Remember how much fun it was to shoot watermelon pits out of your mouth as a kid? Who knew then that you were also building up an arsenal of amino acids to fight pre-hypertension, a precursor to cardiovascular disease.

Sweet, low-calorie, high in fiber, and nutrient rich watermelon (which is in season from late July through November) is now a hot topic in medicine with data coming out of Florida State University. Evidence from a pilot study led by food scientists is suggesting that watermelon can be an effective natural weapon, in keeping with the theory of food as medicine. It’s also noteworthy to mention that this is the first investigation of its kind being studied on humans.

FSU Assistant Professor Arturo Figueroa and Professor Bahram H. Arjmandi found that when six grams of the amino acids L-citrulline/L-arginine from watermelon extract were administered daily for six weeks, there was improved function in the arteries, which in turn caused lower aortic blood pressure in all nine of the pre-hypertensive subjects (four men and five postmenopausal women, ages 51-57).

Taking L-arginine as a dietary supplement isn’t an option for many hypertensive adults, says Figueroa, because it can cause nausea, gastrointestinal tract discomfort, and diarrhea.

In addition to the vascular benefits, watermelon provides abundant vitamin A, B6, C, fiber, potassium and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. Findings from Figueroa’s latest pilot study at Florida State are described in the American Journal of Hypertension.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States, so start slicing. And here are a few recipes to get you started, from a Mediterranean Watermelon Salad to Grilled Scallop and Watermelon Kabobs.

For more information on heart disease visit the American Heart Association.

The post Watermelon Battles High Blood Pressure appeared first on EcoSalon.

Once, for a short period of time, I had The Man by the balls. And when I say “The Man,” I mean The Man – a corporate giant who keeps us down, corners us and our pocketbooks, gives us no choice, frustrates us at every turn and manufactures, along with his product, that helpless feeling in our gut that we’re up against something unbeatable. When I say “The Man,” I mean my cell phone service provider. And by provider I mean AT&T. And for a brief shining moment, my contract was f’in up. Booyah!

In fact, though it seemed to pass in a heartbeat, it was more than a brief period that I enjoyed the pleasure of having AT&T over a barrel. (Provider. What a generous title.) My Golden Era lasted two years (ironically the same amount of time they make you commit to those inane contracts which ensure you that you are joined at the mobile hip for a full, glorious sentence.)

The freedom – both real and imagined – was extraordinary. When I received my monthly bill, I’d simply have a gander and pick out those charges that I really just didn’t think were fair. “That call to Eastern Europe cost how much?!” ” I thought I had unlimited texts!” “You mean I wasn’t covered for Internet usage?!”

All it took was a simple call and a moment for the front-line customer assistant to figure out who I was – an off-contract customer, An Opportunity for Customer Retention.

“Sir how can help you? Are you ready to re-up your contract?”

“Um, no, I’m shopping providers right now and will be making a decision very soon, but in the meantime, there’s this thing on my bill”¦”

“Oh dear, Mr. Adelson, I am so sorry! Just give me a moment here and”¦ there now, all those nasty charges have just been deleted. So about your contract”¦”

“Oh hey, gotta run. Thanks though! You just kept me from jumping ship! Back to you soon on the contract thing!”

Such sweet pleasure.

But how real was it? In the end, was it a mere illusion of freedom? Just a voice on the other end of the line telling me what I wanted to hear? Did I have Him or did He have me?

On the can-we-really-get-along-without-certain-gadgets front (here we’re talking the penultimate gadget; the Cell Phone), I’ve recently seen a few articles fly by on the power of living without. What would it be like to be off the grid completely, beholden to no cell-phone Man?

Joel Stein, writing for Bloomberg Businessweek, posits that the “Luddites may actually be power brokers,” and that “not having a cell phone means that the world has to run on your time.”

In the article, he sums up what we’re up against: “Everyone has a cell phone now. There are more than 280 million mobile subscribers in America, according to the Federal Communications Commission. According to a 2005 international study by Advertising Age, 15 percent of Americans have interrupted sex to answer their phones. Even people who are videotaping themselves having sex, like Paris Hilton, stop to answer a call.”

Stein goes on to say not having a cell phone is a way we can take back power, noting that a few people who know power on first name basis, like Warren Buffett and Russian billionaire and New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, have dumped the gadgets. (Some heavy-hitter celebs, too, have chosen to hang up.) The article goes on to tell the tales of a number of other people who have given up the habit, folks who have had enough and are not gonna take it anymore. I read each of their stories. I was impressed.

In many ways, we present a paradox of gadget infatuation. We talk about what’s cool and new, shiny and green, all with a what’s-happening-now bent. But we also talk about ways to avoid being slaves to The Man, thinking outside the proverbial box, not being afraid to “just say no” to obvious trends that aren’t healthy for you. Recently, I posted a story about the green and not-so-green aspects of the iPad, in which I posed a question of awareness regarding our decision to buy any gadget: do you need it or do you want it?

