WATER. Hydration for Health & Happiness and a water filter review

WATER
Beautiful, life sustaining water.
I think in modern times, and even especially now that healthy eating has become so very in, we often forget the simple things and one of the most important ingredients of all for a healthy, happy life, WATER...

Up to 60% of the human body is water, every cell in our body uses water. We need water to function, to live and yet so many people don't drink enough water! And don't worry for many years that was me too...
More and more studies have been done that show dehydration to be found in almost every known disease to mankind and it also makes almost every illness's symptoms worse.
Think about it, when something is seriously wrong what do they do in hospital? Put you on a drip! Because they know how important proper hydration is.
Last year I read an incredible book on this very subject coming from decades of medical research called, "Your not sick, your dehydrated."

Wow, what an amazing book and eye opening read.

It wasn't long after reading it and being inspired to include much more water into my day that I began to really notice and worry about the chemicals and toxins found in tap water.
I can totally understand why they are in there. Council's have to make sure no moulds, bacteria or anything harmful gets into people's drinking water, no easy feat when it usually comes from lakes and dams I can imagine.
BUT, if I am making all this healthy, chemical free, beautiful food and trying really hard to have a chemical free house then surely these chemicals are counterproductive?

It was right when I was thinking this over and wondering also at the state of the inside also of my rainwater tank which the owner told em he wasn't sure had been ever cleaned (eek, I know right) that I was contacted about reviewing an amazing, high tech, extremely efficient (and complicated)  in home water filtration system that conveniently is all inside a handy jug!

It is just the perfect size for a family, would fit into any household and is portable so also very convenient for anyone who is renting.
And while the process it undertakes to clean and energise the water is highly complex, you don't have to do much of anything! (Perfect for a busy mum like me) who has little time for more complicated things in life.

It is even designed into an attractive jug that would not clash with any kitchen decor either for that matter.
Which funnily enough has always been of great importance to me and my kitchen purchases ;)

I also LOVE that the company you buy it from is created by Joanne Musgrave, a certified health coach who uses her own training along with naturopath Julie McNab to offer a range on her website that you know has been really well researched, not just the ingredients but the company itself too and their ethics. What is there is beautiful products and you know you can trust what you find at Shop Naturally.

Now this means a lot to me, and I really place a lot of value in businesses that take their products and their word on said products seriously. This makes my life so much easier as a shopper and busy mum and also gives me great respect and admiration for their integrity and passion.
I am just delighted to say that Shop Naturally is one such business.

I don't have hours and hours of spare time to research everything, I just don't so when I can trust a beautiful business that makes my life and shopping experiences so much better.
On the Sunshine Coast I have this trust with the Jeffers Market stores where I know Stephen Jeffers would not stock anything he had not extensively researched and now I have it online at Shop Naturally now I have discovered them too.

The water jug I reviewed and fell in love with is called

Waters Co Bio Mineral Pot Ace 1.5L Water Filter Jug
Check out out here 

It is 1.5 litre, adds minerals back into your water, has a nine stage filtration system, alkalines the water and filters out chlorine and fluoride.

" The 9 filtration stages are: prefilter, activated carbon filter medium, ion exchange resin, bio organic alkaline minerals, organic germanium, far infrared and magnets. They filter out chlorine, heavy metals, fluoride, nitrate, odours, sediment, bacteria, cysts & viruses. At the same time, the filtration system adds around 60 bio organic trace minerals & restructures the water molecules to significantly increase cellular hydration, adding 'Ki' (Life energy)." Website quote. 

It even comes with a PH testing kit, something as a horticulturalist I was very impressed with and interested in.
I have long since suspected the Sunshine Coast water to be acidic and I found out I was right and considering research also sais that cancer can only live in an acid environment I think we all want to improve our bodies PH to be more alkaline and one of the easiest ways to do this is drinking alkaline water everyday.

