Thursday, June 20, 2013

DIY - Shampoo and Conditioner Alternative


I, like most other people, have been washing my hair with store bought shampoo all my life. I have never really thought about what's in it; naively trusting that the company who made it and the governing bodies that approved it all have my best interests at heart. Over the years I have been told about all the harmful chemicals that are in shampoo and other body care products but I didn't really pay much attention. 

So there I am, happily washing my hair with my TRESemme Luxurious Moisture Shampoo and I think to myself... "what's in this stuff anyway?".

I decided to take a gander at the ingredients list.

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cacamidopropyl Betane, Glycol Distearate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Niacinamide, Biotin, Asorbic Acid, Cocamide Mea, Sodium Chloride, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Polyquaternium-47, Polysorbate 20, Disodium Edta, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance.

From this list I have what I would call, a good working knowledge of two of the ingredients. (Guess which two!) So I decided to look it all up! (scroll down to see the list of ingredients with notes as to what I found)

To make a long story short; of the 17 ingredients listed on my bottle of shampoo, 8 of them are known irritants; and some of them may be, or may contain, known human carcinogens. And I'm putting this ON MY HEAD!!!

Well no more!

Luckily there are numerous "make your own shampoo" recipes out there so I have decided to try some.
The one I tried today was the simplest recipe I found (credit to diynatural.com)
Mix 1 tbsp of baking soda into 1 cup of water. Squirt some on your head and massage into scalp for a minute or two before rinsing.
I followed this with their conditioner (1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar mixed with 1 cup of water, massage into scalp and rinse).
Surprisingly enough this worked like a charm. My hair looked and felt clean and once it was dry there was no vinegar smell at all. (I had three separate people smell my hair numerous times just to be sure!).

I do have to say I missed the suds, even though they do absolutely nothing. Also, I have short hair and I don't think I would have liked this if my hair was still long. It felt like tossing some water on my head and rubbing it in. Therefore I will be trying another recipe tomorrow.

I will do my best to update the blog at that time... but you know me; I wouldn't hold my breath!

For what it's worth I would rate the shampoo recipe form diynatural a 2.5 out of 5.

TLDR; Store bought shampoo, and other body care products, are toxic; learn to make your own at diynatural.cominstructables.com, or wellnessmama.com. Or just google it ;)


Below is the info I found on each of the ingredients in my shampoo.

Water I think it's safe to assume we all know this one, so lets move on.

Glycol Distearate, Panthenol, Niacinamide, Biotin, Asorbic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Polyquaternium-47 - are all considered safe and I could find no information to the contrary.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate - besides being known as a potential irritant to skin and eyes, Sodium Laureth Sulfate may be contaminated with measurable amounts of ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane depending on the manufacturing process. Ethylene oxide is a known human carcinogen and 1,4-dioxane is a possible human carcinogen according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. (learn more at davidsuzuki.org)

Cacamidopropyl Betane - also known to cause irritation and allergic contact dermatitis either as a result of the ingedient itself or as a result of possible impurities within the ingredient such as 3-dimethylaminopropylamine which, according to the MSDS has the following potential health effects:
Eye: Causes eye burns.
Skin: Causes skin burns. May cause skin sensitization, an allergic reaction, which becomes evident upon re-exposure to this material. May be harmful if absorbed through the skin.
Ingestion: Harmful if swallowed. Causes gastrointestinal tract burns.
Inhalation: Causes chemical burns to the respiratory tract. May be harmful if inhaled. Inhalation of high concentrations may cause pulmonary edema.
Chronic: Repeated or prolonged exposure may cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals.
Tocopheryl Acetate - this is vitamin E with Acetic Acid added to it. It is generally considered safe although the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) did report at least one animal study that showed tumor formation at high doses and strong evidence of human skin toxicant or allergen.

Cocamide Mea - is generally considered safe although there is a chance this ingredient may contain traces of Cocamide DEA, which according to the FDA may lead to the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride - I thought for sure this would be the one that came up as "the killer"; Hydroxypropyltrimonium? Doesn't that just scream DANGER!?! But nope, it's safe; at least so far as I could find.

Polysorbate 20 - this ingredient starts out as harmless sorbitol (sugar alcohol), but then it's treated with 20 parts ethylene oxide, a known human carcinogen. There is also the risk that it could be contaminated with 1,4 dioxane a possible human and known animal carcinogen.

