If you are like most people who’ve experienced a natural health awakening over the past few years, (or maybe you’re still in yours – after all, education is a lifelong process!), you are aware of the dangers of fluoride, and you have  taken steps to remove it from your water supply.

To recap, sodium fluoride (not calcium fluoride, which is naturally occurring and remarkably safe) is an industrial toxic waste product that is regularly (and legally) dumped into U.S. public water supply. In other words, a chemical that must be handled with gloves and extreme caution in the lab is freely ingested by millions of people every day.  This realization is quite alarming when you consider that sodium fluoride contributes to “fluoridosis” (a grisly degeneration of the bones), several cancers, and the typical zombie-like, apathetic mindstate of the general population.

So you know you don’t want fluoride in your water. You avoid bottled water (basically packaged & sold tap water), you certainly never drink from the tap, and you’ve installed a home water-filtration system to ensure fluoride is out of sight, out of mind. But is it?

Consider this: if you are eating virtually any processed food or beverage, you are still ingesting fluoride (among a cocktail of other dangerous chemicals, including high fructose corn syrup, food colorings, “natural flavoring”, and more). Water is used to create a variety of processed products – and you can be sure that the company isn’t as strict about its water purity as you are.  From the link above, here are common foods that contain fluoride, and how much:

• Minute Maid OJ, 0.98 – 1.20mg/l
• Gerber’s Graduate Berry Juice, 3.0mg/l
• Classic Coca Cola, 0.82-0.98mg/l
• Diet Coke, 1.12mg/l
• Snapple, 0.29mg/l
• Lipton Ice Tea, 0.56 mg/l
• Kellogg’s Fruit Loops, 2.1mg/kg

Even fruits and vegetables can have fluoride content, if they are watered with water that contains fluoride. Of course, how do you know? An apple at the big box grocery store is thousands of miles from whence it came. This is another situation in which asking the manager won’t help, either.

Once again, the safe solution is to intimately know the source of your food, and don’t eat it if you don’t trust it. Buy from a farmer’s market, where you can ask questions directly to the grower. (That’s what I love about the dairy farm – they use well water, so there’s no fluoride on the property, and more importantly, my milk and eggs :) )

Invest in a quality portable water container and don’t leave the house without it. Extreme, maybe, but you can take it in steps. Just remember – there IS a war for your mind, body and soul, and you gain significant advantage by rightly taking control over what you put into your body. (The same way you can and should control your thoughts to improve your mental state naturally, not with drugs).

The more you can choose whole, fresh foods, and avoid choosing factory foods, the more confidence you can feel that fluoride and other deleterious chemicals are out of your life, for good.

I was lucky enough to run into a wonderful vendor, Dee Bellini, at the local Artisan’s market again this year. She is the founder of Bars by Bellini and has an offering of handmade natural skin care products that work extremely well. I’m writing this to tell you the best part-  you can now buy them online. She even offers free shipping for orders over $100 (and you could try out a lot of her products for that much!).

I won’t relay all of the ingredients on the labels of her products (since they are not all listed on her website and I wouldn’t want to publish anything she might not want online), but I am sure that if you needed to know the specific ingredients you could e-mail the contact address listed on the site. I will; however, describe my experiences with the products I’ve purchased so far.

The Lemon Buttercream Buff is a foaming scrub that exfoliates the skin and I use it about once a week. I bought the little tub last summer and it is only about half gone so you can see it can last for quite some time. It contains high quality ingredients such as coconut and jojoba oil as well as exfoliating agents. When I purchased this Dee noted that I would not have to use a moisturizer after it since it actually leaves the skin very moist. It certainly lives up to this although I do tend to still use an extra moisturizer afterwards because I like my skin feeling extra hydrated.

I have also purchased the Herbal Mask which is made with fresh lavender, slippery elm, comfrey, sea kelp, and bentonite clay. I simply mix a small amount of the powder with water (a shot glass works great for this) and then apply it to my face, rinsing off after about 15 minutes of drying time. It seems to really refresh and rejuvenate my skin. Sarah also recently purchased this, too, so she might have further comments to share.

I also use the Rosemary Lavender Toner which is one of my favorite products that I’ve had since last summer. It has a wonderful, relaxing smell and I simply pour a little on a cotton ball and run it over my face and throat. I could probably use this every day, but often forget and so I still have 3/4 of the bottle left.

And of course, I have saved what I think is the very best for last: the Goat’s Milk and Aloe Cream. Trying the sample at the market, I loved the light smell and the non-greasy , moisturized feel it left on my skin. Dee said that it is good for smaller, more specific areas such as feet. I noticed a huge improvement on my dry heels after using this at bedtime every night for a about a week. The moisture does not fade away, but seems to really absorb and last, unlike other foot lotions I’ve tried. According to the website, the goat’s milk works for strengthening, the aloe is soothing, and hempseed oil is added for moisturizing. It’s really been working great for me as during the summer my feet sometimes get pretty rough from drying out in sandals.

