Mercury is now regarded as the most common cause of heavy metal toxicity and can get into the bloodstream in various ways from injected vaccines, eating fish and by amalgam dental fillings by chewing. The World Health Organization estimates that between three to 17 micrograms of mercury are released daily into the body by chewing alone.

History of Mercury

Mercury is the second most toxic metal in the world after plutonium. Mercury has a history of being known as quicksilver due to it being a silver liquid. The symbol, Hg, is Latin for hydrargyrum, meaning watery silver. Mercury does not readily react with oxygen in the air but does reacts with some acids when they are hot.

Mercury toxicity has been reported since the first century when Roman prisoners were sentenced to work in cinnabar mines where they usually died due to the lethal levels of mercury. In the 1800s felt hat workers exposed to mercuric nitrate exhibited symptoms such as memory loss, angry outbursts, depression, insomnia, hallucinations and delusions. This condition was coined the “Mad Hatter syndrome” and was referred to famously by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland. Similar symptoms were reported in syphilis patients who were treated with mercury in the mid-19th century.

In the last 50 years, more has been discovered about the toxic effects of mercury. Mercury enters the body fairly easily and its vapours pass through the skin into the blood stream. Once in the blood mercury interferes with bodily chemical reactions that can lead to illness and even death.

Amalgam Fillings in Dentistry

Mercury consists of approximately 50% of an amalgam filling, and is mixed with silver, copper and tin. This combination has been used for well over a century and has proved to extremely durable. Mercury is used in amalgams because it helps it is effective in making the filling material pliable and it also hardens quickly and can withstand biting and chewing. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) caused controversy in July 2008 when they issued a final regulation with altered language on their website: “While elemental mercury has been associated with adverse health effects at high exposures, the levels released by dental amalgam fillings are not high enough to cause harm in patients.” They also advocated better warnings about mercury sensitivity and dental amalgams. The association also reclassified the mercury component of dental amalgam from Class I (low risk) to Class II (moderate risk).

With increasing concern over the safety of amalgam fillings, more than five hundred mercury-free practices have been set up in the UK. There are alternatives to amalgam fillings such as composite resin, porcelain and gold. The durability of these alternatives is increasing with time and further research. Removing existing amalgam fillings isn’t advised in healthy people as it is a skilled procedure and involves the release of mercury vapour.

Health Risks of Amalgam Fillings

A report in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine finds that dentists have higher concentrations of mercury in the body and double the number of brain tumours. Female dentists and assistants have more than three times the risk of sterility, stillbirth, and miscarriage. Exposure over long periods of time to mercury vapour can result in brain damage and studies have found extensive mercury exposure to be a factor in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and multiple sclerosis. Mercury is particularly toxic to fetuses and babies. Women who have been exposed to mercury in pregnancy have sometimes given birth to children with serious birth defects.

A study that followed more than 500 Portuguese and American children for seven years after they received amalgam or mercury-free fillings found no differences in the neurological symptoms between the two groups.

In contrast a 2004 study concluded that amalgam fillings may be an important risk factor for patients with autoimmune diseases. The study found that patients responded positively when amalgam was removed from a group of 35 patients with autoimmune diseases and replaced them with composites. Six months later more than 70% had shown improvement in health notably in multiple sclerosis.

Supporters of amalgam fillings emphasised that mercury is locked in and inert. It has now been conceded that mercury vapour escapes, and filters into the bloodstream and organs. Now scientists and the FDA claim that mercury levels are very low. Opponents argue that mercury accumulates in the body and no level of mercury should be deemed safe. Insufficient published data exists on the potential health effects of dental amalgam to completely support or refute the health effects attributed to it.

The safety of amalgam fillings is still inconclusive, though due to the toxicity of mercury an increasing amount of people are choosing alternatives such as composite resin, glass and gold.

Sources:

Emedicine.medscape.com. Toxicity, Mercury (accessed April 23, 2010).

Flcv.com Health Effects Related to Mercury from Amalgam Fillings and Documented Clinical Results of Replacement of Amalgam Fillings (accessed April 22, 2010)

Prochazkova J, Sterzl I, et al. The Beneficial Effect of Amalgam Replacement on Health in Patients with Autoimmunity. Neurological Endocrinology Letters 2004; 25: 211-218.

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Sure, they’re not cookies, and whatever you get a hankering for, be it crisps or chocolate, while you work or play Foxy Bingo can be difficult to cope with if you know that eating them is going to wreck your diet. So it’s crucial to find alternatives that taste just as good, but do your body no harm whatsoever.

A lot of bodybuilders actually discard the three-meals-a-day approach to eating and in fact eat smaller meals throughout the day, in order to give themselves a constant level of energy and less downswing in between meals. This is applicable to dieting, if you want it to be.

