A Great Blog

My New Project!

2010-01-22T19:26:00.003-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know about my latest project, The MOD Kitchen! As many of you know, I am a chef as well as a healer but have not been a working chef for many years. My love of food has been reignited with my organic rebirth and I am now writing a healing and food blog! I am also in the process of starting an organic catering company in Sw Michigan. I will keep you posted with all of the details as they unfold. Check out the new blog and become a follower so that you don't miss out on any of the cool and delicious recipes posted!
http://www.themodkitchen.com
Peace and Light,
Maria

Skin Evolution

2009-01-31T14:35:00.000-05:00

I have been talking for years about how our skin, as our largest organ, gets abused and often overlooked when it comes to healing. Most of the time we don’t even notice it unless it itches or has a rash and then we usually just slather on some ointment to suppress whatever is trying to express itself to get our attention. Our skin is very forgiving, it doesn’t even protest when we smother it with chemicals and toxins day after day. Our skin still works to protect us to the best of its ability even amidst the abuse. You say,” but I am using this “organic” lotion, isn’t that OK?” A close look at the ingredient label will tell us whether the product you have been using is nourishing your skin or sending it into defensive maneuvers.
The first thing you need to know is that all lotions are emulsions between oil and water. The water component of the emulsion must be preserved otherwise it will grow mold in 3 days, and to date the safest preservative is sodium borate (borax) and even it’s safety is questionable (skin deep rates it a 4-6) soduim borate ,plus it will only preserve at best for 6 months. Another option is grapefruit seed extract (GSE). In double blind tests, they found that the main preserving agent in grapefruit seed extract is the triclosan or parabens used to preserve the GSE itself grapefruit seed extract It does not have any preservation qualities of it’s own.
Rosemary oleoresin is an oil soluble anti-oxidant that cannot preserve the water component. Tetrasodium EDTA is used as a “gentle” preservative but hey guess what EDTA is??? From Wiki: “EDTA is mostly synthesized from 1,2-diaminoethane (ethylenediamine), formaldehyde (methanal), water and sodium cyanide.[2] This yields the tetra sodium salt, which can be converted into the acidic forms by acidification.” Yum. Petroleum, formaldehyde AND cyanide. Yowza. That sounds gentle.
Remember also, that 70% of what we put on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream without the benefit of filtration from the liver and kidneys. Anyone want to mainline some formaldehyde?

If you would not eat it you should not put it on your skin, period.

At this point in time, there is no 100% safe preservative for the water component in a lotion. So why take the risk? The main complaint that I always hear from people regarding natural moisturizers and body butters is that they are oily and don’t absorb well. Well, that is a really good point. No one wants to feel greasy all day long so what is the solution? Heal your skin. Damaged skin cannot absorb like healthy skin. Skin that has become dependant on chemical absorption enhancers in lotions cannot function optimally, it has forgotten how. Luckily, the wisdom in our bodies cannot be suppressed for long. Within a week of applying a 100% food-grade moisturizer to your skin you will notice the difference. Your skin will begin to drink it in instead of it just sitting on top. You will also learn that because it is such a nutrient rich product that you don’t need to apply as much to get the desired effect, dewy soft moisturized skin. Feed your skin and heal your body at the same time. It's a good place to start!

New Name Same Great Product!

2009-01-23T21:23:00.001-05:00

After much deliberation, we have decided to change the name of our outdoor protection oil from Skeeter Skatter to Mother Nature's Magick Oil. The name change is happening for a variety of reasons but the most important was that there were so many other companies already using the name Skeeter Skatter that it just made sense to try something different! Still the same great formula, with medicinal-grade essential oils, especially catnip, to help protect you while outside enjoying the Great Mother and all of her splendid gifts!

What it is all about….

2008-09-28T19:47:00.002-04:00

Last month a customer called me to complain that the Rosy Bottoms Baby Powder that a friend had given her did not “flow freely from the shaker like it should” and felt that I needed to send her a new one as this one was defective. I asked if she had tried to use the larger pour spout and pour the powder into her hand and then apply it to her baby? She replied, “No, I haven’t. But that’s not really convenient and isn’t that what it’s all about?” My first thought was “No, that’s NOT what is it all about…” but then I checked myself and agreed to send her a new one with my apologies.

I have been thinking about that conversation ever since because, convenience isn’t what it is about at all, not even a little bit. In fact, I can think of about 10 things it is more about than convenience.
1. Not wanting to put toxic chemicals on your baby.

2. Not wanting to slather cancer causing petrochemicals all over your baby and family

3. Not wanting to support all of the mega companies like proctor and gamble and unilever that only have their bottom line at heart not your well being.

4. Not wanting to support companies like Monsanto that are bent on destroying our food supply and poisoning the planet with their chemicals.

5. Wanting to support small companies that care about you and the planet

6. Wanting to support small companies run by Mom’s like yourself

7. Valuing your health over saving a dollar.

8. Understanding that 70% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream as if you’ve eaten it and realizing that it better be good!

