Toxin Watch: Five Ways to Avoid Hidden Toxins

By Noreen Khan-Mayberry, PhD (a modified excerpt from her book, Talking Toxicology)

Long-term exposure to everyday toxins like laundry chemicals can affect health.

The sources of toxicity are abundant and are ever-present in our homes, vehicles, and offices as well as our outdoor work/play environments. At home we can look in almost any room and find toxic chemicals that we have purchased and intentionally brought into our indoor environment. Examples include cleaning products, laundry chemicals, paints, thinners, hydrocarbons and petroleum products, personal hygiene products, chemically treated fabrics, fire retardants, sealants, pesticides, pool chemicals and the list goes on.

Generally speaking, people have many more toxins and toxicants than can be listed in a short paragraph. It can seem overwhelming when going through a list of potentially toxic chemicals. But many of us have learned to live with so many chemicals, that we may become complacent of their potential toxicity or we may cling to them as if they are part of our heritage and culture.   Continue reading →

Nature’s Answer to Stress

An essential part of staying healthy is managing chronic stress.

Everyone knows what it’s like to feel “stressed” or “threatened.” Stress sparks a surge of physiological changes in the body. Breathing quickens and the heart pumps harder. Pupils dilate, hair stands on end, and sweat glands open. Senses sharpen and so does judgment because the brain knows that this is the moment when it’s time to fight or to flee.

Stress is a normal part of being human. However, its very existence is one of duality as savior and killer. Few of us realize how stress affects our physiology—hence the reason why April is Stress Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about how stress makes an impact on our health.

Stress comes in two different packages: sudden stress (acute) and ongoing stress (chronic). Acute stressors are those perceptions of immediate threat or dangers. They bring the mental acuity, physical stamina, adrenaline, and the hormone cascade that prepares your body for “fight or flight.” But stress becomes chronic when it’s a constant factor and it can take a heavy toll on our health. Continue reading →

The Deadliest Fat (audio)

Trainer: Isagenix Research Scientist Eric Gumpricht, Ph.D.

What makes visceral fat (the fat within the belly, not the kind that hangs over it) deadlier than other types of fat? Tune in to learn more from Isagenix Research Scientist Dr. Gumpricht, who explains the science of different kinds of body fat, how visceral fat can lead to greater risk of chronic disease, and what you can do about it.

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Ageless Skin: Renewing Beauty through Science

Changing the way skin ages is possible, thanks to advances in science.

As the skin ages (largely from accumulated harm from sun exposure, environmental aggressors, eating a poor diet, and time), the rate of skin cell turnover begins to slow down. That means less creation of new, healthy skin. With a greater understanding of how the skin ages, scientists are continuing to develop better technologies to stimulate its self-renewal.

Medical-esthetician Marilyn Territo, CE, CM, a member of the Isagenix Scientific Advisory Board, explains that scientists have now developed conditioned media rich in epidermal growth factors, matrix proteins, and cell-signaling proteins called cytokines. When combined in a special serum, Territo says these can provide the “raw constituents” that  “skin cells need to thrive.” Continue reading →

What to Know About ‘Dry Labbing’

Laboratory testing of dietary supplements is required by law for proper labeling.

Can you trust what’s in your dietary supplement?

In an investigative report aired on March 18, Dateline NBC focused on an issue in the dietary supplement industry known as “dry labbing,” which involves companies hiring an unethical laboratory to fabricate documentation of analytical testing of a product without performing any testing.

The law requires that all dietary supplement products contain exactly what is stated on the label. Label claims must be supported with analytical data. The fraudulent practice of dry labbing not only violates the law, but is also dangerous because it may result in adverse events if a product contains unsafe levels of an ingredient. Continue reading →