Disodium Edta - levels of disodium EDTA are too low in body care products to cause direct harm when products are used as directed. According to my research though, you should be aware of disodium EDTA content in processed foods and beverages, where disodium EDTA in reaction with active and unstable ingredients like Vitamin C and sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda), forms benzenes, a potent carcinogen. Also, EDTA is becoming an environmental pollutant due to large quantities used in industrial applications, medical applications and manufacturing.

DMDM Hydantoin - DMDM Hydantoin works as a preservative by releasing formaldehyde and is a strong skin, eye, and lung irritant. It has also been known to trigger an immune response that can include burning, itching, blistering, or scaling of skin.

Fragrance - Turns out my working knowledge of this ingredient is a lot more limited than I originally thought. "Fragrance" can, and often does, represent a complex mixture of dozens of chemicals. Some 3,000 chemicals are used as fragrances and most have not been tested for toxicity, either alone or in combination. Many of these unlisted ingredients are irritants and can trigger allergies, migraines, and asthma symptoms.

Check out http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ for more info on what is in that lotion you just slathered all over your body! Good ole David Suzuki has you covered too at davidsuzuki.org.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

My Vegan Adventure - Week Three

Sorry this update is so very late. There is just so much to do and so little time to do it.
Besides, the blog is really only for me anyway so who am I apologizing to? It's not like anyone was out there waiting for this post... but I digress.

So week three of the vegan adventure was a total bust. I just don't have time to make everything from scratch each night. By the time I get home it's already 5:30pm and the family and I are already starving! By the time I get dinner sorted out it's almost 7:00pm and we are just not enjoying eating that late.

I may try the meal plan again now that I know what it's like. I can take some time on the weekends and make most of the dinners and put them in the fridge or freezer.

Even if I don't do the plan again at least I have some great recipes to pull from when making my own meal plan.

Since we stopped the vegan plan we have been eating like crap and feeling even worse. How do people do it? How do people work full time, keep the house clean, eat healthy, exercise and still have time for the extra circulars like visiting friends, watching a movie or reading a book? How do people stick to a schedule? I just can't seem to do it! It always starts off good but quickly falls by the wayside.

Anyway, guess I just have to keep on trying.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

My Vegan Adventure - Week Two

Week Two is over and I messed it up quite a bit. You see, Sunday was Mother's Day so hubby and daughter did all the cooking; and the meal plan (especially on the weekends) is quite a lot of work. Besides that I REALLY wanted eggs for my traditional Mother's Day breakfast. We got our eggs from a local farmer who treats his chickens quite well so I have no guilt there (the bacon and sausage is another story but we'll pretend it didn't happen : / )

Since I didn't do any of the cooking on Sunday we didn't have the left overs to use as lunches for the next few days therefore we were forced to improvise.

Also, on Friday my daughter's best friend slept over. Long story short we strayed from the meal plan on Friday and Saturday.    :(

Ah well, pobody's nerfect as they say.

For the most part we stuck with the breakfasts and had a few of the lunches and dinners as scheduled. There were actually a few items on the menu this week that I regret not making; like the kidney bean burgers and the Tamari Stir Fry.

One thing we did have, and it turned out marvellous, was Coconut Rice with Sweet Potato Curry! Another surprise was the Lemon Dill Bean Dip. Surprisingly good.

Tonight's dinner, Mashed Potatoes with Peas and Tamari Sautéed Mushrooms was good but not very filling. Guess it's time for a snack.

Tomorrow is shopping day for the start of Week Three and I am going to try and pre-cook some of the main
items to help stay on track the rest of the week. I am also going to try and give up milk for the week. I've been resisting. I really enjoy a glass of milk with dinner but I think it's time to try and forego it.

Until next week!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

My Vegan Adventure - Week One

As promised here is more about my foray into the world of Vegan eating.

I have completed week one and I feel great! I have lost 6lbs!!! And that is solely from eating on this meal plan as I have not increased my physical activity to any great degree.

Some of the highlights, surprises and disappointments from our first week.

1) It does still take some work and preparation as the goal is to make everything from scratch. This means I made guacamole, peanut sauce and hummus from scratch for the first time ever.