9. Realizing that if you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients on a product label then it isn’t something that should be considered skin food.

10. Realizing that the old adage “garbage in. garbage out” applies to your skin/body as well.

Not to mention, is anything that can be called “convenient” ever considered healthy? I immediately think of “convenience store” or “convenience food” and I see 7-11 stores. Is there anything healthy to eat at a 7-11? Let’s see, you have chips and other snacks, soda pop, candy, slurpees, hot dogs, tobacco products… convenient yes, good for you, no. Fast food is convenient…but not good for you. I think you get my point.

We have been conned into thinking that everything has to be cheap, simple and easy otherwise why bother. We have gotten so lazy that we cannot even properly take care of our own bodies. It is not about convenience, it is about doing the right thing even if it takes a little longer, requires an extra step and a few extra dollars.

It’s about valuing yourself, at the very least, as much as the money in your pocket.

Be well.

Boo Boo & Tattoo Sticks

2007-11-19T23:37:00.001-05:00

Tattoo Stick
.5oz $8.00

Boo Boo Stick
.5oz $6.00

Heal your skin with first aid complements of Mother Nature! Replace 3 products with 1! Antibiotic ointments, hydrocortisone & topical analgesics!

Why smear toxins into your open wounds?

Organic herbs (self heal, calendula, comfrey leaf & root, chickweed and nettles) infused in organic olive oil and cold pressed grapeseed oils, with organic hemp oil, beeswax, medicinal grade essential oils of lavender, tea tree, german chamomile and everlasting, Bach Rescue Remedy, FES self heal and preserved with vitamin E. For the Tattoo Stick, there is also rosa rubignosa(rose hip seed oil).

Call 866-(568-8726) or email maria@lotusbody.com for more information!

Body Butter

2007-11-19T23:18:00.000-05:00

Lotus Body Butter
8 oz jar $30.00
2 oz jar $15.00

Experience true luxury, without all the toxic chemicals.
Organic herbs(self heal, calendula, comfrey leaf & root, chickweed, oatstraw, nettles and green and white tea) are infused in organic olive oil and cold pressed grapeseed oil and blended with organic hemp oil, beeswax, organic extra virgin coconut oil, rose hip seed oil, medicinal grade essential oils of lavender, sweet orange, bergamot, german chamomile, rosemary verbenon, everlasting, palmarosa, carrot seed and ylang ylang. Energetically enhanced with Bach Rescue Remedy and FES Self Heal. Gently preserved with vitamin E.

Call 866-568-8726 or e mail maria@lotusbody for more information and have healthier, dewy skin in days!

New Products!

2007-11-19T23:03:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

We are in the middle of a site redesign, but I wanted you to be able to see all of our new products! I am going to post the pictures here along with prices for you to check out!

I also wanted to remind everyone that our Holiday Open House is coming up. Saturday, December 8 from 11 am until 6 pm at Marning Glory Market, 3260 Niles Rd in Saint Joseph, MI.
Essential Collection $150.00
Medicinal grade essential oil blends in Mother Nature's First Aid kit. 4-5ml bottles 1-4ml Packaged in a handmade crate made with reclaimed cedar slats.
Headache Oil
Antiseptic Oil
Sleep Oil
Fungus Amongus Oil
Immunity Oil

Experience the difference of genuine and authentic essential oils! Call 866-(568-8726) or email maria@lotusbody.com for more details!

Honoring the Wholeness in Life

2007-10-25T23:50:00.000-04:00

It never ceases to amaze me how generous people can be! This is one of our more beautiful qualities as humans, our capacity for compassion and kindness. This, unfortunately, is not evident to most Americans who watch the news and read the paper everyday, the daily fear report.

It’s sad, really, when you think about it.

The news really teaches us to fear one another and to feel alone and unsupported when in reality nothing could be further from the truth. I have learned this first hand in the past few weeks in planning my event to benefit survivors of domestic abuse and animals. I am having a bake sale and a raffle and have been asking local area businesses to donate items to raffle. The response has been terrific! People are coming out of nowhere wanting to support the cause! It should be a grand event! Thank you to everyone who is participating!

If you are in the area, come out and buy some muffins and a raffle ticket…you could win a great prize and at the same time feel great about serving a good cause. If you come out, please also bring your gently used clothing, toys and cell phones to donate to the shelters.

Bake Sale and Raffle
November 3 2007
11am to 6pm
Morning Glory Market
3260 Niles Rd
Saint Joseph, MI

This is a benefit for the Safe Shelter for women and children survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault and for Animal Aid, a local no kill shelter that rescues, houses and re-homes countless animals yearly.

Please bring your gently used clothing and toys for the shelter and old cell phones, projectkopeg has offered recycle these phones and send us a check for the shelter!

We will also have lots of yummy homemade baked goods for sale; I am even resurrecting some of my old dog treat recipes from my years as DharmaDog! We will also be selling catnip mice and squeaky fuzzy dog bones!

Hope to see you there!

Save the Date!

