Organic Stash Tea Review

Getting into our Organic Tea Event, I have another great tea company to share with you today - Stash Tea. They create wonderful teas that are all hand-crafted from the finest natural ingredients, blended in small batches and packaged for lasting freshness and superior flavor. They have several different tea lines, including: Loose Teas, Teas of India, Premium Organic Teas, Yamamotoyama 1690, and Chanakara Teas.

I tried out a few of their Premium Organic Teas. What I love about these teas is that they are made of only the finest 100% natural, certified organic teas and herbs. They are USDA and QAI organic (and kosher) certified.

The two teas I just drank to my hearts content were lavendar-tulsi and vanilla honeybush, both of which are caffeine free.(yay for pregnancy!) The two other teas that my husband drank and I just stole a taste were lemon ginger green tea and white tea with mint, which have caffeine. Don't those teas just sound tasty? Well, they were! I especially loved the vanilla honeybush. You can just taste how high quality and nourishing they are.

Now, they have tons of varieties of teas, and you can receive a catolog for FREE to check them out or you can go directly to their website. You will find individually wrapped bags to loose bags, herbal teas to spice blends, and more! Enjoy all the health benefits and mind benefits of great tea!

We've Got a Winner...

Happy Tuesday, everyone! We've got another winner. The winner of Everyday Minerals Blush is #13, Amara! Congratulations!

Yogi Tea Review and Giveaway

I am sure many of you have heard about the amazing benefits of drinking tea. If you haven't, let me give you just a little look inside some of the benefits!

-Black, Green, White, and Oolong tea is full of unique antioxidants called flavanoids which help your body fight free radical damage. Why is that important? Well, free radicals can lead to clogged arteries, heart disease and cancer.

-Green tea is a super power in the detoxing world. With all the toxins we have in our lives, trust me, you want a great detoxer.

-Tea can help with lowering cholesterol, losing weight, and lowering rates of certain cancers.

Does all that good news get your attention? I know it certainly got mine. I used to have a strong dislike of tea. I didn't understand the benefits, and I didn't like the taste.(probably because I had only had the cheapo tea bags in my college cafeteria)

This morning, I want to share with you a company with high quality teas made from many organic ingredients that I just love! Yogi Tea is a company that works with ingredients found in nature and uses them to create teas that don't just taste great, but really help you feel great! They have come up with really unique herb blends that set them apart from many other teas.
I tried out a set of four teas created to help promote life balance. Green Tea Energy, Bedtime, Kava Stress Relief, and Green Tea Kombucha teas help calm the mind and relax the body from the inside out.

The four teas I received aren't recommended for pregnant women, so I had sips while my husband really drank in all the benefits. He is a tea drinker, for sure, and he just loved these teas. The first thing I noticed was the amazing flavors and how smoothly it felt in my mouth and down my throat. The two green teas are not just your typical green tea. They both have lemongrass, spearmint, and kombucha, which gives them this amazing refreshing taste! The Green Tea Energy had added panax ginseng. What a fabulous way to detox your body, get energy naturally, and receive all those great antioxidants.

The Bedtime tea is a blend of herbs that have been used for centuries to promote relaxation and sleep such as: Valerian, Chamomile, Passion Flower, and St. John's Wort. The thing I noticed about this tea was the warming flavor it has. This comes from the licorice, cardamom, and cinnamon. Oh, so relaxing...

The Kava Stress Relief was another relaxing one for all those hard days. I know many of you know the feeling of losing all your patience, whether it is with your children, hubby, or who knows what. You still get that same tight feeling, along with the bad mood. This tea is perfect for recovering from all of that. They use kava to calm the body and mind. The spices cinnamon, sarsparilla, and carob pod give this tea a spicy rich flavor that feels instantly warming.
Now, doesn't that sound good about right now?

I also love how Yogi Tea has printed instructions for each individual tea, so you know how to maximize the effects of each unique blend. Plus, they give you a yoga pose with each tea to compliment it, including a picture and great description to help even beginners understand exactly what to do.

If this review has made you crave some amazing tea, then you are in luck! Yogi Tea is giving one of my readers the chance to win all four of these wonderful teas - Green Tea Energy, Bedtime, Kava Stress Relief, and Green Tea Kombucha.