Improving your hydration and becoming alkaline improves your skin, eyes, hair, weight, mood, bowel movements and is said to be powerful healing for everyone and especially people with auto immune diseases, arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Reactive Arthritis, asthma, chrons, eczema etc etc

Drinking more water always sounds simple but in reality so often ends up being a bit slap dash!!
I find this jug not only gives me better tasting water that is so much better for me and my family but it also keeps me accountable too as I know just how many times I should be refilling it and drinking from it for me and my two gorgeous girls everyday!

Thank you goes to Shop Naturally for this review and for introducing me to an easy way to beautiful, clean, alkaline healing water for me and my children.

Eat Beautiful, Be Active, Live Well, Find Calm AND stay hydrated!

LOVE Bek XX

De-stressing and nurturing myself with a Comvita Antioxident Challenge & Olive Leaf

Health is Wealth -Virgil

Such a profound saying.

One of the most important things I have learnt in life is just how important it truly is to take care of yourself and your health, and even more so when you become a mother.

As mothers we so easily put ourselves last and let our health not be a priority without for a moment realising just how important and vital our health truly is.
We can sometimes feel it is selfish to spend time and/or money on ourselves but after all if we suffer bad health through stress, illness or disease how can we truly care for our families then?

We live in busy times, we have busy lives and more and more we are exposed to toxins all around us even in our work and home environments.

We need to take our selves but we also need simple ways of doing so. Ways we can actually stick too and see real benefits from.

I am doing a few things for myself at the moment, yes, things just for me and my health because I have seen and felt the face of bad health and it is terrifying and not a road I want to go down in my life if I can help it. And I am not waiting for New Year's Eve to start taking great positive steps either.

I starting right now and I am loving being a part of the really fun Super Antioxident Challenge With Comvita

Each day I am:

• Taking the Comvita's Olive Leaf Extract ( and this olive leaf extract has no unpleasant taste, sickly mint flavour or artificial sweeteners - making it wonderful in my book!)
• Taking 5 minutes to myself to sit in silence out in the garden and just let the world get real quiet as I
  allow myself to just be, and to just feel and relax.
• I am turning off electronics during the day for short periods to have a break, yes, even my phone!
• Having a nature outing with kids every Sunday at least where we will go out into a forest, go bushwalking, climb a mountain, go look at a waterfall, swim in the ocean. 
• Eating real, beautiful food.
• Mindfully being CALM
• Making myself at least one meal or snack a day that I have spent time making it just because it is something I will enjoy, something that will fit in with the great benefits of the Mediterranean theme.
• Going for a walk, a pram walk with my kids and getting out into that great fresh air. 
• Indulging a passion in some small way be it some writing, art, dancing, music, cooking...

The challenge I am thrilled to be taking part of is based on the very successful and healthy Mediterranean diet and taking lessons from the recognized ' blue zones' around the world, whereby people are living longer and experience less disease by using the properties of the olive plant in their diets to maintain a healthy, fulfilling and energetic lifestyle.

Anyone that has been following my blog, facebook and recipes would know how much I LOVE Olives so

Comvita Olive Leaf Extract -find out more about it HERE

you can imagine how perfect this challenge fits into my lifestyle and I am really looking forward to sharing with you how it goes!

You can find out all about this fun health challenge here:

http://go.comvita.com/super-antioxidant-challenge-AU

AND by being a art of the challenge you could WIN a YEARS supply of Olive leaf extract, books and more!
It is absolutely worth checking out.

Here is to health.
Don;t forget to take care of YOU this Christmas! XXX

Detox your home or business with Plants

Plants make us happy and make our environments indoor and outdoor healthier and less toxic.

Landscaping and use of plants, including indoors in homes, in bistro settings, courtyards, foyers, restaurants and entrances has become very in-trend and for good reason. Not only does it add to the ambiance, create freshness and give a sense of style and is actually proven to improve air quality too.