2007-09-27T23:27:00.001-04:00

I know that it is early, but the date is set for our annual Holiday Open House! This year, our Party will be held at Morning Glory Market on Saturday, December 8 from 11am until 6pm. Mark it on your calendar so you don't forget! As always, there will be food and beverages as well as everything on your shopping list and more! Stay tuned for more details!
Peace and Light,
Maria

The Art of Listening

2007-09-16T23:41:00.000-04:00

The Art of Listening
This is the essence of biodynamic craniosacral work. Every body has a story to tell, many stories in fact. Every experience you have had in your lifetime is stored in every cell of your body, the body remembers it all. If the experience was traumatic or overwhelming then it is held with a greater intensity, one that can and often does manifest physically. With enough insults to the system, we quickly become run down, depleted and energetically and emotionally wrought. I liken this to a circus performer who is spinning plates on sticks. The more you are holding in your system, the more plates you are trying to keep in the air. Can you feel the energy expenditure going out in order to secure each plate? This is what your body does each day that you carry traumatic experience with you. You have to ask yourself then, how much is left for living your life?
BCST works with your system on 3 levels, body (physical), mind (emotions) and soul (spiritual) to resolve these traumas, build resource and stimulate the Health that is ever present within your system. As you resolve the issues that are being held, a plate comes down and the energy it took to maintain it comes back to you and any pain associated with it can begin to heal and resolve. The 3 levels are interconnected, if you always focus on one without acknowledging and integrating the others then the patterns you are seeking to heal cannot fully resolve. That is why many physical modalities become habitual, because without integration there is no healing. The physical piece cannot resolve if the emotional and spiritual core is not acknowledged, honored and addressed. I will go so far to say that there is no physical pain that does not have at its core an emotional and spiritual component. Often times this piece just needs to be heard to be released. Being Heard. Isn’t that what we all crave and long for? For someone to just listen to our story with a compassionate heart and an open mind and really hear us. That is a powerful gift. That is the essence of BCST. The session is not about me deciding what is best for you or feeling a pattern and changing it, it is about listening to the wisdom in your body and honoring what you need in that moment. It is about creating the safety and space to work with these rough edges without fear or overwhelm. It is about showing you the power you have within you to heal yourself. This is your divine gift. Do you want it?
Peace and Light,
Maria

The Future

2007-08-03T00:50:00.001-04:00

LotusBody.com is going to be undergoing some reconstruction in the coming weeks, the store will remain open in it’s present form until the reconstruction is complete and I will announce the grand re-opening! Some items to look forward to are a podcast/videocast, monthly sales and promotions, all of our new products fully featured and all of your wonderful testimonials! Stay tuned for our first videocast where I will eat some of my Body Butter spread on toast!

Sins of Omission

2007-08-03T00:46:00.000-04:00

I am often asked how Lotus Body products differ from all of the other products out there labeled natural and or organic. This can be a complicated question to answer because there is a lot of deception in the marketplace because the competition is heavy. The deception begins with the FDA, who does not police the health and beauty product market at all. This means that people can say whatever they want on their labels with impunity. There are varying degrees of deception.

The first is the lie of omission. They just don’t tell you what they preserve with so it appears that they don’t use any toxic preservatives. But you have to remember that oil and water don’t mix and that water unpreserved will grow mold in 2 to 3 days. Vitamin E, essential oils and rosemary oleoresin are oil-based so they can only preserve the oil portion of the emulsion. You have to also preserve the water portion (water content can be aloe vera, flower waters, milks…) this can only be done with a formaldehyde or phenol based preservative. Grapefruit seed extract will buy you some time but not a lot and they are finding that it is not the grapefruit seed that is actually responsible for the preservation but the parabens that they use to preserve the grapefruit seed extract! So if you are reading a label and there is no listed preservative, assume there is something scary lurking within.

The second lie is “paraben-free” on the label. Parabens are a formaldehyde-based preservative that have been used for years in body care products as well as food. They are also known as methyl-, propyl-, ethyl- and butyl-paraben and have become a big deal lately because they have been found in cancerous breast tumors. People are recognizing that parabens are not a good thing and the big companies are exploiting that for their own gain. Sure there may be no “parabens” in their products but what did they replace it with? If it needed a paraben before and there is nothing listed as a preservative now…what do you think is going on? I will discuss preservatives in depth in a later article.

The third area of deception is in essential oils. As many of you know this is a huge area of contention for me as an aromatherapist who is trained in the use of genuine and authentic medicinal-grade essential oils. All essential oils are NOT created equal, especially in America. I say that because once again this is an unregulated area and there is such an enormous lack of understanding of the healing effects of essential oils in this country that it is almost impossible to tell what is real and what is not. Any company can call any oil a natural or real essential oil even if it is made in a lab and is synthetic. Yes, this is true. I will say that 99.9% of all of the rose and jasmine and neroli and Melissa oils on the market today are synthetic. That is why so many people feel nauseas after smelling rose oil, it is not real. And to make it worse, all synthetic fragrances are formaldehyde based! Now, isn’t that nice. Honestly, if you see any of those oils for sale for less that $100.00 for 5 mls, it is a fake, period.

