It's bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children's health than the pediatrician. ~Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep has an interesting point. A report put out by the Environmental Working Group, titled ' Pesticide's in children's food' concluded that the largest contributing factor to a person's lifetime risk of developing cancer was pesticide residues occuring during childhood. I discuss this not to scare you, but to help you realise the profound affect that feeding your child organic foods has upon them now and in the future.

In the childhood years, the brains are developing, the body systems are forming, the child is in a constant state of growth of vital organs to last a lifetime. Their small bodies consume more foods in relation to their body size than adults do. The amounts of pesticide residues that are deemed 'acceptable' by the government , are calculated on adults, not on children. This all seems a little overwhealming, but the truth is that with education, we have empowerment.

What next??? If going 100% organic is not possible for you now, try avoiding the top 12 containmated food, or better still try purchasing them organically. It is suggested that if you purchase these foods organically you will lower your pesticide exposure by a whopping 90%. ( Environmental orking group, October 2003).

Peaches:
Apples
Red Capsicums
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

Take control of your child's health and you'll find that you will trade trips to the doctor's surgery with deliveries of organics...Great trade off, much preferable.

To your good health

ORGANIC EMPIRE, organic home delivery melbourne

Clean Up time again

We collected 95 bags of rubbish at our last monthly pick-up, well done!We hope to see you all this Sunday for our next clean up our beautiful Mother Earth Day. Come along and be a part of the Global Clean-up Project in action.

Please send this to everyone you know.

Global Clean-up Project

The most profound changes start by our every day choices…

Date: Sunday, 26 July 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.


Location 1:
Lilydale Railway Station
Maroondah Hwy
Melway Ref Map 38 D-4

Co-ordinator: Rose Italiano
Contact: 0425-796-382
Location 2:
Egan St, Carnegie
Melway Ref: Map 68 J-3

Co-ordinator: Laurence Poncin
Contact: 0420-802-044


To attend please choose one of the above locations.

Bring your gloves, a hat, drinking water, sunscreen, and please wear protective shoes.

Please bring your mobile phone with you and have it switched on.

· If you are unable to join us, you can take individual action collecting rubbish. Bags of trash you collect can be added to our global tally.


Many blessings and thank you for your participation.

Kind regards,
Rose Italiano
Global Clean-up Co-ordinator

“Leave every space more beautiful than you found it”
- Louix Dor Dempriey

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Try moving more...

TIP FOR TODAY: No I am not talking about your house, I talking about moving your body. Moving, exercising is imperative, just as important as good food. Exercising builds a strong body, and in conjunction with organic foods, you have a recipe for great health, you will feel good, look good and have more energy.

So everyday challenge yourself to move like you have never moved before. Climb the stairs if given an opportunity, play chasey with the kids, walk, run, dance, skip,ride, jump, climb..Not only will this improve your fitness, but will also help you relieve stress.

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PURE WATER ON TAP

Water is one of the main components in determining the quality of our lives. Although water covers more than 70% of the Earth, only 1% of the Earth's water is available as a source of drinking. Yet, our society continues to contaminate this precious resource. Water is known as a natural solvent. Before it reaches the consumer's tap, it comes into contact with many different substances, including organic and inorganic matter, chemicals, and other contaminants. Many public water systems treat water with chlorine to destroy disease-producing contaminants that may be present in the water. Although disinfection is an important step in the treatment of potable water, the taste and odor of chlorine is objectionable. And, the disinfectants that are used to prevent disease, can create byproducts which may pose significant health risks. Today, drinking water treatment at the point-of-use is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity! It is important to take matters into your own hands and determine the quality of the water that you and your family will drink by investigating what is good for you. For ages, I purchased Nobles Pureau Water in a cask, which was great and tasted amazing, but then I found reverse osmosis system. I have installed one my home, the water is the best tasting that I have had, and we have a run off tap that I then use in our garden. For me, water is one of the most important things that we put in our body, well, we cant actually survive for too long without it, so its most important for all of us. So its paramount that we ensure that its the best that we can get. For more information on water filters, check out http://purewaterontap.com.au

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A fantastic Australian Story

Peter Andrews is an amazing man, doing great things for the Australian environment. Australian story on ABC, featured his tale just yesterday. He is an farmer, passionate about restoring our degraded land, and doing it holistically. Check it out here http://www.abc.net.au/austory/

If you want to learn more about what he is doing for our environment, check him out here http://www.naturalsequencefarming.com/, he claims to have the best bio diverse organic farm in the world. Maybe we all have something to learn from him....

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Just don't tell them its HEALTHY

The lunchbox is always a bone of contention in our household. Wars are waged daily over it, why didn't you eat that? You need to eat that ?... So in desperation, I have needed to become a little more creative in my lunch box culinary ventures, which is always a bit challenging when you wake up 15 mins before the kids need to go to school. Nutrition is the forefront of my food preparation, so not only does the food need to look good, and taste good, but it has to be good. Eating organic is a great start, but not all organic packaged foods are healthy foods. So for me, its most important that my kids get as many fresh real foods into them.


So everyday, the lunchbox is broken up into 4 sections, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea and snacks.

