The newest in a long line of weight loss shows finally has a philosophy we can get behind: Z Living’s “The Big Fat Truth” highlights the importance and effectiveness of a plant-based diet – not just for losing weight, but for better health in general.

Industry veteran J.D. Roth of “The Biggest Loser” and “Extreme Weight Loss” fame decided to host “The Big Fat Truth” after two and a half years of following a plant-based diet. After he and his family began their plant-based diet, Roth realized that this was the best way to lose weight and stay healthy – and he wanted to share this realization with others struggling with health issues linked to weight.

“I think it’s no longer guesswork that living a whole foods plant-based lifestyle will not only reduce your risk for most of the chronic diseases and illnesses that are out there, but also reverse the diseases that we have as well,” he says, noting that he can no longer tell people to work off three meals a day of poor eating in the gym.

For Roth, the plant-based way of life is the ideal way to help people overcome their unhealthy relationship with food, something that he and many other experts categorize as an addiction. The first episode features former contestants from “The Biggest Loser” who have put some – or all – of the weight back on. Second season “The Biggest Loser” winner Pete Thomas, who, contrary to “The Big Fat Truth” participants, has managed to keep his weight down, encourages them to replace the foods that they turn to in times of stress with an apple.

“It’s hard to gain the weight back when all you’re bingeing on is apples,” he says.

This technique of replacing one food choice with another isn’t the end goal; after all, participants will eventually need to change their relationship with food, but it’s a great start.

“All diets are restrictive,” says Roth. “And when we’re talking to a food addict about restricting the very thing that they want, you can’t do that forever.”

“When I’m talking about the whole food plant-based way of life, I’m talking about a lifestyle and I think that’s different,” he says, noting that the volume of food that one can consume on a whole foods plant-based diet and conceivably still lose weight is incredible.

But snacking is one thing – meals are another. To make the transition even easier for participants, for the first week, they get all of their meals from Kitchen Therapy, a plant-based meal delivery service.

In the meantime, Roth also teaches people how easy and inexpensive cooking can be on a plant-based diet. In the pilot episode, he challenges one participant him to go out and buy $15 worth of fast food to feed his family of five. Meanwhile, Roth prepares a five-ingredient, $15 meal of protein pasta with lentil Bolognese in even less time.

“Our grocery bill’s been cut in half since we’ve gone this route, because meat’s the expensive stuff,” says Roth of his own experience.

Other participants in the show as the season continues will include groups of diabetics, moms, teachers, and nurses, each of which has a different struggle to overcome, and each of which, Roth is sure, will benefit from a plant-based diet: four of the five diabetics in that episode, for example, were completely off their medications after just ten days on a plant-based diet.

Through the show – and the diet – Roth seeks to help people understand “the psychology of losing weight.”

“I think people put stuff in their heads about what they think is true: ‘Oh, you can’t survive without protein,’ or ‘Oh, it’s quicker to get fast food,’ or ‘It’s more expensive to eat just vegetables,’ and those are all in the category of excuses, to me.”

And even after just ten days on their new diet, participants seem to agree, including Ryan Benson, winner of the very first season of “The Biggest Loser.”

“It doesn’t seem so out of the realm of possibility to have a plant-based, whole food diet for the rest of my life,” he says.

Tune into the new show on Z Living starting with the premiere episode on June 11 at 8pm ET.

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Should You Skip Breakfast to Lose Weight?

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Everyone always says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And if you want to lose weight, starting your day with a hearty meal is crucial. I’m here to dispute this claim. In fact, once I started skipping breakfast, I started losing weight and it’s definitely not because I was starving myself.

How Hungry are You Today?

Please don’t just eat breakfast first thing in the morning because you think you should. Eat breakfast because you’re hungry. The early morning is a great time to let your digestive system do its work from the night before. Especially if you tend to eat a later, heavier dinner. While you might not want to skip breakfast entirely, why not wait a few minutes after you wake up until you feel hungry?

If you do wake up starving, consider starting your day by drinking 16 to 24 ounces of water. This can increase your metabolism by as much as 24 percent, according to some experts. Water also helps the body detox from the night before while giving the colon a cleanse and revving up the digestive system if necessary. Not to mention that drinking water first thing in the morning also makes your skin glow. What’s not to like?

The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

More research is being done on the benefits of intermittent fasting. The least painful and most effective time to fit in a short fast (around 15 hours) is between dinner and breakfast. That means that if you eat dinner around 7 pm than you should wait at least until 10 am the next day to eat your next meal. For some of us, this isn’t realistic, but you can take baby steps that make a big difference. For example, don’t snack after dinner. Try and drink a glass water before your first meal. But if you can fit in a mini fast, it’s worth it and the first part of the day is the easiest time to accomplish it. Here’s why:

1. It reduces insulin

A study published in the January 2005 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that on days of mini fasts fat oxidation increased, making fasting an effective tool for weight loss among participants. Reduced insulin is also important for staving off type-2 diabetes.