This question – and freedom from gadgets and the Men and Women who service our addictions – is something I wrestle with almost every day. And while I’m happily a later-than-some adopter when it comes to toys and I think I do a pretty good job distinguishing between my needs and wants, I will say this when it comes to certain products: When I fall, I fall hard.

Which brings me back to my cell phone moment in the sun. Oddly, it was a moment in the sun that brought it all to an end. I was sitting on my balcony, doing some hardcore Ra worship, talking into my contract-free, trusty little Razor (my connection to freedom – as long as that little baby held up, I was safe). And the screen went black. Literally. It died in the heat that day, and though I cannot say exactly how long I held out after that moment, it was probably mere minutes before I realized what had to be done.

I crawled back to The Man. I took the deal on the iPhone and I smiled big when they handed it to me. So there it is. Was I really ever going anywhere? A new “provider,” maybe. But true freedom? Was I threatening the man or was I blowing in the cell phone wind? The answer came way too easy: Two years? Where do I sign?

Image: lemuelinchrist

The post Hung Up on Cell Phones appeared first on EcoSalon.

Osteoporosis is a big deal for women. But there’s more involved in keeping your bones strong and healthy than just eating plenty of calcium. Weight-bearing activity (exercise on your feet that works your bones and muscles against gravity) is crucial to building and maintaining optimal bone mass. Here’s why:

Bone density refers to your reserve of stored calcium. This is what determines the strength and health of your bones.
Bones are living tissue and need to be used to be strengthened.
The best time to start doing weight-bearing activities is during the teen and early adult years when bones are still growing. But it’s never too late to start!
The more bone density you have, the less negative impact there will be after menopause, when bone density begins to thin out with the loss of estrogen.
Higher bone density means stronger bones that are less susceptible to fracture or breakage.

So ladies, listen up: here are some activities you can incorporate into your lives to build up bone mass and stay strong.

For starters, lift things! No need to go overboard, but carry your groceries to the car and don’t be shy about picking up boxes. Just make sure you protect your back and do it safely.
Jogging is good for building bone, and so is walking uphill, but a regular walk around the block won’t do much for you.
Vigorous gardening and housecleaning – move a lot, stretch and lift heavy things!
Skip the elevator and climb stairs instead.
On your walks and hikes, wear a backpack. Fill it with water bottles and other things to add some weight, as this helps build bone.
Weightlifting is very good for your bones. There are weightlifting techniques that help build lean muscle mass, and plenty of bone while you’re at it. Here are tips to lift weights without bulking up.
For more active types, try jumping rope, team sports (basketball, hockey, soccer), and high impact aerobics.

Image: glitter feet

The post The Importance of Weight-Bearing Activity for Bone Health appeared first on EcoSalon.

I like life’s special little surprises: a dozen roses mysteriously appearing at the doorstep, some birds nesting right outside the living room window or a phone call from an old friend I’ve been thinking about all week.

But there’s one thing I don’t like to be surprised by: my period. This is something I want to have planned out with the right, comfortable clothes and all my supplies at hand in the secret pocket of my purse. A camping trip, the third date, that beach vacation – not exactly welcome times for that time.

Thanks to My Monthly Cycles, I’ve been keeping track using an online calendar that averages out the lengths of my previous cycles and gives me approximate dates for both my next period and my next ovulation.

And best of all for busy gals like us, you can adjust your account settings to send you email alerts a few days before your next period or ovulation is about to start. It’s like the Google Alert of periods! Now if they just had an iPhone app…

Image: ePublicist

The post Geek Hack: My Monthly Cycles Email Alerts appeared first on EcoSalon.

In my background as a yoga therapist, I can vouch for the fact that very often, physical pain is the result of emotional stress. Once the emotions are felt and released, the physical body responds and someone with years of chronic pain may suddenly find themselves pain-free once and for all.

The same mind-body theory applies to back pain, a common malady suffered by 55 million Americans. Dr. John Sarno, author of Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, suggests that 75% of back pain is emotionally related, particularly linked with repressed anger. This anger results in diminished blood and oxygen flow, causing muscle spasms and nerve dysfunction, i.e., pain. By admitting to the anger and working through it, the back pain will be relieved. Keep in mind that anger and stress amplify pain anyway, so there’s a lot to be gained by relaxing.

Of course, it’s important to maintain proper posture and strengthen your core muscles; these are the best preventions for back pain. Accidents and injuries may contribute to slipped disks and pinched nerves, causing pain, and these should not be ignored. But if you’ve been checked out physically and the pain won’t go away no matter how much stretching or massage you do, you’ve got nothing to lose by digging a little deeper into your psyche and smoothing the emotional kinks that may be showing up as pain in your back.

Image: vonSchnauzer

The post Angry About Your Back Pain? appeared first on EcoSalon.

My boss has hypertension. And about two years ago, he nearly died. He was hundreds of pounds overweight, but because of a disciplined diet and exercise regimen, he’s lost 150 pounds (with more to go) and is feeling much better.

One of his newly found secrets? He eats a banana a day. The potassium helps him lower his blood pressure.

