Cleaning products are supposed to keep us safe, comfortable and healthy. However, because most conventional products can be extremely toxic, our homes literally have us running a poison gauntlet—whether we realize it yet or not. Having a clean home is important to all of us, but the results of using noxious chemicals throughout our daily living spaces can be devastating. One study found that spray household cleaners, including air fresheners, could increase the risk of developing asthma by nearly 50% (1). Fortunately, there are some natural alternatives for keeping a happy, healthy home.

Exposing the Down ‘N Dirty
It seems everywhere we turn in our homes, we are faced with something that must be cleaned somehow. Unfortunately, furniture polish, toilet cleaners, dishwashing products, carpet and upholstery shampoos, detergents, oven cleaners and air fresheners are all guilty of containing environmental, and health-damaging chemicals. Here are some examples... 

Thousands of years ago, dogs were domesticated by humans, and they have faithfully trotted by our sides ever since. Similarly, cats have rid our homes of rodents and provided us with the comfort of a purr for almost as long. In fact, pets of all kinds have brought joy to humans for ages. Thankfully, the pet care industry, retailers and consumers are making the effort to repay the favor.

With better pet care, comes longer life for pets. However, Stephanie Johnson, pet division brand manager at American BioSciences, Inc., Blauvelt, NY, notes, “Living longer doesn’t always mean a longer ‘quality’ of life—owners need to adjust foods, activity, supplements and so on to meet the changing needs of an aging pet.” With emerging improved formulations and innovative products for pets, owners can do just that. According to Packaged Facts, “New products continue to flood the market, which saw more entries in 2008 than in any previous year” (1). Heightened safety concerns have... 

Antioxidants. Chances are, you’ve heard this term thousands of times because of their importance to overall health. Given the broad (and possibly overwhelming) selection on the market, it may be tough to figure out how to select the best antioxidant supplements to add to your daily regimen. Here’s where vitamin C comes in. You’ve certainly heard of it before; you probably even know that oranges are full of it. But, do you fully understand how this antioxidant powerhouse works and why you need it?

The Antioxidant Factor
Even in small amounts, vitamin C can protect indispensable molecules in the body such as proteins, lipids (fats), carbohydrates and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from damage by free radicals that can be generated during normal metabolism as well as through exposure to toxins and pollutants (1). Free radicals, by the way, are highly unstable atoms with unpaired electrons in their outer shells. For the non-chemists among us, that means these... 

Cholesterol Myths – Both Good and Bad

There are actually two types of cholesterol, which is not a known fact for people who misconstrue it as something bad. HDL is the name of the good cholesterol, while the bad one is called LDL. A bloodstream with too much LDL will result in plaque buildup in the arteries. Over time, blood will have a difficult time traveling your arteries because the opening becomes narrow thanks to the amount of bad cholesterol in it.

Dietary cholesterol is not the culprit for your having high cholesterol in the blood. Rather, it is copious amounts of saturated fat along with Trans fat that is to blame for the tightening of the artery. To keep your cholesterol on the low level, you should eat plenty of unsaturated fats and fibrous foods, as well as exercise often.

The Meaning of Numbers in Cholesterol

On an average, adults will usually need to have cholesterol checks every five years. Each time you... 

Ever wonder why doctors always tell you to take your vitamins? Vitamins help maintain optimal health and wellness. Unfortunately, some cannot be found in your everyday diet and we often do not eat enough to experience the maximum benefits. Therefore, it is critical to consider proper supplementation of your diet with basic vitamins.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is well known for helping to improve vision. It converts light signals so you can read and helps you distinguish colors. An inadequate intake results in night blindness—a condition in which the eyes have difficulty adjusting to darkness or bright lights—but can be addressed by increasing your vitamin A consumption (1). Vitamin A also has been shown to have benefits for some patients with certain cancers such as bladder, breast and prostate (2).

In addition to vitamin supplements, this nutrient can be found in fish liver oil. And, vitamin A palmitate is often added to foods like fat-free or low-fat... 

Let’s face the facts, sometimes work can be a pain in the neck, literally. The way in which work is performed can cause serious pain in the back, neck, wrists, joints, knees, and other musculoskeletal disorders that can affect your productivity and performance in the workplace.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics (BLS), in 2008 work-related musculoskeletal disorders accounted for almost 30 percent of all workers compensation claims. That’s 317,440 claims to be exact, with each claim resulting in a median of 10 days out of work for injured parties and costing state fund employers millions of dollars.

Focusing on good ergonomic practices and removing bad ergonomic tasks from your daily duties can help relieve pain, discomfort, stress, and ultimately improve your performance and satisfaction at the workplace.... 

Taking a daily multivitamin may help some women shed more pounds than women who do not take a daily multivitamin, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Obesity. The 26-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study sought out to evaluate the effects of supplementation with multivitamin and multi mineral on adiposity, energy expenditure and lipid profiles in 96 obese Chinese women, and the results were quite interesting.

Results of the Study

Of the 87 women who completed the study, those given the multivitamin and multi mineral supplement lost on average 7.9lbs, those given a calcium supplement lost 2lbs, and those given a placebo lost above a .5lbs, showing a high correlation of increased weight loss while taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement in obese people. In addition, the multivitamin group also saw a significant decrease in BMI, waist size, a drop in bad (LDL) cholesterol, and increased good... 

Biossential Nutrition has just added a complete line of pet supplements manufactured by Pet Naturals of Vermont to its highest quality product offerings. Now you can purchase supplements and products for your pet’s health as well as your own health from one convenient online shop!

We chose Pet Naturals of Vermont as our source for pet supplements because they are well established (over 30 years of experience) and known as a leader in manufacturing the safest, highest quality, and well-researched pet health products that “help pets live healthier lives.”

Pet Naturals is also a member of NASC, an organization that guarantees their animal health products... 

Vitamin D is finally getting some of the recognition it deserves, as today Dr. Cedric Garland, one of the world’s leading authorities and researchers on Vitamin D, stated that breast cancer could be virtually eliminated simply by raising Vitamin D levels during a Vitamin D deficiency conference held in Toronto.

“Breast cancer is a disease so directly related to vitamin D deficiency that a woman’s risk of contracting the disease can be ‘virtually eradicated’ by elevating her vitamin D status to what vitamin D scientists consider to be natural blood levels,” was the message delivered in the conference.

This announcement shouldn’t come as a surprise, as we had previously posted on our blog the association between high levels of vitamin D and a reduced risk of colon cancer. Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients inside the body, and the majority of people are deficient in Vitamin D, especially during the winter months.... 

A subject to make even the manliest of men blush, prostate health is not one from which to shy away. The prostate is a walnut-sized gland in the male reproductive system that plays a role in sexual and urinary health. Although seemingly tiny and of miniscule importance, an unhealthy prostate can actually grow into a really big problem, quite literally, when overlooked for too long.

A Growing Problem
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (hypertrophy), or BPH, is a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, of which the exact cause is not known. BPH affects approximately half of men over age 40 (1). Research suggests the presence of the male sex hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is produced from testosterone and the enzyme 5-alpha reductase, leads to prostate enlargement. Also, the hormone estradiol, of which...