I'm sure a lot of you have seen this on MSN's Front page today! I thought I'd share the information!

Bad Guy #1: Aspartame
There's conflicting evidence regarding the safety of aspartame, a common chemical sweetener used in diet soda and other low-cal or low-sugar goods, but some people report headaches or generally feeling unwell after ingesting anything containing the chemical. To make life easier for everyone, this is one instance where you may want to follow the "better safe than sorry" principle. That's because a University of Liverpool test-tube study found that when mixed with a common food color ingredient, aspartame actually became toxic to brain cells. Making matters worse, aspartame is used in many diet sodas, and studies have found drinking diet soda may increase your risk of developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Also of concern with aspartame, researchers have found that one harmful breakdown product is formaldehyde. Sweet? We don't think so.

Bad Guy #2: Agave
While your health food store likely stocks agave sweeteners, it may be best to keep them out of your cart. Many agave nectars consist of 70 to 80 percent fructose—that's more than what's found in high-fructose corn syrup! If you don't want to give up agave, look for types that contain no more than 30 to 40 percent fructose, recommends Christine Gerbstadt, MD, PhD, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Agave is also very heavily processed in an extremely energy-intensive manner that's similar to the way corn is converted into high-fructose corn syrup.

Bad Guy #3: Splenda /Sucralose
Sucralose While sucralose, better known by its brand name, Splenda, may originate with sugar, the end product is anything but natural. It's processed using chlorine, and researchers are finding that the artificial sweetener is passing through our bodies and winding up in wastewater treatment plants, where it can't be broken down. Tests in Norway and Sweden found sucralose in surface water released downstream from treatment discharge sites. Scientists worry it could change organisms' feeding habits and interfere with photosynthesis, putting the entire food chain at risk. The chemically derived artificial sweetener acesulfame K (sold under the brand name Sunett) was also detected in treated wastewater and tap water.

Good Guy #1: Stevia
"We need to be off of sugar, but we need good alternatives, and stevia is the safest sweetener there is, period," says Gates, who coauthored The Stevia Cookbook: Cooking with Nature's Calorie-Free Sweetener (Avery Trade, 2004). All types of stevia are extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant, but some forms taste better than others, says Gates. People tend to overuse powders, in which the sweetness is really concentrated, so if you've tried powders in the past and didn't like them, try liquid forms, explains Gates, who helped develop a liquid stevia sweetener product. Stevia contains zero calories, but its one downfall is that it doesn't work well for baking. Expect to see more stevia on store shelves, as Coke and Pepsi got the green light to use Truvia (a sweetener made in part from stevia) starting later this year.

Good Guy #2: Sugar alcohols
Popular sugar alcohol sweeteners include xylitol, sorbitol, and erythritol, natural sweeteners made through a fermentation process of corn or sugar cane. They contain fewer calories than sweeteners like pure sugar and honey, but more than stevia. They also leave a cooling sensation in the mouth, and have been found to prevent cavities, explains Dr. Gerbstadt. Just don't overdo it—too much can cause GI distress.

Good Guy #3:  Good 'ol Honey!
 Organic, raw local honey While honey does boast higher fructose levels, it also contains a bounty of cancer-defending antioxidants, and local honey has been said to help alleviate allergy symptoms. Don't limit raw honey's use to your tea, either. Use it to speed healing on burns, and as a natural antiseptic on cuts and scrapes. Honey also has a low glycemic index, so adding it to your tea or yogurt won't lead to energy-busting blood sugar drops later in the day.

For the Full Story, please visit MSN - Health....
http://health.msn.com/healthy-living/the-4-best-and-3-worst-sweeteners-to-have-in-your-kitchen?imageindex=1

I found this snipet on a website about the effects of tanning beds! I think we should all be aware of just how harmful tanning beds really are! It doesn't matter if those who work in a tanning salon say the better have decreased the amount of UVB rays they produce, the UVA rays penetrate the skin even deeper and can lead to or cause malignant melanoma.

The paragraph below is stating that the tanning industry claims that tanning is safer than not tanning at all. The tanning industry is claiming that the sun is the only source of Vitamin D.

Most tanning bed industries agree that indoor tanning is much safer than receiving outdoor exposure to the sun. Light emitted from tanning equipment contains approximately 40% less UVB rays, the most harmful type of radiation, than does light from the sun. Tanning beds, therefore, have the power to control exposure time and the ratio of UVA to UVB rays for a "perfect balance" (http://www.shop.net/suncity/). Since tanning beds filter out most of the burning UVB rays, chances of getting burned decrease dramatically (http://www.darquetan.com/faq.htm). Therefore, the companies can claim that the tanning beds cannot be any more harmful than the sun. Tanning salons also state that some UV radiation is needed for the manufacturing of vitamin D. Vitamin D certifies that a constant level of calcium remains in the blood and controls its absorption. In an advertisement for tanning equipment, one tanning bed company, The Beach House Tanning, claims that the sun is the only source of Vitamin D (http://www.beachouse.com/tanning_benefits.htm). However, vitamin D is also found in foods such as dairy products, cereal, and fish (http://shrike.depaul.edu/~vbard/vitdpg.html), and it takes far less UV radiation to obtain the necessary amount of vitamin D than it does to get a suntan (http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/tanning.html).



A study conducted in Sweden helps to prove that tanning beds are a major factor in the development of malignant melanoma. Different people, all under the age of 30, were included in the study. The data concluded that the people who used tanning beds more than 10 times a year were seven times more likely to develop malignant melanoma than those who did not use tanning beds as often. Researchers estimated that by the year 2000, the risk of developing skin cancer for those who did not use tanning beds would be one out of every 97 persons, and that the chances for those who did use tanning beds would be one out of every 13 persons (http://winonanet.com/health/articles/1996/feb/tan.html). The study also concluded that melanoma risks are increased by 300% for those using tanning beds occasionally, and that the risks increase by 800% for those who use tanning beds more than 10 times a year (http://www.hlthmall.com/tanning.html).

You're probably already downing grapes for their antioxidants and Merlot for its high levels of resveratrol -- now it's time to feed those benefits to your skin. 

Grapeseed oil brings skin-healing properties to moisturizers. "Unlike other oils, which can be heavy or greasy, it's light, easily absorbed, and creates a protective layer to lock in moisture," says Janice Cox, author of "Natural Beauty at Home."

DIY: Make Your Own Grapeseed Body Oil. Grapeseed oil is light, unscented, and mixes well with other oils and herbs.

Preparation: The easiest way to create your own moisturizer is to add oil to oil. Pick an essential oil with a smell you love (try lavender, rose, or orange), and mix a few drops into grapeseed oil. For a more complex formula, add herbs or citrus -- like lavender, rosemary, orange peel, or rose petals -- that you can easily dry out in a warm oven (fresh herbs and fruit will cause bacteria growth) and let sit for a few days. Shake before each use.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Lock In Moisture with Grapeseed Oil