Nourishing Your Friendly Bacteria

If you or your children suffer from allergies such as sinusitis, eczema, asthma, or food allergies you may find that using a probiotic in the diet may help the immune system. Gut bacteria influence immune function and may play a role in preventing or predisposing to allergic reactions.
Probiotics have been shown to reduce the severity of dermatitis in infants and children. And who wants to expose their child to the alternative treatment, steroid drugs and creams, which mask symptoms without curing the underlying problem.
Miessence In-Liven contains the full spectrum of Lactobacillus (friendly) bacteria, produced from fruit and vegetables. It contains enzymes, vital amino acids and a broad spectrum of essential nutrients. You can add it to fruit juice or a smoothy, or sprinkle it on food. In-Liven is also a valuable superfood for health maintenance. You may want to seek professional advice for a young child or infant as there may be an alternative probiotic more suitable for them.
http://www.miessentialorganic.com/healthcare has a lovely range of pure health and skin care products available.

http://www.naturebub.com/

Lovely Lunches

I love it when I come across really great products for my family.
A few weeks ago, my mum bought my daughter a lunchbox made from Biome called 'Lunchbots'. They are 100% food grade stainless steel and seem to be making my mornings much easier when making school lunches. I'm not quite sure why it seems easier, but I feel like I am making her a much more nourishing morning tea since I have been using it.
We have a yellow one called "Pico" which has two seperate compartments which I fill with lovely healthy snacks for morning tea, such as organic ham, cheese, hummous, and vege sticks or fruit.
It's wonderful because I know I am looking after my childs health by giving her lunch in a container with toxins that may leach out into her food, and helping to reduce the mass landfill of plastics which break down so slowly they may still be completely whole when my grandchildren are born.
I will definitely be buying a couple more of these!

http://www.lunchbots.com/product.html
http://www.biome.com.au/shop_index.php?cPath=274_371
http://www.naturebub.com/

Nourishing Traditions Blog

I love Sally Fallon's cookbook 'Nourishing Traditions' and today I came across a blog by Kim Knoch called 'The Nourishing Cook'. Kim aims to cook all 773 Recipes from the book by the 31st of December 2011. So far she has cooked 39. All I can say is Wow, what a mission!
The recipes in Sally's cookbook are so beautifully nourishing, although some can seem a little overwhelming with ingredients such as Créme Friache and other fermented milk products which need to be made regularly (rather than store bought), as they are ingredients in many of her recipes. But if you are organised and get into a rhythm with these, then you can enjoy the absolute beauty and health of these wonderful recipes.
I'm looking forward to reading her blog and seeing the recipes I haven't yet tried to make.

http://thenourishingcook.com/

My Talented Friend

Sometimes people do things that are just so inspiring that you want to shout it to the world.

My lovely friend Clare Stephens took some photos of me when I was pregnant and suprised me for my birthday with this beautiful portrait. I feel so blessed to be the subject of her amazing creativity. She really is so talented.

www.naturebub.com

Dangers of Fire Retardants

I have been looking into buying a cot mattress for my little baby and have been suprised to find more dangers to be aware of when buying things for my precious bubba. Fire Retardants are sprayed on many synthetic fabrics to stop them melting if exposed to flames, that includes bedding and clothing (including polyester pyjamas), baby seats, furniture, computers and much more. These fire retardants are made up of highly toxic chemicals which studies have found can cause all sorts of horrific health problems including immune suppression, hormone disruption, learning and memory problems, behavioral changes, and cancer. As well as fire retardants, there are also other chemicals added in the manufacturing of bedding, so to me it seems crazy to have my little girl sleeping and breathing in a toxic coctail of chemicals for so many hours a day.
I'm looking into organic cotton matresses at the moment, to put my mind at ease when I put my bubba to bed at night. These seem quite expensive but at least I'll have the peace of mind of knowing that my baby isn't breathing in toxins that could easily be avoided. Along with lovely organic pyjamas I hope to give her the healthiest start to life.
I'd love to hear from anyone who knows a good non-toxic mattress that's available in Australia.

