Health/organic/natural

I LOVE this website:
One Hungry Mama (used to be Chow Mama)
http://onehungrymama.com/

Recipes galore and lots of tips on healthy eating for baby and the whole family.

Hi J.! This is my favorite subject! We are definitely health nuts in our family!
I do want to warn you about fake "green" companies. The closer you shop to your home for the bulk of your shopping, the better off you will be.
I was involved with Melaleuca for years and I will tell you this.......I was so disappointed by the products. I want truly natural products without worrying about petroleum products or parabens harming my family.
I love the book "Green Up your Clean Up" for ways to make your home TRULY a safe habitat.

Supplements are harder. You need to research whole food options. Again, stay away from one stop shop companies that "claim" to be the most absorbable, have the most research on their products, etc.

A great cookbook is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Some of the recipes are totally worthless to me......but the information is so valuable!

The thing to know about organic is that it needs to be CERTIFIED organic. These companies and small farms and businesses that are certified organic are held to a high standard. We have many certified organic farms in our area that have much required of them to make sure their products are truly organic.

So......buy local and find out exactly what their farming practices are. Shop around for supplements and ask a naturopathic doctor to help you in your search, and read labels to make sure you are getting exactly what you paid for.....no fillers, no MSG, no unpronouncable ingredients.......

I see one poster recommended Organic Valley..... good choice! The cosmetics data base website is great too!

Google the "Dirty Dozen" to find out which produce items should definitely be purchased organic.

Key things in chosing products or foods:
Foods that have the least amount of ingredients
Foods that go through minimal processing (Organic candy and mac and cheese are still crappy products!)
Household, beauty and personal products should have a complete list of ingredients. Companies with a full disclosure policy for their ingredients are the way to go.
Melaleuca refused to disclose their ingredients, even with our doctor's orders. Keep in mind that people touting wellness or natural don't even know the extent of the ingredients or practices of the companies they represent.

All in all......you will learn as you go. Things you thought were healthy, you find out down the road were pointless or even potentially harmful. Oh well.....you do your best to make good choices and then you keep learning!

Good luck!

Try doctor Oz's website. He just had a show on the differences between natural and organic, etc. He may also have a book or website suggestion. Also, try your local health food store. My store usually has a great selection of books and they are very informative. If you find something you like, go home and search for it on amazon or ebay and you can probably get it for much cheaper. Good luck!

I always use these sites too:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirt...

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Save...

http://blog.biggreenpurse.com/biggreenpurse/2010/02/what-...

J. -I don't use a lot of cookbooks but the standard ones for health/natural foods are:
1) Moosewood Cookbook- classic
2) Website: http://www.101cookbooks.com/ - if you sign up you get a weekly recipe. Love it!
3) The same woman wrote a great book called: Super Natural Every Day- worth looking into
4) Also Nina Planck's: Real Food: What to Eat and Why
5) This is pretty hardcore but Weston A Price Foundation is fairly progressive & helpful in terms of learning nutrition: http://www.westonaprice.org/
Sally Fallon is the leader & her Nourishing Traditions is big hit.

Hope that helps!

It's so good to see other Moms taking the initiative to be healthy, good for you! I only have a couple of basic websites to share, unfortunately my computer caught a virus not too long ago and I had to have the disk wiped clean and lost all of my book-marks :( also for books, try your local library, I like being able to borrow them and bring them back! Look under holistic medicine and natural/organic food or farming, and living simple. Most of this is all in one section of the library. I'm leaving you 2 links, one is great for researching body products, there is a great sunscreen guide too, I used it a lot this summer. And the other link is for Organic Valley, they have an ongoing news letter, the site has tons of really good info, great recipes and coupons too!
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
http://www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/features/better-lunch/

Just FYI...things can be labeled as organic or natural but may not actually be. If you are looking for non-toxic household products to use (bath soaps, shampoos, laundry soap, cleaners, etc.) send me a message.

Here is a site on non-GMO shopping that I like:
http://nongmoshoppingguide.com/

I also like Dr. Mercola's information for many things for healthy living.
http://www.mercola.com/

He discusses a wide variety from probiotics and vitamins to nutrition to medication to sleep habits etc... he has many articles on many topics! He also has a cookbook.

They send out a daily newsletter to your email if you choose to... I have found that every morning there is at least 1 great article that I learn from!

It can be overwhelming to say the least, but if you just start with little things you can change, it gets easier to do more a little at a time!

Check out "The Complete Organic Pregnancy" or "The Conscious Kitchen", by Alexandra Zissu

Also, this site: http://www.greenerpenny.com/
Mindy is a guru when it comes to healthier living.

Good Luck!

As the daughter of a certified 'health nut' and now owner of a general health food store with the strictest standards- I may have some suggestions. ;) We grew up on Adele Davis books- and I still use them for my children. I used "Lets Have Healthy Children" for my pregnancy diet and I swear by it. My first was born 8 mins after I got to the hospital- we labored at home. And my 2nd- I had at home. Both pregnancies were amazing and trouble free! So I continue to follow many of her advise. Some may label it as 'old info'- but I love the studies and the 'real food' remedies that were suggested before any industries had jumped on this 'organic/natural' bandwagon! She has several books. Also check with your local health food store- preferably not a 'chain store'. I know my parents carry many of their favorite books for their customers to borrow/browse/or buy. Look up any local chapter of Weston Price and attend their meetings- they may be a little too extreme for a beginner- but you can learn some real info, talk to others who are living a natural and organic lifestyle and they usually have venders who can provide you with info and products that you are looking for- at great prices!
I do all my food shopping at my parents store, and all my vitamins, suppliments, and household items from a health and wellness company online.

B. Miller
www.livetotalwellness.com/themillers

Hi J., Many of the moms already provided great web sites and books and other resources for you. I always take what I read and hear with a grain of salt since sometimes not even doctors know what is best because it is based on their training and their believes. Some doctors do not believe in alternative medicine at all. And no one knows your family better than you so you are definitely the best one to make decisions for your family based on all the info and data you have and of course, your gut/instinct too. That's what I do. I am sure you've heard the statement "Mom knows best!". I saw a posting bashing a company called Melaleuca. Again this is that person's opinion so I would consider it that way. I am a customer of Melaleuca and I have been for over 8 years now and I and my whole family, with lots of skin sensitivities and allergies (seasonal, pets, and food) as well as asthma, love their products and the company. If there is a patent out there for the product and/or the formula is proprietary, then they may not give out all the info. Melaleuca does have the ingredients listed on-line for each product. With any company/business, customers may have different experiences. There are great companies out there, such as Melaleuca, with safe and natural products so have fun surfing and find the one you are comfortable with. Here is the US Dept of Agriculture web site where you can get terms and definitions regarding organic, etc. http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/terms/srb9902terms.shtml and there are other links in there too so you get do even more research on your own. If you are also interested in household chemicals too, then you may want to visit the EPA and NIH web sites: http://www.epa.gov/ and http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/

Hello J. I always research everything I take ,being a dist with Ardyss International . Health and wellness program Go to www.newhealthoptions.com Doc Witherspoon site it's free she has a lot of what you are looking for.
http://www.ardysslife.com/njciticoutur

www.thehealthybeautyproject.com
www.robinanthony.com

Organic just means no pesticides have been used. Natural means no artificial chemicals in product.

Great information at The Healthy Beauty Project and great natural products at Robin Anthony. Love the results of the detox trio.