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory Entry: Make sure you are a follower of this blog, Your World: Healthy and Natural, and comment about it! After completing the mandatory first step of becoming a follower, do as many of the following as you can and leave a separate comment here for each:

Subscribe to this blog and comment about it. (2 entries)

Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.(3 entries)

Follow @carathenatural on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can do this once/day. (1 entry)

Follow @ Yogi Productson Twitter. (1 entry)

Become a friend of Yogi Products on Facebook. (1 entry)

Grab my Welcome Baby Event Button and post it on your blog, leave an entry about it and make sure you leave the link too. (2 entries)

Grab my blog button and post it on your blog, leave an entry about it and make sure you leave the link too. (2 entries)

Refer a friend to this blog as a new follower. You comment about it, and they comment about it.(1 entry per referral)

Comment on one of my other posts. I love to hear your thoughts! (1 entry)

The deadline for this giveaway is July 14th at 12 am EST, at which time a winner will be randomely chosen. Make sure that you include your email in your comments because if I can't get a hold of you, you can't win!

* Thank you to Yogi Tea for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review through Yogi Tea for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Review: Homestyle Favorites Made Meatless Cookbook

I don't know how many of you are vegetarians out there. I, myself, am not a vegetarian, but I am what you would call a flexitarian, someone who eats a mostly meatless diet. So, I was really interested in reading this cookbook, Homestyle Favorites Made Meatless.

If you are a happy meat eater and have no clue why anyone would want to go meatless or even mostly meatless, let me give you a few reasons why I have.

-Good organic meat can be hard to find, and it can certainly be expensive. Without choosing organic meat, you are getting icky antibiotics, hormones and who knows what else in your tasty hamburger or meat product. That makes it quite a bit less appetizing.

-It is also an environmental thing. It takes way more pollution and carbon dioxide to get a plate of meat to your table than a plate of veggies. It is another way to live a little greener.

-Many studies have shown that increasing your meatless meals can also improve your health. Some of the healthiest diets in the world are meatless or nearly meatless. People who follow these low meat or nonmeat diets have lower rates of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, asthma, and dementia.

I am not trying to make you feel bad about eating meat, but hopefully I have given you a little to think about. Just to give you an idea of how often my family eats meat, we eat organic grass fed meat about once a week or once every two weeks.

Back to this cookbook. The whole point of the cookbook is how to use the vegetarian meat substitutes out there. You know, nuts, eggs, dairy, grains, and soy products - tofu, tempeh, etc. The author, Renee Pottle, explains in the introduction that you can't just replace meat with vegetarian substitutes without boosting other flavors. That is one of the nicest things about this cookbook - she does it for you!! Yay, less work for us!

I really like how this book is divided into super organized sections - Meatless Beef Favorites, Meatless ChickN Favorites, Meatless Pork Favorites and Meatless Seafood Favorites. The recipes are some of the ones you remember from childhood or your grandma's specialties. Some of the ones I looked forward to the most were: Shepherd's Pie, ChickN Pot Pie, and Lasagna.

I personally have not really used meat substitutes before. I usually just use beans, eggs, and nuts as my alternative protein sources. So, this was a little leap for me too. But, in the back of the book, Renee lists brand-name examples of all the meat substitutes used in the book as suggestions for her readers. It is a great starting point as you are shopping for meat substitutes and feel like a complete fish out of water.

Another thing I loved about this cookbook was that Renee added some really helpful cooking tips and interesting food facts throughout the book. She also gave "serve with" suggestions for a nutritiously complete meal. She knows what she is talking about. After all, she is a home economist, health educator, wellness coach, nutrition consultant and the author of several cookbooks.

If you are a vegan or vegetarian, you will absolutely love this book! If you are a mostly meatless eater, like myself, you will also love this book and learn a lot from it. If you are happy meat eater, you might be very interested to try out some of these recipes, and be able to trick your family into thinking they are eating their favorite meaty meals, when really they are just eating a healthier version. What a fun experiment that would be!

To get your own copy of Homestyle Favorites Made Meatless, you can buy it on either of these websites:
Craft and Cook
Wine Barrel Gourmet
It will also be available on Amazon soon! A big thank you to Renee Pottle for sending me this cookbook to review with my honest opinions.