2) The amount of "sweet treats" in the plan is AMAZING! I have not felt deprived once. There have been no mid-day cravings to grab a donut at the coffee shop or a chocolate bar from the corner store (which were pretty daily cravings before this plan!) My hubby even survived a cupcake day at his work without any real struggle!

3) The amount of food in general is a lot. I don't think I have been able to eat everything on the menu for the day, yet.

4) Some of my favourite meals has been a Black Bean Taco Salad over Quinoa, French Toast with Raspberry Sauce (who knew you didn't need eggs and milk for that!), Mushroom Marinara Pasta and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I am blown away by the types of food I get to eat. Even my twelve year old daughter is loving the plan. (she's by no means a picky eater but I was worried she wouldn't enjoy the change in diet as she loves cheese and ham!!)

5) There was one night where I just didn't have time to make the meal that was planned for dinner. Had I reviewed the plan for the week more thoroughly I would have thought to make the main portion of this meal ahead of time and just put it in the freezer until the day of... live and learn.

6) My only real problem with the plan is the amount of peanuts used... and the only reason it's a problem is that my daughter isn't allowed to bring anything with peanuts in it to school which makes some of the snacks a little hard. Other than that, all is good!

Thank you so much +Heather Nauta for creating this plan!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

My Vegan Adventure

Wow... over a year has come and gone! I did get back on track fitness wise for a little while but than the autumn came and I soon found myself falling back into my old routine. Little to no exercise and slowly started increasing my carb intake until the next thing I knew I was up 11 pounds! What is wrong with me!?!

Anyway, I've been hunting around trying desperately to put together a vegetarian meal plan but it is so much WORK! After months of trying I gave up and was just trying to add more veggies into my diet and substitute where I could.

Then I watched Vegucated and thought "hmm... what would it be like to go vegan??" So off I went again scouring the net for info. Trying to make sense of all the contradictory information and weed out all the irrelevant arguments. After a few weeks of looking I thought I might like to try a few vegan meals but every time I looked for recipes everything had tofu in it or soy.

And then I found her. Heather Nauta and her website Healthy Eating Starts Here.

I read through her site and found that she has created a four week vegan meal plan with recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks! Not only that but it's customizable, so I put in my height, weight etc and that of my hubby and daughter and the system will calculate how much of everything to buy (and gives a great shopping list), calculates how much to make and how much each of us should eat! AND there's NO tofu!!

You can further customize the recipes to be low glycemic, gluten free etc.

After hmm-ing and ha-ing over it with my hubby we decided to opt in. I am SO HAPPY we did. Best purchase ever!

I'll tell you more about it later but right now I must go feed the family.

Health and Happiness to all!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

I fell of the wagon and it HURT! Up 8.8 lbs.... yikes.

Okay... time to take responsibility and get back on track. Doing a biggest loser challenge at work again. Goal is to lose 29 lbs in 10 weeks.

Wish me luck!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sandra 1, Perkins 0

So a few months back we had gone to Perkins (probably sometime in May or June). At the end of our meal they gave us a coupon for $10.00 off our next meal when we spend $25.00 or more (before tax). I tacked this to the fridge and promptly forgot about it.

Today I found it, and Trin decided she was going to eat at her friends house so my husband and I decided to go to Perkins for dinner. After scouring the coupon looking for an expiration date I came to the conclusion that it was still good and we were on our way.

After a pretty decent meal (I love breakfast for dinner!), we went to the counter to pay and I presented my coupon. Rather proudly I must say as I usually forget and pay full price!

The guy at the counter took one look and said we can't accept this anymore.

"There's no expiry date." I said

He looked the coupon over and asked where I got it. I told him I got it from Perkins. He asked "From the hotel?".

"No, from here."

"Well I don't think this offer is valid any more, we're not doing it anymore.

"There's no expiry."

"Well, if you got this from the hotel..."

"No, I got it a couple of months ago from this Perkins restaurant and there is no expiry date."

The guy looked very put out but decided to honor the coupon anyway. Although I felt rather agitated  I managed to stay impressively calm... anyone who knows me would have given me an oscar!

Normally in situations like this I would have just rolled over to avoid the confrontation (I'm not always good at controlling the volume of my voice and my temper flares at times so it's usually just easier to give in.) However, I am rather proud that I stood up for myself and managed to not make a scene.

:)