Cancer Prevention

If the food’s in plastic, what’s in the food?

In a study published last year in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers put five San Francisco families on a three-day diet of food that hadn’t been in contact with plastic. When they compared urine samples before and after the diet, the scientists were stunned to see what a difference a few days could make: The participants’ levels of bisphenol A (BPA), which is used to harden polycarbonate plastic, plunged — by two-thirds, on average — while those of the phthalate DEHP, which imparts flexibility to plastics, dropped by more than half.

Give Up Pesticides (Try IPM Instead)

At home and in the garden, integrated pest management provides an effective, alternative strategy to the use of toxic pesticides.

Study: Suspect Chemicals Found in Many Products

A new study by the Silent Spring Institute and published in Environmental Health Perspectives finds that many consumer products have at least one chemical linked to hormone changes (endocrine disruption) or asthma.

For consumers who want to limit their exposure to suspect chemicals in the study, the institute recommended that they use fewer products, especially:

Sunscreens Exposed: 9 Surprising Truths

Sunscreens prevent sunburns, but beyond that simple fact surprisingly little is known about the safety and efficacy of these ubiquitous creams and sprays. FDA’s failure to finalize its 1978 sunscreen safety standards both epitomizes and perpetuates this state of confusion.

Help Prevent Cancer with Healthy Habits

An important part of cancer prevention is as simple as making healthy lifestyle choices, or choosing healthful habits while avoiding unhealthy ones. The following is a list of everyday healthy choices that can lower your cancer risk.

How to Know Biodegradable from Common Plastic Bottles

In the past months you have learned a lot about plastic and its natural alternatives, like special materials made from plants that look and feel like normal plastic but are biodegradable and thus nature friendly. If you missed it you can read about plastic made from corn in one of our previous articles.

But how do you actually know which plastic is made from plants and which isn’t? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t that easy.

Sleeping pills linked to higher risk of cancer, death, study says

 A new study suggests that the 6% to 10% of Americans who use prescription sleep medications such as zolpidem (Ambien), temazepam (Restoril), eszopiclone (Lunesta) and zaleplon (Sonata) are more likely to develop cancer, and far more likely to die prematurely, than those who take no sleep aids.

Dr. Andrew Weil's 5 Holistic Health Secrets

Dr. Andrew Weil is credited with igniting America’s alternative health movement. He has spent a lifetime uncovering unique remedies and solutions not necessarily found in your pharmacy, your medicine cabinet, or even your doctor’s office. People ask him all the time what they can do to stay healthy, especially as they get older. Dr.Weil shares his top 5 holistic secrets to improve your overall health.

1. Secret for Your Brain: Protect Its Memory Bank

Even light drinking slightly ups breast cancer risk

Even as few as three alcoholic beverages per week may increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, a new study finds.

Women in the study who drank three to six glasses of wine per week were 15 percent more likely than those who did not drink to develop breast cancer, researchers found in reviewing data taken over a 28-year period.

Natural Remedies for Kitchen Pests

This past weekend, it was (oddly) about 80 degrees and sunny here in Kansas in March. The weather felt great because I’m ready for May, although it’s not nearly May yet! There were even bees and wasps buzzing around. Amid all the springtime glory was a reminder of some of the season’s less-than-desirable characteristics when I saw three ants crawling around my bathroom. OK, three ants isn’t a big deal, but three ants generally leads to many, many more ants–a problem I am anxious to nip in the bud.

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