Happy cooking!

Exciting Upcoming Events!

First of all, I want to welcome all my new followers and subscribers. I thank you for taking time out of your day to come on over and check out what we are gabbing about on Your World: Healthy and Natural. I truly hope the information we provide makes you think about your health and helps you live your best life!

Let's talk about some of the exciting events that are coming up!! Yippee!
Next week, we will be having a mini organic tea event. I have been drinking tea like it is going out of style, and I want to share some of my favs with you. Some great giveaways will be going along with these organic tea reviews, so look for that.


Then, starting in July, we will be having a major blog event - the Welcome Baby Blog Event! For those of you who don't know, I am about 4 1/2 months pregnant, and starting to look the part. I want to use the next months to share with you how I am trying to have a super healthy and natural pregnancy and birth. I will, of course, be sharing great natural and organic products with you, and we will be doing more great giveaways! It should be a blast!

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on all of these upcoming events and topics and reviews! Happy Friday, everyone!

Soapwalla Kitchen Review

Have you had the pleasure of looking around some Etsy shops? I hadn't really, but one day I came across one I saw on Twitter, Soapwalla. The thing that caught my eye was how wonderfully safe, natural, and organic their personal care products were. Not to mention, this company is extremely eco-friendly. The Soapwalla chef, Rachel's, beautiful story and explanation of why she started Soapwalla really hit a chord with me. She says, "Soapwalla was born in my Brooklyn apartment kitchen one evening, after months of unsuccessfully hunting for face and body products that wouldn't aggravate my sensitive skin issues caused by lupus. Soapwalla organic skincare products are designed to cleanse without stripping the oils that our skin naturally produces. These oils form part of our bodies' natural immune defense system, and are essential for optimum skin health."

She uses organic, food-grade ingredients and pure essential oils, and she never touches questionable additives such as sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens or harsh and synthetic ingredients. That I love!!!

I tried out two of her products. The first was the Almond Oil and Oats Soap bar. Personally, I am not a fan of soap bars. I think they make my skin feel all squeaky, and I don't like that. So, I was a little leary of this one. I loved the ingredients though, so I was praying for it to be different. Well....it still made me feel very clean, but it didn't have such a harsh squeaky feeling that I remembered from most soap bars. I think that is because the oats act as a gentle exfoliator while the almond oil moisturizes and heals dry skin.

The second product I tried was the Almond Luxe Body Polish. I was really intrigued by the little scrubber crystals that I saw when I opened the bottle. They suggest you pour some of the polish on your hands and then scrub up the rough patches on your body like your elbows and knees. I decided to use the scrub for my feet, and I loved it!! It made them feel very soft and very luxurious. I wanted to offer my feet to everyone around to touch. Another thing I love is that it's concentrated, so you'll use less than you normally would. And get this, Rachel even hand grinds up the two kinds organic sugars & two different kinds of salts for smoother texture and better results for sensitive skin! These products really are lovingly created with lots of care.

Soapwalla definitely gets bonus points for being eco-friendly. Soapwalla uses vegan ingredients, is a proud member of the Leaping Bunny and Caring Consumer cruelty-free coalitions, and all their packaging materials are recycled!

You can browse and buy Soapwalla's products at their etsy shop. You will love them!

Thank you to Soapwalla for providing samples for me to review and give my honest opinion about!

Upcoming CSN Review and Giveaway!

I am pretty excited about the upcoming review I am going to be doing for CSN stores. Have you heard of them? I am pretty sure many of you have, just because they have OVER 200 STORES!!! That is pretty amazing, if you ask me, because you can literally find something for anyone across these stores.

I am pretty excited because of their eco-friendly products and their fitness products - two of my big loves! But beyond that, they have everything from cookware to headboards to porch swings to baby accessories. It is a shopper's paradise! You will love this too - how does free shipping on almost everything sound to you? That is right, give a little shout for joy! Woohoo!

So look forward to this upcoming review and an upcoming giveaway! You better get started picking out what you want to shop for from CSN.

