Tag Archives: natural

Body Odour

| 2 Comments | Personal Care Products, Pregnancy & Postpartum

Anyone else find smelly armpits as annoying as I do? Well, it can be hard to 100% eliminate that issue (while staying clear of toxic compounds like aluminum, that is), but there are definitely a lot of hacks you can employ. Try some of these out and let me know how they work for you!

Diet

Of course the first thing I mention is diet. But that’s because it can have a huge impact. I have seen this first hand (both personally and professionally). The most notorious offenders for increasing body odour are:

Try eliminating these for a few weeks and see if you notice a change!

Beneficial Microbes

An imbalance of bacteria both internal and external (they cover our skin too!), can absolutely contribute to increased smelliness. To address, make sure you’re taking all the steps to maintain a Healthy Gut, with a focus on lots of fermented foods like sauerkraut, fermented carrots, yogurt and kombucha!

Topically, make sure to avoid conventional personal care products (like soap and antiperspirant) that can kill off the good guys. Usually when beneficial microbes are eliminated, the nasty ones grow back faster, creating an even more dramatic imbalance. You can also help encourage the growth of beneficial microbes by utilizing an apple cider vinegar spray (dilute 1:4 with water) or even a topical probiotic!

Deodorant, not Antiperspirant

Antiperspirants use aluminum (amongst other sketchy ingredients) to get into your sweat glands, causing them to swell and preventing sweat from being released. I heard a hilarious analogy, that’s a little off-colour. It goes like this… you know the feeling when you really really have to have a BM, but you’re in a really inconvenient place, like a coffee shop, or the library, so you hold it. That’s what you’re doing with your armpits – holding in something that really needs to get out – but instead of using muscle, you’re using a toxic compound. 

Deodorant addresses odour, but depending on the formulation it can often make things worse. So I recommend trying a few different types to find one that works for you. I struggled to find a natural deodorant that didn’t make me smell worse. And then I found Primally Pure – which is so clean you can eat it, and it actually works! Or you can go super simple (which I do sometimes too!) and just use a homemade deodorant of coconut oil, essential oils and baking soda.

Extra Help

Sometimes all that just doesn’t cut it. For example, during the postpartum period. It must have been the excess/different hormones that my body was having to break down, but ugh I totally smelled bad. Finding a good (natural) deodorant was great, but I had to take it one step further and help my armpits detox a bit! I know lots of people who swear by the armpit detoxes and cleanses (The Wellness Mama has a good one!), but considering how little time I have these days, I needed something faster. I started using Beautycounter’s Charcoal Cleansing Bar under my arms when I showered and after only a few uses the odour was completely gone. I was even able to stop using deodorant days that I wasn’t exercising!

Eggshell Seedlings

| 0 Comments | Homestead

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a gardener. This is my husband’s project. He has a MAJOR green thumb, but he doesn’t have a blog, so I’m sharing his fun project with y’all today!

 

Starting Seedlings

It’s smart to start seedlings indoors between 4 and 6 weeks before you plan to transfer outdoors. This depends on the plan, so make sure you research the duration of sprouting! Where we live, the golden-rule is to not plant anything outside until Victoria Day weekend (for my friends south of the border, that’s the weekend before Memorial Day). Even if it feels nice enough, Mother Nature will bite you with a random night of frost if you attempt to plant too early!

Eggshell Seedlings

It is common to start seedlings in peat-pots or the classic plastic-cells. We’re not fans of the plastic-cells, for obvious reasons, but the peat-pots which are a great option, come with a price tag and do require energy inputs into making them. So instead, we chose egg-shells because they are free; they are incredibly environmentally friendly (especially because they were used twice!); they provide nutrients into the soil; and they are really easy to transfer. 

Process

1. Collecting Eggshells

We started collecting eggshells in March, being careful to try and crack the egg so that 2/3s of it remained in tact. This allowed for a fairly large little pot to fill with soil! Within a few weeks we had multiple dozens ready to go.

2. Preparing Eggshells and Soil

Once we had gathered enough shells, and the timing was right, the hubby rinsed all of the egg shells, poked a hole in the bottom (to allow excess water to drain and prevent drowning) and filled them with potting soil (ideally organic) making sure not to leave any air pockets. He moistened the soil every day for a few days, before planting, to bring it back to life (his words). Which means, to give any dormant microbes the change to wake up! Microbes are important for everything! Not just gut health!

 

3. Planting Seeds

Next, he planted the seeds at depth instructed by packages. He watered every day with a misting spray bottle, so as not to over or underwater, or displace the seeds. It takes a bit more time, but it is more effective.

 

4. Transferring Seedlings

Once the seedlings are mature enough, and when the weather is nice, he will transplant them into our raised garden beds. 

Using a garden trowel or your hands, dig a hole large enough for the egg. As you place the egg into the hole, gently squeeze the egg to crush the shell. This makes space for the roots to escape! Gently cover with soil and pat down around the plant, being sure not to break the seedling. Make sure not to allow any air pockets in around the egg (which can result in fungal growth). You can avoid air pockets by firmly pressing down on the soil around the seedling.

(photo coming soon!)

