Just came across a cool tool over at the Environmental Working Group’s site. You enter in your weight (in pounds) and it tells you how much tuna — albacore, light — it’s safe for you to eat each week.

After yesterday’s eye-opening expedition down facial moisturizing product lane, I thought it was long past time for me to review some of my other daily-use applications.

Today’s product review is for Avalon Organics “Vitamin C Vitality Facial Serum” from their “Vitamin C” product line.  It’s a serum I use fresh out of the shower and under my other face moisturizer on a daily basis.

Avalon Organics Vitamin C Vitality Serum

Feels great going on, and I find it’s good for making those dark circles under my eyes less prominent – especially in combination with one of Avalon Organics’ other face creams in the Vitamin C line.  Plus, unlike products in the lavender line, it doesn’t tend to make me break out – a definite plus.

So here is the catch: the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety database gives it a 6/10, or “moderate hazard” rating.

What I’m trying to figure out is why, given that the highest warning number for any of the ingredients listed on their site is a “4″.

Curious to find out more?  You can go here to see the rating on the site.  See if you can figure out why they’re slamming this product, because I’m stumped.

Sometimes I feel like finding and using a good quality cosmetic product is a losing battle.

A couple of nights ago, while waiting for a prescription to be filled at Shoppers Drug Mart, I came across a face cream by Avalon that I’ve been wanting to try.  It regularly runs at more than $20-$25 per unit, even at my favourite lower-priced health food store; Shoppers was selling it off for $16.99.  So what the heck.  I got it.

Today (filed under the heading “why do I do this to myself??”) I checked on its rating in the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database online.  A rating of 4 – “moderate hazard”.

Although a breakdown of the individual ingredients show none at a high hazard level – most of the ingredients are at a low level, in fact – the kinds of hazards cover the complete list: cancer developmental/ reproductive toxicity, “violations, restrictions & warnings”, allergies/immunotoxicity, as well as “Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous,Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards”.

I suppose it could be worse. 

In case you also picked it up, here are the key ingredients to be concerned about:

For more information on this product from the Avalon Organics web site, go here.

To see the complete product review breakdown on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database (online) site, go here.

An old friend, who also happens to be a doctor down in the States, sent me a really interesting article from the New York Times yesterday on the results of studies done on vitamin consumption and their impact on health (News Keeps Getting Worse for Vitamins by Tara Parker-Pope, November 20, 2008).

Factoid #1: Long-term ingestion of vitamins C and/or E don’t seem to help prevent cancer.

Factoid #2: Vitamins C and E do not seem to prevent heart disease.

Factoid #3: Vitamin C seems to not only protect healthy cells but cancerous cells as well.

Factoid #4: Vitamin E, especially when taken in combination with other vitamins and/or minerals, seems to actually account for a HIGHER mortality rate (4% if only taking vitamin E — 6% if taking vitamin E in combination with other vitamins/minerals — according to one study) than taking nothing at all.

Factoid #5: In one study, people being treated with radiation for neck and head cancer were given doses of vitamin E.  It seemed to reduce the side-effects of the radiation, but the cancer recurrence rates seemed to be higher in the group taking vitamin E.

On a positive note … well, it’s not all bad.  B12/folic acid is still a good thing if you’re a woman of child-bearing age.  And taking calcium does seem to help with osteoperosis if you’re a woman over the age of 65.

It’s a fascinating article – suggest you check it out.

I am a coffee drinker.

But apparently, in some respects, that has now been found to be a good thing.  According to an article I just read online in RealAge, the benefits of consuming coffee include:

• improved liver function
• decreased mortality from certain diseases
• ingestion of some great anti-oxidants

Sounds (reads) too good to be true.  But if it is … woo hoo!

Wander on over to Real Age to read this article or just the highlights if you want to find out more about this.

Read an interesting article in the September/October 2008 edition of Mother Jones Magazine on the safety of vaccinations and your kids.

Given that I have a kid myself – and was torn when it came to vaccinating him – I was curious as to what this particular magazine writer’s take would be on the subject.  The author of the article, Arthur Allen, has written a book on the subject called Vaccine … and seems to be saying that the problems associated with vaccinations are unproven, and that the risks of NOT vaccinating are so much higher.

One of the most interesting points he makes are that there is a corollary between educational level received and outbreaks of illnesses which would be otherwise covered by preventative vaccinations.  PhD?  Chances are better that you chose to not get your child those shots.

Worth a read — check out the article over at Mother Jones online and let me know what you think.

And if you want to pick up Arthur Allen’s book, feel free to get it from Amazon.ca — it will help support my book habit!

Avoiding gluten is different from avoiding wheat, although wheat is one of the “don’t consume” items on the gluten-free diet list. It’s a big issue in our family, especially for me.

Something to be aware of when reading labels on gluten-free products is that other allergens, such as corn or dairy products or eggs or even beans (including soy), are frequently used as substitutes for wheat gluten. If you or anyone you know has issues with any of those other ingredients, make sure to be careful with gluten-free labeling.

Glutino is a widely-distributed (both online and offline) maker of gluten-free foods based out of the province of Quebec in Canada– I’ve found it in most supermarkets and health food stores. However, they do tend to use dairy products and corn in most of their products, so it’s not a great option for me personally.

One of my personal favourites is Kinnikinnick based out of Alberta, Canada. Always read the labels though — some (but not all) of their baked goods can contain dairy. I’m particularly fond of their brown rice and tapioca bread. Like Glutino, they seem to have a pretty extensive distribution network and can be found in most supermarket chains as well as health food stores.

In terms of consistent safety, I have to say that Whole Foods — while the most expensive of the various product options — is also one of the cleanest from a gluten-free perspective. The down-side is that Whole Foods baked products are only available at their stores, and unless you live close to one — in no way a given in Canada — these are just not an option for you.

El Peto is widely available in Loblaws, Great Canadian Superstore and many health food stores. Accessibility is a good thing. On the down side, they frequently use corn starch (which can be an allergy issue, at least for me) as well as some multi-syllabic ingredients which I can’t pronounce and have to actually work hard to figure out what they are.

For a treat in and around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), falling under the OMG-it-tastes-sooooo-good variety of foods, check out:

1. I Can’t Believe It’s Gluten-Free! (available at health food stores across the GTA, but they don’t seem to have a web site) — great baked goods, but be careful to watch for dairy and sometimes bean flours. Their frozen baked goods are defrosted squares of heaven. I’ve found them at Evergreen Natural Foods (St. Clair Avenue at Bathurst) and Planet Organic Market (Bathurst south of Center Street) and Ambrosia Natural Foods (on Doncaster, east off of Yonge and north of Steeles).
   
2. Mollie B . Their pecan tarts are unbelievable. Up side is that they are gluten free. Down side is that they are definitively NOT dairy free. I’ve seen them for sale at Whole Foods (Avenue Road/Hazelton Lanes location) and The Big Carrot (Danforth Avenue a few blocks east of Broadview).
   

I’ll post more options here soon.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for ingredients which are not safe for a gluten-free diet, please take a look here at my sister site Feed My Kid!

Enjoy!

I’ve decided to clean up this blog and remove the CFIA recall notices.

To subscribe to the CFIA email blasts, go here (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/tools/listserv/listsube.shtml)

Hope this helps!