Untangled Living Stainless Steel Dishware Review

How many of us really think about if the silverware and dishes that we use for our families is safe? I know I used to have no clue. You just think - if you can buy it in a store and if millions of people are using it, then it has to be okay.

Well, if you dig a little more into the subject, you will find a lot of companies that make dishware are making their products out of plastics that are not very safe for us, especially little ones. And that is really just the tip of the iceberg of icky stuff that can be in our dishware.

That is why I was thrilled to receive the Anyware Collection of stainless steel dishware for children from Sue Volpe, the creator of the product line and the company Untangled Living.

I had such a wonderful time working with Sue and I love her philosophy and the why behind her company. "Untangled is essentially Sue Volpe’s expression to the world: What she wants to communicate, her way of enriching the lives of others, her way to inspire, energize and excite! Sue chooses to live life consciously, making her own way. And now she would like to invite others to join in this way of living, one step at a time. Why children’s products? '...because this is where it all begins. As we raise our children, let our choices be conscious. Let us be the generation to raise our kids in full awareness. Let us give this gift to ourselves and our families – the gift that brings us happiness and health.'" Love that!!!!

Sue has two different collections of this stainless steel dishware - a gecko set and a butterfly set. I received the butterfly set, and it is just so beautiful! You can tell that a lot of care and love was put into creating these beautiful pieces. What each collection includes is a 5 piece set consisting of a fork, spoon, plate, bowl, and cup. I love the fact that they are completely safe, and I don't have to worry a thing about what they are leaching into our food. I also love the fact that they stack so nicely in the cupboard, and they are dishwasher safe!! I give this collection and this company a big thumbs up!

You can find more about Untangled Living and the two collections here. They are also on twitter as Untangled Living. Show your support and become a follower!

You can purchase either one of the collections online here. These would make a great gift for your own children or a great birthday or shower gift for someone you know and love!

Camping Trip - Afterwards

I can definitely say that I am glad to be home from our first camping trip as a family after the three hour drive home racing home to teach my yoga/pilates class with no air conditioning in our car and my very unhappy son! Now, don't get the wrong idea about the trip. It was a great time, and I will spill the beans in a second, but that drive was just not a good end to the trip. Good thing I had yoga to calm me down afterwards. :-)

So, our trip started out great! We got up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and it was a beautiful evening. We set up our tent in record speed and my son, Malachi, acted like he had died and gone to heaven! He thought the inside of the tent was a trampoline or something, because he kept jumping up and bouncing down on the sleeping bags. It was super cute, and his excitement was contagious.

Funny story about the first night. He fell asleep after a while of singing and chattering away, and then we joined him later. I slept right next to him, and he kept waking up various times throughout the night - he would sit up, look at me with the biggest grin on his face, and then lay down and fall right back to sleep. It was so darn cute, I could not for the life of me get annoyed.

We saw lots of beautiful places such as: Mackinac Island, famous for their fudge and relaxed, slow way of life, Historic forts with living history interpreters that I loved, and beautiful Taquamenon Falls where we hiked/ran 5 1/2 miles in the most beautiful scenery. The bummer of it all was that most of that time it was pouring rain and chilly. We definitely made the most of it, though.

As far as keeping up our organic healthy lifestyle, I would say we did pretty good. I give myself an A- for keeping my son on track with it all. But, I give myself a C for what my hubby and I ate. It is really hard when you are on vacation with a family that doesn't share your organic lifestyle and tempts you at every turn to eat junk. So, we did our best, kept taking our vitamins, and were reminded once again that what you put into your body makes a difference in how you look and feel. For instance, after a pizza buffet splurge, I felt like I was going to be sick all day, not to mention how bloated I was...

I would love to hear your camping stories...share, share and share some more!

Our First Family Camping Trip - The Before

So, my husband, 2 year old son, and I are leaving today for a 4-day camping trip in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We have never been camping as a family, and my little guy has never camped period. It should be an adventure.

We are camping in a two person tent together. That means that my son will sleep with us every night, which he hasn't done since he was a newborn. This may make for some sleepless nights, and with me being pregnant, I really need my sleep. Recipe for disaster? I am not sure, but I am still optimistic at this point. We are going to see some really beautiful places, and I really miss the smell and feel of a campfire every night and looking up at the deep black sky with all the twinkling lights. So, I am hoping for some fabulous memories!

