Get this: While the European Union has banned over 1,100 ingredients from cosmetics, the United States has blacklisted only 10. That’s a jaw-dropping difference, if you ask me. So what gives? Are our chaps across the pond overly cautious in weeding out potentially harmful chemicals or is America taking a slack approach to nixing major health hazards?

See, the US government has no regulatory standards for what companies can and cannot load into personal-care products. Nor does it test these ingredients for health and safety. Sure, the cosmetics industry has an in-house testing panel—but it has assessed a paltry 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients in self-care products in the US! This means that thousands upon thousands of unscreened products are being rubbed onto skin, worked into hair, and absorbed into lips. Way to get after it, testing team. Continue reading Pretty Ugly

When my roommate and I go to our morning yoga class at the gym, she’s always geared up to hit the elliptical machines after. “Come on, an hour on the elliptical is not that long!” she prods me. “You need to get your cardio in, too.” But I have a long list of excuses to skip the machines and head straight to the shower. I’ve never been big on endurance training; I’d rather spend a few minutes wobbling in Tree Pose any day. (My idea of cardio involves sprinting up the three flights of stairs to my apartment.)

Continue reading Fitness In Minutes?

Having problems “quieting your mind” when meditating? I know after a long day, or even first thing in the morning, it can be really hard for me to just turn off the thought machine, so I’ve been mixing it up with qigong (a Taoist martial art akin to t’ai chi) and seeing great results. Qigong meditations are more active and less general than traditional varieties, so they actually give your mind tasks to complete, plus each one provides a specific benefit.

Continue reading Shake Up Your Meditation Routine With Qigong

The first time I tried Ambien was not my finest moment. On a plane ride back from Italy with my family, I complained to my parents that I couldn’t fall asleep on the 14-hour flight. So, in an effort to make me pipe down, my dad handed over one of his prized possessions—his stash of sleeping meds for his chronic insomnia. I took two, without realizing dinner would be served ten minutes later. You know the adorable pictures of little babies falling asleep in their bowl of spaghetti? It’s not so cute when you’re a 17-year-old girl passed out on an airplane tray full of lasagna.

Continue reading Herbal Remedies for Insomnia

Armed with fingernail clippers and all the great advice from the blogosphere after my last blog, I finally did it. TK’s claws have officially been clipped—well, the front anyway. I waited till he wore himself out and had fallen into one of those cat-nap stupors in the sun. I crept up, clippers in hand, and distracted him with a good chin rub, while eyeing his paws and strategizing. …

Continue reading Clipping Kitty’s Claws, Part II

It’s 3 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, and I’m starving. As I frantically search my cupboards for something to eat, I realize the inevitable: I’m going to have to go to the grocery store. Sadly, after paying my monthly utilities, gas, and phone bills, I have a paltry $20 left for food for the whole week. What’s a college girl to do? A lot of my friends can get by on that meager allowance by choosing inexpensive (and unhealthy) items from the grocery store. However, a steady diet of ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, and Chef Boyardee doesn’t really work for me—or my waistline. If I even so much as glance at a piece of chocolate cake, it immediately adheres to my thighs and threatens to clog my arteries.

Unfortunately, $20 doesn’t buy a whole lot of healthy, nutritious food and even I can’t stretch a bag of spinach for more than three days. Depressed and starving, I wander around Whole Foods thankful for their free samples. Since I don’t want to be pegged as a freeloading serial sampler—after all there are only so many times a person can be seen walking past a free-cheese display—I need to buy some food fast.

Continue reading The Healthy—and Cheap—College Diet

I’m going to kill him. If I have to get out of bed at 3AM one more time to make the little devil stop tearing up the couch, I swear…bad things, very bad things. The guy I’m seeing keeps telling me, “Just get him declawed already.” But we don’t roll that way at Natural Solutions, and I’m not about to put my precocious little furball through a surgery that’s considered an amputation. Did you know they actually remove the first bone of each digit (the reason declawed cats have small front feet)?

Continue reading Clipping Kitty’s Claws, Part I

When a friend called me this weekend complaining that she was afraid she was getting another urinary tract infection (UTI), I actually got excited. No, I’m not some sort of sadist. I just felt great knowing that I could help. After working with Holly Lucille, ND, a naturopath in Los Angeles featured in the April Ask the Doctor column (on newsstands now!) I could offer her a plan to defeat her current infection and prevent future ones without having to rely on expensive doctor’s visits and antibiotics.

Continue reading No More UTIs—Ever

Either there’s more and more research coming out on the topic, or I’ve got a radar for what little is being done. Either way some really arousing sex studies have been hitting my desk lately and attracting my attention—rapt attention. Turns out doing it:
•    Reduces stroke risk;
•    Boosts oxytocin, which in turn reduces pain and helps you sleep better;
•    Lowers your man’s risk of prostate cancer;
•    Eases stress (duh).

It also turns out that people who regularly practice yoga have better sex than those who don’t.

Continue reading Better Sex and Less Stress—Yes Please!

“Eat your vegetables” is a common phrase that mothers around the world repeat to their children. “Eat your vegetables…they’re from the princess’ garden” was what my Sri Lankan mother and grandmother said to get me to eat the leafy greens, herbs, and exotic vegetables they served at most every meal. They promised I would have lusciously soft skin, long silky hair, and shiny nails if I just ate my veggies. As a 5-year-old who refused to wear pants and insisted on wearing a “golden dress” like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, I was instantly sold on this notion of princess vegetables and what they could do for me. As it turns out, my family wasn’t far off on the benefits of exotic vegetables and leafy greens.

Continue reading The Princess Vegetables