LIVING WITHOUT ADDED CHEMICALS PART 2

The next instalment in my list of the ‘tried and good for me’ products

Shampoos and Conditioners:

The Swisse shampoo and conditioner is a winner.  The front of the package highlights what is NOT in the product (lots of nasties are eliminated).

The shampoo and conditioner smells gorgeous (citrusy), suds better than the other chemical free brands and makes it easy to comb through afterwards.  Not super cheap (half a litre for $20) but awesome to use. 

Available in Chemist Warehouse. J

Downside: ‘One choice fits all’ with this one, so if you have massively flyaway hair or it is dry as a bone, this is probably not for you. 

Kitchen stuff:

I am on the mailing list for a website called Nourished Life out of Sydney.  http://www.nourishedlife.com.au/.  The lady who runs this site is trying to eliminate all toxins from her life.  I was a bit horrified when I was reading about baking paper (which I use all the time!!!!). This is an excerpt from her blog (I also verified her findings by doing some research of my own, and she is correct!)

‘Some conventional baking paper (parchment paper) is lined with a chemical called quilon, which is made from a heavy metal that becomes toxic when cooked! (And) ... standard white baking paper is bleached with toxic chemicals that can leach into our cakes.’

She found a toxin-free baking paper (a company called 'If You Care') that she imports from USA.  I bought some - two rolls of baking/ parchment paper and two boxes of muffin paper cups (mini and Texan) for $15, plus about $6 for postage.  Works just the same as the supermarket bought products: is just a different colour.  J 

I will buy extra next time to cut down on postage.

‘Processed’ Food:

I am trying to not buy canned food unless the tin says it is unlined.  Many brands of tomatoes, beans, chickpeas, soups etc come in white-lined tins.  The more acidic the contents (ie tomatoes), the worse the leaching of the BPA from the plastic lining.

Different cans have different levels of BPA, so you don’t know how much you are ingesting. (See the excerpt from the SMH at the bottom of this post.)

This is the busy mum’s dinner nightmare.  (A BPA-free can of tomatoes is >$2.50!!!!!!)

Solution:

Tomatoes: I am buying passata in glass jars (yes – there is BPA in the lids, but much, much less overall than in the whole can).  I look for the passata that has no added stuff, just tomatoes and salt. The packaging is still recyclable and it works out about the same cost as the canned tomatoes I used to buy.

Beans/Chickpeas: I am cooking and freezing my own beans and chick peas: I soak and cook a whole mountain of them and then freeze them in can-size amounts.

Vegetables: I am using more frozen veges. Emergency meals with veges – peas/corn/etc. 

The down side: I need to buy a bigger freezer! 

From the Sydney Morning Herald comes this statement:

Conditions connected to regular consumption of BPA are varied and range from breast and prostate cancer, infertility and early puberty in girls to type-2 diabetes, obesity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Last year, a similar study by consumer group Choice found that 33 out of the 38 products they tested contained BPA. And just one serving of 29 of them delivered a dose that exceeded a safe daily level of exposure for a 70kg adult.

The Endocrine Society, the world's oldest, largest and most active organisation devoted to research on hormones, issued its first-ever scientific statement on BPA, saying that it can interfere with human hormone systems even at acutely low doses,( and contribute to increases in breast cancer).