Discover even more about sustainable eco beauty and wellness on Saturday November 5th at the Do Good. Be Green, conference in Los Angeles.

This inaugural conference from LOVE GOODLY, makers of the leading cruelty-free and eco subscription box, promises to unite style, health, and sustainability. The conference will bring together more than 20 beauty, wellness, fashion, and food brands including:

• Shft
• Zen Yoga Strap
• Rawxies
• DEN Meditation
• Blissoma
• LVX
• PLUS ULTRA
• Hellomellow
• OSEA
• Lippy Girl
• Susi Studio Vegan Shoes
• The Naked Dog
• Page Padgett
• Canopy Verde
• LVX
• Hipsters for Sisters
• Vegan Beauty Review
• Kristinit
• Enrou
• Sapere Aude
• Generosity Water
• Garden of Life

Featured nonprofits at the event will include Farm Sanctuary, Beagle Freedom Project, 5 Gyres, Lipstick Angels, and Non Toxic Revolution.

The event will be headlined by Angela Lindvall, American model, activist, and health coach, and will also welcome panelists like Julie Longyear, the founder of Blissoma — a producer of raw, holistic, natural, vegan skincare products — and Sunny from Vegan Beauty Review, one of the top vegan and cruelty-free beauty blogs out there. Organic Authority’s own co-founder and editor-in-chief, Laura Klein, and our senior editor, Jill Ettinger, are both hosting panels.

Several refresh wellness breaks will led by Kimberly Fowler, founder and owner of YAS Fitness Centers, which combine hatha yoga and spinning for the ultimate, whole-body fitness and wellness routine.

Guests at the conference will have the opportunity to network with curated influencers, bloggers and brands, and detox their lifestyles with hands-on organic skincare and nontoxic beauty makeovers. They’ll also receive a free healthy lunch with delicious drinks, a October/November eco luxury box from LOVE GOODLY, and an eco-goodie tote valued at more than $150.

The conference will be held at The Collection, a stunning historic building in Downtown Los Angeles, just across the street from the brand-new 42,000 square foot Whole Foods Market and not far from Restaurant Row, boasting more than 15 new restaurants and bars on the same street.

Sponsors and partners for the event include GT’s Kombucha, Sapere Aude Sparkling, Whole Foods Downtown, Thrive Market, and the Springs.

Don’t wait to jump on this exciting opportunity! Register for the event before October 20th Register now using our special discount code — LOVEORGANIC — to get tickets for only $24.50 (that’s 75 percent off the $99 ticket!) for $49.50 — 50 percent of the full ticket price. We hope to see you there!

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The post Get Your Eco Beauty and Wellness Fix at the Do Good. Be Green. Conference appeared first on EcoSalon.

Toxins in foods, cosmetics, household items, and the environment may be linked to even more illnesses than we realize. Wellness warrior, Suzanne Somers, talks with health experts to get to the bottom of the effects of toxins on our bodies in her latest book, “Tox-Sick.”

It’s not difficult to find information linking toxins to cancer. But can they cause other common health problems, like asthma, stomach issues, and hormonal imbalance? How about weight gain and depression?

I caught up with Suzanne on what she uncovered and how we all can live a healthier, less toxic lifestyle.

An Interview With Suzanne Somers on ‘Tox-Sick’

Liz Thompson: First off, love the book! You share super insightful interviews with several doctors on the importance of eliminating toxins. We tend to think of toxins as leading to diseases like cancer, but your research shows they are involved in many widespread maladies. Do you think toxins are the root of all disease?

