Liv' ving in a Material World - wants to kill yo' ou!

It's a polyester world. Wearable petroleum in shimmery high fashion formaldehyde-finished perfection, and assassination method of choice for world leaders.

Did you see the Secretary of State gift the Russian oligarch's wife a beautiful Versace dress? It will kill her in 10 to 20 years, and she won't see it coming.

The process in a Flash

A refined and carcinogenic petroleum gas called ethane is flash heated to nearly 1,500 Fahrenheit (800 Celsius) where ethane becomes ethylene. Antimony, a heavy metal catalyst is added, essentially turning ethylene into goo. If you spin the goo, it turns into fiber that can be woven into cute Versace dresses, and most of the clothes in our closet. Antimony is a carcinogen which deeply offends the heart, lungs, liver and skin.

 

• The Danish Environmental Protection Agency found that 10 percent of antimony from polyester seeps into the skin when we sweat.

• Polyester emits phytoestrogens, an endocrine disrupter. Also known as angry gangster mime artists effectively mimicking hormones. The turf wars they initiate often leads to cancer in their 'hood.

• Cancer cells multiply rapidly in polyester test tubes compared to glass tubes. 

I want to assure you, I'm no polyester bigot. There are plenty of other materials so nasty, you no longer need to ask the seemingly unanswerable question to random inanimate objects: Is it just me, or is everybody getting cancer these days? Look at these chemical beauties:

Rayon

The Rayon starts as a beautiful image, like a young princess walking through the forest with singing birds carrying picnic blankets. Rayon is made out of recycled wood pulp or bamboo cellulose. That's the princess forest moment.

But then it turns nasty. In order to convert the pulp into beautiful rayon cloth, one must pour carbon disulphide, sulfuric acid, ammonia, acetone and caustic soda onto it.

Rayon gives off carbon disulphide while you walk, talk with your friends at coffee shops, and otherwise pursue your unicorn farm dreams. It's been known to cause nausea, headaches, vomiting, chest pain and insomnia, among even scarier things.

Acrylic

It’s hard to imagine anything good can come from a fiber with the name acrylic. It’s made out of a slew of toxic substances and is directly linked to breast cancer.

Nylon

This strong and colour-loving petroleum product is responsible for making your skinny jeans and crop jackets tight and pre-shrunk. Caustic Soda, sulphuric acid and formaldehyde are used in its manufacturing. Nylon is made from benzene, a carcinogen linked to three kinds of leukemia. Carcinogenic Formaldehyde is emitted when our body heat warms the material.

Unique to Nylon is that it seems unsatisfied in trying to kill us; it also emits greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide - while you're wearing it!

Wrinkle Free

That moment where you collect your dry, laundered clothes, and your wrinkle-free items go straight into the closet, saving you time to read my article.

This moment where you discover that it is formaldehyde resin and Teflon (PFCs) you have to thank, for ridding your clothes of nasty wrinkles once and for all.

Keep your appearance up and upkeep down

~ The slogan of the first formaldehyde inseminated clothing company circa 1950

Formaldehyde-laced fabrics are linked to a 30 percent increase in lung cancer, skin/lung irritation and contact dermatitis. The following words are synonyms of we've covered your clothes with formaldehyde so we can kill you:

• Anti-cling, anti-static, anti-shrink
• Waterproof
• Perspiration-proof
• Moth-proof and mildew resistant
• Chlorine resistant

 Is this the Armageddon?

I've always wanted to ask that question. I tell you what it is: It is an excellent time to invest in a wardrobe made of organic materials, like hemp, bamboo, and cotton.

But Mama, which textile is worse for the environment?

Besides the carcinogenic non-biodegradable pollution that spews into the air from textile factories, darling? Natural materials require far less energy to produce than laboratory-made fabric.

Embodied Energy used in production of various fibers:
	energy use in MJ per KG of fiber:
hemp, organic	2
flax	10
hemp, conventional	12
cotton, organic, India	12
cotton, organic, USA	14
cotton,conventional	55
wool	63
rPET	66
Viscose	100
Polypropylene	115
Polyester	125
acrylic	175
Nylon	250

 * rPET is recycled polyester, popular in sport wear.

Organic cotton or bamboo might cost a little more, but what is the price of staying out of the oncology clinic? I don't like the feel of synthetic fiber. It makes my skin feel hot. The strange chemical reaction my skin has to the concoction exhaled by these clothes create a funk like nothing else.

And that, my friend, is why the 70's polyester explosion was the singular muse for the dawn of funk music. Until then, there was no sound that could remotely describe such aroma. You read it here first.

{photo credit: Versace, Guess Jeans, Zoolander}

 

All The Energy You'll Ever Need in 6 Easy Habits

It’s about knowing the human rhythm. All living things need specific conditions to grow and thrive: plants with their ideal light and humidity, fish with their pH and dissolved oxygen levels. We are no different.

This list is logical, and as simple as you can get. If I was to hand over a pet human to a pet owner, these are the six conditions I would educate them on to ensure their pet human will live happily ever after.

(Scientologists, I hope I didn't just agrivate your suppressed memories)

1.  And on the Seventh Day, Juice

Over-eating is just bad for you. No one likes an over-eater, not your stomach, not your small intestine, not your blood supply. Over-eating tires our entire system, with undigested food sitting there too long, fermenting in unkindness. If we don’t like traffic jams, why should we over-eat?

