The AFTER Easter effects.... and it isn't SWEET!

Don’t you just love the Easter season? You could of gone without chocolate as your sacrifice for "Giving Up" something for Lent or eaten more fish during Lent than you would have ever eaten in a year. You could have even been on the brink of insanity because you have ALSO chosen to GIVE UP all alcoholic beverages during Lent. Either way, Easter Sunday reaches its climax at 5.30am when the sounds of what resembles a stampede, is followed by a sensation which can only be described as a mini earthquake when you are being shaken to wake up and screams of "THE EASTER BUNNY CAME LAST NIGHT.... GET UP, GET UP ITS EASTER!!"

What comes next in our household might shock those of you whom know me well. The chocolate hunt begins and it ends with everyone (including myself and hubby) eating chocolate for breakfast. I can see myself being in my 60's and still doing that, BUT then washing it all down with freshly squeezed orange juice and a shot of vodka. Chocolate for breakfast is allowed and not monitored at all during the day. I pass it as being acceptable just for this one special day in the year.

BUT what about the after effects?

Chocolate is fantastic for your health. It’s one of nature’s God given ingestible gifts to the human race. There are so many health benefits that comes from eating chocolate and I am not talking about the varieties that come wrapped in packages and mixed with nuts and filled with Caramel. Raw chocolate itself is bitter and it is hard. What make it so delicious and addictive are the milk fats and solids combined with a generous amount of sugar. My friends, it is the marriage of these ingredients that makes chocolate toxic to our health and our bodies react with the side effects.

The first and most immediate side effect felt when the body has had too much chocolate is a headache, especially when consumed with red wine. Children will often suffer with this towards the end of the day due to the sugar overload and not enough water.  Therefore, lots of water and perhaps some electrolytes won’t hurt. This will aid in the event of dehydration.

Excessive chocolate consumption and or a constant daily intake of chocolate can lead to weight gain. Unless you are a marathon runner or stay on your feet and constantly moving and burning calories and fat, you are going to put on weight.

Sugar complications will arise. Without sugar, chocolate would not be enjoyable for a lot of people to eat and excessive amounts of sugar can cause dental problems. For diabetics, their blood sugar level becomes so high that it is almost a meals worth of sugar and this can be extremely dangerous.

Intestinal upset and discomfort due to high levels of caffeine and also being that chocolate is very acidic. Caffeine stimulates the bowel and can trigger IBS attacks. The high acid level in chocolate can lead to heartburn, stomach ulcer inflammation and acid reflux all accompanied by pain in different severities depending on the consumption of chocolate and the overall statues of the persons health to begin with.

Chocolate can cause over stimulation in people with high blood pressure, irregular hearth rhythms, anxiety, insomnia, nervousness and mental issues. Even those taking prescription medications should check if they are allowed to ingest chocolate and or coffee with whilst taking the prescribed medication. Cocoa in itself is a natural stimulant and therefore make these symptoms seems more pronounced.

NOW FINALLY.. WHAT EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW...

NO!! Cocoa does NOT NOT NOT cause acne, breakouts and bad skin. In fact it is a good remedy to treat those suffering with these skin conditions. BUT what DOES cause all these nasty things appearing on our skin like a curse is the INGREDIENTS MIXED with the cocoa to make the chocolate bars that we love... LIKE CAFFEINE, MILK SOLIDS/FATS and SUGAR!! ( I know you didn’t want to hear that and as you are reading this blog you might be eating chocolate, quietly drooling for it or in 30 minutes time after freaking out about what I have written go and attack your - or your children’s - chocolate stash)

Excessive caffeine intake promotes acne growth whilst the sugar aids the multiplication of bad bacteria in the stomach (leading to an imbalance there too). Sugar itself causes a spike in acne-inducing hormones. As caffeine is a diuretic, if water isn’t consumed to replace the fluids leaving the body, there will be a build up of toxins as water is required to remove the toxins from the body. Food with a high glycemic index contributed to skin inflammations like acne, rosacea, psoriasis and eczema. Caffeine affects the stress levels and triggers the hormone cortisol which in turn activates the oil products in the sweat glands. An accumulation of oil may clog pores and without appropriate water levels in the body as I said earlier, excretion of these toxins is inhibited, leading to acne breakouts.