2. It increases human growth hormone

One study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that mini fasts increased the production of the human growth hormone (GH) in the body. GH is responsible for increased fat burning and metabolism in the body.

3. It reduces belly fat and increases metabolism

Intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce belly fat and increase metabolism by
as much as three to eight percent over a 24-week period. A study published in the January 1990 edition of the Journal of Physiology found that fasting for 48 hours at a time increased the basal metabolism in normal weight individuals. Another study published in the July 2011 edition of Obesity Reviews found that fasting decreases body fat and mass.

4. It prevents oxidative stress

Other research has shown that intermittent fasting can help the body with cellular waste removal. As mentioned above, much of the body’s digestion and detoxing is done over night. If you give food a rest after your last meal of the day, you’re giving your body more time to detoxify. More specifically, a study published in the August 2010 issue of Autophagy found that fasting is usually a safe, inexpensive, and useful means of reducing oxidative stress.

5. It helps with hormone regulation

According to Dr. Axe, fasting can help with hormone regulation. Specifically, it helps with the regulation of leptin, the hormone in the body that tells you when you’re hungry and when you’re satiated. When leptin is off in the body, it makes it difficult to stop eating, which is obviously problematic for weight loss. It’s been shown that fat people have high levels of leptin in their systems.

When Skipping Breakfast is Not a Good Idea

Skipping breakfast or intermittent fasting in general is not a good idea for everyone. And many doctors note the importance of a healthy breakfast to get your metabolism rolling. For some people, a healthy breakfast like this Vegan Peanut Butter Granola Recipe  or this Protein-Packed Tofu Scramble makes a lot more sense. These individuals should abstain from fasting:

1. Pregnant women

When you’re pregnant, fasting for any period of time has been shown to produce ketone bodies, molecules produced by the liver during periods of low food intake that can negatively impact the fetus. Dehydration is especially dangerous during pregnancy because it can cause preterm delivery. Pregnancy is never a good time to abstain from food.

2. Breastfeeding women

Women who are breastfeeding should not skip breakfast. First and foremost, you’re super hungry when you’re breastfeeding, so just try not to eat! But even if you could bear it, over a long period of time, it could impact milk production. Save fasts for after you’ve finished breastfeeding, especially within the first year when breastmilk is still a major component of your baby’s diet.

3. Athletes

If you work out hard first thing in the morning, fasting could impact your performance. For some of us, working out in the morning is essential to fitting it in. Especially if you’re training for a race or you’re an athlete. You may need the fuel to get your body going in the morning. If this is the case with you, fasting in general may not be the best idea.

4. Caffeine addicts

Additionally, don’t fast by drinking a bunch of caffeine to keep you from eating. Caffeine without food can leave you feeling jittery. If you crave caffeine in the morning but you’re not a fan of anxiety, add a tablespoon or two of coconut oil or grassfed butter to your coffee to balance out your caffeine with some good fats.

5. Breakfast lovers

Some of us relish the morning ritual of breakfast. Orange juice, oatmeal, and eggs–what’s not to like? If you’re not willing to give up this ritual, maybe consider dropping in a mini-fast periodically in another part of the day instead.

6. Smaller meal lovers

The point is NOT to starve yourself. An intermittent fast in the morning is all about giving your system a break and then enjoying moderate meals throughout the rest of the day. If it feels like you’re starving yourself and then overeating at lunch and dinner, this is not for you. We’re all different and we all respond differently to food.

Do you skip breakfast? Have you found that it’s helpful for weight loss? We want to know! Drop us a line via Twitter @EcoSalon.

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A hormonal imbalance can be a difficult concept to grasp–even and especially to those suffering from one.

Hormonal changes occur from the moment we’re born to the moment we die, with more pronounced shifts taking place in the teenage years, and for women in their 40s and 50s. While we chalk up certain physiological shifts as a result of our aging bodies (and minds), they may actually have nothing to do with the natural changes of aging and everything to do with a hormonal imbalance–regardless of age or other naturally occurring hormonal changes.

Calling something a hormonal imbalance is an easy explanation for just about everything–from otherwise inexplicable irritability to the sweat-soaked nights. Meanwhile, a hormonal imbalance also seems to be a result of just about everything–from diet to pollution, to stress. So, it’s no wonder why hormones are left so little understood; the scope of being influenced and influencing other things is just too wide.

And while a lot of the mood-related symptoms are commonly understood, far too few people are accustomed to the telltale physical signs that they have a hormonal imbalance, especially when multiple signs occur at the same time.

