Grace’s Blog

If you’re drinking soda — (especially from fast food) you want to read this.

A new study finds that soda fountains are crawling with bacteria. Not just any bacteria, but coliform bacteria.

Researchers tested 90 soda and water samples from 30 different fast food restaurants in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley.

In all, 70 percent tested positive for some form of bacteria–and many of them were resistant to one or more of 11 different antibiotics tested on them, according to the study published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology.

The researchers found 48 percent tested positive for coliform, 17 percent tested positive for Chryseobacterium meningosepticum and 11 percent tested positive for E. coli. They also found species of Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Candida, and Serratia.

In plain English, that means there are lots of nasty germs living in those soda machines.

The bacteria appear to love the plastic tubes that send soda (and some of the bacteria) into your cup. Since customers don’t touch those tubes, the researchers believe restaurant workers with dirty hands are likely contaminating them–ironically, probably when they’re cleaning them.

The researchers tested bottled soda to use as a control group and found no contamination.

But there are plenty of other reasons to avoid those, too.

Soda has been linked to tooth decay and obesity. Even diet soda can help you pack on pounds–studies have found people who drink diet sodas actually gain weight, and may be even more prone to diabetes.

Soda has also been linked to lower calcium levels, leading to bone loss and osteoporosis.

I could go on, but I think most of us know this stuff isn’t very good for us.

Don’t replace soda with other canned or bottled drinks. I’ve been telling you quite a bit lately about the health benefits of coffee and tea, so considering brewing your own and enjoying them–hot or iced–throughout the day.

And if you want some fizz, stick to carbonated water.

Just don’t get it from a soda fountain!

Thank you, Dan Henderson, for this information.

Shaklee Independent Distributor

What’s good for your home is also good for you.  Here are some things you can do.

Get The Real Dirt On Clean. Watch this 4 Part YouTube Video presentation, about 27 total minutes.

 Part One.  3:49 Min.

 Part Two. 7:40 Min.

 Part Three.  8:52 Min.

 Part Four.  7:30 Min.

Have a clean for all.  Put on your gloves and get rid of all your household hazardous waste like paint, batteries, and cleaners.  Please don’t toss this stuff in the garbage. Take to your local hazardous waste center.

Open your windows and let fresh air in.

Use essential oils instead of air fresheners.

Have living plants in your home.  They can absorb harmful gases and help clean the air.

Avoid bedding treated with chemicals.

Use healthy paint. Choose low VOC paint.   That new paint smell can be as nasty as it smells.

Use cleaners that are truly cleaner: Non-toxic, natural, biodegradable, concentrated, and hypoallergenic.

Install low-flush toilets.  We did and it cut our water bill dramatically.

Turn off lights and appliances when you’re not using them.

These are just a few suggestions.  You can probably come up with more.

In the year 2000, Shaklee became the first company in the world to obtain Climate Neutral™ certification and totally offset its carbon emissions, resulting in a net-zero impact on the environment.

Join Us.  We are Shaklee Business Leaders.  Help Make A Difference!

Shaklee Independent Distributor

You’ve just cleaned your house and have a good feeling that everything is clean and fresh.  Or is it?

Sorry to spoil all those warm fuzzy feelings, but you may have made your home dirtier.

Would you let your kids play with toxic chemicals?  Then why do you let your baby crawl all over a floor that has been wiped with them?  There are more dangerous things than a little juice or jelly on the floor.

Take a look at these statistics:

Over 90% of poisons exposures happen at home.

Common bleach is the #1 household chemical involve in poisoning.

Many common cleaners and even air fresheners contain organic pollutants and are 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out.

Spend 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls and you could inhale three times the “acute one-hour exposure limit” for glycol ether-containing products.

Increase the risk of your kids developing asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease, by using cleaners that give off fumes linked to the risk of getting asthma.

1 in 13 school age children have asthma.  From 1980-1994, the rate of children under five increased more than 160%.

Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults, making them substantially more vulnerable to chemical toxicants that are present in water, food or air.

If you have an average home in the U.S., you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each hear in the form of toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach products.

Educate yourself about what you bring into your home.

Watch this short VIDEO. 

Take action and make your home the safest, healthiest, cleanest place in the world and “Welcome Healthy”  into your home.

Celebrate Earth Day everyday with GET CLEAN PRODUCTS.  Order from our WEB SITE.

Shaklee Independent Distributor

Have you ever wondered if your life matters?  Do you make a difference?

Recently I read a little book, “The Butterfly Effect; How Your life Matters” by Andy Andrews.  It has made me think of all the ways each of us makes a difference.

In 1963, Edward Lorenz presented a hypothesis to the New York Academy of Science.  He stated that when a butterfly flaps its wings, it sets molecules of air in motion.  As those molecules move, they set other molecules of air in motion and eventually they are capable of starting a hurricane on the other side of the planet.

He was laughed out of the conference.

More than thirty years later, physics professors came to the conclusion that the butterfly effect was authentic, accurate, and viable.

This butterfly effect also applies to people.

I have been listening and reading about people who have made a difference.  It has been interesting and intriguing to see the ‘butterfly effect’ in each of their lives.

“Every single thing you do matters.  You have been created as one of a kind.  You have been created in order to make a difference.  You have within you the power to change the world.” …Andy Andrews.

You can get this little book at Simple Truths, http://www.simpletruths.com/.  It is well worth it.  I’ve bought several to share with some of my favorite people, my family.

Independent Shaklee Distributor