear as contaminants in products that don’t purposefully
contain them.
Unfortunately, phthalates are easily
volatized. This means that they are readily able to leave the
product they’re used in and enter the air. |
 Kyolic
Garlic vs. statin, aspirin and placebo study |
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Summary of Budff’s New Clinical
Study
Design: placebo-controlled, double
blind, randomized trial
Formula: 2 capsules of Kyolic 108,
each capsule contains AGE (500 mg),
Vitamin B-12 (200 mcg),
Folic Acid (400 mcg), Vitamin B6 (25 mg)
And L-Arginine (200mg)
Subjects: All 58 patients treated
with statin and aspirin-but only half of the
patients treated with Kyolic 108-the other half were treated with
the statin,
aspirin and placebo.
Duration: 1 year
Results shown significantly
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Inhibition of coronary
artery calcification: |
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Kyolic |
Percent |
Better Than |
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Decreased Calcium |
Kyolic |
83.5% |
8 x |
qVs
placebo + statin and aspirin 10% |
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Total
Cholesterol: |
Kyolic (Down) |
9.7% |
3 ½ x |
q
Vs baseline (placebo: 2.5%q)
statin & aspirin |
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LDL-cholesterol: |
Kyolic (Down) |
14.5% |
17 x |
q
Vs baseline (placebo: 3.0%p)
statin & aspirin |
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HDL-cholesterol: |
Kyolic (Up) |
16.7% |
3 x |
q
Vs baseline (placebo: 5.9%p)
statin & aspirin |
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Homocysteine: |
Kyolic (Down) |
15.0% |
4 ½ |
q
Vs baseline (placebo: 3.5%q)
statin & aspirin |
The Study on
Kyolic was so impressive that Dr. Budooff was invited to the largest
cardiovascular convention in Munich, Germany. As the good Dr. says,
“Taking Kyolic may save your life”—
P.S. -- No
Side effects with those taking Kyolic – just side benefits . . .
uuPresentation
Schedule of Dr. Budoff’s 2nd Clinical Study using Kyolic
108:
Experimental Biology (EB 2008) San Diego, CA, April 9, 2008
uuAmerican
Heart Association Meeting’s on : Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis &
Vascular Biology 2008, Atlanta,
Ga April 16-18 2008
Quality of
Care and Outcome Research in Cardiovascular Diseases & Stroke
Conference 2008, Baltimore,
MD, April 30-May 2, 2008 |
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Study: Folic Acid Reduces Heart
Attack, Stroke…
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| A new study
published in the British Medical Journal provides further
evidence that lowering levels of the amino acid homocysteine can
reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. And, since the B
vitamin folic acid has been shown to reduce homocysteine levels,
“Increasing intake of folic acid would be a relatively cheap and
simple way of reducing heart disease,” according to researchers. The
researchers analyzed a variety of previously published studies and
concluded that homocysteine as
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a
cause of cardiovascular disease “explains the observations
from all the different types of study” and that “no single
alternative explanation can account for all the observations. Since
folic acid reduces homocysteine concentrations…it follows that
increasing folic acid consumption will reduce the risk of heart
attack and stroke by an amount related to the homocysteine reduction
achieved.” |
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 Acrylamide
Reduced in Wheat Crops… |
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According to a
recent report in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry,
researchers at the University of Reading in the U.K. found that
wheat grown in fields low on sulfer had much higher concentrations
of asparagines – an amino acid that, along with sugars, forms
acrylamide during cooking. Acrylamide, a chemical linked to cancer
and other possible ill effects, naturally occurs during
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the
baking or frying process of starchy foods. Since being identified in
2002, scientists have tried to find ways to reduce or eliminate the
amount of Acrylamide in foods without losing the appealing flavor
that comes from browning. Researchers speculate that ensuring that
crops have plenty of sulfur could reduce acrylamide in foods without
changing the flavor. |
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 Citrus
Peel
Extract May Fight Diabetes... |
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Supplementing daily with an extract from citrus peel may help ward
off diabetes in humans, suggests an animal study. Polymethoxylated flavones(PMFs), extracted from citrus peel, have
been reported to help reduce cholesterol levels, but researchers
conducting this study claim it's the first to look in detail at the
benefits and report the positive effects on inflammation. For
the study, published in the journal Life Sciences (2006, vol. 79, no
4: 365-373), 28 hamsters on a
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fructose-rich diet (which induced
hyperglyceridimia and insulin resistance) were divided into four
groups and fed one of four diets: chow; a control fructose diet;
fructose plus low-dose PMFs (62.5 milligrams per kilograms body
weight per day); or fructose plus high-dose PMFs (125 milligrams per
kilograms body weight per day). After four weeks on these
diets, both PMF groups showed a significant decrease in serum
triglycerides and cholesterol levels compared to the fructose-fed
hamsters. |
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