So, back to the original question, what makes Lotus Body products different from everything else out there? Honesty, integrity and a pit bull attitude regarding labeling. I will never use a synthetic essential oil, I will never use a toxic preservative and I will always tell you exactly what is in my products and to prove to you how pure they are, I will eat them in front of you! How many other companies out there will do that for you?

Peace.

Maria

I Take It Personally

2007-07-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

It was Easter 2000 when Bob and I were driving to his parents for brunch when we saw a scared little pit bull sitting on the median in the highway. She pulled us to her and we instinctively stopped to see if we could help. She was scared but very sweet, we picked her up and put her in the car and proceeded to brunch. We named her Sunday and she was a loyal and devoted little lover of a dog. It was evident that her history was not pleasant. She had scars and cuts on her face and head and an indent on her back that was the size of a pipe. We knew that she had been used either as a fighting dog or a bait dog. We don't know if she had been dumped on the highway or if she had escaped. Either way, she was ours. We worked with her for 6 months, training, healing, loving. As time passed, the scars that she bore, both physical and emotional began to take their toll on her. She became increasingly aggressive toward anyone who came into our home and toward our cat and our other beloved dog, Jack. When she lunged at a newborn infant, we knew that the most loving(albeit heartbreaking) choice was to let her go back to spirit. Sunday died in my arms in 2001.

When I see the faces of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's property, I see my Sunday and I take it personally. If you have ever loved a dog or any animal, you should, too.

This type of behavior is reprehensible and is indicative of a deeper disease in our society that needs to be dealt with.
The NFL and Hollywood are dealing with this issue at best by ignoring it, at worst, glorifying it by allowing it to permeate films, media and music.

We support with our dollars every time we buy music, go to a movie or buy products that are endorsed by such athletes, musicians and actors who endorse and participate in dog fighting. Our ignorance does not release us from responsibility.

We need to become aware of the money trail and shut it down.

Here is a list of Vick's corporate sponsors:

Nike: http://niketown.nike.com/niketown/info/privacy.jsp?item=privacy

EA Sports: http://www.info.ea.com/company/company_prlist.php

Hasbro: http://hasbro.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/hasbro.cfg/php/enduser/

Rawlings: http://www.rawlings.com/

Kraft: http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?m=contact_us/cu_form1

Coca-Cola and Powerade (owned by CocaCola): http://www.coca-cola.com/template1/index.jsp?locale=en_US(click on contact us)

Contact the Atlanta Falcons and let them know that you will be turning them off if Vick is allowed to play.

http://www.atlantafalcons.com/About/Contact_Us.asp

Contact the NFL and tell Commissioner Roger Goodell that not only should Vick be suspended but that when he is found guilty, banned from professional football for life. Both PETA and the Humane Society have active petitions.

Please join me in protecting dogs and all animals from abuse and neglect.

Our collective love can transform this barbaric and tragic situation and provide a safer world for all of us to coexist. For all of the "Sunday's" in this world.

Peace and Light,
Maria

Support Hemp in the US!

2007-07-02T23:56:00.001-04:00

Hello again

It was just brought to my attention again, the annoying and obnoxious habit of our wonderful government to suppress and make illegal that which will heal our world the most.

This time it is Hemp. It is illegal to grow hemp in the go ole US of A because, well they want you to believe that it is because of it's cousin mary jane but it is really because it would put the tree killers and the monsanto sanctioned chemical laden cotton growers out of business. Not to mention the fact that if we all consumed a bit of hemp a day, we would all be a lot healthier.

Ruth at Ruth's Hemp Foods has created a Hemp Bar to support the cause of 2 farmers in North Dakota who have filed a lawsuit against the DEA so they can legally grow hemp in the US. 100% of the profits from the sales of this bar are going to the cause until Oct. 4 and then 20% thereafter for the life of the bar. This is a cause worth supporting! Check it out at http://www.ruthshempfoods.com/votehemp

You can get more information about the cause at http://www.votehemp.com

Lotus Body has been proudly using organic hemp oil in our lip balms and sore muscle salve from the beginning and will be joining the crusade in the near future...stay tuned for details!

Peace, Light and Hemp!
Maria

The Toothpaste is a HIT!

2007-06-27T22:07:00.000-04:00

After a 6 month labor of love, the toothpaste you have been waiting for is here!

Lotus Body Botanicals has teamed with Dr. Tereau Pearson of Holistic Dental and Wellness Center to create the ultimate toothpaste. Simple, clean and vibrationally powerful, this toothpaste will rock your world!

There is nothing like it on the market today because we are the only company that cares enough to use genuine and authentic medicinal-grade essential oils to heal you body, mouth and soul.

Not only for your mouth...

The benefits that I have received from using the clove toothpaste for just 2 weeks are amazing. A healing detoxification began at around 10 days and continues even into the second week. I didn't even think that I had anything going on...

