Because teeth have feeling too!

"A perfect smile guaranteed"! There are hundreds of slogans like these to advertise toothpaste and other oral hygiene products. And yes it's important! We only get our adult teeth once and cavities can be painful, expensive and unsightly. 

Recently a friend gave me a cut out of a 2004 magazine article about Colgate toothpaste ingredients explaining what each ingredient does and pointing out health risks with some of these ingredients. Many of the ingredients were concerning but I thought that since its now 2015 they will surely have changed it by now? Wrong! The ingredient list has hardly changed and most of the concerning ingredients are still there. And yes there has been more research done and more articles written yet government regulations haven't changed and so Colgate haven't changed the recipe of their $100+ million/year product - Colgate Total.

The main active ingredient in most mainstream toothpastes is Fluoride. Fluoride has also been added to main water supplies in the past  and still is in many places (you can find out where here) although more people are now opposing it. Dentists have trumpeted the virtues of fluoride for years, claiming it's the best defense against tooth decay. Fluoride supposedly builds strong, healthy teeth. In reality, sodium fluoride, a by-product of aluminum manufacturing, can also be found in rat poisons and industrial pesticides. Did you know there is enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a small child in 2-4 hours? Ingesting even a small amount of sodium fluoride may cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Yet despite its dangers, sodium fluoride continues to be a staple in all leading brands of toothpaste.

The next ingredient and perhaps the most concerning is Triclocsan – Colgate removed it from soaps and other products in 2011 (due to consumer concerns) but left it in their toothpaste. It hit the news in summer 2014 again (see one such article here) and the FDA are now saying they will finally give a ruling on Triclocsan use in 2016 after they first looked into it in 1974!! Europe has already banned it in any products coming into contact with food but still allow it in Colgate Total. No other major toothpaste brand puts this ingredient in toothpaste and Total is also the only toothpaste the FDA have approved with it in.

Then there is Sodium lauryl sulphate - Added as a detergent and cleansing agent (often used as an engine degreaser), sodium laurel sulfate and its cousin sodium laureth sulfate pose a wide range of potential health risks. On its own, sodium laurel sulfate can damage eyes, irritate skin and lead to labored breathing. According to the American College of Toxicology, sodium laurel sulfate may stay within the body for up to five days, accumulating in the heart, liver, lungs and brain. When combined with certain other chemicals, sodium laurel sulfate transforms into nitrosamines, a class of powerful carcinogens that cause the body to absorb harmful nitrates.

And here are 4 for more they say are safe but I don’t really want in my mouth:

·         Titanium dioxide

·         Sodium hydroxide

·         Hydrated silica

·         E133 (blue colouring)

Like many of the products used there is often not enough research so companies use products they say are approved by agencies or at least that are not banned. But I don’t think that’s good enough—companies are first and foremost trying to make a profit. Colgate Total sales is $100 million each year! I wouldn’t expect them to make adjustments until a government agency forces them to and without the exact research showing links to health issues and cancers the governments seem to be reluctant to change these regulations. But there are alternative toothpastes available. Mypure and Naturismo both stock alternatives-I have just ordered a couple of brands to try out. Also Boots still stock an old brand that has been around for years called Euthymol. Most of these are free of all the above ingredients and made with all natural ingredients. 

I spoke to my dentist about this and after saying flossing and using interdental brushes to get between teeth were more important than using fluoride toothpaste, he said "Simple solution - cut sugar out of your diet!" (I agree - see my previous blog on sugar)

Sugar rush

A couple of good documentary movies all about sugar and the food industry which everyone should watch. Fed Up is on Netflix and available on DVD. And just out is That Sugar Film about an Australian who goes on a 6 week "healthy food" sugar diet. This meant no confectionery, no soft drinks, no ice cream and the results were still shocking. I have seen Fed Up and it is informative, worrying and then inspiring. The more the public can engage with the truths about the food industry the more pressure we can put on government to stand up to 'Big Food'. It is changing slowly but just like tobacco last century it seems to be taking way to long for the change to happen. Apathy, lack of education and powerful food company lobbyists all play a part. Big Food are making a lot of money and don't want change. Engage and spread the word!

Food Food Food!

I love food! I eat a lot. I have never been overly concerned with what I eat as I think I am pretty healthy. Growing up in semi rural New Zealand has encouraged and developed a love for natural and raw ingredients (and of course roast lamb!!). Our family had huge vegetable gardens and many fruit trees and berry bushes which we children had to spend many Saturdays working in. We ate the produce fresh, we bottled it, froze it, preserved it and dehydrated it. Our goats produced milk, our chickens eggs, we got honey from our bees and my first pet lamb we fattened up and ate!

Nutritional Food Production.

But it's only been more recently as more research has appeared on food and the impact of preservatives, additives and artificial sweeteners etc. that I have started to take a closer look at what I am eating. Like many of you I would have said I was pretty healthy in my eating but can I really say that if I don't actually know what many of the ingredients in my food are? For example do you know what any of these common ingredients are and whether they are natural or artificial? Or proven to be good for you or not?