Suzanne Somers: Let’s say many diseases of today are rooted in the massive toxic assault. Unfortunately, this experiment on “us” has had no long-term studies. Chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides (glyphosate being the worst) are aggravating, then add in genetically modified food, and what you have is a toxic soup accumulating in our bodies. At some point (and it’s different for everyone) we reach what I refer to as a tipping point. It is at that moment the liver says, “I give up.” The liver is our detox organ. At present, in most all humans, our livers are groaning. When the liver can no longer do its job, these toxins are free to roam about in the body. In my book, I discuss the pathway, but I will give you a thumbnail at this juncture as to how it works:

Toxins enter into the body three ways: through the skin, in the food we eat (which puts them into the gastrointestinal tract), and in the air we breathe. Not much we can do about the air, with the exception of that air we can control in our homes. When chemicals or processed food goes into our G.I. tracts, the liver is supposed to extract all toxins but an overloaded liver will “spit” them out into the portal vein and then all the toxins end up in the G.I. tract. If you have imbalanced gut flora from overuse of antibiotics and toxic buildup, you have a recipe for disaster. You need the right balance of good and bad flora. If not, these toxins are now free to go on a rampage in your bloodstream and what do they do? They literally “eat” through the lining of the barrier wall of the G.I. tract, allowing them to “leak out”—this is called leaky gut—into the bloodstream and once there, they look for fatty organs and glands to invade; maybe the pancreas, maybe the thyroid or others, but the organ toxins most want to invade is the brain. The brain is 65 percent fat and toxins love to live in fat. Now, here’s where it gets really dangerous–when the brain starts accumulating toxins, the brain itself shrinks to make more room for the chemicals. Now you’re in trouble. This is where ADD, ADHD, OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and yes, Alzheimer’s and cancer have their opportunity to flourish. This is why eliminating toxins as best you can is your greatest defense against the diseases and conditions of today.

LT: Your book also covers how eating a fat-free diet can lead to, among other things, inflammation. Do all physical symptoms of health issues boil down to inflammation?

SS: Ever since we went nonfat, we’ve all become fatter and sicker. And, no small thing, non-fat food doesn’t taste as good. What is better than full fat yogurt? What is better than organic yummy butter, or olive oil or grass-fed rib-eye steak? Every cell in the body requires cholesterol, yet we’ve spent billions of dollars trying to eliminate it–one of our body’s most important building blocks. Every cell in the body requires protein, fat (cholesterol), and carbohydrates to reproduce.

The brain cannot operate without cholesterol. New science has proven that the fat-free movement was a flawed experiment. In the 1950s, researcher Ancel Keys determined that because President Dwight Eisenhower ate bacon and eggs every morning and then had a heart attack, that fat and cholesterol was the culprit. He conducted a flawed study to declare fat as the offender and as a result the country went low fat. The food manufacturers jumped on board and an industry was born.

Inflammation is an indicator of good health or poor health. For instance, if you take a highly sensitive CRP (C-reactive protein) blood test, your number should be low, between .05 and 1.0. Recently, I was with a girlfriend who was coughing incessantly. I knew she had had this chronic cough for quite some time. So I gently suggested to her that she might want to take this blood test. Her numbers came back at 16, which is frighteningly high. Shortly afterward she had a heart attack. This was a woman who ate a non-fat diet and didn’t listen to the signs and the “language” of her body.

One of the things I try to teach in my books is that our bodies have a “language” and our bodies are talking to us all the time. A cough is a “language,” body heat is a “language,” your moods whether they’re good or bad are a “language,” inability to lose weight is a “language,” body itches are a “language,” joint pain is a “language,” acne, rosacea, and skin problems are a “language.” These are all indicators of inflammation. And guess where inflammation begins? In the G.I. tract in exactly the way I described above; toxins and chemicals eat through the barrier wall leak out into the bloodstream and then go on a rampage.

Nature is perfection and nature wanted us to live on a high fat diet. Our very first food (if we were lucky) was breast milk. Breast milk has almost the exact same percentages of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and monounsaturated fat, as butter! Nature clearly wanted us to be on a high fat diet. I do not have weight issues and I live on an organic very high fat diet: fats, vegetables, quality grass-fed organic meat protein and organic poultry. My food is delicious. I can have yummy wine reduction or butter sauces, my food is loaded with flavor, and I am never dieting. Dissect the word diet “DIE-T.”