Here are five signs you have a hormonal imbalance.

Hormonal Imbalance Signs

1. Weight Gain

The adrenal glands are endocrine glands that produce hormones, including adrenaline, aldosterone, and cortisol. A hormone imbalance can exhaust the adrenal system, which in effect makes it harder to lose weight or even maintain one’s regular weight. It can also lead to weight gain, without changing diet at all.

2. Sweating

A common symptom of premenopausal women, hot flashes and night sweats can occur at a younger age if a hormonal imbalance is present. If you repeatedly wake up sweaty or experience hot flashes during the day, without necessarily being in a hot climate, then a hormonal balance may be to blame.

3. Persistent Acne

A lot of women break out whenever they have their period due to normal hormonal shifts. However, if the acne persists, you may have high testosterone levels in your body. Testosterone stimulates the excess production of sebum oil, which gets stuck under the skin with acne-causing bacteria and dead skin cells. This leads to clogged pores, pimples, and blemishes.

4. Vaginal Dryness

Vaginal dryness tends to occur when menopause approaches. However, a reduction of estrogen levels at any age can cause changes in the vaginal walls. Vaginal dryness makes sex uncomfortable.

5. Excessive or Unwanted Hair

High levels of testosterone in the body can cause women to develop excessive body or facial hair. All females produce androgens (male hormones), but the levels are normally low. Producing too many androgens lead to male-pattern hair growth and other unwanted male characteristics, such as a deep voice.

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If you can’t lose weight, despite all your efforts, there may be more to the puzzle than just diet and exercise. Here are 6 tips to help you shake off those stubborn pounds.

You’ve been killing your workouts and sticking to a healthy diet plan, but the number on the scale simple will. not. budge. Now what? Well, first of all, you’re not alone. Many people simply can’t lose weight no matter what they seem to do, and it’s one of the most discouraging predicaments to be in. After awhile, they either give up or they develop an unhealthy body image and push themselves too hard, still getting nowhere close to their weight loss goals. Here’s the thing. Diet and exercise may not be the only tools to achieving your goal weight. In fact, something entirely different may be at play. Here are 6 reasons why you may not be shedding pounds.

6 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight

1. Thyroid Problems

According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, more than 30 million Americans have thyroid conditions that are left undiagnosed. The thyroid secretes several hormones, which have an affect on metabolism, growth and development, as well as body temperature. The thyroid regulates metabolism, but an inactive thyroid reduces the basal metabolic rate in humans, which can lead to weight gain. Your basal metabolic rate accounts for 70 percent of the calories burned each day. Hypothyroidism is often hard to detect, but inexplicable weight gain and a feeling of constant fatigue are the two biggest indicators. If you often feel sluggish and gain weight easily, consult with your doctor and check to see if your thyroid is functioning properly.

2. Water Retention

Before jumping to any other serious conclusion concerning your inability to lose weight, first consider the effects of water retention. Water retention is when your body holds onto fluids in the circulatory system, tissues, and cavities of the body, which can cause you to look bloated and pudgier as well as add a few pounds on the scale. There are many reasons why water retention may occur, such as consuming too many sodium-rich foods, allergies, pre-menstruation, medications, inflammation, not drinking enough water, or physical inactivity.

To combat water retention, start by reducing your intake of sodium whilst increasing your intake of water. If doing this doesn’t work over a few weeks, consult your doctor for more advice.

3. Depression

Antidepressant medications are known to cause weight gain and may be the factor holding you back from your goals. Antidepressants typically cause an initial weight gain of 5 to 15 pounds, with a gradual accumulation in the years thereafter.

If you aren’t taking medication for depression, then simply being depressed could be making it hard for you to lose weight. In 2010, the American Journal of Public Health found that people who felt sad and lonely gained weight more quickly than those who reported fewer depression-related symptoms. Many people turn to food when they feel down and are often less excited about achieving their goals.

4. Nutrient Deficiency

Even if you are eating a healthy diet, you may still be missing out on certain nutrients. A balanced diet requires planning in order to assess where you are getting essential vitamins and nutrients. Having low levels of magnesium, iron, or vitamin D can negatively affect your metabolism and thus cause you to gain weight.

Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and lean meats. Meanwhile, expose your skin to the sun at least 15-20 minutes per day.

If you want a more thorough solution to potential nutrient deficiencies, reach out to a nutritionist and have him or her assess your diet, pinpointing where you can improve.

5. Stress

When you are stressed, you may overeat unhealthier foods (especially fat and sugar). Women, more than men, turn to food to comfort their stressed souls. If you have a stressful job or personal life, take inventory of your diet throughout the day, taking note of the times you nibble without awareness or indulge with easy justification.

