Our New, Healthy Finds + A Green Smoothie Challenge

Hi!

This week I will be joining Ashley over at 

and Katherine at 

These ladies are doing a 7 day "Green Smoothie Challenge" challenge and since I make smoothies pretty much every day... I'll accept the challenge!  

Most of my smoothies consist of organic: kale, spinach, water/ or coconut milk, little piece of ginger root

with any combo of (whatever I have in the house): 

 half a banana, apple, lemon, frozen berries/mango/pineapple/ and/or fresh parsley

And now for my healthy finds! 

1. Organic (Unrefined) Coconut oil - Coconut is so ridiculously good for us that it is unbelievable. I looked into it once I read that it was great for eczema. Mark has had bad eczema his whole life. Because of this, his dermatologist told him to use hydrocortisone every day. (and he has for ever since I can remember)  That's crazy. 

So I looked into Coconut oil and what do you know, it is amazing for pretty much everything under the sun. It is also MUCH better for you to cook with coconut oil rather than "vegetable" and canola oil.  I only cook with this and olive oil.  I also recently started putting it my skin on after I shower and pre conditioning my hair with it prior to watching it out. (Amazing!) 

I asked the lady at the store what the difference between "cooking" and "skin and hair care" coconut oil is - and there really is no big difference. The extraction may be a little difference but the benefits are the same. 

This is my MOST FAVORITE FIND. This will ALWAYS be in our home from now on. 

2. Just switched our deodorant to these all natural ones... 

Mark actually got a benign cyst in his underarm right after college  that he got removed. My mom gets cysts in her breasts all the time. Due to diet and toxic deodorants, they often flare up. 

I didn't realize aluminum and parabens were in our deodorant until I was watching Kourtney Kardashian not wearing deodorant because she was breastfeeding. Got me thinking and so I researched and found that my Secret brand deodorant is packed with toxicity. 

So I figure, if there are natural ones, why not use those?

I definitely do not want breast cancer or Alzheimer's one day. 

Our new deodorant. :) 

3. Chia seeds! These are pretty cool... I saw these Chia seeds a "mama chia" coconut mango drink  I bought and LOVED it.

I looked into what these seeds do because this little drink was kind of expensive...

I found out that chia seeds are: 

-Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seeds. (Chia is the richest plant-source of this healthy oil) 

-Rich in antioxidants and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid

- Balance out blood sugar

-Prevents  Diverticulitis

and a ton of others...

When I saw this package I was confused because the drink I had tried had "jelly like" seeds in them. Well, low and behold, when the seeds are added and soak in water they turn jelly like. Lovely. So I bought this entire bag for $10 and make my own drinks at home rather than spend $4/$5 on one little drink. You only use like a teaspoon or so of seeds so this bag will go a long way. You can also sprinkle the seeds onto your food. 

4.  Coconut milk. I purchased almond milk 3 weeks ago and liked it but it had a nutty taste to it. Good for mixing with coffee but I wasn't that into it. 

I prefer coconut milk. 
I have been drinking cow's milk my whole life until I found out that mammals aren't supposed to drink milk beyond their mother's milk at infancy... 
I won't even get started on the things that are in milk - including unsanitary things.

That explains why there are so many lactose intolerant people, allergies, and every thing else that causes people to have to skip the dairy.  I was reading this article last week about a pediatrician believing that a child had signs of Autism until his parents looked elsewhere and decided to change his diet. When they took dairy out of his diet, the child's behavior was normal. Incredible how diet can greatly have an impact on even a child's behavior!

Not that I had an issue(that I am aware of) before, but I have felt wonderful since removing dairy from my diet.  I have noticed that my skin is 100% clear now though. I attribute it to the absence of dairy and the added hormones that came along with it. 

4. Goji Berries - These are a bit on the tart side so I eat them every now and again when I remember I have them or grind them up in a smoothie. 

Goji Berries are: 

- packed with antioxidants

- prevent cancer and other illnesses, including heart disease. 

- These antioxidants may also boost the immune system and lower cholesterol. 

- Eating foods high in antioxidants may slow the aging process as well. It does this by minimizing damage from free radicals that injure cells and damage DNA. 

-  boost brain health and may protect against age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's

- Other studies using Goji berry juice founds benefits in mental well-being, and calmness, athletic performance, happiness, quality of sleep, and feelings of good health. 

5. And this...well, Mark eats popcorn on a nightly basis while he watches the news. 

Since most of inorganic corn is GMO (a Genetically Modified Organism). This means that corn (as a regular veggie or as an ingredient in all of that processed food) was not grown from a regular seed. It was patented by a company called Monsanto and created to make inspects stomachs explode when ingested. The corn seed literally makes its own insecticide. And if you believe what they say ("That it is only harmful to insects, not humans.") it is sadly untrue. Look into it. I can blog forever if I go into it. Trust me on this, you don't want to eat it.

 So with that being said, this NEEDED to be organic - non GMO.
6. Our new 98% natural cleaner-  Meyer's. I just cleaned my floors with it. GREAT! The "Rosemary aromatherapy" smells great. A little goes a long way with this stuff. 
 

I'll wrap it up here.

My goal is: every time I go shopping for us, I go with a new purchase in mind that will be a more natural and healthy alternative for us.

I'll be looking into natural shower gels next since ours are LOADED with fragrance and who else knows what. That cannot be good for Mark's sensitive skin and I don't want it harming/ aging my skin either.

If you wouldn't put it in your mouth, why would you put it on your skin?

I am loving the "all natural" search and hope it inspires you to look at your every day items a little closer.  
Please send me a message if you use a natural product that you love and would recommend!



Well, until next time!

XO

Christina