The research by NASA dating back from the 1970's shows that in as little as 24 hours as much as 87% of indoor pollutants are removed. Air pollutants that can come off paint, furniture, upholstery, carpet, building materials, air conditioning, paper and cardboard products, packaging, plastics even electronics.
The recommended ratio by NASA is 15 good sized specimen in around a 6 inch pot per 170 Sq m.
It is a combination of the plant leaves, roots and also soil bacteria that play a crucial role in removing toxins.

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Research by the US EPA and its Science Advisory Board have consistently ranked indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health.

What air is effected ?
Quoted definition from the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
“The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) defines indoor air as air within a building occupied for at least one hour by people of varying states of health. This can include the office, classroom, transport facility, shopping centre, hospital and home. Indoor air quality can be defined as the totality of attributes of indoor air that affect a person's health and well being.”

The air inside our homes and office’s can contain a cocktail of toxins, many we wouldn’t be aware of and can come from commonly found sources in our homes, work places even in our children’s classrooms and bedrooms.
With recent figures estimating average Australians spending as much as 90% of their time indoors the quality of the air in our indoor spaces because something we need to look at carefully.

While good ventilation plays a big part in reducing effects studies show that certain indoor plants are extremely effective at removing indoor air pollution.

Research first done by NASA and in particular Dr Bill Wolverton, Senior Research Scientist at NASA’s John C Stennis space station proved that certain indoor plants are extremely effective at reducing and even completely removing certain very harmful toxins from air in confined spaces. While this research was originally intended for space it became apparent that it was applicable to our homes and office building 

environments. 

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5 dangerous toxins commonly found that are able to be treated by indoor plants

Formaldehyde
Carpet, cleaning products, fire retardants, furniture, paper products, ply wood, particle board, pressed wood, some grocery shopping bags, waxed paper, foam insulation and natural gas.
Benzene
Detergents, inks and dyes, plastics, Petroleum products, rubber,  synthetic fibres, pharmaceuticals, paints, oils and  tobacco smoke.
Trichloroethylene
Adhesives, dry cleaning, inks, dyes, lacquers, paints, varnishes and metal degreasing
Xylene
Rubber, printing, leather, paints and varnishes
Tolyene
Silicone sealants, leather, paint thinners, disinfectants, adhesives, printing, lacquers and disinfectants.

Pollutants also dealt with by plants either by degradation or elimination include metals, pesticides, explosives and even crude oil

There are so many different ways to add some plant design features to a business and a lot will depend on how much light the area has, what look you are interested in, whether plants can be rotated and how much maintenance you are willing to take on.

Structurally, architectural looking plants can make dramatic entrances and features.
Things like large matching pots with plants that make a bold colour statement at an entrance or in a row, massed plantings of different grasses and foliage contrast plants in an area and the use of large visually beautiful pots planted with dramatic plants as features.
Think plants with lines like dracenas, grasses, grass trees, pineapples, aloe’s, grasses, yukka’s, succulents.

A very stylish feature is currently the vertical gardens, a wall of succulents, herbs or flowering plants. Very space effective and gives an absolute wow factor. There are many designs available for this kind of garden including pallet gardens.

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The use of water holding planting devices like the EzyGrow which not only holds its water but reuses and makes it available to the plants are perfect for small courtyards, units, outdoor eating settings.

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A tropical themed dense planting around entrances, stairways always looks fantastic and tropical looking plantings with a water feature can completely transform an area and invite people to feel relaxed.

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Topiaries of suitable citrus trees are always a classic, though they must have full sun, perfect if you have an open courtyard, outdoor eating area or for an entranceway. Pots and planters of herbs and annual flowers make a beautiful addition to outdoor eating areas if it is exposed to sunlight. As do the fantastic colour flare of bougainvilleas, that can also be shaped. 

Use plants to add colour.

So many plants have fantastic colour, in their flowers and foliage.
Combine with coloured pots and use matching coloured or contrasting coloured plants, even follow a colour theme you already have in your business or home to give a stylish look.
Mass planting of the same or similar plants always gives a great effect; consider a row or a grouping.