We will be back on Thursday night, and if I live to tell the tale, I will share all the details with you then. The one thing I am still trying to figure out is how we are going to eat healthy and at least mostly organic during this trip. I have some organic brats that we are bringing along, and, of course, materials for sandwiches. But, beyond that, I am a little lost...So, we'll see what we end up eating. :-)

Wish me luck!

Evolve Eco-Optimized Showerhead Review and Giveaway!

You know I am a fan of living as eco-friendly as possible. But, we can't just change over our whole lives in a day. It takes time, and it takes money. It is good to go one step at a time and enjoy each change you make, knowing you are making a difference in the world!

It is especially great if the eco-friendly changes you make also save you money! That is why I am really excited to share a product with you today that has both of those benefits - eco-friendly and money-saving!


Evolve sent me a great low-flow showerhead called the Roadrunner! With the Roadrunner low-flow showerhead, you can save up to $246 in utility bills and 8212 gallons of water per year!! Wow! Love that! In addition to this, Evolve uses their ShowerStart technology, which actually adds convenience to your morning routine by allowing you to multi-task while waiting for the shower to get warm – without wasting hot water. And, it also tells you when your shower is warm and ready. Evolve found in their research that about 75% of people turn on the shower and then do something else (all the time or occasionally) while the shower is getting warm. This ShowerStart technology allows these people to save water and energy without them having to change their morning routine. In addition, their showerheads are all about luxury. They use solid brass fittings, contemporary European designs and anti-clog spray nozzles.

Now, for a lot of people, when they hear the words "low flow showerhead," they tend to say "Oh, no, not for me. I don't like taking a shower under a little drip of water." That is just not the case with this Roadrunner showerhead. It felt exactly the same as my regular showerhead. I was incredibly impressed.

I was a little confused about this whole thing with saving hot water and letting you know when the shower was ready, so I will try to explain how cool Evolve's technology with their showerheads are.

After you put the showerhead on, you turn on the water to the temperature you think you want, and the Evolve showerhead will run all the cold water out until it gets hot. This is the time where you can go and do whatever you do until the shower usually warms up. Then, when the cold water has run out and the shower is ready and warm, the Evolve showerhead will just stop flowing or trickle just a bit. Now you know the shower is ready. So, to restart the flow, there is a little cord you just pull down that starts the water up nice and warm. Pretty cool, right? Evolve has a few great video clips that explain their different showerheads and how they work. Check them out here.

I just loved the Roadrunner low-flow showerhead! It is so easy to use! Knowing I am saving myself so much money and saving energy and water for the planet makes me feel extra great every time I take a nice warm shower.

For you, my lucky readers, Evolve is generously giving away one of these great Roadrunner showerheads!! A big thanks to Evolve for sending me this product to honestly review and for this giveaway!

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory Entry: Make sure you are a follower of this blog, Your World: Healthy and Natural, and comment about it! After completing the mandatory first step of becoming a follower, do as many of the following as you can and leave a separate comment here for each:

Subscribe to this blog and comment about it.(2 entries)

Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.(3 entries)

Follow @carathenatural on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can do this once/day. (1 entry)

Grab my blog button and post it on your blog, leave an entry about it and make sure you leave the link too. (2 entries)

Enter one of my other giveaways here on Your World: Healthy and Natural.(1 entry)

Refer a friend to this blog as a new follower. You comment about it, and they comment about it.(1 entry per referral)

Comment on one of my other posts. I love to hear your thoughts! (1 entry)

The deadline for this giveaway is June 30 at 12 am EST, at which time a winner will be randomely chosen. Make sure that you include your email in your comments because if I can't get a hold of you, you can't win!

Friday Follow!

Welcome to Your World: Healthy and Natural!

My site is here to help you all live your best life and share my journey with you. I share tips about everything from nutrition and exercise to my favorite healthy and natural products! I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know your thoughts. We can all learn from each other.

This week I have four awesome giveaways of wonderful organic and natural products.There are LOW ENTRIES on all of my giveaways, so you have a great chance!