Given that your meals are generally not going to be as heavy or as large (although some really do eat huge bowls of salad!), it’s important to balance everything out lest you end up malnourished, which is just as easy to do on a diet as it is off of one.

So finding little bits of carbs and protein is as important as getting enough vitamins; pitta bread is great, especially wholemeal, and the variety of healthy dips you can eat it with (humous, tsatsiki, and so on) means that you can have a little chips-and-dip moment without breaking out the tortilla chips and salsa!

So test out your snack ideas, because you never know – you might soon find yourself eating bananas and grapes instead of popcorn and ice cream when you’re sat in front of the TV this weekend. Don’t attack your snacks – subvert the concept and come out on top.

The fire at the Jayplas Plastics warehouse contained 200 tonnes of plastic (according to BBC news). The police closed parts of the Derby A6 and nearby streets due to the very thick black smoke. Local residents were advised to keep their windows shut due to the falling debris and luckily nobody was injured in the fire. Residents living in the vicinity of the fire were also without power until around 8.30am.

Approximately fourteen hours after the blaze there is still noticeable smoke in the sky. Many notice the unpleasant smell of the plastic and others notice eye irritation. As I live nearby I haven’t seen any open windows despite the relatively warm weather.

Environmental Effect of Burnt Plastic

So what is the environmental impact of such huge amounts of plastic? Many types of burning plastic release toxic fumes. Jayplas Plastics is actually a plastic recycling warehouse and so it is very sad that a factory that works to encourage others to be green has been hit by such a devastating fire.

Burning plastics may breakdown the agents they are made from and many of them are respiratory irritants. If the plastics are recycled then it is difficult to identify what toxic substances are likely to be released. One of the more notorious chemicals is Dioxin which is invisible, and their health effects are not always immediate. Sometimes these can accumulate in your body causing health issues in the future.

Worryingly there is a real possibility of toxicity from the water being used to control the fire getting into the local water supply. Local authorities will be working on trying to prevent this.

The Jayplas warehouse is also quite close to an area that is fairly green with interesting wildlife including birds, foxes and rabbits. The fire may drive them away from their natural habitat.

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1. No more guilt about sending shampoo bottles to landfill- I now use a lovely shampoo bar which you use in the same way as soap! No packaging needed at all.

2. No more overly packaged moisturisers full of chemicals. I use Imperialis a beautiful cream made from lavender infusion and tiger lily extract. I also know that once I collect 5 pots I can return them to Lush getting a free fresh facemask and know they will recycle these pots.

3. Forget shower gels- get funky and use Lush shower jellies. Not only are they fun as you can freeze them if you want, they come in a fully compostable box.

4. I have cut down on the number of products I use by getting a lovely massage bar (Fever) which is a fab moisturiser, tames frizz and eliminates the need for perfume.

5. Egg Nog lipbalm is the best lip balm in the world- smells amazing and lasts forever.

6. Big Blue bath ballistic is yummy, who needs a holiday or a swim? These transport you to the perfect place and you can get two baths from one ballistic. I love the seaweed in it and the scent.

7. How fantastic are Lush bags for collecting your greens for the compost bin? I am surprised at how sturdy these paper bags are.

8. Don’t bother with air or wardrobe fresheners, do what I do and keep your Lush treats in your sock/ underwear drawer. Everything will smell absolutely gorgeous.

9. Coalface has settled my skin to the point where I am happy to not wear any makeup at all. I never believed this was possible.

10. And last but not least the staff… how great are they?!?!!! I wonder if it is the magic of the smell of the oils but everyone at every Lush I have been to has been really brilliant. They are knowledgeable about the products, not too pushy, happy to give samples and just really happy people.

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Benefits of Home Composting

When green waste is composted properly at home, it doesn’t give off methane and helps reduce climate change. Mixing compost into soil provides important nutrients that help plants grow and helps the soil hold on to moisture. As well as saving money on buying compost, home composting helps avoid peat-based composts. Peat extraction is damaging to wildlife and is not very green. Compost can even eliminate the need for chemical fertilisers by suppressing plant diseases and pests.