The base is clean...

Baking soda to cleanse and deodorize
Xylitol to fight cavities and sweeten
Vegetable glycerine to sweeten and bring it all together

The flavors are vibrationally potent...

Peppermint
Peppermint Ginger
Clove
Lavender Tea Tree and Sandalwood
Cinnamon Myrrh
Juicy Orange

Custom Blends...

With a consultation, Dr. Pearson can design a personalized blend just for you and your specific needs!

Unique, Pure and Vibrant.

Check it out today! Call for more information. 1-866-lotusbody.

Peace and Light,
Maria

New and Improved!

2007-02-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

Greetings!

We are proud and excited to announce that we have changed our formulation for our Rashy Rump Butter! This change has occurred for 2 reasons:

1. The Shea Butter that we have been using just didn't have a long enough shelf life for this product. It was going rancid in 6 to 8 months. This was not long enough and we will not preserve with anything harsher than vitamin E so the Shea had to go!

2. We found something better. We loved the moisturizing qualities of the shea butter, it made the skin nice and soft but what we found offers that and more! Extra Virgin Coconut Oil!

Not only does it have a very extended shelf life, but it is a fully saturated oil that makes it a solid at room temperature. This makes it a perfect consistency for a salve/butter. It is highly moisturizing, loaded with antioxidants and it has lauric acid which is an antiseptic.

This is a perfect fit for rashy bottoms.

We will have a full profile of the healing benefits of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil in the March newsletter, sign up now if you aren't already on board!

Check out the new and improved Rashy Rump Butter, your child's butt will thank you.

Peace and Light,
Maria

Exciting News for Lotus Body!

2007-02-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone

We hope that this winter is treating everyone well and that you are all keeping warm and dry! We are currently buried under 3 plus feet of snow here in SW Michigan, oh how I wish that I would have bought those snow shoes!

We have some exciting news we would like to share with you. We have just received 3 new endorsements!

1. We have joined and been approved for membership in Coop America! This has always been a dream of mine and now we are a part of this amazing group of forward thinking green businesses! Yeah! I wanted this so much that the membership fee was my Christmas present!

2. We have gotten the PETA seal of approval for all of our products being cruelty-free! This is kinda funny to me because you have to pick a date that you certify that you have done no animal testing of any kind...As if I ever did ANY animal testing at all!

3. We have joined and been approved for the Green Products Alliance. This another cool organization of like minded businesses that care about and steward the Earth.

We are really proud to be a part of all 3 of these important and forward thinking organizations. Check back soon so see our seals displayed proudly at the web store!

Peace and Light,
Maria, Bob and Sofia

Holiday Open House

2006-11-27T12:45:00.000-05:00

We would like to extend an invitation to everyone in the area to come to our Holiday Open House!

Saturday December 9th from Noon until 6 pm

There will be food and beverages as well as thoughtful and heartfelt handmade gifts for the entire family.

So come over, have some great food and enjoy a calm and peaceful holiday shopping experience!

We look forward to meeting you!

1817 Brown School Rd
Saint Joseph, MI

269-932-4551

Peace and Light,

Maria, Bob and Sofia

Thanksgiving Vacation

2006-11-20T10:55:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I will be out of town until November 25th. I can still be reached at my toll free number 866-lotusbody (568-8726) and I will still be checking my e mail. Please leave a message and we will get back to you!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace and Light,

Maria, Bob and Sofia

Love the Skin You're In!

2006-11-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

Most of us are pretty conscious when it comes to what foods we choose to put into our mouths. We like to think that we usually make the best choice with the occasional not so healthy snack. But how much thought do any of us give to what we take into our bodies via our skin? The skin is our largest organ and it is responsible for many functions.

1. Protection of underlying organs and tissues from mechanical damage.
2. Excretion of excess salts, water and urea from the body.
3. Temperature regulation.
4. Maintenance of body shape. The elasticity of skin restores the shape when joints are used during movement.
5. Protection against excessive loss of water from the body by evaporation.
6. Protection against entry of harmful organisms.
7. Storage of nutrients.
8. Detection of stimuli such as temperature, pain and touch and the relay of this information to the nervous system. And last but most important:
9. Absorption.

In fact, we absorb 70% of what our skin comes into contact with both indirectly through the environment and directly through application to the skin of various lotions, cosmetics and medications. 70%! That is a lot especially when you consider the pathway. When we eat and drink, the foods we take in have to go through the gastrointestinal tract before entering our bloodstream to reach the entire body. What this means is that your food is in contact with digestive enzymes, stomach acids and other substances that break down and help to digest and process it. If there are any toxic or un-needed elements they are often whisked away to the liver and kidneys for processing and excretion.

This doesn’t mean that there are no ill effects from eating things that are not good for us; it just means that our foods get broken down and partially processed. In contrast, when we put a substance on our skin, it gets absorbed and into the bloodstream without the benefit of processing and filtering.