LT: You’ve written on menopause and hormonal issues at length in previous books. So toxins can exacerbate hormonal symptoms too?

SS: Millions of women have found quality of life and the joy of aging with natural bioidentical hormone replacement. I know I had a little something to do with this and it makes me very proud and gratified. But in the last few years, a lot of women had started writing me saying, “I was feeling great on my hormone replacement and now it feels like it’s not working as well; what could be the problem?” Toxins blunt hormone production. Here you are taking your hormones faithfully and simultaneously the toxins are trying to undo the good the hormones are doing for your body. To thrive and survive today, you have to change your life in the following ways: eat organic food, use organic skin care cosmetics (go to SuzanneSomers.com and look at my line of natural toxic free organic skin care, hair care, organic makeup, and organic cleaning products). These things can change your life and the health of your family. The only control we all have is taking care of our own individual spheres: i.e., our families and our homes. Once we leave our homes, we are subject to the environmental assault. In your home, you can close your doors and live a clean, green, organic, toxic-free life. By doing this, you will be way ahead of the game relative to your health as compared to others.

LT: Some health experts feel cheat days are essential in sticking with a healthy eating plan. How do you feel about cheat days?

SS: I guess cheat days would be when you just have to have that ice cream or that sugary dessert. If you have gut issues such as bloating, constipation, gas, discomfort, and unexplained weight gain, then most likely you have “bugs” in your gut. Sugar (and grains which break down to sugar) are a happy meal for any bug, it’s what they crave and feed on. It is how they reproduce. By giving up sugar and grains, your weight will fade away.

LT: In your opinion, what is the one most significant lifestyle change a person can make to better their health now and ward off disease?

SS: Clean up your life by getting rid of all toxins you can control and remember that every choice you make throughout each day matters. Make a list in your mind, every time you put something on your skin, every time you put a morsel of food in your mouth, every time you clean your house, ask yourself: Is this choice leading me toward optimal health or away from it? At the end of the day you are going to be amazed at how often you make the wrong choice. This simple exercise will help you to gain control over your life, your weight, your health, and that of your family.

LT: You have a comprehensive line-up of skin and hair care products. What are you using most right now?

SS: In addition to all my other SUZANNE Organics organic skin care products on SuzanneSomers.com, my formulator just introduced me to this amazing tightening peptide formula, and it’s really doing its job! It has collagen and elastin fibers for an incredible firming effect on the skin. So we developed a system of products around this ingredient: Firming Facial Cleanser, Firming 7-Day Crème, Neck Firming Serum, and Firming Eye Serum. I’ve been noticing that people have been saying to me how good my skin looks and it’s really decreased my wrinkles. And for my hair, True Brazilian Activating Serum – which is a styling serum that keeps your hair frizz-free, super silky, and shiny. All of these products are organic and Certified ToxicFree – I mean, they are actually good for you. What goes onto your skin or scalp, and eventually into your bloodstream, enhances your health, as well as making you more beautiful. What a win/win for everyone.

*Disclaimer: Help support EcoSalon! Our site is dedicated to helping people live a conscious lifestyle. We’ve provided some affiliate links above in case you wish to purchase any of these products.

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The post Suzanne Somers Takes on Toxins in ‘Tox-Sick’ [Interview] appeared first on EcoSalon.

The “poor man’s diet” may just be your ticket to a healthy lifestyle that sticks.

One of the unfortunate perceptions when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle is that it is very expensive. And the assumption is more or less founded – organic produce is more pricey than conventional and indulging in the flowery addenda to the lifestyle, like elusive, niche ingredients, superfoods, and complementary products can rack up a grocery bill quickly. However, leading a plant-based lifestyle should be (and actually is) will save you a lot of time and money. The so-called “poor man’s diet” is testament to that. Here’s how you can live happily and healthily, on the cheap.