List of Things That Can be Composted

It’s not just leaves and vegetable peelings that go to the home composter. Here are forty-five things that can easily be composted:

1. Popcorn
2. Peanut shells
3. Seaweed
4. Coffee grounds and filters
5. Coconut shell fibre
6. Stale herbs and spices
7. Tea bags
8. Hay
9. Straw
10. Wood chips (from untreated wood)
11. Sawdust (from untreated wood)
12. Brown bags
13. Pizza & cereal boxes (rip into small pieces)
14. Used paper napkins
15. Paper towel rolls
16. Wine corks
17. Toothpicks
18. Old seeds
19. Hair
20. Feathers
21. Nail clippings
22. 100% cotton balls
23. Latex condoms
24. Dead bees and flies
25. Pencil shavings
26. Contents of vacuum cleaner
27. Leaves trimmed from houseplants
28. Dead houseplants and their soil
29. Flowers (dried or fresh)
30. Used matches
31. Ashes from the fireplace
32. Paper cupcake cups
33. Shredded paper
34. Cotton Rags
35. Cotton string
36. Old wool/cotton clothes (shredded)
37. Real leather (cut up into small pieces)

38. Hops
39. Peat moss
40. Tree bark
41. Lawn clippings
42. Magazines (shredded and in moderation)
43. Waste from vegetarian pets such as guinea pigs
44. Pet bedding
45. Pet fur

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The Power of Less in a Nutshell

Leo Babauta writes the popular blog ZenHabits which promotes simplifying your life to concentrate your time and efforts on what you want. This 170-page book is based on six principles:

1. Set limitations

2. Choose the essential.

3. Simplify.

4. Focus.

5. Create habits.

6. Start small.

Sounds simple hey? Well surprisingly enough I think most of us could do with going back to basics and digesting the practical advice here. So many of us while away hours online (whether on Facebook or religiously checking email). I must admit I was a little skeptical about how useful the principles would be- but it actually made a lot of sense.

Advice to Take on Board

The most useful things that I found in the book include:

The biggest strength of The Power of Less is that it is straight to the point and could be read in one evening. Most of the advice requires no extra tools – just organisation and being more mindful of the choices you make.

I do need to learn to say “no” to things to ensure my time is used more effectively. It is difficult as I have been involved in many exciting projects due to my enthusiasm in trying new things. I guess now I would consider the opportunity first (whether it fits into what I want) and then deciding whether to go for it.

In fact I’ve been inspired to empty out cupboards and question every single item I own. I have bags of things to take to the charity shop and it is liberating to know that I only have items that I actually need or love in my life.

Green Potential of The Power of Less

While many people think they are green due to using the right products, appliances and transport; it is actually deeper than that. The Power of Less questions what you are buying and why. So many of us have gadgets that we want rather than need, unwanted clutter and clothes that we are never going to wear. I think as well as helping to focus on your goals, this book will offer a different (calmer and more green) mindset.

It is refreshing to know that there is more to life than gathering more possessions, aspiring for a bigger house, better car etc. Treasure the precious things in your life – time, family or whatever your passion is.

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Healing Diets

Modern living has led to an abundance of pollutants, and we are all exposed to them (in the air we breathe, in food, water and the various products we use. Various diets have been deemed to be effective for certain illnesses and here are some examples:

Sounds pretty straightforward right? You’d be amazed to see how many people drink excessively when they’re diabetic or consume lots of sugar and dairy, and wonder why their eczema is so bad.

Recommended Foods

Plenty of water, fresh organic foods, vegetable juices, leafy green vegetables, nuts, seeds and good fats should be consumed. Ayurveda recommends foods that contain “life force” and take their energy directly from the sun. Meat is not a good choice for this reason (the nutrients get lost on the way). The balance of acid/alkaline in the body needs to lean towards the alkaline and a detox can help facilitate this. Avoiding all drugs and over-the-counter medicines can help reduce the likelihood for side effects – try substituting natural remedies, but work with a medical professional who is knowledgeable of alternative therapies such as acupuncture and massage.

What Works for Me

Prior to getting my lupus in remission I had stopped eating dairy and refined sugar for around a year. I also rarely consumed processed foods, and favoured whole grains, fresh and dried fruits, raw nuts and developed a real obsession with herbal teas. Herbs such as thyme and rosemary are great antibacterial agents but be sure to add to food at the end of cooking as high temperatures will kill their effectiveness.

I made a big effort to reduce my exposure to toxins and stopped using chemicals around the home, I already only use natural cosmetics. Spray perfumes and hair products are one of the big offenders in this area so be conscious of what you expose your skin to on a daily basis.

I am a firm believer that diet can promote healing and you do have to be committed to see the benefits. I’ve personally seen that people with poor eating habits tend to suffer from bad health more often than those who are healthy. I would also advise that reducing stress helps a lot in the case of a chronic illness, so something like yoga can help bring a little peace of mind.

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The Carob Raisin Balls

My friend Shilpa has started a blog called Nuts4Health and she was raving about this recipe inspired by Ani Phyo’s Walnut Carob Cookies. Shilpa’s recipe is pretty simple yet I did have to tweak it for my own purposes.