Even if you are eating a healthy, balanced diet while under stress, you can still have trouble losing weight. Stress can cause inconsistent, chirpy breathing, depriving the body of necessary oxygen. When the blood is fueled with a good amount of oxygen, the blood flows faster and the metabolism becomes more efficient. Meanwhile, a stressed body can negatively affect digestion, tightening your core and making it harder to maintain regularity.

6. Stuck in Your Ways

It may be hard to understand why you are stuck on a weight loss plateau when you are attached too staunchly to your rituals. You exercise daily and eat healthily, but have you ever stopped to consider whether your exercise routine is (or has ever been) effective? Or, is your so-called “healthy” diet actually all you think it’s cracked up to be?

When it comes to exercise, there can be a lot of hype and not-so-much actual exertion. If you aren’t raising your heart rate high enough, moving your body in continuously unique ways, or pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, your workout may be futile for weight loss. Be honest with yourself and evaluate how your workout routine tends to go – do you challenge yourself? If you are doing the same old treadmill jog or passive elliptical stroll, maybe you’re muscles have become equally as bored. If you workout at a gym, ask a trainer to evaluate your routine and learn what you are doing right or wrong. If you tend to exercise outdoors, try a new sport!

As far as your diet is concerned, there are so many reasons why you could be going about it all wrong. If you heavily restrict any one part of your diet – calories, fat, carbs, etc. – you may be depriving your body of essential nutrition! Instead of fearing expertly-marketed diet taboos, embrace them in their wholefood forms. Instead of butter and cooked oils, opt for avocado, cold-pressed oils, and nuts, seeds, and legumes. Instead of white bread, crackers, and rice, opt for whole-grain bread, quinoa, millet, or rye. Stop counting calories and focus on quality, not numbers.

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Woman Losing Weight image from Shutterstock

The post 6 Reasons You Don’t Lose Weight (Despite Doing All the ‘Right’ Things) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Barbie may not be the most feminist-friendly toy of modern day, but she sure has come a long way from when she first stepped onto the toy scene. Sure, her looks are still unattainable, but at least the food restriction Barbie accessories are now off the market.

In 1963, Mattel, Barbie’s maker, released Barbie accessories sold under the name, “Slumber Party.” The accessories in this Barbie kit included a pink nightgown and pajamas, and some rollers. Also: A book.

“Nice, a book,” you may be thinking. Well, contain your joy and get ready for it to transform into rage. Deep, dark, rage. The book the Barbie accessories came with was titled, “How to Lose Weight.”

Barbie likes pink and food restriction! How lovely!

And the book’s advice? About as good as its title. The book advises Barbie: “Don’t eat!”

Well, that’s a lovely message. The “gotta lose weight Barbie” also came with another accessory: A pink bathroom scale set at 110 pounds. Messy Nessy Chic reminds us that Barbie is supposed to be about 5 foot 9 inches tall. So, that “weight goal” would make Barbie about 35 pounds underweight. Cool. (You can own this gross bit of toy nostalgia for $125.)

While Barbie has definitely come a long way from selling weight loss accessory kits, the doll is still irking people. Just recently, Pamela Ribon, author and screenwriter, discovered a book called “Barbie: I can be a Computer Engineer,” that was originally published in 2010. The book starts out good: Barbie is designing a game for kids! But then, disaster strikes and Barbie needs the help of her male friends to save her from disaster. The dialogue, reports by NPR, is as follows:

“‘I’m only creating the design ideas,’ Barbie says, laughing. ‘I’ll need Steven’s and Brian’s help to turn it into a real game.’

Barbie then gets a virus on the computer, which then infects another computer, and the boys wind up fixing it for her:

‘After class, Barbie meets with Steven and Brian in the library.

‘Hi, guys,’ says Barbie. ‘I tried to send you my designs, but I ended up crashing my laptop — and Skipper’s, too! I need to get back the lost files and repair both of our laptops.’

‘It will go faster if Brian and I help,’ offers Steven.’”

Barf.

Luckily, Mattel released an apology stating that this portrayal of Barbie doesn’t reflect the Brand’s idea of what Barbie stands for.

Here’s hoping that Barbie evolves more over the next few years.

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Introducing the fad diet that won’t go away: The Corset Diet.

From eating tapeworms to cayenne pepper ‘master cleanses’, women have tried fad diet after fad diet in an attempt to lose weight. Among them is the Corset Diet, where you wear a corset to reshape your body into an hourglass figure (in other words, industrial-strength Spanx).

The fad diet was first made popular by Jessica Alba, who revealed she wore a double corset day and night for three months to get her pre-baby body back after each of her pregnancies. The Corset Diet is now making a comeback, thanks to – drumroll please – Penny Brown, otherwise known as “Human Jessica Rabbit.”

