What if I can't afford to go all organic?

Sources said in a 2011 study, that the food prices of fourteen organics were, on the national level, 39% less at your local farmers market, than at your local super center. Although the farmer is not certified as being organic due to the high cost of doing so. He still may use non toxic practices, so it never hurts to get such information from him. You can also purchase a CSA share, which allows you to split the price and crops of a farmer's yield. Every 7 days one will receive a container of produce. The share amount and price may differ, but in general, you can yield a size that definately will put food on the table for a two to three person family for under $20! The number of markets have grown over by 364% in the last 20 yrs. So it should be easy to locate a farmers market near you. Visit LOCALHARVEST.ORG for the ones  nearest to you.

Cheap, natural, laundry detergent thats scented!

So, have you ever wondered what exactly is in the laundry soap you use?

We all take great lengths to make sure that our clothing is clean and fresh, but, shockingly, the very laundry soaps that we use to make our clothes "clean" may actually be leaving them in a more worse condition before they even hit the washer. That's because most commercial laundry cleaners, both the common and name brands you find at your local super stores, are loaded with  toxic chemicals that potentially could harm both you, your family and the environment.

Popular and generic laundry soaps can and will leave dangerous chemical residues on your clothes and skin.

Residues of these toxins are left on your clothing and absorbed possibly by your body through the pores and skin, and evaporated into the environment where they could be breathed and taken in.

A Common Laundry Soap

If we take a glance at a container of laundry soap, we'll discover that the named ingredients are rather unfamiliar. One popular brand listed, for instance:

• Cleaning agents (anionic and nonionic surfactants)
• Buffering agent
• Stabilizer
• Whitening agent
• Scent
  

From the list, it is difficult to tell what, exactly, is even in that soap, so I broke down some of the common laundry/soap ingredients out here.

Linear alkyl sodium sulfonates (LAS): Those synthetic surfactants are commonly listed as 'anionic surfactants' on containers, and are one of the most common surfactants used. During the process of making these detergents/soaps, carcinogenic and reproductive poisons such as benzene are set loose into the air and environment. These also breakdown slowly, making em a danger in the air and or environment.

Petroleum distillates ( napthas): These chemicals and toxins has been connected to cancer of the lung, lung damage, inflammation, and damage to mucous membranes.

Phenols: Released from the  National Institutes of Health, phenol is dangerous and those who are sensitive to it can experience death or debilitating side effects at the lowest  exposures. Not only that but, it's quickly absorbed and can spread this poisonous, toxin throughout the whole person. More times then not, death and greatly absorbed toxicity result from the phenol's effects on the central nervous system, heart, blood vessels, lungs and kidneys. So these are definitely a no no for us with MS.

Another  common surfactant in United States laundry soaps and detergents  is Nonyl Phenol Ethoxylate. The chemical has been outlawed in Europe, and has been discovered to not quickly, but to slowly biodegrade into even more hazardous and toxic agents and compounds. Study has suggested that the surfactant accelerates and promotes the growth of cancer cells in the breast and more feminine traits in male fish.

Are chemicals in commercial laundry detergents leaving your clothes dangerously clean?

Optical brighteners and Whiteners: These synthetic agents convert UV light waves into bright light, which makes washed and laundered clothing to appear whiter and brighter, although doesn't actually affect the cleanliness of the clothing. They have been linked to be toxic to fish and to cause bacterial mutation. Also, these can cause severe allerys  when they are exposed to the skin that is then later exposed to the sun.

Phosphates: These chemical agents are often used to take out hard-water minerals to make soaps and detergent the most effective, and to also prevent grudge and grime from setting back into your clothing  during a wash cycle . The main and most problem with these are that, when released into the air around us, they promote the growth of certain marine and water plants, which also adds to the problem of unbalanced ecosystems. Most U.S. states have made it illegal  or banned and or restricted the use of phosphates for this main purpose, so you may notice laundry soaps stating themselve as "low-phosphate" or "phosphate-free" as a result of this.

Sodium hypochlorite (bleach): Is an agent toxic precursor to chlorine bleach, which is highly and deathly poisonous and is involved in most at home poisoning cases than any other agent.  What it does is it reacts with other organic materials in our environment. Carcinogenic and toxic compounds are then created and can cause reproductive, endocrine and immune system disorders. Are these starting to sound like MS starters yet to you?