Following the original recipe my dough was black and oily (maybe I used less nuts and I did use almonds instead of walnut so maybe that affected the colour and consistency). Needless to say it didn’t look very attractive and didn’t resemble the picture on Nuts4Health at all. Anyway rolling around the balls in ground almonds worked really well!

Vegan Carob Fruit Balls Recipe

1 cup raisins with 10% dried cranberries (I used the flame variety of raisins)

1/2 cup almonds and macadamia nuts

1/4 cup carob powder

1 tsp ground brown sugar

1 tbsp finely ground almonds

1/8 tsp Himalayan rock salt

Basically all you do is process all the ingredients in a food processor (apart from a tablespoon of finely ground almonds).

Then roll balls to your desired size and then get rid of any oiliness but rolling the balls in ground almonds.

Variations on the recipe

You can use fine desiccated coconut instead of ground almonds.

Try using half a cup of dates, dried apricots, dried papaya or dried banana along with half a cup of raisins for a different flavour

If you have a sweet tooth you can add some crystallised fruit to the raisins.
Healthier choices are sun-dried fruit without preservatives such as sulphur or refined sugar.

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Why Try Retro Lush Okra Conditioner?

The conditioner is made from Okra mucilage (an Indian vegetable called ladies finger that tastes really gross). The conditioner also contains nettles, grapes, vinegar and rosemary oil and is a Lush describe Okra as a “very strong conditioner; use it to care for cruelly mistreated hair”. It appears to be a Retro version of Retread and is advised to repair damaged hair.

Okra Conditioner by Lush Cosmetics

Opening the flip top bottle reveals a sweet smell with a hint of herbs and lavender. It isn’t overpowering yet it’s not something I’d wear as a scent unlike American Cream. The consistency is similar to conventional conditioners and not too runny or thick; making it easy to use in the shower. After using it a handful of times I discovered that my hair only requires a small amount – the size of a £1 coin.

Okra conditions my hair so well and works great with Antiphilitron shampoo leaving it soft, glossy and wonderfully nourished. The main advantage I find of using Okra is that it handles humidity incredibly well. While my hair could turn into frizz at the mere danger of drizzle in the past, now it is hardly affected. This saves me being laughed at by my neighbours when running a few steps from my car to the front door with my umbrella!

Value of Okra Hair Conditioner

I have coarse curly hair that used to be dry and frizzy without any products. I have played around with many different products and have found that Okra makes my hair sleek and silky. I have been asked more than once if I’ve had my hair done after using this conditioner. Okra is one of the best conditioners I have used for my hair. It costs £12.00 for a 500g bottle or £4.50 for 100g so it is rather expensive. However a little goes a long way and a 100g bottle will last me approximately six months.

I find that hair is far more manageable and less coarse after using this conditioner. It may be a bit too rich for those with normal hair but is perfect for dry locks that need extra moisture.

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Why try Antiphilitron?

I am loving Recon at the moment and it is so relaxing to rub into my scalp but a bit of a nightmare in the morning to wash out. I read about Antiphilitron in the Lush Times and thought it would be a good idea to try it as it is supposed to eliminate oil and silicone from hair. For those who don’t know Antiphilitron was discontinued in 2003 to make way for the tropical I Love Juicy Shampoo. I suppose some find this shampoo too lemony and so it was relegated to the Retro line (but at least it is available!). Antiphilitron is jam-packed with lemon is to deeply cleanse oily (or hair product coated) hair. Lemon’s antiseptic properties also resolve bacteria related scalp problems though anyone with dry hair must use this very sparingly as it may may hair puffy.

The Antiphilitron Shampoo

On opening the bottle I am greeted by a smell not unlike lemonade. It is a fairly runny shampoo and is very similar to Slammer in consistency. Now as I usually use solid shampoos I found it lathers up less easily in comparison. What amazed me was that you instantly feel your hair go silky soft even when it is wet. In fact I actually got worried I hadn’t washed the Recon out and lathered up again (despite the label saying you should only lather once). Here is what Lush say about it:

“To appreciate how marvellous lemons are for the hair and skin, some of us still need a little re-education. Not only is lemon juice deeply cleansing, it also makes the hairs surface cells lie flat so that they reflect more light result: shiny hair! We make Antiphilitron with fresh organic lemons plus lemon essential oil to get rid of grease, oil, dirt, chlorine and general purpose muck and to give your hair a bright shine too. (Sorry, Grandma! You were right after all.)”

Value of Antiphilitron Shampoo

Antiphilitron costs £3.95 for 100g which is an excellent price for something that you may not use every time you wash your hair. It is ideal as a weekly detox for your hair. My hair feels noticeably lighter with a single use and is has less frizz and more shine. I would highly recommend this shampoo if you use silicone hair products, suffer from product build up, limp or greasy hair. It really does work and I adore the fresh zesty smell.

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