This is how trans-dermal patches work for nicotine, pain killers like morphine and hormones for HRT. The fat-soluble medications are absorbed through the fat layer and into the bloodstream to the entire body, instantly. Then there are the medicated creams and lotions on the market for sore muscles and arthritis. These ingredients, salicylates/aspirins and hot pepper (capsaicin) preparations are water-soluble so they need help getting through the fatty tissue to get into the bloodstream. That is where the other various ingredients come into play, the ones that we usually cannot pronounce. The most popular transport agent is propylene glycol. It is responsible for vasodilation (opening up your blood vessels) and dilating your pores so that the medicine can get through.

There are a few problems with this method that you need to be aware of.

1. Propylene glycol is a petroleum by product.
2. It is an ingredient in anti-freeze and other industrial agents.
3. The FDA considers it so toxic that it requires its workers to wear full body protection when cleaning up a spill, yet it is the most common ingredient in all cosmetics.
4. When the propylene glycol opens the door for the medicine, everything else follows.

What that means is that all of the delightful formaldehyde based preservatives, petroleum, synthetic fragrances and Goddess knows what else, are escorted right into your bloodstream for quick distribution.

Isn’t that nice? And we haven’t even talked about cosmetics yet!

Read the ingredient label on any random body product and then ask yourself,

“Would I feed this to my child?” “Would I eat this myself?” Yes, with your mouth.

If you cringe, then maybe you need to rethink what you are slathering on your children and your own body everyday because that is exactly what you are doing. You are eating all the formaldehyde, all of the petroleum, all of the propylene glycol, all of the dyes and synthetic fragrances, all of the ingredients that you cannot pronounce, all of it. YUCK!

And I am sorry to say that many of the products labeled as “organic” are not much better. Remember, if the scent of a product lasts on your skin for more than 20 minutes, it is synthetic. It is not real. The exception to this is resinous oils like frankincense and patchouli etc.
In light of this information we are considering starting a new slogan, Lotus Body Botanicals, Good Enough to Eat! Check out our entire line of edible skin care/healing products, (except of course the Honey Bubbles)!

Peace and Light,
Maria

Don't Blame the Spinach!

2006-11-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

What a Preedickamink
By Doug Hornig "That's what Popeye would surely say: "What a preedickamink!"

All those years of pouring spinach down his gullet in order to build a strong body, and now he'd be hard pressed to find a supply.

The culprit is, of course, that old devil, the Escherichia coli bacterium. It seems like every time there's a nationwide brouhaha over contaminated food, E. coli is at the center of it, and that's certainly the case here. Since August 25, when the first case of illness was reported, anti-spinach fever--promoted by the government and fed by the sensation-seeking media--has risen to a near hysterical pitch.

By mid-September, the FDA had cleared the supermarkets of all bagged fresh spinach after some 150 infections and one death that could be attributed to the "outbreak" of E. coli-related illness.

Dire warnings were issued, among others from Robert Brackett--director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition--who stressed the importance of stopping the bacterium at its source. "If you wash it, it is not going to get rid of it," he said.

Placing his job at the very pinnacle of stewardship of the public safety (though struggling with his syntax), Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the FDA's acting commissioner proclaimed that, "We need to strive to do even better so even one life is not lost."

With many frightened citizens vowing never to touch spinach again, there has even been talk in Washington about a permanent ban on all bagged, fresh-picked, triple-washed greens.

Our regular readers will be aware, however, that we are eternally skeptical when the government says it is doing something for our own good, and so we decided to take a closer look at the spinach fear that has suddenly gripped the land. Was it justified, or was it an overreaction engineered, once again, by those zealous guardians of our welfare down in D.C.?

Well, you be the judge.

There are several important aspects of the story to keep in mind. First of all, hundreds of strains of E. coli bacteria already reside in your gut. In fact, you wouldn't have intestinal health without them. They're the good guys.

Unfortunately, they have a handful of cousins that can cause foodborne illnesses, and one--O157:H7--that is particularly toxic, and is responsible for most of the serious medical conditions associated with the bacterium.

Even if you do ingest the nasty O157:H7, however, you won't automatically get sick. As our old friend, nutritional consultant Jon Barron put it, "those with healthy populations of beneficial bacteria in their intestinal tracts are virtually immune to problems. There is simply no room for ingested E. coli to take root, colonize, and multiply--not to mention the fact that the beneficial bacteria gobble up any stray E. coli they encounter. In other words, the outbreak has less to do with contaminated food than it does with the epidemic of compromised immune systems and intestinal tracts."

This is why, even when we ingest O157:H7-contaminated food, the resultant illness will probably be self-limiting. The vast majority of those exposed are either unaffected, or have minor problems that clear up in one to three days. Only in about 5% of all cases is there severe poisoning.

Thus, if you don't take care of yourself, you're more likely to fall ill and run a greater risk of complications. Not a great surprise. And equally unsurprising is the behavior of government, which has been handed a golden opportunity to educate people about the importance of gastrointestinal health. Instead, our bureaucrats choose to disrupt the food business, bankrupting farmers along the way, all in a futile attempt to eliminate O157:H7 from the retail world.