Feel free to look around, follow me on Google Friend Connect or Subscribe to get all the latest posts and giveaways. Please leave a comment if you would like me to check out your blog also.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Cara

Skoy Cloth Review and Giveaway!

There are so many of us who use paper towels, napkins and other paper products to clean up messes, but have you ever thought about how much waste we are making when we use a paper towel once and then throw it away? All around our world, people are throwing tons of these kind of paper products, and it is a big waste! That is why I was very excited to try a green solution to this problem - Skoy Cloths!!



Skoy Cloths are 100% biodegradeable, natural, absorbent, multipurpose and re-usable cloths that you can use to replace the tons of paper products that are thrown away every day.



What is it made from? Well, it is made from a natural cotton and wood-based cellulose pulp. Skoy cloth is a chlorine-free product using water-based colors and inks. And get this, after an independent composting test, SKOY cloth broke down completely within 5 weeks.



Let's talk about how it saves you money, because we all love that. Skoy Cloths can last months!! Using a Skoy cloth is equivalent to using 15 rolls of paper towels in an average home. With the high cost of paper towels, as much as $2 per roll, this is a really great way to save you some money and help out the environment.


The Skoy cloth is long-lasting because of the wash ability feature. It dries quickly, so it is not a breeding ground for bacteria. You have probably heard how sponges are little breeding grounds for bacteria, and they get so stinky! There are a couple ways you can clean your Skoy Cloth - you can microwave it or stick it in the dishwasher or washer/dryer.



Personally, I loved the Skoy cloth. I love how earth-friendly and cost effective it is! I am also a big fan of the cute daisy designs and fun colors that were on my Skoy cloths. They feel very durable and worked great for me, even for scrubbing caked on messes. I was a little skeptical about how it would come out after I had washed it, but low and behold, it worked just as well as before. I was very impressed!



You all now have the opportunity to win your own Skoy cloths! Skoy is generously offering two 4-packs of Skoy cloths to one of my fabulous readers! Here's how to win:

Mandatory Entry: Make sure you are a follower of this blog, Your World: Healthy and Natural! After completing the mandatory first step of becoming a follower, do as many of the following as you can and leave a separate comment here for each:

Subscribe to this blog and comment about it.(2 entries)

Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.(3 entries)

Follow @carathenatural on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.(1 entry)

Grab my blog button and post it on your blog, leave an entry about it and make sure you leave the link too. (2 entries)

Enter one of my other giveaways here on Your World: Healthy and Natural.(1 entry)

Comment on one of my other posts. I love to hear your thoughts! (1 entry)

The deadline for this giveaway is June 25 at 12 am EST, at which time a winner will be randomely chosen. Make sure that you include your email in your comments because if I can't get a hold of you, you can't win! Please note that they only ship to the US.

Thank you Skoy Cloth for providing me the product to review and this great giveaway for my readers!

Ready to Win?

This is going to be a big week on Your World: Healthy and Natural for reviews, giveaways and lots of winning!

First of all, I have a really great giveaway from Birdy Botanicals for a Complete Moisture Kit!! If you haven't read my review of that, you will love it! The greatest part is how low the entries are for this giveaway, and it ends on Friday the 11th!

There is also another great giveaway from Nature's Baby that ends on June 19th with super low entries, as well!

As for what is coming up this week, how about Skoy Cloths, Everyday Minerals makeup, a low flow showerhead, and look for an upcoming organic tea event!!

I can't wait for all my readers to win these great gifts that are all natural, green, and good for you!

Check Your Knowledge of Vitamin D

With all of the recent research on vitamin D, it is a good time to check your knowledge of this really valuable vitamin.

Many people still think that extra Vitamin D is only needed during the winter months or if you live in the northern part of the country. Another outdated thought is that Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones & teeth, and that is about it.

But, in the last 10-15 years or so, scientists have realized that wasn't just bone-forming cells that were affected by vitamin D. Almost every cell in our body has receptors for vitamin D.

What else does Vitamin D do? The short answer is "a lot".

-For starters, vitamin D is essential for a strong immune system. Some experts think that may just be why winter is cold and flu season.

-Studies have also shown that adequate vitamin D intake significantly reduces the risk of several types of cancer, especially colon, breast, lung and prostate cancer. Plus, some studies suggest that adequate vitamin D intake may make cancer treatment more effective.