No, I haven’t been dabbling in Walter White’s meth stash – this shit is for real: Penny’s life goal is to emulate the cartoon character’s famous figure. Not only did she get breast implants to take her cup size from a 34H to a 36O, she wears a corset for 23 hours a day to shrink her already 26-inch waist to half the size of her hips. (Oh. Em. Effing. Gee.) Thanks to her shenanigans, the Corset Diet is making its way back into the lives of (starving) women everywhere.

Also known as “waist training,” this fad diet is… well, insane in the membrane. According to TheCorsetDiet.com, you can shed up to six pounds a week from wearing a corset – um, yeah, because the rib-crushing garment makes it so uncomfortable to eat. And breathe. And sit. And do anything that involves using your body for, you know, being alive.

Apparently, not only can you reduce inches over time through the use of high compression tight-lacing techniques, but readjust your lower ribs for a more defined waist. (Just make sure to build a tolerance for wearing the corset first so you don’t end up cracking in half.)

So basically, you put on the corset which restricts your appetite. Many corset-wearers go from three large meals a day to six smaller ones and practice core muscle training in order to make wearing the corset as tolerable as possible. Though, what makes the experience tolerable is subjective: You’re essentially squeezing your insides like a toothpaste tube until all of your organs are rearranged and you can’t take a crap anymore because your colon’s been misplaced.

I’ll take the fat, thankyouverymuch.

While I’m completely exaggerating (sort of), I have to ask: If you take the corset out of the equation while still adjusting your meal intake and exercising regularly, do you not then have yourself a diet? You know, one where you’re not forcing your body to play musical organs and never breathe out? While this fad diet is strange, I suppose it could be worse: It’s not like you’re eating cotton or air, but still – you’re probably not that far off from people thinking you’re a “Girl, Interrupted” sequel.

How do you feel about this fad diet? Would you ever give it a try?

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The post The Corset Diet: The Unfortunate Fad Diet That’s Making a Comeback appeared first on EcoSalon.

When the good news came out (and continues to come out) that chocolate actually has some pretty significant health benefits, there was a lot of nodding and head-shaking in agreement. Mine was one of them. After all, cacao—chocolate in its raw form—is a botanical that’s full of antioxidants and minerals. Can’t go wrong there.

But we all know that the majority of us aren’t pulling cacao beans out from the milky white flesh of the cacao fruit. We’re guzzling down Reese’s peanut butter cups (or Justin’s, if you know what’s good for you). And the sugar, dairy and other ingredients, well, they dilute the potency of the cacao. In commercial milk chocolate, they practically deplete cacao of its power completely.

Similarly, raw ice cream, typically made from nuts or coconut and fruits, is leaps and bounds healthier than dairy ice cream. Not only is it free from the mucusy milk of cows who ate antibiotics, growth hormones and genetically modified corn and soy, but it’s also (usually) free from refined sugar and artificial anything.

But, still. The ice cream diet? C’mon, now. We all know that’s about as healthy as well, an ice cream diet. But Kippy’s! Ice Cream Shop in Venice, Calif. is suggesting it’s a simple way to lose weight fast. The store offers a four-day raw ice cream detox binge that’ll run you $240.

The program also comes with daily yoga, which may account for the weight loss owner Kippy Miller reports people have experienced on the ice cream diet.

Dr. Christopher Ochner, an assistant professor of pediatrics, adolescent medicine and psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said in an email to CBS News that even though this type of “cleanse” would possibly lead to initial weight loss, the weight will most certainly return in the coming days or week.

“As far as risks, individuals would be ingesting a boat load of processed saturated fat and sugar every day; pretty much the two worst things you can put in your body,” he said.

“It truly pains me to see people taking advantage of the desperation experienced by so many obese individuals wanting to lose weight,” said Ochner. “Not only is something like this unhealthy, ineffective and expensive but it perpetuates the false belief that a better body can be achieved without effort, which discourages people from doing what is actually necessary in order to lose weight and improve their health.”

Ice cream, especially healthier raw and nondairy versions, can be part of a healthy diet. But the only flavor of the month for weight loss is getting off gimmicks all together and simply eating clean, healthy foods in moderation. Especially ice cream.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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The post How to Lose Weight Fast… with the ‘Ice Cream Diet’? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Got milk? You don’t have to just drink it. 

Love it or hate it, milk has a place not only in your diet but also in your tool box and cleaning closet as well as among your toiletries. Raw goat milk, in its unadulterated and probiotic-heavy state, is the best to use. But seeing that unpasteurized milk is outlawed for sale almost everywhere in the U.S., pasteurized goat milk is second best. While not all milks are created equally, you can use any animal milk to successfully benefit from these tips. From curing a hangover to tending to those stained linens, milk has got your back.

