How Argan oil benefits your hair

I have been doing a lot of reading on natural hair care products since the start of this blog.  And,  I never cease to be amazed at all of the natural and health and beauty promoting products out there that have been used for women for centuries. (All without chemical preservatives). An example of one is Argon Oil.

Let's take a look at information regarding this beauty oil that has been used by women for centuries.

Argan Oil

Women of Morocco have been using this amazing oil for centuries. It is known world wide for its restorative effect on hair, skin and nails.

Argan oil grows on the Moroccan Argan tree.  It is high in vitamin E, which promotes hair health and growth.  It is also supposed to reduce drying time up to 40-50%.

On the hair, after short use, it reverse the appearance of dry, sull and frizzy hair.  It slao adds luster and softness to the hair without weighing it down or making it appear greasy.  It also detangles and helps prevent splint ends. Anything that helps reduce tangling is helpful to our hair so as to avoid tearing and breaking when hair is wet.

In Summary

Now, to be quite honest, I have not used argan oil yet, but, I have used many of the other healthful oils such as amla, argan oil and olive oil, all of which provide vitamins A and E, antioxidants.  These oils help to promote hair growth by curbing breakage. Hair is also soft, shiny and friz free.

I invite any reader who has used argan to leave a review regarding the product.

Caramel food coloring and your health

Information on a commonly used food coloring has come under the scrutiny of the microscope.  The heated discussion focuses on 4-mei, the ingredient that gives caramel color to soft drinks such as coke and pepsi.

Actually, the controversy is not new, this stuff has been in use for years and questions have been raised in the past regarding its safety . What's disconcerting is the fact that the chemical has been linked to cancer in mice according to a 2008 study. This is recent.  What's happened to the information and results from previous studies that have pointed out the danger of this chemical? Why has it been allowed to remain on the market?

According to one researcher, Michael Jacobson of CSPI, an occasional soda isn't hazardous.  However, like everything else, the more soda you drink, the more danger you face.

One doctor commenting on the study states that it would take 1,000 sodas to face the cancer dangers of the caramel food coloring.  Further, repeated drinking of sodas puts the individual at risk of other more immediate life endangering disease such as diabetes and high cholesterol.  According  to Dr. Lisa Ganjhi, of St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospital, an individual would face toxicity from the high fructose corn syrup long before imbibing enough soda to get cancer from the food coloring.

Caveat emptor.  Consumers beware.

Cell phone and your health

Everyone is abuzz this week about the latest findings on cellular phone use and brain cells.  It seems that cell phones cause increased brain cell activity which may have adverse effects on health.  No definitive associations with disease have been made, however.

This study has immense interest to all of us what with our fascination with mobile phones.  Cell phone usage stats released by the CTIA's semi annual US wireless industry survey for last half of 2009,  reveal that 91% of Americans are mobile subscribers.  And, on average, these callers used 1.12  trillion minutes of talk time in the same year.  This breaks down to 6.1 billion minutes per day or 21 minutes per person, per day.("Wireless survey:91% of Americans use sell phones" http://www.arstechnica.com/)

According to the article "What cell phone use does to brain cells" by Dr. Jay Adlersberg of ABC TV, Dr. Rose Lai, of NY Presbyterian, states that we really don't know what the consequences are when a brief exposure to cell phones occurs.  It has been noted that brain cells do fire more often when lengthy conversations occur. The impact that this finding has on human health is uncertain although it has been speculated that brain tumor growth could be stimulated.  Another disease possibility is epilepsy.  Again, the doctor states that this is not definite.

Dr. Lai does however suggest using earpieces and texting instead of talking.  She closes her remarks in the article by stating that it is not certain how long brain cells remain active nor on effect in young and growing brain. It was reported that conversations over 50 minutes were noted to stimulate the excess brain activity.