EDTA (ethylene-diamino-tetra-acetate): EDTA are a class of compounds that are used as an alternate to those toxic phosphates to minimize the mineral hardness in the water, so as to enable the bleaching chemicals from becoming active before they are put in the water and to help decrease foaming. EDTA does not easily biodegradable and it can re-dissolve poisonous heavy metals in the air, allowing them to re-fall again right back into our food chain.

Using a quarter cup of all natural Borax to a table soon of 99% natural JR Watkins Lavender castile soap with clean your clothes with no hard or toxic build up (See left side lower picture for view) Most other DIY recipes fall short when trying to make the cut for scent. This Lavender scent is from essential oil and not fragrance!

Artificial and fake fragrances: Most of these are made from petroleum (see petroleum distillates above), and do not breakdown in the environment. They have been linked to several different accounts of toxic effects on marine animals, fish and mammals, and they often cause allergies irritating both the eyes and skin. A word of warning...petroleum has been labeled and natural but the government, but it clearly is not. So when making a wise choice on what to use for you, your ms, and your family, do your homework first. Coming to my blog is your first tool of help:) As always, natural clean healthy ms mama helping you to take control of your ms and its symptoms naturally.

Natural allergy cures that really work for ms symptom allergy sufferers.

I hope that none is suffering with seasonal allegy's, but if you are I got some helpful ways to help you naturally combat them. All of us with ms and ms symptoms need to make sure to care for ourselves naturally, for we don't want anything crossing the blood brain barrier that is anything but. So protect it.

SNEEZING:  If you're plagued by an itchy nose and sneezing its, try adding vit B to your supplements. It helps moisturize sinus irritation and sinus inflammation. So even in high pollen counts it really helps.

CAN'T SLEEP:  Usually if you can't breath, you can't sleep either. The stress of it all not only leads to sleepless nights, but sends out levels of cortisol, which will intensify allergic reactions. So go take a nice shower. It will calm you and help to produce the sleep hormone melatonin. As an added bonus washing your hair will remove pollen trapped in it. Cutting down on whats causing the issues in the first place!

POSTNASAL DRIP:  Milk thistle tea...add some sweetener and a pinch of milk to flavor it up to your liking. Drink 24 oz of it every day and it will reduce your postnasal drip by 25%. This will also help with runny noses as well. Milk thistle promps the liver to flush out symptom triggering immune proteins before they cause all the issues.

STUFFY NOSE:  Taking 100 to 150 mg of butterbur daily improves nasal airflow to ease congestion. This reduces white blood cells production of leukotrienes, inflammatory compounds that kick start chronic sinus swelling.

SCRATCHY THROAT:  Add 2 TBS. of flax to your daily diet. It can cut your sour throat by 51%! Its rich in omega 3 fatty acid that reduces immune cells production of histamine.

IRRITATED EYES: Use a natural organic lash wash. This type of wash will remove the pollen and all the other stuff thats irritating your eyes, which will cut down on the itching and watering so bad. It will actually cut it by 90%. Not bad....

SO WHERE CAN I GET THIS STUFF AT?

Go to my home page where you see my Amazon.com link (by the way its that big square on the left hand upper portion of the page:) Click on it and it's gonna take you straight to Amazon.com. Once there you can do a search for each of the items mentioned here. To help you out, Im gonna give you some suggestions, but you choose what makes you happy!

EYE WASH-

Eminence Cleanser 5.07 Oz Herbal Eye Make Up Remover 545 For Women

by Eminence Organic Skin Care

VITAMIN B/ PANTOTHENIC ACID-

Metabolic Maintenance Pantothenic Acid -- 500 mg - 250 Capsules

by Metabolic Maintenance

MILK THISTLE TEA-

Celebration Herbals Organic Milk Thistle Seed Tea Caffeine Free -- 24 Tea Bags

by Celebration Herbals

BUTTERBUR-

Butterbur 400mg Organic & Wildcrafted Herbs of Light 90 Caps

by Herbs of Light

FLAXSEED-

Now Foods Certified Organic Golden Flax Seeds, 16 ozs Bag, (Pack of 2)

by Now Foods

EVENING SOAK-

Peppermint Nourishing Dead Sea Mineral Bulk Milk Bath - 20 Lb

by Midwest Sea Salt Company

MSAA now online

Hope everyone is having a happy hump day so far! I thought I'd drop in and let everyone know that the MSAA's "The Motivator" is now available. I am posting the link for the digital copy so you can have right with you on your phone, tablet, or computer...http://digitaleditions.sheridan.com/publication/?i=255366