Appetite Suppressant

To prevent overeating at mealtime, drink a glass of milk 15 minutes beforehand. Milk fills you up and gives you enough protein – 1 cup of non-fat milk contains 8.26 grams of protein – to keep you feeling fuller and less inclined to go overboard when food is served.

Hair Conditioner and Mask

With its vitamin and mineral content, milk works great on smoothing and shining your hair. Rinse your hair with fresh milk and let it sit wet for a few minutes before rinsing with water. You could also mix powdered milk with water to form a paste and then comb through hair, letting it to sit for at least 5 minutes before washing out.

Hangover Cure

Milk helps to settle the stomach, rehydrate the system, and raise blood sugar levels. These make it a great morning-after hangover cure. Additionally, milk contains the amino acid cysteine, which is known to neutralize a lethal dose of acetaldehyde, which is an alcohol metabolite.

Fish Freshener

Place frozen fish in a milk bath and let sit until the fish thaws. The milk makes the fish taste fresher.

Make-Up Remover

Mix powdered milk with water until a paste forms. Apply the paste to skin to remove make up. Rinse thoroughly.

Crack Eliminator

Before you toss Grandma’s beloved china, enlist milk to the rescue! The protein in milk reacts with the mineral kaolin in china to close cracks. All you have to do is place china in a pan, cover it with milk, and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer for up to an hour.

Silverware Polisher

For glistening silverware, take advantage of milk gone sour. Simply soak silverware in sour milk, cover it completely, and let it soak over night. The next day, wash the silverware as you normally would. If the milk isn’t sour already and you want to make your own, for every cup of milk, mix in one tablespoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of vinegar and let it sit for five minutes before use.

Bug Bite Soother

Mix milk powder with enough water until it resembles a paste. Apply the paste to the area affected by the insect bite to relieve pain. The enzymes in the milk will neutralize the venom.

Facial Cleanser and Mask

Milk is a natural cleanser. It contains vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12. The alpha-hydroxy acids in milk exfoliate the skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and discoloration. Use a cotton ball to dab milk all across your face. Let it sit for a few minutes and then wash with water before moisturizing. For a mask, take 1/4 cup powdered milk and add enough water until it becomes a paste. Mix thoroughly and apply to the face. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before rinsing.

Ink Remover

To remove ink from clothing, take the affected garment and soak it in a milk bath overnight. The next day, wash the garment as usual. The stain should be gone. To boost the milk’s effectiveness, mix two parts milk with one part vinegar as the soaking solution.

Body Skin Moisturizer

The butterfat in milk moisturizes the skin. And because the pH of milk is close to the skin’s natural pH, the skin is more receptive to the moisturizing effects of the milk. Pour a few cups of fresh milk or 1/2 cup powdered milk into your bathtub, Cleopatra style.

Dry Hands Softener

To relieve dry and chafed hands, rinse them in milk a few times a day. Over the course of a week or two, your hands will begin to feel softer and less Winter rough.

Leather Cleaner

Dab worn or dirty leather with milk and buff until clean. The milk removes debris and leaves the leather shiny and looking brand new.

Corn on the Cob Flavor Booster

Boil corn with some milk in the water – about 1/2 cup – and the corn’s sweetness will heighten and its flavors will become more developed.

Shaving Cream Replacement

Run out of shaving cream? Nothing powdered milk and water can’t fix. Mix enough water with powdered sugar to produce a paste. Apply the paste to your face, underarms, and legs and shave. This simple concoction is smooth enough to resemble the real thing.

Poison Ivy Soother

To reduce the itch from an unintended stroll through a poison ivy bush, dab fresh milk or a powdered milk and water paste on the affected area. The milk will reduce the itchiness, redness, and irritation.

Sunburn Soother

Delicately pat sunburned skin with fresh milk. The milk cools the burn and the enzymes in the milk help to offset the pain.

Fertilizer

A tip from farmers and seasoned gardeners themselves – use milk as a fertilizer. Milk has been used as an organic fungicide and fertilizer without harming the plant.

Furniture Polisher

Sour milk makes for a great furniture polisher. Apply sour milk to furniture surfaces through a disposable spray bottle and wipe clean. You can also make your own sour milk, outlined above.

Milk Carton Bird Feeder

No, we didn’t forget about offering you a way to re-use the milk carton! Here is a tutorial on how to turn the carton into a bird feeder.

Images: Muffet, Striatic, Sshreeves, Jenny Downing, Gagstreet, Markusram, Robert Benner, The Living Room

The post 20 Unusual Ways to Use Milk appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ketchup can get healthier, and under 5 minutes!