VEGETABLES: Lunchboxes are a great opportunity to get kids eating vegetables. Cut them as creative as you can. Stars, suns, flowers, swords, call them what you will, just make sure you dont call them vegetables. Kids love to dip, so add some dip, maybe some hommus, some tzatzki, or pesto. Package in small, kid friendly containers. Try carrots (cut up), corn, raw off the cob (its pirates gold in our house), cucumber, cherry tomatoes, celery etc.

FRUITS: Every child has their favourite fruit, so be sure to include at least one of these daily in their lunch box. If you can, chop these up, make it easier for their little hands to enjoy. I swear fruit always tastes better when someone has cut it up. Make a fruit salad, cut the orange into rounds, apples into stars.

PROTEINS: We always pack a small container of nuts, depending on what we have in the house, we usually do a trail kind of mix, we mix almonds, sunflower seeds, dried fruits, apricots, etc.

CARBOHYDRATES: Some sandwich ideas, call them crazy names:

Far far away felafel's
Cut a pitta in half, spread with cream cheese, hummus and baba ghanouj, add thinly sliced cucumbers and tomato and if you can a falafel.

You are nuts
Spread cashew or almond paste on the inside of a pita. Add fresh sliced pear (dip into some lemon water to prevent browning) or use a sugar free jam.

Orange Nut
Raw Nut butter** and grated carrot.



You get the idea, use the ideas below and make up your own names, that you kids would find funny.

Avocado, bean sprouts and tomato
Baked beans (drained) and grated low fat cheese
Bananas mashed with ricotta cheese
Chopped egg, lettuce
Hummus, sliced tomato and sprouts
Cream cheese, grated carrot and sultanas
Cheese, pineapple and lettuce
Peanut butter and honey
Peanut butter lightly spread, topped with chopped dried fruit (apricots and sultanas)
Tabouli salad, lettuce and fetta cheese


WATER: Sweet hydration, is so important for every body.


I think its paramount to be creative in all your endeavours with kids, allow them to be involved where you can and give them a passion for good food.

Kids love making their own food, so encourage them where you can, a  burrito or a pita pocket they make themselves can be a fun and healthy lunch option. Prepare shredded vegetables, sauce, and let the kids assemble their own lunch at school. You control what goes in it and they choose what they like!
Kids love surprises, so I try to include something that will surprise them in their lunchbox, so that they look forward to opening it. This might be a note on their paper bag, or a 'treat', like some cranberries with raw cashews (sooo good). If these don't appeal to your child, you will know what does.
Make some muffins, some healthy biscuits

Try to mix things up a bit, use different breads (avoiding white breads, where possible), expose them to different flavours, different packaging and hopefully you'll get different results.

**Place nuts of choice in a blender and grind till a butter like consistency is formed

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MEN AND THEIR PROSTRATE

Men’s Health - Prostate
Don’t be Hesitant - Help for Prostate Enlargement is Available
One of the most common health problems experienced by men is Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia or BPH. BPH is a medical term that means a man’s prostate gland has become bigger than it should be. Because the prostate gland wraps around a part of the urinary tract, when it becomes enlarged, it actually presses on the tube that carries urine, altering the ability to pass urine.

Prostate facts:
• Only males have a prostate, females do not.
• A normal prostate is about the same size and shape as a walnut.
• 2/3 of the prostate is glandular tissue which produces fluid for semen, which carries sperm during a man’s orgasm.
• 1/3 of the prostate is muscle, which contracts during an orgasm to expel the semen into the urethra.
• The prostate surrounds part of the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder through the penis.
• 50% of men will develop an enlarged prostate by the time they are 50 years old.
• Up to 90% of men aged 70 to 90 years old develop an enlarged prostate.

Symptoms of an Enlarged Prostate Include:
• Difficulty starting to urinate;
• Difficulty maintaining urinary flow, or starting and stopping when trying to pass urine;
• Needing to urinate urgently;
• Needing to urinate more frequently, and
• Increase in the occurrence of urinary tract infections, which may cause irritation or burning when passing urine.

These problems occur because the urethra is squashed as the prostate increases in size (BPH is a serious and troubling medical problem that requires proper management). It is important to mention that BPH is not prostate cancer, nor does it make you more likely to develop prostate cancer, however it is possible to have both.

Good News for Men with BPH
If you’re sick and tired of needing to pass urine all the time, getting up in the night to pass urine and dribbling then nature has a gift for you. Particular herbs are very effective at managing BPH and reducing the troublesome symptoms. A combination of these beneficial herbs can be taken to manage BPH and may also be worth considering where there is a strong family history of BPH.

Giving Nature a Helping Hand
Zinc is like the prostate’s best friend! Zinc is an essential nutrient for men’s health, and having low zinc levels can create health problems. For men, it is particularly important to include zinc rich foods (preferably organic) in your diet. These include oysters, milk, baked beans, egg yolks, herring, beef, lamb, cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds (you can snack on these or throw them in a salad).

There is an easy taste test that we can do to check your zinc levels at my practice. It takes only 10 seconds to do and is completely painless. If your zinc level is really low, it is worth taking a liquid zinc supplement. This is the most effective way of boosting your zinc levels when they are really low and improving your health fast! Then you may rely on zinc rich foods to keep your levels up.
Don’t let a manageable condition such as BPH interfere with your life. Call the practice today to organise an appointment for your zinc check-up and to discuss achieving optimal health.

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