Filed under: Non-Toxic Choices
Millie- If your sinus’s are so stuffed up habitually. Neti pot is treating the SYMPTOM, not the cause. Give up dairy = get rid of most congestion, colds, allergies, sinus infections, ear infections, asthma.
Dana Robinson’s Flickr page/via
Neti pots, which look like genies’ lamps, have become more popular in recent years as a natural remedy for colds, allergies and sinus infections. Ear, nose, and throat surgeons recommend using a Neti pot or similar device to irrigate nasal passages for patients who have undergone sinus surgery. Many people with sinus symptoms from allergies and environmental irritants also have begun to use the Neti pot to alleviate these symptoms. The Neti pot works by flushing some of the mucus out of the nasal passages. But Neti pots are not a panacea. In recent, but rare incidences, use of neti pots resulted can result in deaths.
Two recent deaths have been tied to neti pot use and an aquatic amoeba
Two people died recently from an encephalitis infection after using neti pots. The infection involved brain eating amoebas (just the sound of that scared the bejesus out of me). The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is common in rivers and lakes, but only rarely causes brain infections.
Doctors have issued a warning for people not to use tap water in neti pots
After the first incident, doctors thought it might be a fluke. But after the second, doctors have felt the need to issue warnings to patients advising them not to put tap water in their noses.
Tap water is generally safe to drink, the problem is shooting tap water up one’s nose
Huh? If I’m drinking tap water, shouldn’t it be clean enough to squirt into my nose? The answer is no. If you are using a neti pot or other nasal device, you should only use distilled or filtered water. Tap water in many places is safer to drink than even bottled water, the specific issue here is having tap water shot up one’s nasal cavity.
It is important to regularly clean neti pots and drinking water filters
You should also make sure both your neti pots and your water filters are regularly cleaned. It is also important to let the devices dry, since the amoebas need a wet atmosphere to survive in.
Although neti pot instructions usually recommend using distilled water, people often do not heed recommendations. It is still a very rare occurrence to die from using a neti pot with tap water. Still, it is better safe to be than sorry. Furthermore, neti pots can be more effective for sinus relief when saline water is used.
Avoid other activities that shoot water up one’s nose, like diving
Since the neti pot isn’t the culprit, just the conduit to your nose, it is important to note that one should also avoid doing other activities that would shoot water up one’s nose, i.e. diving or dunking one’s head in brackish, warm freshwater. This is a note of caution if one is swimming in warm, unchlorinated natural bodies of water, including hot springs- sadly for those of us who especially love bathing in these bodies. So if you find yourself in hot water, remember to keep your head up. Oh and save the cannonball for the swimming pool.
Filed under: Food and it's Impact on Our Health
Environmentalists go back and forth about the necessity of milk in a healthy diet. Some are advocates of organic milk, some raw milk, and some are vegans that shun milk entirely. It’s a balance of finding the healthiest, lowest impact means of getting the essential nutrients necessary for optimal health.
But a recent study has many questioning whether drinking milk on a regular basis may have harsh implications for the health of the prostate later in life. The study, published in this month’s addition of the American Journal of Epidemiology found that those that drank milk daily were more likely to die of prostate cancer later in life.
The study followed 2,200 men born between 1903 and 1937.
Reuters reports:
Among 463 men who recalled drinking milk less than once a day in their teens, one percent developed advanced prostate cancer or died of the disease over a quarter century of follow-up.
That figure was three percent among the more than 1,800 men who said they drank milk at least daily in adolescence.
The study found a connection between high milk intake during teen years and the health of the prostate gland. While the link could not be explained through education, check-ups, and diet, questions certainly remain.
Again, Reuters:
From these data alone we cannot recommend that teenage boys should chance their dietary habits,” [Johanna Torfadottir, a nutrition scientist and a graduate student at the University of Iceland] said. “We are only looking at the risk of one disease, prostate cancer, and obviously risks of other conditions, e.g. bone health, need to be considered.”
While the research is just emerging, it creates more questions for milk consumption. Not to mention the environmental implications. Cows produce 120 pounds of waste each day, comparable to two dozen people, along with 18 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide.
Even if going vegan entirely isn’t realistic for you, limiting dairy to small portions of high quality local products is certainly a worthwhile feat especially in the face of emerging heath benefits.
