Personal Responsibility Archives

Five Chemicals Banned In Europe (Sold in the USA)

Did you know there are toxic food chemicals allowed to be used in the foods you consume and feed your children? And what’s even more shocking if that many other industrialized nations, especially in Europe, have tested some of these chemicals, deemed them unsafe and banned them from their food chains.

However, in the good ol’ USA, we have a totally different approach to food safety. Here, the Food and Drug Administration uses the “innocent until proven harmful” tactic, allowing ingredients into our foods sometimes for decades until and unless someone can show there’s a problem.

Some of these chemicals can cause symptoms from diarrhea to hormone disruption and some are suspected of causing life-threatening diseases like cancer.

So before you take another bite, check out this list (mean to be a starting point to your own research and self-empowerment with respect to the foods that you feed your amazing body):

rBGH and rBST – available in Milk
Olestra – available in packaged, highly-processed foods
BVO – available in soft drinks
Potassium bromate (bromated flour) – available in baked goods
DPA – available in Apples

10 Rules to Live By

Have you ever been curious, really curious, about the rules, traditions and dogmas you follow? Have you ever take time to analyze or think through some of the “rules” given to you by your school, your parents, your religion, your society? Do these rules work for you? Do they make you a better, kinder, happier human? Do they negatively affect others around you (who deserve as much happiness and peace as you do)?

I ask myself these questions regularly and come up with my own set of rules to live by based on my experiences and the curiosity that makes me ask others about their own. I truly believe that natural curiosity makes me a more compassionate and understanding member of the human species.

Here are the 10 ones I have been contemplating for the last few months and wanted to share them with you, in hopes they help you build your own. Enjoy!

Rule 1: All living creatures deserve happiness and safety

Rule 2: Take responsibility (for your actions, your thoughts, yourself)

Rule 3: See both sides of the argument before making a judgment call

Rule 4: Great achievements involve great risk, an a healthy dose of fear

Rule 5: Embrace your fear, not the other way around

Rule 6: Practice the 2-1 rule, listen twice as often as you talk (two ears for one mouth)

Rule 7: Change is part of you, and it’s a darn good thing

Rule 8: If things don’t go your way, take a step off, regroup, re-plan and redo

Rule 9: Don’t hold anger for others in your soul. That anger only hurts you

Rule 10: Be a lifelong student. Every day, find a new lesson to enrich your life.

UTI prevention: Uqora’s founder explains how to cover your bases

A few weeks ago, I met Jenna Ryan, a wellness advocate and entrepreneur who had such a relevant and poignant story, I asked her if she could share it here with me and my community. She gracefully agreed and here’s the post she wrote for us…

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Sometimes you’re doing everything right, and you’re still getting slammed with UTI after UTI. Uqora’s CEO and co-founder Jenna Ryan explains how she their pink lemonade with a purpose gives you the defense against UTIs, and outlines the daily habits that minimize your risk.

In 2014, I had eight UTIs. I’ve always been susceptible to UTIs, but I had averaged two per year up until that point. This was a new record. My physicians couldn’t explain the sudden onslaught, nor could they craft a better preventive regime than daily antibiotics. Although antibiotics did work for prevention, with antibiotics came yeast infections and other pesky side effects. Plus, there was also the risk of antibiotic resistance with long-term use, which is a risk I refused to take.

For me, the cause of my UTIs was fairly obvious; that familiar tinge would sometimes come an hour after sex or sometimes take days to rear its ugly little UTI head. Either way, my ability to sit back and enjoy an après-sex cuddle pretty much disappeared. Instead, I was immediately sprinting to the bathroom, beating myself up if I couldn’t manage to squeeze the tiniest amount of urine out. Often times I would just immediately jump in the shower.

This isn’t a new and unusual story by any means. UTIs are the second most common infection in the United States, impacting millions of women like me. It’s also been shown to share links with UI. Despite its prevalence, UTI prevention options have not been up to snuff. My own prevention pursuit led me down dead-end, antibiotic-filled paths, with tired, useless cranberry products at every turn.

As a result of my UTI apocalypse, I teamed up with a team of top urologists and physicians to develop Uqora—a pink lemonade with a purpose. You can mix Uqora with a glass of water to flush UTI-causing bacteria after sex, exercise, or every day.

Uqora works in three key ways:

Prevents bacteria from sticking to your urinary tract, keeping an infection from taking hold in the first place.
Stimulates urine production so you don’t have to sit on the toilet for 20 minutes struggling to squeeze out a drop and tell yourself you’ve done your post-sex duty.
Bolsters your immune system function with vitamins and electrolytes to give your body the boost it needs to fend off infections.

What can you do to prevent UTIs?

Often with UTI prevention, there is no silver bullet. Uqora has been a game changer for me and our customers, but it’s important to cover all your bases.

Below I’ve outlined the habits that are key to avoiding UTIs day in and day out.

Treat your water bottle like your phone—don’t leave your house without it

Fluid helps move things through the urinary tract, but it also dilutes the urine so bacteria can’t grow, so get serious about staying hydrated.