And that was five lines of off-topic.

My point: Make one day a week a no-solid-food day. Take broth and ginger-spiced juices in cold weather, vegetable and fruit juices on warm days. Explore the rich and vast green tea universe. It’s a day of rest for your system, to catch up on those outstanding fixes and re-fuels.

2.  Superfood for Dinner

How great would you feel if you ate an early, light dinner? (hint: it’s really great) Make lunch the main meal of the day. If dinner has a tantrum and demands to be the center of your day, try to get it happening as early as possible. Uncouple (shoot me) the meal from its bland name, call it something romantic like, the Sunset Meal. My favourite Sunset Meal is wilted salad. If I'm not so hungry, vegetable juice with spirulina.

When I drink dense, green superfood at night, like spirulina or chlorophyll, I need one whole hour less of sleep, and wake feeling very switched on. Try it. Let me know if this works for you too!

Do I need to tell you that a gin and tonic doesn't count as a light dinner? All alcohol does is absorb the beautiful extra energy you're making with your noble efforts of eating consciously.

3.  Early Sleep

It’s the ol’ sleep-before-your-gall-bladder-gets-to-work adage that has stood the test of time. It’s this simple: if I fall asleep before 11pm, I sleep solidly, and wake extremely refreshed. If I stay up late, like I have to do sometimes, I wake later and never shake the heavy feeling. It’s impossible for me to grab my day by the collar and shake free a tonne of inspiration. Instead, the day slowly drags my sandbag body to the finish line. Am I being too dramatic?

4.  Water

Again, super simple: drink a large glass of water every hour. Every single process that occurs in the body requires water.  Drink more upon rising and before bed. Not just any water, unless you're looking for trouble. Make it free from fluoride or chlorine additives. Some water filters can mess with the water ions, mineral content or pH. Research before you buy. Naturally sourced water is a luxury, I know, but excellent if you can get it.

5.  Meditation

There’s meditation and then there’s meditation. It’s a universe if you are ever curious to enter and explore. I practice meditation techniques which unlock (keeping it humble here) a lot of energy, but I can’t tell you what they are. Traditional lineages of meditation schools will teach you several practices that slowly increase your ability to contain larger amounts of energy.

One needs to master concentration before the more powerful meditation practices are attempted. If you are interested in learning how to meditate, I recommend exploring schools like Kriya Yoga, Vipassana, Zazen, or Transcendental Meditation (TM).  There are others. Let me know in the comments which ones you like.

6.  Breathe Deeply

This is not something new. It’s just vital. Exercise makes energy. The diaphragm is such a powerful muscle. Its central location carries a lot of meaning beyond our pursuit of energy. Deep full breaths massage our organs, and detoxifies our blood. It takes in prana, or life-force energy. Move your body, breathe and respectfully challenge the cardio pulmonary system. Are you holding anything emotional? Try exercise and the energy that you generate will move it – which is a good thing.

It’s That Easy

• Wake early, drink water, meditate even if it’s for ten minutes.

• Exercise.

• Eat small meals that are alive with fresh alkaline goodness.

• Stay hydrated.

• Eat a delicious, satisfying lunch.

• Enjoy light Sunset Dinners.

• Meditate again in the evening, ten minutes is an excellent start.

• Go to bed before 11pm.

When it becomes habit, you’ll have more time in your day. When there's no huge dinner to prepare late into the evening, with more energy generated from exercise, and more productive morning hours, which passion will you choose to persue?

 

AÇAI – The Clark Kent of Superfoods

Açai in my house is otherwise known as dinner. We go through one and a half kilos of it every day, blended (not stirred), with banana and a dash of guarana concentrate. Açai (pron: Ah-sah-ee) is one of the healthiest foods on the planet.

On the outside, it’s just a humble berry from an Amazonian palm tree (Euterpe Oleracea) in Brazil. But in reality, Açai is the Clark Kent of the Superfood universe.

It tastes rather astringent and neutral. Locals joke that it tastes like dirt. Indigenous Indians add it to savoury dishes, while southerners enjoy it sweetened. In this respect, Açai follows the same historical footsteps as cacao.

Only Good News Comes From Açai

Traditionally it was used to treat digestive disorders, stimulate the immune system and was a source of quick energy. Of course Indiginous Brazilians didn’t have cardiovascular disease, premature ageing or potency issues, but if they did, they would have treated that with Açai too.

But Wait, There’s More

Acai is low GI and high fiber. Athletes love the stuff, as do people looking to lose weight.  

Açai is high in calcium and iron.

It’s super high in Vitamin A and improves vision. Clark Kent will have to lose the glasses now that I made him the face of this stuff.

Finally, it nourishes the nervous system. Do you need to de-stress and relax? Açai is the answer.  

For the how’s and why’s, see here and here.

From the Amazon to You

The Amazon is so far from anywhere, and the fruit is delicate. Acai pulp is frozen on site then shipped internationally.  Look for the frozen pulp at your local health food store.

Salt - Killing you softly, until it's not softly any more

During the middle ages prisoners were tortured to death by being fed a diet void of salt. I can’t substantiate this ‘fact’, but it was so Monty Python I had to include it.

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Change of Seasons: Avoid getting sick

It's the tail end of two very intense seasons: stupidly long winter and one freaking hot and endless summer. More people get sick in March than any time of year, mostly because we don’t transition well out of the season we are leaving behind.

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