Keep Yourl Home Healthy With These 5 Simple Suggestions

Ask the CEO: 5 Easy Things to Make Your Home Healthy

Dave Wentz July 4, 2013 at 8:00 AM Ask the CEO, The Healthy Home

Have you ever had a question that you’ve wanted to ask the CEO of USANA? Well, now is your chance! I’ll be answering your questions once a month right here on What’s Up, USANA? Ask your question in the comment section, and your question might just get answered next month!

Question: We’ve covered many things from The Healthy Home, but one question I’m asked regularly is, “What are some simple things I can do to make my home a healthier place without spending a fortune?”

Answer: I understand that some people just don’t have the time or resources to really make major improvements to their home, so here are my five inexpensive and simple steps from the book The Healthy Home to making your home a healthier place.

1. Sleep is critical for maintaining good health, but it’s often the first thing we allow to slide when life gets in the way. Recent studies indicate that melatonin, the hormone that regulates our sleep cycle, is most sensitive to light in the blue range, which, unfortunately, is the color of light used in many electronic gadgets from alarm clocks and clock radios to cell phones, DVD players, cable modems, and game consoles. If you want a good, restful period of sleep, all of those appliances should be banished from the bedroom. Make your room completely dark, including an alarm clock with red numbers, not blue or white.
2. Reduce your exposure to harmful electromagnetic fields when you don’t have to. At night, clear your nightstand of any unnecessary gadgets, and charge your iPod and cell phone elsewhere. It’s also a great step to unplug your electronic gadgets and small appliances when they aren’t being used.
3. Open a window whenever you can to let in some fresh cleansing air. The air outside is cleaner and better for you.
4. If you want safe water at home and wish to avoid the financial and environmental burden of bottled water, there are several solutions you can undertake. There are home treatment systems, reverse osmosis systems, and even distillation systems. But the cheapest and easiest system is to simply use a pitcher with an activated carbon filter to reduce contaminants in your water. Although it won’t filter out all pollutants, it’s a good start at a low cost.
5. Dry cleaning isn’t your only option! When it comes to instructions for care and cleaning, clothing labeled “dry clean only” can often be laundered at home after it has been dry cleaned just one time. What’s more, many natural fabrics can be gently laundered at home without them ever being dry cleaned. Dry cleaning may be one everyday behavior for which we can do more than reduce our exposure to toxins. We may be able to rid ourselves of it entirely.

These five steps can help you keep your home as healthy as possible without breaking the bank. It can be easy to keep your home clean and free of pollutants if you are knowledgeable and use common sense. If you want more ideas on how to have a healthy home check out The Healthy Home for some great tips and simple solutions.

Dr. Mehmet Oz Promotes "Healthiness"

  

 Dr. Mehmet Oz, famous television host of the Dr. Oz show and heart surgeon, encouraged the 10,000 USANA Associates at their International Convention in August, to bring joy to people's lives in different ways.

His television show is aired in 118 countries, bringing light to lives around the world as he encourages the viewers to take care of their health and to pass on "Healthiness".

He shows people what an unhealthy lung looks like...bad bones...atherosclerosis...kidney disease...inflammation in the vessels....all to help them wake up to their responsibility to take control of their own health.

He went through the five life adjustments:

"You control 70 percent of how well you live and for how long," he cautioned.  "I care about you.  A healthy diet is easy to love.  Stress control is so easy to do."

No cigarettes or toxins in the body or the home.  Exercise 30 minutes a day.

"The battle is in our homes," Dr. Oz declared.  "Obesity takes up 24 percent of the health budget.  This is not a government issue.  Biology always trumps over willpower.  You are in charge of your diet. 100 extra calories a day leads to obesity."

He showed how cholesterol is because of belly fat pressure on the kidneys, which raises blood pressure.  

He said so much more in his most dynamic talk.  I'll cover that in the next post.  Meanwhile, say no to junk food and yes to Dr. Oz' suggestion to always have nuts on hand for when you feel hungry.

Deanna Waters

Stay healthy in body and in your home.

How can we help you?

www.ddwaters.com 

USANA Health Sciences

 

Keep Fit Like Dr. Oz

Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of America's most popular talk show, and a renowned heart surgeon, walks the talk to stay fit with daily exercise.

At the recent Health and Happiness Summit at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, which he hosted, the audience was invited to join in dance fitness, and Dr. Oz participated easily.

Dr. Myron Wentz, PhD, and Dave Wentz, authors of The Healthy Home, spoke at the Summit concerning hidden dangers in the home.  They too, promote exercise as part of healthy everyday choices.  Dave plays soccer, sky dives, cycles and skis, to name a few of his sports interests.

What do you enjoy doing for fitness?

Dave and Deanna Waters
Committed to Healthy Homes and Bodies
1-888-320-8250
www.thewatersedge.com  
 

The Healthy Home Featured on Dr. Oz Health and Happiness Summit

Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz, authors of The Heathy Home, were part of an impressive line of speakers at the Health and Happiness Summit at Radio City Music Hall in New York, February 28, 2012.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, cardiovascular surgeon and host of his own popular television talk show, hosted the event, which covered many aspects of living a healthy, happy life.

