I found this story on GlutenFreeville and had to take the time to pass it on. The European Food Safety Authority’s Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Panel believes it’s possible that GMO foods could lead to food allergies.

“It is possible that GM food and feed could contain proteins which may cause food allergies in both people and animals. Because of this, EU legislation requires that the possibility of allergens in GMOs and food and feed derived from GMOs be assessed before these products are placed on the market.”

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Tags: General, Health by Stephanie
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After two reports from friends in a neighboring county about radon, I decided research it and then test my own home.

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is a radio-active gas that you can not see, smell or taste. Radon comes from the natural breakdown of uranium. It is a single atom gas that can penetrate through most materials.

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Tags: General, Health, Helpful Sites, Reviews by Stephanie
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As I mentioned previously, I love essentail oils. They smell great and there are so many uses for several of them. Today I wanted to share some of my favorite uses for oils.

First, Thieve’s Oil Blend. This is something I mix and use often, as in daily. Thieve’s is a blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary. There are many different variations of how much of each to mix, I use a 1 to 1 ratio of each. Easy to remember and smells great. I mix these in a brown glass bottle and have it on hand when I need it. For cleaning, I mix vinegar with water and then add drops of my blend until it overpowers the vinegar smell.

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Tags: General, Health, Recipe by Stephanie
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Ugh. I was truly enjoying this blog challenge and the commitment it forced me to make. I’m going to try my hardest to complete. But, there’s always a but, I’ve run into a little problem.

Gluten affects me. Aside from the gastro issues gluten causes, it wreaks havoc on my brain. My memory gets foggy. Simple things become difficult and take more time and concentration.

This weekend I got careless. We went to a MLS soccer match and I had a small amount of popcorn and a few nachos. I figured they were pretty safe, at least safer than the hot dogs and pretzels. I felt fine all of Sunday and even Monday. As I have moved through today, I’ve felt progressively worse. I’m 99% certain I was glutened.

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Tags: General, Gluten Free, Health by Stephanie
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I use essential oils for many things, but care MUST be taken. Most things you read will advise you to dilute your oils before use. Occasionally you might come across something telling you that Lavender is safe and can be used neat (undiluted). Wrong! No oil is safe undiluted.

Lavender is great for calming. It’s an anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, bactericide. It’s great for muscle aches and pains, acne, sunburns, insect bites. It’s one of few oils that is sometimes directed to use without dilution. But that is a big mistake.

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Tags: General, Health, Safe Things by Stephanie
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With more and more teens plugging in, and now at younger ages, is it any surprise that there’s been an increase in hearing loss in children? I have to be honest, I didn’t really think about it until I read this article. One in five teens now suffer some sort of hearing loss, up at least 31% since the mid-90′s.

Teens are known for tuning parents out, but it’s possible that your teen just doesn’t hear you. Some signs to look for include unexplained drop in grades, a slow down in language development or social interactions. Hearing loss is cumulative, so a slight loss now puts these teens at higher risk fro hearing problems as adults.

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Tags: General, Health by Stephanie
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