Vitality

How to navigate high fructose corn syrup and sugar substitutes to avoid harmful artificial sweeteners in favor of plant based alternatives. By: Molly Cimikoski, Editorial Assistant What if products that contain high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, which are marketed to assist in living a healthier lifestyle, are actually the ones making us sick? As of 2007, American consumers were spending 21 billion dollars 21 billion dollars annually on diet, or low calorie, drinks. From the outsider perspective, this still seems like progress compared to the alternative statistic, with 64% of Americans qualifying as overweight or obese. But what if you found out that the sugar alternatives that many diet products promote are not only ineffective as weight loss methods, but are also dangerous to your health?

by Heather Clisby Second Chance Ranch courtesy of BlogHer The latest product to land on my radar is a computable toothbrush, apparently "the first of...

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant In a recent interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, former president Bill Clinton announced that his recent 24 pound weight loss was thanks to a vegan diet. The 64 year old Clinton went on an “essentially plant-based diet” living primarily on vegetables, legumes, fruit, and protein supplements mixed in with almond milk in the mornings.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Reporting from Casa Madrona in Sausalito California A Restaurant Review           ...

By: Emily Lynne Ion via Heathy Child Healthy World on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Today, the Healthy Child family is mourning the loss of an...

By F.R.E.E. Will, LuxEco Editorial Assistant, Author of In The Spice Cabinet series The purpose of this article and the series as a whole is to examine the ingredients that go into some of your favorite dishes, particularly the benefits some of the more familiar (and some not so familiar) herbs and spices contain.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Menopause is not inherited it's a fact of...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant I came across this MSN health article on walking and, as an avid walker myself (I walk an average of 12 miles per week), I had to share what I learned. Regular brisk walking can do wonders for your health, and it’s so simple! No gym fees, nowhere to drive to, no certain time to be at that aerobics class. You can just walk out the door at your favorite time of day, pop in a set of headphones, and tour the neighborhood. Research shows there are 8 incredible benefits to this type of moderate exercise.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World   We had a terrible scare!!! Journey, our 18 month old adopted yellow...

Scientists with the National Institutes of Health are on a mission—being called the Human Microbiome Project—to find out what these microbes do exactly. Which ones are fighting for or against us, and how might they have the potential to counteract disease?

by Elizabeth Grossman, Author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health via The...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant The hot sand between your toes, the refreshing cool water splashing against your legs, the high sun warm on your face. Summer is approaching fast and the beaches beckon us in all their golden glory. But before you rush off in your swimsuit, take the necessary precautions to make sure you have a safe celebration of this season.

By Florence "Flip" Ross a LuxEcoLiving contributor and advocate   It is such a beautiful world, have you noticed the various hues? When I step out the...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article entitled “Fragrance Chemicals and the Scent of Suspicion,” the fragrance industry has been keeping vital chemical information from the public. The article says two recent reports, one by the EWG and one by Women’s Voices for the Earth, have caused a stir amongst researchers, environmental groups, consumers, and industry legislation. These reports reveal that on the label of any given personal care product, bottle of perfume, or cleaning agent the word “fragrance” is loaded with unknown meaning. Manufacturers have used this one word, a nondescript listing among the other ingredients, as a catch-all to legally mask the dozen-or-more chemicals not actually listed.

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin Did you know that most kids’ meals in restaurants have twice as many calories as the meal you’d serve them at home? Not only are the majority of these meals laden with saturated fat and salt, but some even reach a whopping 1,000 calories! Such a meal is high in calories for an adult, and for a child that’s just ridiculous.

By Nina Montee Karp a LuxEcoLiving  advocate for womens health and founding member of Healthy Child Healthy World Reposted courtesy of The Huffington Post You'd never...

By F.R.E.E. Will LuxEco Editorial Assistant & Author of In The Spice Cabinet series Although marjoram carries a botanical name that denotes its grouping in the same genus as oregano (Origanum majorana), it does in fact have an alias of sorts to better distinguish between the two, Majorana hortensis. It is also, in culinary circles, distinguished from other less palatable varieties of the herb by the more common name ‘sweet’ or ‘knotted’ marjoram . From a purely physical standpoint oregano tends to be the hardier of two when discussing ideal growing condition with marjoram requiring much drier conditions, and more in the way of full sunlight in order to reap the best quality. The two related herbs are also distinguished between their flowering tops, oregano flowers typically being a pink/purple while marjoram flowers tend to be white.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World What price would you pay to protect ...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Imagine if the very thing you used and depended on to protect you from skin cancer was capable of exacerbating the growth of epidermal lesions and tumors. Well that’s what the Environmental Working Group claims may be the case. A recent study shows that retinyl palmitate, a synthetic form of vitamin A, is carcinogenic on skin exposed to the sun.

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant These days, any given suited politician, uniformed worker, outfitted student, or swaddled infant wears a garment no far cry from that of Iron Man. Synthesized and industrialized just like the incredible transforming suit, our clothing comes with all sorts of modern finishes. We purchase the wrinkle-free, stain resistant, flame retardant, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-static, odor-resistant, permanent-press, non-shrink fabric, smoothed-to-boot with softening agents. But the irony in this is that these resistant retardant protectants end up doing more harm than good. Every anti-fill-in-the-blank means more chemicals in your clothing.

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Yoga mat. Check. Pony-tail. Check. Comfy and easily removed flip-flops. Check. Bhakti Ware…Check? “Wait, what is Bhakti Ware?” You...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Prevention through education is worth more than cure In 1991, two...

by Lori Alper, Founder, Groovy Green Livin' Courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World After the birth of my third child I suffered from insomnia that ...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World An Essay           Like you, I am stupefied. It is unconscionable to...

Introduction by Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief  of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Step back in time. Over twenty years ago when...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Step into the world of Suzanne LaCock Browning and...

By Michelle Dennis, LuxEcoLiving Marketing Assistant and author of "COLON TALK", a cancer survivor's blog. The day I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, I asked...

By: Joanna Bateman, Luxeco Editorial Assistant I’m a mid-west girl who recently moved west to California to spread my wings and fly. And if it weren’t for this past August, I’d be one stressed-out-Sally in the big sea of crazy known as Los Angeles. I needed to ground myself so that I didn’t float away in La La land. I needed Yoga camp!

By Florence "Flip" Ross a LuxEcoLiving Advocate and Contributor We were very  attentive to the Presidential Election, we are paying attention to the war in...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” In the 1970s, several senators began to recognize a literal truth behind this Chinese proverb. They realized the importance of teaching the man how to provide his own food source. When the government grasped the self-sufficiency and power of being able to fish, or in this case garden, they began granting $100,000 per year to gardening programs. This evolved to $100,000 to each of 20 metro areas around the United States, one of them being Los Angeles.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World   OLIVIA Newton-John says she was inspired to lend her...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Cows have a voice too! If you can stomach, actually bare...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant In 1978, the FDA proposed to ban over-the-counter ingredients triclosan and triclocarban, found predominantly in antimicrobial soaps. According to the National Resources Defense Council, these two common chemicals can cause damage to reproductive organs and production of thyroid and sex hormones. However, it has been more than 30 years and the FDA has done nothing beyond testing. One unnamed environmental nonprofit has had enough, and is suing the FDA for its alleged negligence.

By Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World Expert Opinion courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World When my husband and I toured schools to...

by Elizabeth Grossman, Author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and...