Winter Yummies

Now that the days are getting a little shorter and cooler, you may be thinking it would be nice to have something a bit warm for your little baby for the cooler weather. The organic cotton baby elf pants, available for ages 0 to 12 months, will give your infant that extra bit of warmth and comfort. Also check out the funky Sckoon monkey pants. An organic cotton kimono romper is so lovely, soft and snuggly for a premmie baby. These clothes have been produced free of chemicals, so will be safe and gentle on the most-sensitive baby skin.
Visit us today at Nature Bub: www.naturebub.com

I Love My Baby

My little baby girl has just reached 6 months old and I just feel like dedicating today's blog to her because she's so special.

I think anyone who has had a baby would know the lovely feeling of happiness that sits comfortably in your belly when you think of your little baby. Lylah is such a sweet little happy bubba who has her whole little family (including her 5 year old big sister), totally smitten.

Although there are things in my life that I can't do that I'd really love to because I have to care for my children, nothing could come close to the feeling of pure, delightful and absolute love I feel for my little girls.

So hip hip hooray for babies and the beauty they bring!!

Baby Bottles and BPA

There are so many dangers and toxins out there, it can be overwhelming trying to lead a healthy lifestyle. The more you read the more difficult it becomes, as it can feel as if everything out there is toxic and harmful to our health. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news but I think it's really important to know about this little thing called BPA or Bisophenol A. It can be found in many of the things that we use for our children including baby bottles and plastic drinking bottles as well as a lining in tinned food. It is an industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, for use in lightweight plastics that are both tough and heat resistant.
BPA has been linked to many health issues such as to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hyperactivity.
Some countries have already banned the use of it in baby bottles although sadly Australia isn't one of them. Thankfully there are alternatives available which are much safer. A baby bottle company called 'Green To Grow' make a great range of baby bottles. There are also the old glass bottles which are very safe, (but don't freeze them).
For older children there are now many places selling stainless steel water bottles, such as Eco Tanka, Cheeki and Sigg.
It's hard to avoid everything toxic out there, but there are some things that just require a decision to stop using them, and for our children's safety it's a very simple decision.
http://www.greentogrow.com/
http://www.ecotanka.com/

Feeding Babies

There is so much conflicting information out there about what is the best thing to feed babies.
Today I stumbled upon a wonderful article with lots of information for any new parents. Such as the best first foods, as well as when to introduce certain food into a babies diet so as not to cause allergies later in life.
I have the Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon, which is mentioned in the article, and I do recommend it to anybody who may be looking for a healthier way of life. Although for some people it may be a challenge (with time) to make some of the recipes from scratch. There is also some valuable information in it about feeding babies in her book as well.

http://www.westonaprice.org/Nourishing-a-Growing-Baby.html

A Lovely Blog To Visit

Mady Dooijes is a very talented dutch designer now living in Brisbane. She makes so many amazingly creative things, sweet dresses, skirts, unique scarfs and so many other beautiful things. Most of her creations are made from organic cotton or hemp.

She has a blog: http://madydooijes.blogspot.com/

and a little shop on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/madydooijes

Check her out...

A Healthier Way To Live

Last year I went to a conference and saw a lady called Cyndi O'meara speak. She was very knowledgeable and her beliefs about health and diet were very much the same as mine. It was so refreshing to be able to listen to someone speak about living a healthy lifestyle and actually agree with everything they say. There is so much contradicting information out there today, some people believe this others believe that, it can be hard for people to really know whether they are making the right choices.
Cyndi has written a book called "Changing Habits Changing Lives" which is very informative and easy to read. It's great for anybody who wants to make better food choices but isn't sure how to begin, and it's set out in such a way as to not be overwhelming at all.
I really recommend it to anybody who would like to live a healthier lifestyle, by just changing a few simple things you can make a huge difference to your feelings of energy and vitality.