Naturally, we are not advocating that contaminated food shouldn't be pulled from stores. It should. We're just adding some perspective to the Great Spinach Flap of '06. Here's some more: each year, E. coli poisoning causes 73,000 cases of serious illness and about 60 deaths. Yes, the proverbial bolt of lightning is more likely to take your life than this tiny animalcule; and yes, 150 cases/1 death is a tiny percentage of the whole.

There's also another thing worth considering, the question of who benefits. From the Union of Concerned Scientists' Food and Environment website we learn that, "Most infections of E. coli O157:H7 come from eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef. Meat becomes contaminated in the slaughterhouse, and the bacteria are easily spread when meat is ground in the processing plant. Studies have shown that about half the cattle in feedlots carry this pathogen during summer months." Worse yet, because of the willy-nilly use of antibiotics among modern herds, the strain borne by beef cattle is increasingly antibiotic-resistant.

Now the target of the spinach purge has been organically raised produce, at a time when it is claiming a bourgeoning segment of the market. Conventional growers, as well as the powerful beef industry, have plenty of friends in Washington. Since large agribusinesses have a vested interest in maintaining their own market share, while meat processors would rather we knew as little as possible about where our hamburger comes from, having organic vegetables transformed into a villain is welcome news to both."

Michigan's Raw Milk Fiasco!

2006-11-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

October 30, 2006
Quick! Confiscate the Butter!
State sting asserts Michigan milk laws, chills farmers
By Patty Cantrell
Great Lakes Bulletin News Service

MLUI
Growing onsumer demand for fresh, unprocessed milk from happy cows runs up against regulations designed for big business and long distance.
For three years now, southwest Michigan farmers Richard and Annette Hebron have kept their family operation in business with weekly deliveries of fresh, un-pasteurized milk and other farm products direct to some 150 members of their Family Farms Cooperative in Ann Arbor.

And, for three years, regulators at the Michigan Department of Agriculture left the Hebrons-and a growing number of other small farmers who also produce and sell raw milk-alone. The reason is that, even though Michigan law requires that all milk sold at retail be pasteurized as a precaution against food borne illnesses, the raw milk the Hebrons provide with two other farms in the cooperative is not really sold that way. Customers buy shares in the cows that produce the milk, which qualifies them for an exemption in Michigan's dairy law: People who own cows can drink their own cows' un-pasteurized milk.

This legal truce between the MDA and such "cow-share" arrangements ended abruptly, however, on Friday Oct. 13, when state troopers stopped Richard Hebron on his way to Ann Arbor and produced a search warrant that allowed state agents to seize Mr. Hebron's products, paperwork, and cell phone.

As the alarmed farmer watched the officials confiscate the privately contracted, un-pasteurized milk, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, and butter, his wife, Annette, was enduring the same thing back home. There, plainclothes agents were packing up other products, taping shut freezers and coolers, and confiscating the family's computer and business records.

Four hours later, in Ann Arbor, police and other MDA Food and Dairy Division officials produced a third warrant and searched the warehouse of a store that the cooperative uses as a distribution point for its products.

What Is Retail?
Katherine Fedder is the MDA official who approved the sting operation, which included months of undercover work by a spy from her agency, who infliltrated the co-op. She said that her department's concern is not about cow shares but about location. Delivering to the warehouse of a specialty wine and food shop in Ann Arbor, she contends, may violate the state's dairy laws because it is a matter of bringing un-pasteurized, unlabeled milk to a licensed retail establishment.

But Mr. Hebron and the store owner say this warehouse space is well away from the store's retail traffic and that, lacking any clarifying language in Michigan law, they thought it was perfectly legal to make the privately owned, un-pasteurized milk products available to co-op members there.

Ms. Fedder takes issue with the negative reaction to the sting by the press and others, which have described it as "Gestapo-like." But if the suddenness and severity of the MDA's Friday-the-13th raids don't qualify for jackboot status, they certainly are a wake-up call to entrepreneurial farms and their direct-market customers.

Local farm-to-table enterprises like Mr. Hebron's are revolutionizing food markets by responding to new consumer demands. They are springing up like wild, untamable mint outside the typical, centralized, national and international channels that most food now travels: Nearly every morsel averages 800 to 1,200 miles before reaching our plates.

"Cow share" arrangements like that of the Family Farms Cooperative are increasing because a growing number of consumers like raw milk's taste, its reported and perceived nutrition and digestibility benefits, and the simple fact that it comes direct from smaller, nearby farms.

But the entrepreneurial spirit re-connecting these local farms and consumers is also challenging the normal regulatory course of business at the MDA, which is charged with enforcing public health rules designed, in this case, to keep the mass-market milk supply safe.

Communication Breakdown?
The ordeal has left the Hebrons and their two partner farm families traumatized, confused, and struggling to stay in business. Two weeks after the search and seizure, the Hebrons had yet to be charged with a crime, were waiting for news, and trying to soldier on without access to seized equipment and records.