The “poor man’s diet” doesn’t imply you eat whatever is cheap. The cheapest foods you find are often the worst for your figure and overall health. These include refined flours and sugars, packaged goods, and fast food. To avoid confusion, instead imagine a peasant’s diet back in the day.

The “poor man’s diet” lifestyle is a nod to 19^th century Victorians. The mid-1800s signified a golden age of nutrition. During this time, people exhibited stronger immune systems and the poor working classes, especially, ate fewer refined foods and more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Wholemeal bread was stone-ground and a fixture in the poor man’s diet. It was made with a copious amount of yeast, which is very beneficial to the immune system. The beer during that time was relatively weak and unfiltered, providing the body with immunity-boosting yeast without too much of a buzz. The working classes also complemented their meals with watercress, onions, cabbage, Jerusalem artichokes, beetroot, apples, cherries, and plums. Meat was rarely consumed, but when it was, people ate cheap scraps of meat from the bone and boiled the bones to make broth, getting in even more nutrition. Fish, such as herring, mackerel, and cod roes were commonly consumed. Sugar was a luxury reserved to the riches and working class Victorians did not smoke. They also regularly engaged in strenuous exercise. This lifestyle resulted in a longer life expectancy and a higher quality of life in old age among working class people.

The takeaway: home cooking with a focus on fresh fruits and vegetables and pure, unadulterated, and simple ingredients paired with regular, challenging exercise are keys to a healthier lifestyle and increased longevity.

Here are 4 tips to eating according to the poor man’s diet.

Poor Man’s Diet: 5 Fit and Healthy Lifestyle Hacks

1. Avoid “Luxury” Items

All animal-based products should be considered “luxury” foods. Focus on a diet heavy in fresh fruits and vegetables and only indulge in meat, poultry, milk, and cheese every once in awhile, not on a regular basis.

In this same vein, when embarking on a new dietary lifestyle, it is enticing to buy into the flashy, oftentimes expensive foods that garner a lot of hype. They are luxuries and aren’t necessary. You’ll do just fine without goods like deluxe dark chocolate, superfoods like goji berries, protein powders, and miracle potions. In fact, overindulging in these foods can backtrack your goals because of their density and high-caloric or sugar content.

2. Avoid Alcohol and Cigarettes      

This should be a no-brainer, but excess alcohol consumption and a cigarette habit wreak havoc on your health and can cost you in both the short and long term.

3. Embrace White Potatoes and White Rice

Yes, that’s right! White potatoes get a bad rap, but for all the wrong reasons. Potatoes are denser in nutrients than sweet potatoes and are one of the most satiating foods out there, which means they will fill you up with fewer calories. Just make sure to enjoy them baked or steamed, not fried.

Meanwhile, white rice may be a better option than brown rice. Brown rice contains higher levels of arsenic and depletes the body of minerals. White rice is not particularly nutrient-dense, but it is often fortified with B vitamins and is not as mucous-forming in the body as brown rice. White rice is also incredibly versatile and can bulk up just about any dish.

4. Go Green

Start every meal with an abundant green leaf salad. Not only are greens relatively cheap, they will fill you up with fiber prior to a meal, so you end up eating less within the meal and are better able to digest it all the more easily. And don’t just stick to the regular kale or spinach base. Instead, spice things up with more peppery greens, like watercress and arugula. That way, your body will benefit from unique vitamins and minerals and your palate will experience new flavors.

5. Lead an Active Lifestyle

Be active by nature, not just at a specific time during the day that you reserve for exercise. Instead of driving to work, ride a bike or walk. Instead of taking the elevator, take the steps! Do things yourself instead of having (or hiring) others to do them. You don’t need an expensive gym membership or a private trainer when you put elbow grease into everything you do and are proactive about being physical whenever the opportunity presents itself.

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Woman Eating Rice Image from Shutterstock

The post Eating Like a Peasant: a Healthy Lifestyle You Can Afford appeared first on EcoSalon.