I truly hope that if you try out these products, you enjoy them as much as I do. If you happen to be in Grand Rapids area, you can even meet Dee and try the products at the regular Sunday Fulton St. Artisan’s Market.

In my efforts to allocate most of my food budget toward local growers this summer, I stumbled upon a great treasure, this printable list of West Michigan area farmers markets, complete with contact info, location and hours. The famous Fulton street market is listed of course; but others less well-known around Grand Rapids include Thursday’s Westside farmer’s market and Southeast Area farmer’s market, and even a market on the GVSU campus Wednesday afternoons.

The list consists of 27 markets in total and extends as far as South Haven, Muskegon and Montague, so keep it handy when you’re traveling or send to friends and family sprawled around the state. The next step would be to red-dot each market out on a wall map of West Michigan and devise a strategy for hitting all of them; there’s a market open every day but Sunday! We still won’t have long to rest though, as the next three months of Sunday’s Artisan’s market on Fulton starts June 14.

Summer shopping is finally here – in case you’re wondering why spend your spare change in town, check out the findings of this Grand Rapids economic study. Do I really need to make the case for local produce? Just in case, check out this piece on GMO’s. Knowing and supporting the source of your food is priceless!

Karen highly recommends

Well, today has been one of the most liberating Saturdays I’ve experienced in a few months.  The cow-share program we’ve recently joined was hosting a Dairy Essentials Class free to all members (classes are open to the public at a reasonable rate during the summer), and there were at least 15 of us there today.

The class was led by Karen (the Cow Lady!) and we also got to meet her husband Jeff for a quick minute. (Aside – we both agreed that this pair have a rare spirit of kindness and enlightenment, and a down to earth, accessible nature. We are so grateful to have found these remarkable people doing this good work for the community here.)

We then took turns introducing ourselves, and I was pleased to see many people my age in the crowd, as well as seasoned raw milk pros. Everyone had a unique story; one woman is severely allergic to commercialized milk, but she has never had a problem with raw milk since she started drinking it a few months ago.

Another woman (I apologize, I’m horrible with remembering names) had  allergies all her life, but when she started drinking raw milk a few years ago, she found she didn’t need to take her allergy medications anymore.

A few other people were talking about how difficult it is to get the picky eaters or ‘traditional’ milk drinkers in their life to even consider raw dairy as a real option. If you think you are at this stage, you may want to check out realmilk.org to help you make an informed decision.

I personally knew I had to stop supporting the commercialized food industry when I saw the video expose the humane society produced when they infiltrated mass-produced dairy farms last year (I’m not going to post the link because it’s terrible – but the treatment of an animal does ultimately affect the energy of that animal as food in your body). And when you research the commercial processing of the dairy product, including pasteurization, raw milk develops even more appeal.

Cows should be pastured and content, as they are at Lubbers. We happened to see the cows milking process today and had to comment on how robust and healthy they looked. The average commercial dairy cow lives 42 months – the cows on Lubbers farm easily pass 8-12 years, with one cow even giving birth at age 16!

The cows are milked twice a day, every day. The milk travels in stainless steel pipes, passes through two filters and is kept at a cool 38 degrees. The entire tubing, piping, and storage system is flushed and sanitized every three days.

We got our milk today and, thanks to what we learned in the Dairy Essentials Class, we are now able to make (all raw):

• Butter
• Yogurt
• Simple cream cheese
• Crème fraîche
• Sour cream
• Whipped cream
• Ice cream!
• Vanilla Extract

Karen demonstrated how to make butter, and it’s surprisingly simple:

Pour about a quart of heavy cream (you can collect it over a span of up to 2 weeks) into a food processor. Process until butter forms (varies; about 10 minutes). You’ll know when it’s yellowish and “set”, or solidified. There will also be a lot of liquid too; this is true buttermilk (not what any stores sell) and can be stored for a variety of culinary uses. Press all the buttermilk out of the butter with a wooden butter paddle (Karen gave each family one free at the class), salt with a little sea salt to flavor and preserve (I use Himalayan pink crystal rock salt, just don’t use sodium chloride, or table salt), and store in a container at room temperature.

Karen let us sample the butter she made and it was to die for – we also got to try batches she had previously whipped up of yogurt w/ three different types of cultures, cream cheese w/ two different cultures, crème fraîche, sour cream, and ice cream! The ice cream was unlike any ice cream I’d ever known, it was soft, rich, and I could really enjoy savoring each flavor of vanilla and maple syrup.