Indoors dark green, leafy plants make their dazzling appearance and give a lush feel.
Large indoor plants can also be used to subtlety divide areas and provide screening and private alcoves or to disguise less attractive areas.

And to create a hidden oasis feel, adding huge impact to atmosphere.

Peace Lily Image Credit

A touch of lush green has been said to have soothing, calming effects on an atmosphere making indoor plants a great investment for businesses, waiting rooms, homes and working environments. Including office areas.

Ficus Image Source

Some great indoor choices would be: Peace Lily - Spathiphyllum ( hardy and very beautiful)
Bamboo Palm - Chamaedorea Seifrizii, Golden Pothos - Epipremnum Auereum (poisonous if eaten, but fantastic for trailing and in hanging baskets, very beautiful). Elephants Ear-Philodendron Domesiticum. English Ivy - Hedera Helix (Trailing and good for hanging baskets).
Spider Plant - Cholorphytum Comosum (Hardy can also be grown in hanging baskets). Aglaonema
Dracena Marginata (can be toxic to dogs and cats – very striking looking)
Boston Fern - Nephrolepsis Exaltata ( Great for a hanging baskets if limited in space-hardier than they look!)
Ficus Benjamina ( Very hardy and an attractive tree like plant)
Mother in Laws Tongue Plant - Sansevieria Trifasciata and popular cultivar Sansevieria Laurentii (Very hardy and architectural looking but can be toxic to dogs and cats)
Areca Palm-  Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens, Dwarf Date Palm - Phoenix Roebelenii, Phalenopsis Orchid Sp. Anthiriums.

Depending on the situation and light levels, it is a great idea to have indoor plants that can be rotated with others that are in a better lit position to keep healthy plants on display, as even indoor plants do need some light. This will also ensure that your plants are always fresh looking and healthy.

For the non green thumbs who want plants with minimum of care, cast iron plant, mother in laws tongue, Spider plants, Peace Lily’s, English Ivy, Ficus and certain Palm’s are beautiful and very hardy.

General growing tips and notes for plants in houses and business situations

• Ensure plenty of light wherever possible, keep near windows, under skylights, outdoors but also watch that they don’t burn too, keep adjusting is possible until you find great positioning for your plants or rotate.
•  Use good quality potting mix, always. This is one thing you should never scrimp on with plants in pots.
• Water regularly, don’t forget to water them but don’t drown them either. You can always feel the soil, a few cm down to see how dry or wet it is and a lot of plants will visually wilt when thirsty.
• Put them out in the rain if possible every so often, they will love it, (just don’t leave them out there when the sun comes out if they are indoor varieties.)
• Use pots with good drainage and saucers or pot feet. It is important for plant health to have good air circulation around their roots. There are planter systems available like EZY Grow that actually store the water in them as well so there is no mess on the ground, a great feature for eateries.
• Along with a slow release, fertilise with Seasol or similar on a regular basis to ensure they are healthy and happy. Just check the proximity to people eating and try and fertilise on a day when no-one will be there or ask your local nursery for plant feeding options that would suit your situation.
• Where you are very limited with natural light try having a couple of plants and rotate outside ones with the inside ones regularly so you are always putting a fresh plant in the spot, most plants will take 2-3 days indoors without light.
• When buying plants look for a nice healthy looking specimen that is pretty stable in its pot. Check it over for pests and diseases, a quick look should reveal any bugs, slugs, badly eaten leaves or fluffy white mealy bugs around the stem and under leaves.
• Ask the nursery person if it needs re-potting any time soon when you buy it, a pot bound plant will not be happy for long.
• Consider multi plantings. Plants do better when grouped together and it looks aesthetically beautiful too so even if you have limited space, try putting a few together.
  

Copyright RebeccaMugridge2013
Rebecca is a qualified Horticulturalist with over 15 years experience and a love affair with plants, gardening, nature and cooking.
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