• Calcium ascorbate 
• Nicotinic acid
• Potassium sorbate
• Xanthan gum

The lists of artificial additives and preservatives is seemingly endless and the research into what is and isn't safe is confusing, unclear and often times debated or inconclusive. However what is very clear is that a largely natural moderate diet is safe and healthy. You don't have to think about it to much to appreciate the logic of this--our bodies are a natural product and so they respond positively to natural products and negatively to artificial products. It's also hard to ignore the massive rise of western diseases such as asthma, alzheimers, dementia, and the many forms of cancer. Obesity, heart disease and diebetes are much easier to attribute to an artificially tainted diet.

As I mentioned in my last blog cost and convenience are again key in our choices even if we do believe that natural is best. And until the big food companies are regulated more strictly, supermarkets will continue to sell products laced with artificial (and in some cases poisonous) additives. Most of the common brands we buy are owned by 10 giant global food companies whose revenues add up to more than a billion dollars a day. They are driven by shareholders (are you one?) and boards demanding profits and using artificial products enables them to produce cheaper items and bigger profits. This diagram shows 'The Big 10' and their many brands.

Ethical Food Production

This is also a concerning issue. If you haven't considered this before then I challenge you to think about it. Oxfam have rated the same big 10 food companies on 7 ethical issues from land use and climate to how they treat women and you can see the score cards here.

Where can I buy good nutritional, ethical food?!

Obviously your supermarket and other local markets will have plenty of natural foods such as meat, vegetables and fruit and eggs. Two great UK brands you will also find in your supermarket are Yeo Valley and Innocent Drinks.

For other packaged items you may not be sure so here are 2 websites I have used:

Real Food Source - I got coconut oil from them for half the price of the supermarket (1kg for £10) They also have great cashew nuts.

Naturally Good Food - This place has loads of products including non food items. However they stock at least 1 brand I wouldn’t use (Ecover-detergents). I went for Ecoleaf detergent and also got a lot of nuts and dried fruits. 

Note - I haven't mentioned organic food here but will do at another time. 

And last but not least please read about and sign Jamie Oliver’s food education petition here! 

you asked for this! now where do I start....

Over the past month I have been researching various topics to do with an active healthy lifestyle. As many of you will know I have been talking about this subject for some time as I work to set up a company that will promote this lifestyle in new and invigorating ways. The research has become more intense and the more i found out the more i wanted to put into practice in my own life! Then I found I was always talking about this to everyone I met and many of you said to put it in a blog so here we go! 


Personal Care Products
So 3 weeks ago I threw every single one of my personal care products out and bought all new items, not one of mine was natural and all had pretty bad toxins in (usually Parfum or Fragrance). You only have to do a few google searches to begin to see why this is so bad but this is the simplest and best page i found to outline the main issues. Here is a short quote from this page.
FRAGRANCE can be legally hidden in hundreds of ingredients in “fragrance” or “parfum”: a “trade secret” in the industry. More than 75% of the time if you have fragrance, you have legally hidden phthalates (THAL ates), known endocrine disruptors, that are linked with birth defects, breast cancer, infertility, liver, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and now with autism and ADHD in pregnancy by Dr. Philip Landrigan, Mt Sinai, Children’s Environmental Health Center.

Ava Anderson is an american girl who researched this in high school and as a result started her own company—can’t get her products in the UK but her website has a great page about the most widely used bad toxins which is a helpful reference when checking ingredients of products. It also has her TEDX talks video on this page.

Like most of you cost and convenience are key factors in deciding what and where i purchase. So although my early research led me to an awesome brand - Neals Yard Remedys, the cost put me off. As a typical guy I only use a few products at low to medium prices. Low priced items were like shower gel or hair product that I could get from the supermarket or Boots. Medium priced items were like face wash and shaving soap which I got from The Bodyshop. So to consider replacing these items at £15 each was not super enticing and I know it won't be for most of you either. 

So here are 3 companies I found in the UK that sell organic and natural products online. These sites don’t make their own products but source them from all over the world. You can often buy direct from the manufacturers sites but you can save on postage and packaging if you buy from 1 place. You could also visit each brands website to check on ingredients and ethics of each brand etc if you weren’t sure but this takes a lot of time so its much easier if you know you can trust the supplier!

1. Lovelula. These guys do loads of brands and have great ethical policy meaning you can trust what they sell.

2. My Pure. Another one with variety of brands and have a big banned chemicals list. They reuse packaging, use water soluble packing chips and have a great fast service. 

3. Naturismo. This one has loads of products too but not all are 100% pure but with a site like this you can see a lot of the brands available and then search for those brands to see where else you can get them or to find out more about that specific product. 

Here are some options of great UK brands

Neals Yard Remedys looks like the best UK made by a long long way but not cheap! They have shops all over the UK too.
Burts Bees they do more than just lipbalm and most products are 100% pure the rest are 99% with the 1% being a “safe” chemical. Clearly says on packaging. Boots stocks the lipbalm. 

I tried the Burts Bees lipbalm but much prefer this American one - Hurraw, which is available from both My Pure and Naturismo. I will post more about other items I have tried soon. 

Supermarket items at normal prices

I found Original Source shower gel and they have hand wash too but it wasn’t in Morrisons so I got Simple handwash. (Simple do a variety of products) Both of these brands look much more natural, particularly original source. All the other shower gels and handwashes have ‘Parfum’ in. Neither of these companies appear to have the ethical and sustainable side to them in the way that NYR does tho. But the products are normal price and in mainstream supermarkets.

For a healthy active lifestyle!