Ketchup is the mother of all condiments. It’s sweet and salty and pairs with just about anything,  even when the combo seems intuitively odd. I, for instance, have long praised the healing powers of ketchup and white rice, and a friend of mine can’t bear to eat scrambled eggs without it. Ketchup has carved an indelible spot in our food psyches – it’s a classic that some estimates claim can be found in 97% of U.S. households.

Tracing its origins to China, Ketchup was first introduced in the U.S. in 1837. By 1900, ketchup was sold by more than 100 manufacturers. In 1872, HJ Heinz introduced his version of the condiment at the Philadelphia Fair, and to this day, the recipe has remained unchanged. Over the years, first for sanitary reasons and later for marketing’s sake, the FDA has developed strict guidelines concerning the consistency of ketchup and ingredients in it.

Behind the classic lies not so uplifting stats. Ingredients in Heinz Ketchup include tomato concentrate, distilled vinegar, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, salt, spice, onion powder, and natural flavoring. While the list is relatively simple, high-fructose corn syrup is a known culprit, so much to the point that many are beginning to backfire, claiming it is “unfairly maligned.” Truth is, it deserves the flack!

In a 2010 Princeton University study, researchers found that high-fructose corn syrup leads to considerable weight gain, at a rate higher than other sweeteners. According to the study, which was administered on rats, those fed high-fructose corn syrup gained much more weight than those fed table sugar, even with the same caloric intake. The lab animals on a long-term high-fructose corn syrup diet experience abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the belly. Researchers noted that even rats on a high-fat diet don’t gain weight to that extent.

In 1 tablespoon of Heinz Ketchup, there are 20 calories, 160 milligrams of sodium, 6 grams carbohydrates, and 4 grams of sugar. The benefits deriving from the plum tomatoes are outweighed by the compounding calorie, sodium, and sugar dosages. Whoever just stops at 1 tablespoon? A few tablespoons in, and you’ve got yourself a condiment that threatens meal-status.

A condiment should never derail a diet, but many of us don’t know when to stop dipping, because serving sizes are never that clean cut. That’s why I’ve put together this simple homemade ketchup that you can whip up without laboring over the stove, risking your fries going frigid.

Using the same elements – tomatoes, sweetener, and vinegar – I’ve upped the ante on their health benefits. Maple syrup is one of the healthiest sweeteners on the market, with a lower glycemic index than other mainstream sugars. Apple cider vinegar, especially one that is indicated as “raw,” is full of vitamins, minerals, pectin, and beta-carotene. It also boasts many benefits – treats sunburn, helps weight loss, removes teeth stains, cures severe acne, treats digestive ailments, fights allergies, and reduces cholesterol.

Enjoy!

2-minute Homemade Ketchup

Makes just over 1 cup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (or agave)
• 1/4 tsp mustard
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. No cooking required!

Add lukewarm water by the teaspoon to reach the consistency you crave.

Serve aside sweet potato French fries or lather on top of a vegan chickpea burger!

Bon Appetit!

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Images: Overthinking Me, Aylin Erman

The post Nutritional Breakdown: Revamping America’s Favorite Condiment: Ketchup [Recipe] appeared first on EcoSalon.

Cinnamon steps out of its fragrant box.

Nothing reminds us of the holidays quite like cinnamon does. But why restrict the aroma to Christmas cookies and wreath decorations? Cinnamon is one of the world’s oldest-known spices and is regarded to have healing properties by many cultures. Many of its benefits derive from the spice’s anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and antioxidant prowess.

Cinnamon is no joke – it’s quite potent and can take your health to the next level. Whether you smell it, ingest it, or apply it, the health benefits of cinnamon are very real and more than skin deep. Try to incorporate it into your everyday routine to reap the most benefits. Not sure where to start? Follow one of the following 20 tips to get you going.

Brain Power Booster

It was found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory. Carry a cinnamon stick around with you, and take a whiff every so often to keep you focused at work or school. Or, add a few dashes of cinnamon to your morning coffee or cereal to get your day off to a more focused and alert start.

Potpourri

Take a few drops of essential oil of cinnamon and sprinkle them atop dry potpourri. Place the potpourri in a small bowl and station it somewhere that gets good ventilation so that the aroma can spread – in the kitchen, near doorways, or atop the radiator. The room will carry with it a subtle hint of cinnamon that will offer you some year-round comfort.

Cholesterol Reducer

In a Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center study conducted over 40 days on a group of diabetic patients, each of whom were given one-quarter of a teaspoon of cinnamon daily, researchers observed that their triglycerides, cholesterol, and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels dropped.

Pain Reliever

Cinnamon is used to treat pain because it reacts with the hormone-like substance prostaglandin, which contributes to the contraction and relaxation of muscles.