She also recommended a variety of books with further recipes including cheesemaking. Karen is just a wealth of information on practical applications of real food in your own life; if you live in the Grand Rapids area I highly suggest you seek her out and get to know more about this amazing food source. If you live somewhere else, look around your community and see if there is a local farmer you can support. As more customers make the switch, more farmers will rise to meet that demand. And you can be assured their standards of quality, cleanliness, and ethics are in line with yours – because you are right there, hands-on in the process. Knowing where your food comes from is a huge leap in a healthy direction. Now I’m just going to sit back with my glass of milk and revel in this sweet success.

Yes- we’ve done it. Tackled the replacement of yet another dangerous food in our lives- mass produced milk. What was a small local purchase years ago has turned into mass production, and the result is not just another sacrifice of quality for quantity. Instead, the horrendous treatment of cows in the mainstream milk supply has made it a dangerous staple in American households.

While cows used to graze in pastures and fields, mass produced milk cows are consistently fed a less nutritious diet and, in the past, even dead cows (thankfully, this is illegal now). However, it is legal for calves to ingest the blood of dead cows as part of their feed. Not only is that disgusting, but likely any cow producing milk would at least be alive, so one that is dead may have been so mistreated that it is sick and infected. That said, it can’t be anything close to a healthy supplement for a calf.

In addition to the questionable diet, growth hormones are given to cows to make their udders unnaturally large so that more milk can be produced daily. Unfortunately, it would seem logical that these hormones injected into cows are also passed along into the milk supply. That would be in addition to any steroids, antibiotics, or pesticides that the cow may have also come into contact with before being milked.

Another factor of mass produced milk is the blood and puss that form on the udders when a cow is milked with harsh machinery. This also becomes a part of the milk supply and combined with the other elements above, makes it necessary for this milk to be pasteurized (or heated) before refrigeration and selling. Even with the pasteurization, the true contents of mass produced milk are unsettling as we are unaware of what potential consequences may result from them in the future health of the U.S. population.

Now, at last- what you’ve been waiting for- an alternative. This past weekend Sarah and I found our solution to mass produced milk right in our local community: Lubbers Family Farm. This farm offers cow shares to the public which in turn allows them to pick up either one or two gallons of fresh, raw (unpasteurized) milk each week.

We met with one of the owners, Karen Lubbers, who greeted us at the farms “Milk House” where she gave us a tour of the small building as well as the milking area and actual cows. During our short visit, a number of current members stopped to fill their weekly milk allotment into reusable glass containers.

As we toured, we asked questions and learned about the process and schedule of milking, how they cleanse their systems, what the cows are fed, and how they are treated. When possible (mostly in the summer), the cows graze freely in the pastures and are only fed a very small amount of grain. Seeing the facility firsthand and having the discussion with the vendor (something that would never happen with the mass milk supply) truly put our minds at ease.

Throughout our visit, the farm was alive with activity and the cows looked healthy and comfortable. Karen reassured us that if a cow did have a serious infection or issue requiring antibiotics that it would be taken off the milk supply until the antibiotics had safely passed through the cow’s system. She also informed that they send their milk to a third party monthly for testing and verification of safety.

The last, and best part, of the of the visit was tasting the raw milk. We had expected it to be completely different than our previous, mass produced milk experiences, but it was pure white, cold, refreshing, and delicious (almost sweet). We were truly relieved that it would not be hard to switch to this healthier, local alternative and eagerly took our contracts (required in Michigan for the cow share) to review in detail at home.

From our great experience, I strongly recommend searching out milk alternatives right in your local community. You may find that a better option for you and your family is only around the corner. Here is a great resource to check out your own local milk supply. If you live in the U.S., it offers basic information by state and then city. It is a wonderful feeling to purchase a product that is healthier and what it claims to be while supporting you local area.

*New York Times Bestseller “Skinny Bitch” by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnouin was used as a reference for this article

I recently received the following message in an email alert (thanks Grandma!) – revealing a deeper truth behind, of all the foods to which you never gave more than a good chew’s worth of thought, BABY CARROTS.

The exposé began with a fact you may already know: the carrots are cut down from deformed carrots that weren’t aesthetic enough to be sold as wholes. Kind of says a lot about the average consumer, but it’s really an ingenious recovery on the grower’s part.

But here’s where it gets juicy – the carrots are then dipped into a CHLORINE solution (a known carcinogen used to preserve). According to the email, the white film that forms after a few days is the chlorine resurfacing.

Oh, is that all? Why do so many of these large corporations assume their customers are not entitled to this crucial information? Sure, honesty might kill sales, but then again, poisoning your customers might too.