Ok BAD NEWS out of the way. The GOOD NEWS is that you can still enjoy eating chocolate as well as reaping the health benefits that come with its consumption. The higher the cocoa percentage the better the chocolate is for you. The best chocolate to eat is 80%, 85% and 90% chocolate (this is the dark variety). It might take a little getting used to, but once you aquire a taste for it, it is very delicious. It works wonders on sugar cravings, gives you a natural burst of energy, treats shock and helps to calm the body down quickly after a stressful situation, works wonders on your skin and is jam PACKED with healthy antioxidants.

Now that Easter is over, I hope that everyone has gotten their chocolate fixes under control. Water and exercise will help to reverse any damage that has been done and perhaps cutting back a little on unnecessary sugar intakes will slow and even inhibit any weight gain. GOOD LUCK!! (I'm off to nibble on some Organic Cocoa Nibs....!)

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Young Kids and Makeup

I remember back in the early 80's which I like to think were more
innocent days of children growing up, it was a rare and memorable occasion when my Mum allowed me to play with the last ml of her favourite lipstick with a cotton ear bud. When I put it on, I remember Mum telling me that I was hiding from the world my real beauty behind paint and when I grew up I would come to get tired of wearing it. I never knew what she meant back then.......BUT I do NOW!

A while ago I was walking down the kids toy isle at the well known retail store at the shopping centre and I was horrified to see a particular item, stacked proudly beside the Barbie dolls. It was a makeup pallet. There wasn’t just one make up pallet but a few different types. In them were various eye shadow colours, lipstick, blush, nail polish, mirror and a couple of different application accessories. On the top of the box was a label which read from ages 3 to 12. Now if this doesn’t make you raise your eye brows and say "What THE?".... When I flipped over the box I noticed some very familiar ingredients that are on the toxic list of chemical ingredients to avoid in personal care products. There were dyes in the make up in particular which mothers are being cautioned to avoid in food products.

6 Years old

I did purchase a couple of these pallets purely to research the ingredients more in depth and then later took them back to the shops. WHAT I FOUND was so disturbing... The ingredients list for the makeup was soooo long that they had to use a tiny font to fit it all in. Would you believe, there was MORE toxic ingredients in the kids make up than what there is in regular chemical based woman’s make up. There were more hormone disrupting and carcinogenic ingredients in kids make up and just when I thought that nothing else will shock me more, I was horrified to find that around 90% of the ingredients on the list of "toxic ingredients to avoid in personal care products" were IN THE KIDS MAKE UP.

As a mother of 4 children, and 3 of my kids happen to be girls, this worried me. I am confident that I won’t have this make up given to my kids and I won’t allow them to wear makeup full stop, BUT It raises the question of what message manufacturers, retailers and society are giving CHILDREN. Now this box was labelled to suite children from the ages of 3 years old (yes you read that right.....) to 12 years of age. This range of age sets the danger ball rolling into the world of very venerable children whom may be given this as a gift from Grandma, Nana, the neighbour, Dad (whom are well known to be easily wrapped around their little daughters fingers), Mum (who thinks it is just fun to play with and pretend that they are older) or from a friend in the event of the child’s birthday.

There are some very strong and negative messages being sent out to a child in the event of giving them makeup. Children whom seek make up should be told "they look more beautiful without it" they shouldn’t be encouraged to use it even if Mum or the big teenage sister is using it. There is enough media exposure of false looking youths and woman out there that are giving young kids an unrealistic view of how they should look when they are in their teens and young adults.

Then there are dangers of what side effects these chemicals have on the skin. Short term side effects range from skin irritations, eye irritations, allergic reactions and long term side effects can include premature aging, dryness of the skin and early break outs due to acid imbalances in the skin.

Children are well known to be like sponges. They absorb and take in everything they see and process it in their innocent minds and everything to them is taken literally. That is where parents, corporations and society need to take responsibility for what is OUT there for the eyes of children.

Makeup in the kids isle is targeting impressionable young minds for the sake of retail spending and profits without a second thought given to what the behind the scenes dangers these colourful, fun and innocent looking pallets carry. Successful sales of products are the ones that meet supply and demand. Even though there is a supply of children’s make up readily available, it is sad to think that there is a demand for it.

Am I being over protective and over cautious?

It might pay in the long run to think twice before allowing young children below the age of 12 to use make up. After all we are extremely careful and educate ourselves on what we put in the mouths of our children..... the same should apply with what we openly allow them to put topically on their skins too.... especially something as toxic as chemicaly based make up on their soft and delicate skin.

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