Dr. Wentz and Dave Wentz centered on some of the most common causes of pollution in the home and what can be done to address those and to make alternative choices.

This was certainly a highlight of our trip to New York!

Dave and Deanna Waters
1-888-320-8250
www.thewatersedge.com 

 

Should Smartphone Germs Scare You?

Your smartphone may be responsible for germs and viruses that cause respiratory or diarrhea illnesses, says a study out of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, reported in the Winnipeg Free Press today.

 Should you be seeing little germs crawling all over your phone?


Smartphones are considered particularly suspect because people touch the screens with their hands.  That's according to Timothy Julian, a post-doctorate environmental health sciences student at the school.  

The next question would then be, whether people are washing their hands enough during the day, whether they are touching toilet seats (a real harbour of germs) public railings, door knobs and kitchen counters.  Do they cough into their hands?

I just wiped my cellphone with an anti-bacterial wipe, and then figured I better wipe the inside and outside of the carrying case as well.  That led to wiping all the phones in the house, and the computer keyboards.  The germ hunt is on!


On the encouraging side, other studies have shown a high percentage of smartphones have a low bacteria count.

The reality, according to John Envil, director of the infection prevention and control unit at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, is we can become paralyzed by the fear of germs on cellphones, but the reality is they are there, they're part of life everywhere - and you can't avoid them.


Whatever the concensus of the various studies, this is a reminder to clean the surfaces of devices you use throughout the day.  Also, build your immune system with healthy eating, exercise and optimal nutritional supplementation.   I choose the USANA supplements, produced by the authors of The Healthy Home book.


Deanna Waters    www.thehealthyhomesite.com
1-888-320-8250  Don't let one more day go by without the protection of the USANA health program!
USANA Global Leader

Canada Has Cleanest Air, but Dirty Air Inside says The Healthy Home book

Good news for Canadians and our visitors who spend time outdoors here.  According to a recent World Health Organization study, Canada's urban air quality ranks among the best in the world.  (They didn't measure the air inside our homes and office though, which would fare much worse.)  Read on.


In fact, 8 of the Top 10 least polluted cities are Canadian (out of 91 countries and 1,100 cities).  That's impressive.  Air pollution levels begin to pose health risks once they exceed 20 micrograms per cubic metre, according to the WHO.


Which Canadian cities will give you the cleanest breath of air? 

Whitehorse in the Yukon was number one with only 2.9 micrograms (compared to the worst city, Ahwaz in Iran with a level of 372).  While the agency blames pollution for an estimated 1.34 million premature deaths each year, the Canadian figure was just 2,400 deaths.


Other clean air cities in Canada:  Nanaimo, Terrace, Nelson, Corner Brook and Fredericton.  The highest pollution level in Canada, was Sarnia at 21.2 while all other urbane cities ranked below that.


But what about the air inside our homes and businesses?  Read about it in The Healthy Home book...


On page 52:  "According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Americans (and we assume Canadians too)  spend 90 percent of their time indoors - at home or in offices.  And while we're there, we're breathing air that is usually two to five times more polluted with organic pollutants than outdoor air.  We don't need to ask how they got in either.  We paint, spritz, and spray these pollutants, also known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) all over our rooms."


On page 54:  "Without substantial airflow through open windows or efficient exhaust vents, the products used in the bathroom - such as perfumes, nail polishes and removers, hairsprays and air fresheners - accumulate in an invisible cloud that floats in over the bed and hangs there."


How do we keep our air clean inside the home and office?  The Healthy Home book gives many suggestions:

1.  Open windows 15 minutes a day throughout the house.
2.  Air your dry cleaning outside before hanging it in the closet, or use PERC free dry cleaners.
3.  Switch to safe products for cleaning.....see the list in the book and the website. 



Deanna Waters   
Contact me for the list of USANA products that detoxify
and provide healthy alternatives for your home and body.
1-888-320-8250

To Live Five Years Shorter, Watch Too Much TV

Television viewing is linked to shorter life spans.  In fact, people who averaged six hours a day in front of the TV lived, on average, nearly five years less than people who watched no TV, according to a recent survey in Australia.  The report was published in the Aug 15, 2011 online edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Of course, this brought much controversy.  Dr. David L. Katx, Director of Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, suggests there is an indirect link.  "As a rule, the more time we spend watching TV, the more time we spend eating mindlessly in front of the TV, and the less time we spend being physically active."


He notes this leads to a greater risk for obesity, and the chronic diseases it tends to anticipate, notably diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  As well, people who watch excessive amounts of TV may be lonely or isolated, or depressed, and these conditions, in turn, may be the real causes of premature mortality.

Bottom line:  Minimize television viewing in favor of physical activity.  Avoid eating junk food and nibbling while watching television.  Spend time with happy people.  

This study lines up nicely with information in The Healthy Home by Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz.  Too much television viewing at night can affect your sleep, and the electomagnetic fields can affect your health as well.


Deanna Waters
Promoting The Healthy Home and Healthier Lifestyles
www.thehealthyhomesite.com 
1-888-320-8250