Moth Repellant

Break 3-4 cinnamon sticks and combine them with 1/2 cup of whole cloves and 1/2 cup whole black peppercorns. Fill sachets with 1 tablespoon of the mixture and toss the sachets in your underwear drawer or hang them in your closets to ward off pesky moths.

Diabetes Treatment

In the same Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center conducted a study on diabetic patients, whom were each given one-quarter of a teaspoon of cinnamon over 40 days, researchers observed that patients’ blood sugar levels fell as much as 30 percent. In another study, published by Fertility and Sterility in 2007, researchers gave half of the participants cinnamon extract and the other half a placebo. Over an 8-week period, the women who took the cinnamon extract showed greatly reduced insulin resistance compared to the placebo group.

Weight Loss

Because of cinnamon’s effectiveness in reducing insulin resistance – research by the Human Nutrition Center at Tufts reports that cinnamon triples insulin’s capacity to metabolize blood sugar – the spice can thus reduce hunger and sugar cravings, which leads to weight loss. Especially for those living with diabetes and find it hard to lose weight, cinnamon is a welcome tool.

Menstrual Aid

Cinnamon has been used for centuries to help women with heavy menstrual bleeding, whether it be due to endometriosis, uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, or primary menorrhagia as well as a result of childbirth, miscarriage, or any other fertility condition.

Circulation Booster

Cinnamon is commonly used to thin blood, which in turn increases circulation throughout the body. This not only helps to reduce pain in troubled areas but promises that oxygen is being supplied to the blood cells. Cinnamon is also a great dietary complement for heart attack survivors.

Arthritis Pain Reducer

In a 2008 study published in the journal, Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, researchers discovered that cinnamon slowed down the breaking down of bones and ultimately reduced bone damage.

Complexion Enhancer

Due to its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial qualities as well as its antioxidant power, cinnamon is effective in treating acne and skin blemishes. Mix 1 teaspoon of powdered cinnamon with 3 tablespoons of honey, apply to the skin, and let the mixture sit for a few hours or overnight. Wash off with warm water.

Mouth Freshener

Given its fresh and fragrant aroma, cinnamon is commonly used to fight bad breath. You can either chew on small pieces of cinnamon bark or gargle cinnamon water to prepare for a hot date or cleanse the palette.

Light Bulb Diffuser

Here’s a creative, no-fuss way to bring the cinnamon scent to a room. Simply put one drop of essential oil of cinnamon on a cool light bulb. When you turn the lights on, the heat from the bulb will emanate the aroma throughout the room.

Bladder Infection

Urinary tract infections and bladder infection can be avoided with the consumption of cinnamon, which packs an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal punch. Cinnamon is also a diuretic and contributes to urinary discharge.

Digestive Aid

Cinnamon helps to break down fats during digestion. The spice contains volatile oil, which is the main player in this process. Add a bit of cinnamon to a heavy dish and you will be doing your body a favor. If the spice doesn’t complement the dish, a half an hour prior to eating, sip on tea water spiced with a few dashes of cinnamon and a teaspoon of honey. The concoction will sooth your digestive system and get it ready for what’s to come.

Insect Bite Treatment

A mixture of cinnamon and honey applied to a skin irritation will help to alleviate the pain and itching. The duo will disinfect the infected area and moisturize and heal it. No need to layer on the dangerous chemicals when you have this natural remedy!

Cold and Flu Reliever

Cinnamon is commonly used across East Asia and Europe as a warming herb for conditions involving the body to become cold. In these cases, cinnamon is combined with ginger to treat a cold or flu.

Stomach Soother

A combination of honey and cinnamon is known to help relieve stomachache. The pair – which are packed with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties – not only treats ulcers but also reduces gas in the stomach.

Food Preservative

If you add cinnamon to any recipe, it actually helps to prevent the spoiling of the food by delaying bacterial growth.

Yeast Infection Fighter

Cinnamon can be used to stop medication-resistant yeast infections. High blood sugar levels can lead to candida overgrowth, and cinnamon is helpful in lowering blood sugar levels. Cinnamon’s anti-fungal properties are also helpful in combating the effects of a yeast infection. So if the meds aren’t working, try adding extra cinnamon to your diet.

*Precautions: For those of you who are pregnant or lactating, refrain from using medicinal doses of cinnamon or cinnamon bark. Cinnamon tea should also be avoided by those suffering from ulcers. Essential oil of cinnamon is toxic when consumed beyond a certain amount and is best used topically or on external objects for aroma purposes. And be careful when it comes to applying cinnamon to the skin – some people are sensitive to it. Test a small section of skin prior to any treatment.

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Images: Baking in Pearls, MadMup, ShellyS, Kastner, Ed Yourdon, Luke Roberts, Gustavo, Rachel Ford James

The post 20 Unusual Ways to Use Cinnamon appeared first on EcoSalon.