trapped and cilia flattened rendering them unable to work – a double

whammy. So let’s keep our nasal passages moist with some easy home

remedies which work well on stuffy noses too. Here are three.

1. Slow steaming – bowl and towel

My parents taught me this one and it works well.

• Pour boiling water into bowl. Add drop of eucalyptus essential oil (optional).
• Set bowl on table.
• Sit at table and lower your face over bowl – slowly – to keep safe distance from heat of the steam.
• Place large towel carefully over your head, stretching it over bowl too.
• Breathe steam till your nose feels moist and you can breathe easily.

Read more about essential oils for health and wellness

2. Quick steaming – herb tea in a mug

Worked this out one day while drinking tea and feeling desperate to un-dry my nose.

• Find a mug wide enough to fit your nose into while drinking tea.
• Make your favourite herb tea with (no milk).
• Sip till level is about three-quarters.
• Place your lower lip on outside of the mug as though about to take a sip.
• Tilt opposite side of mug towards you until it touches your nose (stop and sip more tea if level is too high, i.e. it’s burning you).
• Breathe out through your mouth so that steam circulates up towards your nose, then breathe in through your nose.
• Repeat until your nose is moisturized.
• Enjoy the rest of your tea!

3. Saltwater inhaling without a neti pot

My dad learned to do this, and after I got over the ick factor, I tried it myself and enjoyed how great it made my nose feel!

• Make saline solution: dissolve ½ teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan rock salt (not iodized table salt) in 1 cup (250 ml) boiled water (boiling kills bad bacteria).
• Let saline solution cool.
• Wash your hands well with soap and water.
• Over basin, cup hand and fill palm with saline solution.
• Sniff solution up one nostril, let it travel up your nasal cavity, flow through the back and then spit it out through your mouth.
• Repeat for other nostril.
• Repeat last two steps again (optional).
• Blow nose very gently, both nostrils at the same time. Also do not pinch nostrils or blow too hard because that could send thinned mucus into sinuses or ear canals.
• Store left over solution in sterilized glass jar to use within 24 hours.

Read more about natural remedies for spring allergies

These three simple home remedies for dealing with a dry nose work well for me. Perhaps there are other home remedies that work for you. The main thing is to act fast when spring allergens are in the air, dry winds blow, heating is turned on, or anything nasally-drying occurs because keeping your nose moist will help it stay strong against invading bacteria and allergens.

Image via hilectric

The post 3 Home Remedies for Dry Nose Relief appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

It is wise to use natural substances with respect because they have great power, and if we appropriate just the right amount, they can benefit us incredibly well. Think of the miraculous way that molecules of plants and minerals convert into parts of our bodies after we ingest them. And then think of how eating too much of one kind of food adversely affect us, even if that food is good. For example, eating too many carrots can eventually turn your skin yellow! Similarly, ingesting or applying too much colloidal silver can make your skin turn blue–a condition known as argyria. It would take a lot of carrots or silver to change most people’s skin color, though, so if we consume these substances with caution it should be an easy matter to keep our skin tone normal.

To help us, the Silver Safety Council has given us guidelines for safe silver use and a means of calculating safe silver intake daily and during a lifetime. Their website also provides links to US Government sites on silver safety.

Here are some of the conditions that benefit from colloidal silver use:

• Ear infection
• Eye infection
• Sinus infection
• Gastro-intestinal infections
• Corns and warts
• Cuts and wound dressings

Read more about colloidal silver and other natural antibiotic alternatives

History of colloidal silver use

Anti-microbial use of silver extends back to ancient times when peoples in the Mediterranean region used silver to help control infections and prevent food from spoiling. Hippocrates noted around 400 AD the benefits of silver for controlling ulcers. From 702 AD to 980 AD Middle Easterners used it to treat bad breath, heart conditions and purify the blood.

During the Napoleonic Wars and First and Second World Wars, soldiers carried water in silver drinking vessels because it kept the water clean. Before modern antibiotics were discovered in the 1940s, colloidal silver was used as an antibiotic in hospitals. And nowadays, hospitals still enjoy the benefits of silver in the form of its application to catheter coatings, which prevents bacteria from traveling up these pathways and into the body. Anecdotal evidence of long-term silver usage plus recent studies confirm silver’s antibiotic properties make a compelling case for giving its benefits a try. See if it will work for you!

Read more about antibiotic ineffectiveness 

Photo credit: silydog

The post The Anti-Antibiotic: Are You Using Colloidal Silver? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Perhaps if labels came off without leaving traces of glue or removing good chunks of antioxidant-rich skin I may not have started wondering. Or maybe if I hadn’t seen the Seinfeld episode in which George’s fiance Susan dies after licking 200 wedding invitation envelopes…

Read more about antioxidants

Peeling off irritating little produce stickers offends me and adds quite a few minutes to my morning routine when preparing vegetables and fruit for lunch. Some kind label manufacturers add a miniscule tag to the side of the sticker to soothe irritation on the part of the remover. So turn on the light, put your glasses on (if you need to) and look for one. If there’s none, you may still be lucky to find the sticker wrinkled, which gives you a loose edge to pull up. If not, you’re down to taking a deep breath and slicing it off as best you can.

Vegetable and fruit labels can be useful:

1. They help us separate conventionally grown from organic produce when shopping.
2. They help your till operator identify which apple you’ve chosen, especially nowadays when there are more varieties.
3. They also help at home if you want to do a taste-test to compare a pink lady with a similar-looking suncrisp.

Is there a negative side to vegetable and fruit labels?

1. Their removal adds a small amount of stress to my day and perhaps to yours.
2. They contribute to soil and water pollution.
3. And the question we asked at the beginning of this article: Are fruit label glues safe?

We are wise to question all adhesives that come into contact with our bodies because some of them contain substances that are harmful to us; for example, some eyelash glues contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Some sources, such as Dr. Lipman’s blog, mention that the adhesive on fruit labels is considered to be food grade, however, the FDA’s list of pressure-sensitive adhesives  that may be “safely used as the food-contact surface of labels and/or tapes applied to food” includes substances such as BHT and BHA which are suspected carcinogens. In addition, the FDA list is lengthy and contains many other chemicals that I have not yet researched. Therefore, even though we may only take in miniscule amounts of chemicals through label residues, perhaps it’s not worth the risk.Read more about toxic chemicals

What we can do to help:

1. Buy from farmers’ markets, CSAs and small neighbourhood fruit markets that don’t sell labeled produce.
2. Cut off the little piece of fruit or vegetable skin under the sticker to avoid ingesting adhesive chemical residues.
3. Keep labels out of compost because they don’t biodegrade.
4. Keep labels out of water systems (sewage, rivers and sea) by throwing them in the garbage before washing food.
5. Ask your grocery store if it’s really necessary to have stickers on their fresh produce.
6. Here’s a fun suggestion: save labels and send them to a fruit sticker artist like Barry “Wildman” Snyder.

Photo Credit: Bludgeoner86

The post Is The Glue On My Apple Label Safe? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.