-Vitamin D may reduce heart disease risk as well.

-Studies have shown that vitamin D supplementation reduces the levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for the inflammation associated with heart disease. In addition, a combination of vitamin D, calcium and magnesium can also lower blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease.

-Finally, there are a number of studies suggesting that vitamin D is beneficial in preventing auto-immune diseases. For example, in the Nurses Health Study just 400 IU of vitamin D was sufficient to reduce the risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 40%.

-In Iowa another study followed 30,000 women age 55 to 69 for 11 years and found that those who got the most vitamin D from diet and supplementation were the least likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.

-And in Finland a recent study reported that kids who were given 2,000 IU of vitamin D in the 1960s had an 80% lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes (Don't ask me why they were giving kids 2,000 IU of vitamin D in Finland in the '60s).

There are more health benefits of getting enough vitamin D appearing in the literature every day. Turns out, Vitamin D is a super power in the vitamin world!

But how much vitamin D is enough? The answer to that question is changing as well.

They found, for example, that most people didn't have adequate levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream- even in the summer. So you can forget that advice about not needing dietary vitamin D in the summer!

They also found that the previous RDAs for vitamin D were simply not adequate. Most experts now think that the RDA should be increased to a least 1000 IU up to age 50, and some experts think that the RDA should be as high as 2000 IU.

So what should you do? The simple answer is to get more vitamin D from sun exposure and your diet. Forget the old advice to slather yourself with sunscreen every time you set foot outside of the house. While you still want to avoid prolonged sun exposure without sunscreen, most experts are now recommending 10-15 minutes sun exposure without sunscreen every day.

Also, try to get at least 1000 IU of vitamin D from food (vitamin D fortified milk, salmon, mackerel, tuna & sardines are good sources) and supplementation. I know that the multivitamin I take from Shaklee just upped their vitamin D to new higher recommended levels.

And please, check with your doctor to find out what your vitamin D levels are. Only by having your blood levels tested will you know if you are getting enough of this vital nutrient.

Have a great Friday everyone!

YoBaby Winner!

Congratulations to T.J. for winning the YoBaby Giveaway Pack!! I know you and your child will enjoy their products!

What a great way to start out your week! Congrats!

Safe and Natural Sugar Alternatives

There is a good reason to avoid chemical-laden artificial sweeteners. They have been linked to many dangerous health conditions such as obesity and cancer. There is no reason you have to go for those artificial sweeteners with so many great natural options. Let's talk about several better alternatives.

Let's start with Stevia.
What is it? It is a shrubby South American herb that has leaves that are sweeter than sugar, but zero calories. It was first used by natives in 1887. Clinical data has found that Stevia helps to regulate blood sugar, suppress dental bacteria, encourage weight loss, and regulate blood pressure. No negative reactions to the herb have been discovered.

It sounds good. Personally, I have never tried it, but I do feel it would be a better option than Nutrisweet or some other artificial sweetener.

What about Agave Nectar?
What is it? It is a syrup that has a neutral sweet flavor. It is reported to have a low glycemic index and to cause minimal fluctuations in blood sugar.

I have several diabetic friends who use Agave Nectar and just love it! I have thought about using it, but I usually stick with my old standby - honey.

So, let's talk about Honey now.

I think you all know what honey is. Of all the sweeteners, raw, unfiltered honey is probably the closest to nature and the least refined. I use it for everything from adding to my peanut butter toast to replacing sugar in my baking.

What about Brown Rice Syrup?

What is it? It is made by adding enzymes to cooked rice to break down the starches. It has a lighter color and texture than barley malt syrup, and it can be used liek honey or agave. It is not intensely sweet, either.

Last, but not least, let's talk about Xylitol.

What is it? It is a sugar alcohol that's found in many fruits and vegetables. It is absorbed slowly, and has 40 percent fewer calories than sugar. You may have also heard about it because of the fact that it can reduce tooth decay rates.

I have seen it and used it in packs of gum and in toothpaste. But, I have never used it in cooking or food.

Whether you choose to use sugar or to use a sugar substitute, always try to stay as natural as you can and use moderation to keep calories down.