A homemade $25 HEPA filter!

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HEPA Filter

If you have environmental allergies, you will want to make sure your home is a safe place. Minimizing the triggers in your home is of utmost importance, and it is harder to minimize triggers in an office or in public transit. Having a controlled home environment means that you can come home at the end of the day, to a safe place. Where your body gets some down time and is not exposed to as many triggers. Air purifiers are very good at cleaning the air in your home from those smaller particles that could be triggering you.

HEPA filters can be expensive. They usually range between $100.00 and $800.00 and in some cases, for larger houses, you may need two.

The University of Michigan Health System has come up with a short, informative video that demonstrates how you can make your own homemade filtration unit for approximately $25. I fully intend on making one myself to see how it works!
Click here to view their video…

Another post I have written on dust allergies can be found here:
Dust here, there and everywhere

Cosmetics and perfumes… Quite the concoction

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Yesterday’s post was about shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Today I thought I would chime in on all the possible triggers one can find in cosmetics and perfumes…

Now I’m not that fond of cosmetics, nor am I one to use perfume much, because most are just filled with preservatives and other allergens one could not even imagine finding in cosmetics. Some cosmetics use refined tree nut and peanut oils!! Isn’t that a little worrisome?

The only perfume I ever use are the natural ones, by Pacifica Perfumes.

“Pacifica skin care is made without: Animal testing, phthalates, parabens, sulfates, propylene glycol, benzene, GMOs, mineral oil, peanut oil, and triclosan (and other ingredients you do not want!)” - http://www.pacificaperfume.com/our-products

When it comes to mascara, I have recently discovered Earthlab Cosmetics Raw Mascara which has no parabens or other preservatives and natural ingredients. http://www.earthlabcosmetics.com/StoreFront.bok

Raw Mascara     IMG_0579

The ingredients are things you will recognize or at least have heard of. Not some crazy long chemical names and other allergens!

What are your thoughts?

 

Shampoo, conditioner and body wash

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Natural hair products

In following up to yesterdays’ post…

If you are anything like me, the products at the pharmacy or local grocery store just won’t cut it when it comes to shampoos, conditioners and body washes or bar soap. All the fragrance, perfumes and other scents always make me itchy or give me hives. Have you ever read the ingredients on your shampoo bottle? Or on the bar soap you use? If you haven’t I’d suggest having a read. All I can say is that most conditioners have wheat and/or soy.

Did you know that… another common ingredient you will find in most of the products on the market these days are parabens. Parabens are used as a preservative in many products, beauty products mainly. I’ve gotten hives from them in the past.

My scalp used to be itchy all the time! I switched to these natural products and now, I could never imagine trying a new product. They work great and I never feel itchy. If you are considering switching to a natural soap, be sure to read ingredients VERY diligently as you’ll notice that a lot of the different brands out there use soy or almond. When I first set out to find new hair and body products, I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading labels.

And when I go to the hair salon, I either bring my own products, or go prepared to have an itchy scalp for the next 24 to 48 hrs… Read an earlier post of mine; Time for a Haircut? about trips to the salon.

Tomorrow’s post will be about perfumes and makeup…

Cleaning Products and iQ

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iQ - all purpose cleaner    iQ - floor cleaner

What do you use as cleaning products? Do you use the strong ones filled with chemicals, or do you veer the natural route? The strongest cleaner I have in our place is vinegar. For years now, I’ve kept to the natural products, the ones you find at health food stores. The strong scents and chemicals always get me. Rarely will you see me walking down the aisle with all the laundry detergents, cleaners and air fresheners. The two aisles I will never walk down in their entirety are the ones with the bulk nuts and the one with all the cleaners!

Any cleaners containing chemicals, for clogs or tough stains, are kept outside. Those products only come in IF, and ONLY IF they are necessary. When I use them, I am always sure to have ventilation going and usually wear a mask.

Some may think I am a little crazy. I’m not. With my allergies and asthma, those products are triggers. Those cleaners never existed back in the day. Have a read through my post on The “Hygiene Hypothesis”, there are some good links in there for more information.

If you are all for the natural route, like I am, I’m curious to hear what products you use…

I LOVE the refill cartridges with iQ as they are not to pricey to buy and stock up on. I thought this concept was genius when I first found the line of products! What do you think?

iQ - refill cartridges

 

 

Chocolate bars… More is best!

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Finding chocolate that is safe to eat can be quite the chore with peanut and tree nut allergies and to top it off, the fact that I avoid dairy and gluten. Good chocolate bars take quite a bit of searching… At least I am a fan of dark chocolate. I would never buy a product with a precautionary label. The minute I see a “may contain” or “processed in a factory that manufactures nuts” label, I’m looking for another brand, or going home to call the manufacturer.

This weekend at our local Health Food store I came across the Enjoy Life chocolate bars and was excited to try them. Have any of you tried them? How do you like them?

Enjoy Life Chocolate Bars

 

I also found the chocolate bars that I LOVE… by Righteously Raw. There chocolate bars are made in a nut free factory and have only natural ingredients and no dairy. They use agave syrup and dates as sweeteners. Have you ever tried these? They are absolutely AMAZING! The children may not be fans of them though… More of an adult treat :)

Righteously Raw         Righteously Raw Ingredients       Righteously Raw Nut free

 

Let’s just say it is a good thing I am disciplined as I plan on having these last me for some time. Definitely a treat. Once bar every few weeks should be ok…

In the News: Oral Immunotherapy Experimental Trials

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A long article with the NY times that is definitely worth the read! Dr. Kari Nadeau and her oral immunotherapy treatment trials. What an inspiring story of a dedicated person who is there for her patients 24/7. Article discusses different patients who have allergies and went through with food challenges and the trials.

“Nadeau stresses that oral immunotherapy is still experimental. Her patients are not cured; they are desensitized enough that they can tolerate their former allergens. The reason that she doesn’t call it a cure is that the child must continue to eat a maintenance dose of the food every day to avoid regaining the allergy. She often explains to her patients, “If you get off it for three days, you may become sensitive again.” An egg-allergy trial found that when patients were taken off the maintenance dose for a month, roughly 60 percent regained the allergy (and there was no way to predict who those patients would be).”

- NY Times

Can a Radical New Treatment Save Children With Severe Food Allergies?

What are your thoughts on these trials? Have your or your child ever had food challenges for any foods you are allergic to?

Wearing a mask on the bus

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photo

Have any of you considered wearing a mask on public transit or on chartered buses? I have worn a mask when on larger chartered buses for longer trips, like 1 hr or more. I have never worn them on public transit. I will be taking a chartered bus at the end of the month and know, without any doubt that I will be wearing a mask. I have a stock at home and am ready to sit next to the window and strap my mask on. I’ve had reactions in buses before and wearing the mask makes me feel safe.

So what’s the difference with wearing a mask on local public transit over a chartered bus? Well, triggers are definitely the exact same, so the benefit would be the same. Well worth it! The difference is that I would get a whole lot more stares and feel much less comfortable on public transit. The crazy thing is that other countries wear masks all the time. But here it would get quite a bit of attention. People wear them for colds and illnesses, however wearing them for allergies might not actually be all that common, if in fact it happens at all.

How do you deal with triggers on the bus. Would you wear a mask?