A simple warning call from the MDA could have alleviated the agency's concerns, said Mr. Hebron. "They could have come in and talked to us about it and we could have rectified the situation."

The MDA's choice of a sting operation raises an urgent question: How willing is the MDA to explore other ways to protect consumers and regulate farmers who are, in this case, buying and selling milk products that they prefer over what is available in mainstream stores? In other words, are state regulators willing to consider alternatives to regulatory rules written primarily for big business and long distances?

The agency's treatment of the Hebron's also is drawing criticism because it conflicts with the agency's long-espoused commitment to helping farmers understand and comply with regulations. The sting stands in stark contrast to the MDA's kid-glove treatment of some large livestock operations, such as the 2,500-cow dairies that now dominate the mainstream, industrial milk market, which the Hebron's customers are deserting. Despite repeated complaints from neighbors and well-documented evidence of severe water pollution, livestock operations suspected of violating environmental laws generally receive months and even years of warnings before the state takes enforcement action.

In an interview with the Great Lakes Bulletin News Service, the MDA's Ms. Fedder declined to say whether officials attempted to communicate with the Hebrons before the raids. She did confirm, however, that her division assigned an undercover agent to the cooperative last spring. This came after a local health department, apparently in the Hebron's vicinity, reported in April that two children had become ill after allegedly consuming raw milk. Ms. Fedder also confirmed the facts in an Oct. 19 Business Week commentary: The local health department was unable to trace the illness back to raw milk or any other specific food.

Despite the lack of evidence that the Hebron's milk was related to any public health harm, the undercover operation proceeded and evolved months later into the sudden sting operation.

Rights and Responsibilities
Ms. Fedder insisted that the MDA respects private consumer choice and tolerates cow-share arrangements because the law says nothing about them: Her concern is about raw milk showing up in retail stores as demand for it rises.

"That's where we will draw the line," she said. "My biggest concern has always been a mother who goes into the store and grabs something she didn't intend to grab versus a person with a high degree of knowledge of what they're consuming and the choice they're making."

Ms. Fedder points to the majority of public health officials, who advise people not to drink raw milk. Mainstream milk producers also repeat this point in a campaign they have launched to defend the industry's practices and processes-and to discredit and oppose the labeling of raw milk, organic milk, and milk from cows that have not been fed artificial hormones or daily doses of antibiotics.

Yet, ironically, food safety is a major factor in the rise of un-pasteurized milk providers, up from just a few known Michigan providers in 2003 to nearly 30 today, according to realmilk.com, a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which promotes the benefits of raw or un-pasteurized dairy products.

Raw milk consumers like the fact that they're working with, and helping keep in business, small farmers who may be needed to keep the milk supply safe and secure in a time when more and more food is coming through increasingly consolidated, sometimes quite vulnerable channels.

A recent New York Times piece by author and researcher Michael Pollan pointed out, for example, that 80 percent of America's beef is now slaughtered by just four companies, 75 percent of precut salads are processed by two companies, and 30 percent of milk by just one. The recent national recall of bagged spinach demonstrates how one small problem along America's mass food production line can cause lots of damage.

Katherine Czapp, a member of the Family Farms Cooperative, believes Michigan regulators need to take such facts into consideration and give consumers and farmers more security and clarity in their efforts to exchange the food products they prefer.

"I think they need to look at places like California, where it is legal to buy raw milk off the shelf, or Pennsylvania," said Ms. Czapp, who is also editor of the Wise Traditions Journal, a publication of the Weston A. Price Foundation. "Let's see what they did there to make that legally possible."

Patty Cantrell directs the Michigan Land Use Institute's entrepreneurial agriculture program. Reach her at patty@mlui.org.

Natural Skin Products

2006-09-06T22:29:00.000-04:00

For all of you who use our products regularly,(thanks) you know how deeply healing they are. But have any of you noticed how your skin has improved as well?

All of our products are aimed at healing a specific issue, but because of the high quality of our carrier oils and base ingredients, the organic herbs and therapeutic grade essential oils, the healing goes much further.

So when you use a product for sore muscles, your skin benefits as well!

How cool is that?!

So our products are not only natural healing products but natural skin products as well!

Thanks for your continued support!

Peace and Light,

Maria

Harvest Time

2006-09-06T22:20:00.000-04:00

Hi All!

Harvest time is upon us and I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that I haven't poated any of our organic vegetable offerings yet this year. There is good reason for this...

Our harvest was not as bountiful as expected. We started with a bum load of soil and weren't able to ammend it as we would have liked to. Plus, the neighboring maple tree has taken over our yard and literally shrouded our garden! We are moving the garden for next year and have converted a few trash cans into composters so we should be ready!

Here's to next years bounty!

Peace.

Testimonials!!

2006-08-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

Hi All

We are in need of testimonials for the web store.

Please drop us an e mail telling us what you like best about our products and we will send you a free lip balm!

Tell us a story about how you use a specific product or a great success story, we would love to hear from you!

We will be looking for your e mails!

Thanks!