We love beauty, we love magazines, we love organics. But truly, there has been a lack of organic beauty magazines that cover the whole aspect of glamorous healthy living. Brandie Gilliam of Organic Beauty Talk tells us how her new magazine, Thoughtfully, fills that void. 

Green gals everywhere are familiar with online organic beauty hot spot Organic Beauty Talk. Hey, we listed the site as one of the 10 best beauty blogs, so you know it has to be good!

OBT founder Brandie Gilliam knows her clean living stuff. That is what makes her latest venture so exciting. The launch of the brand new lifestyle magazine, Thoughtfully, covers all aspects of healthy living. And it comes in both print and digital formats. Pretty sweet.

Want to know more? Us too. That’s why we interviewed Brandie for all the juicy deets on her new mag.

Liz Thompson: You’ve been offering green beauty advice on Organic Beauty Talk for a few years now. Where did you get the inspiration for a print magazine?

Brandie Gilliam: I always saw the potential and need for a magazine like Thoughtfully. Over the years, I dreamed of going to the newsstands and finding a magazine that not only inspired me informationally but creatively as well. I also longed for a really gorgeous looking magazine where all of the beauty products were non-toxic, and that was more well-rounded in its approach to living. In September of 2014, it just hit one day and I had an AHA moment. The very thing I wanted to see, it occurred to me to just do it myself. And so I did. In a matter of a few months, Thoughtfully Magazine was conceived and born. I’m so grateful to the individuals who were a part of Issue 1 and trusted in my vision.

LT: Where can we get our hands on Thoughtfully?

BG: You can now find Issue 1 of Thoughtfully Magazine at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide as well as some really great boutiques (see our full Stockists list). And of course, you can order Thoughtfully in both print and digital versions directly from our online shop. We should have some other retailer announcements coming soon and we ship internationally too. I’m hoping we can create enough demand for Thoughtfully to be able to add subscriptions by late spring or summer. It’s very important for me to take one step at a time. I want Thoughtfully to be around for a long time.

LT: How often will new issues be published?

BG: Thoughtfully is a quarterly publication with a seasonal approach to living and eating. I want our readers to really get the opportunity to enjoy each issue and savor every page as well as be able to put it down and come back to it without being rushed.

LT: Can you give us any sneaks on what, or who, to expect in coming issues?

BG: While I can’t give you any details (c’mon, that would spoil all the fun), I can tell you that it’s going to be good, really good!! We have some exciting collaborations planned for Thoughtfully and it’s only going to get better.

LT: What is your background in natural beauty?

BG: I’ve been researching ingredients and testing non-toxic products for 14 years, and writing in the natural beauty space for almost four years.

LT: Will you be keeping up with Organic Beauty Talk?

BG: Organic Beauty Talk will remain up. It has a wealth of information and content. My hope is to give upcoming natural beauty bloggers a place to cultivate their voice and creativity. I’ll definitely keep Organic Beauty Talk around.

LT: What is one beauty tip all women should know?

BG: Know what’s in your products. And I’ll add to that: become a student of your skin. These two tips have been the most valuable lessons that I’ve learned along my own beauty journey and are truly the foundation for everything else. My skin is amazing because of it!

LT: And, I always ask, who has influenced your style?

BG: I tend to gravitate towards easy, effortless looking style that’s chic, sophisticated and on-trend with a bit of edge and sensibility. I go for flattering silhouettes and beautiful color with amazing feel, fit and function. I’m constantly pulling style inspiration from different places but I always gravitate towards Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Miranda Kerr, Jennifer Lopez and Jenna Lyons of J Crew. I’m also incredibly drawn to Lupita Nyong’o on the red carpet and Tracee Ellis Ross’s hair these days.

Go to ThoughtfullyMag.com, or follow on Instagram: @thoughtfullymagazine and Twitter: @thoughtfullymag.

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Image courtesy Brandie Gilliam

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