I sat in disbelief, stunned that such an unassuming food could actually be harboring this dark secret. My stomach felt unsettled, especially when I remembered that *gulp* I actually ate some baby carrots . . .  today.

Could it be true? Are baby carrots really processed with chlorine? Preliminary research led me to snopes.com, the popular debunking website. The site sheds some light on this case, if you look at it right. What I got from Snopes . . .

• The issues is not with carrots themselves, which are as always highly nutritious and delicious. The issue is with the processing of the carrots – and Snopes confirms that yes, the carrots are treated with a chlorine solution. Snopes thinks it’s worth noting that the product does not arrive in a ‘chlorine-soaked state’, and after all, the ‘excess’ chlorine is ‘rinsed’ off (how reassuring).

• I think it’s worth noting that it has ever been in contact with chlorine, period! Just because they’re not sold in a chlorine marinade doesn’t mean there’s no cause for concern. Disclosure of this information on the packaging should be required.

• While researching I ran into the line (or a variation of) “Evidence [of its danger] has not been found.” Be careful! A loaded statement like this implies the evidence has also been sought. I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to find any double-blind studies on the effects of a lifetime of eating (chlorinated) baby carrots. It hasn’t been ‘found’ because it hasn’t been tested! The statement is meant for you to assume that the absence of negative evidence equates with “safe”. It doesn’t.

• The carrots have also been genetically modified bred for added sweetness and brightness in color. Snopes also clarifies that the chlorine is used as a microbial agent, not a preservative. In that case, they should take a cue from Brazilians, who have replaced chlorine in their pools with naturally microbial Grapefruit seed extract. Organic farmers already use a citrus-based microbial instead of chlorine on their cocktail carrots.

• According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Canada’s equally-inept answer to the FDA), ‘using chlorine in this manner is acceptable practice for ALL fresh cut and ready to eat vegetables.’ Not just baby carrots. And you know if this is happening in Canada, it’s certainly happening here.

• But relax! Because the white film is not chlorine rising but a natural sign of dehydration, and would occur with any dehydrating vegetable.

• Really though, baby carrots are sort of everywhere. I (used to) get them at the grocery store, restaurants, and the office veggie tray. Now I’m wishing the farmer’s market wasn’t five months away. Here’s an interesting idea to ponder in the meantime though.

Do you ever experience dry skin even when using a “moisturizing” soap? I tried a full round of commercial, detergent-based soaps claiming to be helpful before finding a true skin-friendly, moisture delivering soap. It is difficult to find this type of product at large retailers and I found that searching locally can often be the best bet.

My skin-saving soap is from RSK Soaps (located in Rockford, MI) and their handcrafted soaps are made from only a few natural and trustworthy ingredients meant to cleanse and care for the skin. The ingredients in my favorite Patchouli Soap are olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, castor oil saponified with distilled water, and patchouli essential oil. There are no cheap, unpronounceable fillers as used in mass-produced soaps and I never have dry, flaky skin anymore- not even in the winter.

The soap is very moisturizing and seems to cleanse while leaving the natural moisture in my skin. There is even a cocoa butter soap which I recommend for any mother-to-be as keeping the skin extremely moisturized is important in avoiding the stretch marks that can result from pregnancy.

RSK also offers a liquid soap for skin and hair which offers cleansing with similar gentle ingredients. I recommend this mostly for skin (it can leave the hair a bit heavy) and it has replaced my normal bathroom hand soaps.

I recommend searching out the right product for your skin either online or in your own local community. There may be farmers markets or craft shows close to home offering similar safe and quality products. Often times, the prices are not much more than what you might pay at a large retailer. And not only are you caring for and putting your best skin forward, but you are supporting your local community.

We found a delicious bakery on 32nd st., near Breton, called Coco Charlotte. Today Justin stopped there and brought home a triple berry scone – then warmed it up with butter and raspberry jam – divine!

The bakery has a variety of cakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, and more. You can find a wide array of gourmet breads baked fresh thrice a week, as well as take & bake pizzas.

So what sets this charming bakery apart? It’s 100% gluten-free! And the owner has accomplished this feat while retaining the taste and texture you want, that is typically sacrificed in gluten-free foods. This is big news for those with food sensitivies, including Celiac disease (prevalence now estimated at 1:133 people).

But you don’t have to have food allergies to enjoy Coco Charlotte – stop by their bakery or find their products at health food stores around Kent County, and your tastebuds will agree.

Thanks for checking out openeyehealth.com – we are here to serve you with relevant knowledge about the issues that matter most. We would love to hear your ideas and comments – visit again soon for more updates!