NOTE: If a seedling outgrows the egg, because you planted them too early, or the weather isn’t cooperating, you may have to transfer them into a larger pot in the meantime. While it’s an extra step, the nutrients still go into that soil so make sure to dump the soil from the new pot into the garden when you eventually replant outdoors!

Folate vs. Folic Acid, Neural Tube Defects vs. Autism – Clearing up the Confusion

| 0 Comments | Pregnancy & Postpartum
 
I’ve had some (panicked) questions about the recent articles on folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and increased risk of autism. Let’s chat science:
 
1. This study is what is called an Observational Study. Do these types of studies have their merits? Absolutely. Do they establish causation? Absolutely NOT. This study looked at blood levels of folate and B12 in newborns 24-72 hours after birth, and then the development of ASD later in life. A correlation was established. Correlation – just like how eating ice cream increases your risk of being bitten by a shark.
 
“LOGIC”: eating ice cream happens more in the summer –> the summer equals more people swimming in the ocean –> more people swimming in the ocean increases the risk of shark attacks, therefore eating ice cream –> increased risk of shark attack. Absurd.
 
Now it’s important to not simply throw out a study because it’s correlational. Correlational studies are the jumping off point for mechanistic studies. But, we can’t make recommendations, especially dramatic ones, on correlation. 
 
2. No mechanism is established. But you know what we do have a mechanism for? Folate deficiency and neural tube defects. The neural tube is the part of the embryo that turns into the spine. It closes at 3 weeks post-conception, and REQUIRES folate to do so successfully. There is a known, causal mechanism for folate deficiency and NTDs like spina bifida. And the fact that it is required so early in pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant, shows how important it is to be taking folate (or eating a TON of leafy greens and chicken livers) prior to conceiving.
 
3. Population. Direct quote from the study:
“Data are from the Boston Birth Cohort…that recruited low-income urban, primarily minority mother-offspring pairs…followed them from birth through childhood…”
There are many confounding factors in that statement alone. For example, income is the number one determinant of health. This shows that it is important to analyze the actual study, instead of just reading a headline.
 
4. Folate vs. Folic Acid. Have you noticed that I’ve only used the word “folate” thus far? That’s because FOLATE is the food-based version of this important B vitamin. It’s the one the body needs and recognizes as usable. Folic Acid is a synthetic form of folate – it is not the same thing, and in some cases (usually with genetic anomalies) it can cause problems. Most people uses these 2 terms interchangeably but I cannot stress the importance of recognizing the difference. Finding a pre-natal supplement that contains FOLATE is challenging, but there are a few out there. You want to look for something that says “folate” or “active folate” or “methylated folate”. My favourite is Designs for Health, in combination with lots of leafy greens and regular liver consumption.
 
5. More isn’t better, it’s just more. As with all supplementation, more isn’t better. Follow your practitioner’s recommendations for the amount of folate to consume (just make sure it’s folate, not folic acid, and make sure that if your practitioner wants you to stop supplementing, they read the STUDY not the news article…otherwise get a second opinion.) Better yet, get most of it from your food. Leafy greens and chicken livers are your best sources!
 
6. Nutrients do not work in isolation. High levels of plasma folate and B12 indicate a metabolic issue – either stemming from a genetic anomaly (like the MTHFR mutation) or more often, other nutrient deficiencies. A diet high in all the nutrients (as in, not just from a pre-natal, but from consuming lots of vegetables, fruit, liver, meat, fish, eggs and quality fats) is required for all systems to function properly. Check out my free handout for a nutrient dense diet for fertility and pregnancy.
 
7. The media and nutrition. This is a post in and of itself, but to sum up quickly – the media should be ashamed of themselves for the way they create fear through headlines. No one ever reads the study before creating a shocking, and terrifying title. Case in point this study – the study authors conclusion:
“In this urban low-income minority birth cohort, we observed an elevated risk of ASD associated with high maternal plasma folate levels (>59 nmol/L), which far exceeds the excess cutoff suggested by the WHO (>45.3 nmol/L); however reported maternal vitamin supplementation was protective. Excess maternal vitamin B12 (>600 pmol/L) in pregnancy was also shown to be associated with greater ASD risk in offspring. The risk of ASD was highest if mothers had both excess prenatal folate and vitamin B12 levels. Our findings warrant additional investigation and highlight the need to identify optimum prenatal folate and vitamin B12 levels that maximize health benefits, at the same time minimize the risk of excess and its associated adverse consequences such as ASD.”
An interview with the study authors states this even more emphatically:
“Our work is very consistent with previous work showing that supplementation is critical to maternal health and child development and health, so at this point the recommendation is definitely to continue supplementation. What this study finds is that while maintaining adequate levels of folate is important, extreme levels may be harmful.”
What does all that mean?
 

Continue supplementing during pregnancy!

In summary, please do not freak out if you’ve been taking prenatals thus far. They are incredibly important (and this is coming from someone who prefers food over supplements most of the time!). Ideally switch to a version that contains folate, the active form of the nutrient recognized by the body. Keep the diet incredibly rich in nutrients by focusing on lots of leafy greens, quality meat & organ meats, egg yolks, fish, grass-fed dairy (if tolerated), bone broth and probiotic-rich foods (like sauerkraut & kombucha).

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