Beauty

Apple power

Apples are good medicine. A recent Nutrition Journal article praised apples as a rich source of phytochemicals with antioxidant and anti-aging nutrients that combat cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and diabetes.

Beautiful breakfasts

Starting your day with a big, fatty breakfast, like bacon and fried eggs, can hurt more than your waistline. It initiates a harmful inflammatory process that leads to needless cellular stress and aging.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that within an hour of eating a fatty meal, participants experienced increases in inflammatory proteins associated with heart disease. Levels remained elevated for as long as three or four hours after the meal.

Inflammation is also associated with other degenerative diseases like arthritis and lupus.

Instead, choose breakfast from an array of anti-inflammatory foods, including whole grains, high-fibre cereals, raw nuts and seeds, fresh fruit, skim milk, and an egg-white omelet. Low-fat yogourt and fruit smoothies are another healthy alternative.

Thinking pink? Think again!

Breast Cancer Action, a grassroots organization of people affected by breast cancer (bcaction.org), is actively encouraging people to "think before you pink." Their awareness-raising campaign is in direct response to the multinational cosmetic industry's pink ribbon marketing campaign in which products are marketed and sold with a portion of the proceeds going to "support the fight against breast cancer."

The sadly ironic side of the pink ribbon promotion is that many of the products being sold actually include toxic estrogen-mimicking ingredients that are linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Two dangerous ingredients, parabens and phthalates, are commonly used in body care products. Parabens are used as a preservative while phthalates are used to help lotions penetrate the skin and make nail polish easier to apply. Both are synthetic chemicals that mimic the hormone estrogen and disrupt the healthy functioning of the endocrine system. The cumulative, lifetime effect of increased exposure to estrogen compounds is a proven breast cancer risk factor.

Breast Cancer Action has received national media attention for being at the forefront of the breast cancer activist movement. The non-profit organization urges people to support organizations that work to improve the lives of people with and at risk for breast cancer by securing access to quality health care for all women and advocating for research that examines the environmental links to breast cancer.