Hypertension, the clinical name for chronic high blood pressure, is caused by a variety of factors, namely stress, obesity, high sodium intake and low potassium. So eating a diet high in potassium can help lower blood pressure. Potassium helps your body excrete sodium more effectively, thereby getting all that extra salt out of your system.

If high blood pressure is something you struggle with, minimize your sodium intake and add more potassium to your diet. High potassium foods include:

Milk and yogurt
Fruits like apricot, avocado, banana, cantaloupe, dates, nectarines, prunes and raisins
Fresh (not canned) veggies like carrots, celery, baked potatoes, spinach, winter squash and tomatoes.
Fish and poultry
Molasses and unsalted nuts

Image: House of Sims

The post A Simple Tip to Lower Your Blood Pressure appeared first on EcoSalon.

You do know about hemp, right? Not just as a fashionable fabric for clothing, or as a super-nutritious food, or even as a medicinal plant that ought to be legalized – but hemp for healthy skin. Eat your hemp seeds, drink your hemp milk, and moisturize with hemp oil, and do it all to feed your skin from the inside out.

Hemp seeds contain the perfect balance of Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), with just the right ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 that most people eating a typical North American diet just don’t get. EFAs build healthy cell membranes that hold moisture in your skin, keeping it soft and supple. Skin conditions like psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema, and acne are all associated with a lack of EFAs.

The moral of the story is: healthy, beautiful skin always begins with a healthy, nutritious diet. So eat your hemp – no excuses. (Manitoba Harvest is a good source of hemp products, if you don’t know where to start.)

Image: ssh

The post Feed Your Skin From the Inside Out appeared first on EcoSalon.

It happens to the best of us. Our mission is to clean out the storage unit in the garage. We plow through a few bags and boxes, tossing stuff in the large blue recycle bin or putting other stuff in a pile for goodwill. Then it happens – we stumble upon the box. The one stuffed to the point of overflow with old diaries and journals from years past.

“One quick look,” you think. Next thing you know you’re sitting on the dirty concrete with tear-filled eyes – and three hours have passed.

Been there? If you’ve ever kept a journal – written your deepest darkest secrets, recorded the details of your day, purged your insides out onto the page – I’m certain you know what I mean when I say journaling isn’t for sissies.

And choosing the journal to jot our thoughts is serious business. Instead of cutting down new trees, why not recycle and reuse what we already have? Ecojot makes 100% recycled journals, notebooks and sketchbooks that caught my eye – they’re playful, colorful and fun! And the company is green from the ground up. Ecojot uses recycled packaging and their Canadian paper mill runs on biogas, uses recycled water, recycles all its waste and donates usable scraps to local schools. As if that isn’t enough, a portion of all Ecojot sales is donated to an environmental cause.

Check out their website to learn more about ecojot and read their list of green-going suggestions including “buy local” and “only run your dishwasher when it’s full”.

Note: Journals come in various sizes, styles and themes with heavy duty covers and paper made from 100% post-consumer waste that is chlorine- and acid-free. Only non-toxic vegetable based inks and glues are used. Prices range from $6 to $30.

The post Save a Tree. Keep a Journal appeared first on EcoSalon.

Who says your air filter has to look like hospital equipment and command lots of space in your bedroom? The compact module Blueair AirPod is taking the allergy world by sneeze and storm. Call them the little purifiers that could.

Perhaps it’s the packaging, even more magnetic than those perky patterned paper tissue boxes. Perhaps it’s the idea you can alleviate your allergens at a rate of 45 cubic feet per minute for $100. These adorable systems, sold at A Store Called Spring (one of my favorite home design sources) are only 13″ tall and cradled in a docking station just like your iPod.

They contain the patented Blueair HEPSilentTM technology which is a new approach to HEPA, with large surface air plus larger openings in polymer-based filter media. This allows higher air flow with less noise from the fan. More efficiency, fewer sniffles.

The post An Air Purifier Steve Jobs Could Love appeared first on EcoSalon.

I have thick, long, beautiful hair, and I favor natural, low-maintenance hair care. Generally, a little bit of coconut or olive oil rubbed into my damp hair is enough to keep it shiny, but not so after moving to the ultra-dry climate of Arizona. My hair was quickly becoming dry and brittle as the hot season progressed.

Then my friend Solana saved the day (don’t we always get the best things from our friends?). She was working at a natural cosmetic store and came to visit me with a delicious smelling container of something called Ojon oil. “It comes from a tropical nut in Central America. The Miskito tribes use it and swear by it for shiny hair.” And I can tell you, it works. Once I started using the Ojon, my hair went back to its happy, shiny self – Arizona’s scorching summer notwithstanding.

Rest assured, the Ojon company uses pure ingredients, and has a responsible business relationship with the people who work for them. The nuts are sustainably harvested by hand and over 200 people have gained full time employment in their home town, ensuring that their native forest will be saved and not destroyed for other financial incentives. Ojon oil is produced only in small batches, but you’ll be happy to know that a little goes a long way.

The post Ojon Oil Saves Your Hair and Costa Rica's Tropical Forests appeared first on EcoSalon.