Tinned tomatoes - a health risk?

[veggiechicken]

^ Ah. I googled "chickling" and was told "young chick"

I thought you had!! Wish I hadn't googled Balut eggs - how revolting.

[VirginVegGrower]

Paraben chemicals NHS study

Deodorant paraben chemicals 'found in breast tumours' - Health News - NHS Choices

[Alison]

Those the same things as mooncups? My wife has used one before - and much preferred it.

Mooncups are fab, used one for years so must have saved a fortune by now

SLS is also used in certain soaps, facial cleansers, shampoo. It has been linked to asthma which my daughter showed slight signs of when younger. When I looked into this many years ago, I swapped out the toothpaste and shampoo. She hasn't had asthma since. Coincidence?!

If you go to the supermarket you'll be hard pressed to find anything in the way of shampoo, shower gel etc that doesn't contain SLSs. I make my own soaps which are both SLS and paraben free and really lovely (and cheap in comparison with a lot of the organic brands). The ones that really annoy me are the ones that label themselves natural or whatever but just contain 100s of chemicals yet people keep falling for it

[VirginVegGrower]

I have found SLS and paraben free, both on shelves, but then I don't buy toiletries from supermarkets. I read labels/list of ingredients before picking anything up and purchasing.
Fairy washing up liquid contains a carcinogen apparently. Told to me by a biochemist, many moons ago. Not sure now.

[Alison]

Yeah, I don't do supermarkets either but a lot of people do and it can be very easy to just pick things up on your shop. Have had some quite nice things from Holland and Barrett which are pretty clean and good value when they have a sale on

[RedThorn]

Quite possibly! Endocrine system = homones = instability of system/metabolism. My children have never been fed any meat other than organic at home. My daughter is one of only two in her year that fits her age group's clothes. I wonder how much of that is down to our meat chain. I forgot to add, the other girl is veggie.

erm, my daughter doesn't fit in her age group clothes or even the next one or the next, or even the next or the next.......
she's 7 and wear's age 12yr... well she is coming up to 5ft in height already.

The point I'm making is she comes from tall stock. There are other factors other than food ie genetics

[VirginVegGrower]

Yeah, I don't do supermarkets either but a lot of people do and it can be very easy to just pick things up on your shop. Have had some quite nice things from Holland and Barrett which are pretty clean and good value when they have a sale on

One of my places too it used to be the Happy Nut House in our town, which I much preferred!

[Helgalush]

This may be an over-generalisation but it is often the companies that use the chemicals (and especially those that have any new "wonder" product), that conduct animal testing (which I know is a whole other subject but if you look at the Wikipedia info on both parabens and SLS their safety has been tested on animals, as you would suspect).

Whereas I have found that some of the companies that make paraben/SLS-free products are also those which do not allow any animal testing on their ingredients or on their behalf, and are approved by either Naturewatch or the BUAV as being free from animal testing for cosmetics purposes. They seem to be more "ethical" overall.

Doesnt necessarily follow but I have noticed this with a few brands now (although they do tend to be more expensive).

[VirginVegGrower]

erm, my daughter doesn't fit in her age group clothes or even the next one or the next, or even the next or the next.......
she's 7 and wear's age 12yr... well she is coming up to 5ft in height already.

The point I'm making is she comes from tall stock. There are other factors other than food ie genetics

It wasn't height I was referring to and her parents are both tall too!

[VirginVegGrower]

This may be an over-generalisation but it is often the companies that use the chemicals (and especially those that have any new "wonder" product), that conduct animal testing (which I know is a whole other subject but if you look at the Wikipedia info on both parabens and SLS their safety has been tested on animals, as you would suspect).

Whereas I have found that some of hthe companies that make paraben/SLS-free products are also those which do not allow any animal testing on their ingredients or on their behalf, and are approved by either Naturewatch or the BUAV as being free from animal testing for cosmetics purposes. They seem to be more "ethical" overall.

Doesnt necessarily follow but I have noticed this with a few brands now (although they do tend to be more expensive).

You've got to worry though when a NHS oncologist will not use deodorant now, where he had previously...

[Alison]

Not used deoderant for about 7 years, just a wipe of a wet crystal stick and I'm sorted. Not sure it'd work for everybody but keeps me lovely and fresh and every time I buy one it lasts about 3 years which is good value if you ask me. Was away with friends the other week and she was spraying stuff all over herself, almost choked in the fug

[VirginVegGrower]

That's the one I use. You apply it to wet skin?!? I find it as good too.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I am not a picky eater but that egg job sounds a bit of a 'grimace'

Colin

[snohare]

Wow, I'm amazed at the level of concern, and at how knowledgeable people are now on this subject ! When I first read up on this sort of thing in the late 80s/early 90s, I could see people switching into "we've got a tin foil hatter here" mode when I tried to tell them there were bad things in food etc. (Okay, maybe it's like my jokes...it's the way I say it...)
The assumption then was that there were people in authority who wouldn't allow it...I suppose we have all grown up now.
As for a link between endocrine disruptors and weight gain - yes, there certainly is. The prevalance of endocrine disruptors in our environment (42 000 at the last count that I know of, and counting - most never investigated in depth), and their tendency to accumulate in fat, makes them potent forces biologically. Fat cells don't just store lipids for when times are hard; they come in different types according to location, and are an important part of the hormonal signalling system in the body. (A hormone is a chemical that has both specific effects in an organ and also regulatory effects in the body; so eostrogen for example has an effect on the ovaries, but also on various nervous system receptors. This is why men have it as well, albeit in lower quantities; and why women get mood swings, and have more varied modes of thinking and affect.) So fat cells around organs accumulating spanners thrown into their cellular machinery are not going to behave normally.
There are other major, major factors as well though.
Exercise for one; be active enough, and all sorts of repair mechanisms switch on in the body, deferring or avoiding cellular damage. (Genetics usually make a difference simply because of variations in the efficiency of these mechanisms.) Lifestyle of course; live at temperatures below 580 F and a specific type of fat cell will burn energy to keep you warm, and multiply to suit the situation; central heating has a lot to answer for ! But eating sugar has got to be the biggest one there, if you exclude pollutants. Fructose is diabolical when it gets into the body in large quantities, and frankly it's a case in point when FDA impotence and incompetence is mentioned.
Sugar: The Bitter Truth - YouTube If you find biochemistry a bit outside your comfort zone, there is a short version !
Personally I avoid most soaps and all shampoos, and certainly all parabens. But you know what...most of them aren't that much better than really basic cleansers. We imitate what we see everyone else doing when it comes to shopping, but it's often unnecessary spending.

[Nicos]

Any chance of some of your 'recipes' for the products you make and use folks? They sound very interesting!
Perhaps you could start a new thread specifically????
I'd love to have a bash - esp the cleaning products- but you've now got me intrigued about the other products!