Wipe from front to back
Coli is responsible for 90 percent of UTIs. Wiping from front to back instead back to front ensures that you aren’t helping harmful bacteria to migrate from your rectum to your urinary tract.
Urinate after sex

Try your best to urinate after sex, which will help flush out any bacteria that may have migrated from the vagina to the urethra during sex.

Let her breathe!

Wet bathing suits, tight pants, and sweaty gym clothes trap moisture which harbors bacteria. If you are prone to UTIs, change right after your workout or beach day.

Ditch the douche

As if there aren’t enough reasons to keep douches far away from your vagina, they also kill the good bacteria (lactobacillus) you need to combat a UTI.

Avoid holding your pee for prolonged amounts of time

This might be a moot point with the UI crowd, but holding your urine for a long time allows bacteria to multiply in the urinary tract, resulting in a bladder infection or UTI. Don’t wait until it’s an emergency.

What about antibiotics?

Although antibiotics are likely to be effective in the short term, continuing to use them can have a serious, long-term impact on your health. If you suffer from recurrent UTIs you may build a tolerance to antibiotics. Also consider the short-term side effects like nausea, diarrhea or opportunistic infections like yeast infections. You can talk to your doctor about preventative (prophylactic) antibiotic use—but do consider the long-term implications first.

Despite your best efforts, sometimes UTIs can be out of your control—some people just have a higher propensity toward UTIs. This can be a result of hormonal changes, anatomy, pregnancy, conditions like diabetes, or yes, UI. If you’re in that camp—doing everything right but still suffering from UTI after UTI—then check out www.uqora.com.

— Jenna Ryan, CEO and co-founder of Uqora

helping a depressed person, when a loved one is depressed

How To Support Someone With Depression

How to support someone with depression? There’s a lot being said about people who suffer from it and how to get help but I feel like not a lot is being said or expressed by those who have a loved one that suffers from depression.

I am one of those. A very dear person in my life has struggled with depression for years. It is hard for me to talk about this and I won’t go into details about my loved one ordeal. This is video is for you, the person who has a loved one who may be depressed. your support and encouragement can play an important role in his or her recovery.

Check out the video here:

I promise you, they appreciate it, even though it feels like you’re repeating yourself over and over and nothing. Rest assure, you MUST take care of yourself as well.

What you need to remember:

It is not personal
This is not a game, it is serious
Ignoring it, won’t make it go away
You. Can’t. Fix. It.

BUT your are the first line of defense in the fight against depression. Always remember that 2 ears 1 mouth ratio. Just encourage them to talk in a kind way and listen, listen, listen. And of course, ask if they need advice – don’t just offer it.

You can also try asking questions like:

Did something happen that made you start feeling this way?
How can I best support you right now?
Have you thought about getting help?

Avoid saying:

Just snap out of it.
What’s wrong with you?
Shouldn’t you be better by now?
It’s all in your head.
We all go through times like this.
Look on the bright side.
You have so much to live for why do you want to die?
I can’t do anything about your situation.

How to do take care of yourself???

Set boundaries: ask your loved one to get a therapist
Take some time for yourself every day, especially if you live with the depressed person
Seek support from a trusted friend – make sure they are discreet
Keep living your own life

Quinoa’s Dirty Little Secret

The price of quinoa has tripled since 2006, making it almost impossible for the people of the Andes, the original consumers of quinoa, to afford it any more!

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian or someone who is just trying to eat a little more consciously, you probably consume quinoa fairly often. You probably consider things like sustainability, water and energy footprint and in general are aware of the effect your choices make on the lives of thousands around the world.

If appeals to you, this is one video you don’t wanna miss!

Did you know that you quinoa obsession affects the health and land in two of South America’s poorest nations?

Share your questions and comments in the comments section below the video!

Are You Concerned About The Spread Of Ebola?

People are so concerned about Ebola -which is a highly contagious, terrifying and yet rare virus – with the media and our collective voices slowly creeping up to near panic!

While nobody seems terribly concerned about the chemicals and toxins in our food that are killing your loved ones by the millions.

Check out today’s video to learn more!

So what are you doing about it? Are you ready to embrace the near panic and hysteria or are you going to get obsessive about your health and well-being? Leave a comment below the video and let me know!

Why I Only Use Products That Do Not Test On Animals

Did you know that 15 Billion animals are burned, tortured and operated on (with NO anesthesia) every year to test your cosmetics, cleaners and perfumes.

15 BILLION!

Why do they have to suffer for us to have ONE more bottle of perfume, ONE more lipsticks! Check out today’s video to learn more!

This is a controversial, uncomfortable and important conversation that we must start having today. Change happens from a place of discomfort. Let’s get really uncomfortable about the abuses that these creatures suffer and make a significant difference with our wallets.

That’s the only language companies understand and they will have to listen!

What’s your take on this issue? Would you consider buying products that specifically say they don’t test on animals? Let me know in the comments below!