The Food We Eat is Foundational to Health Healthy eating is not about strict limitations. It is about eating a wide variety of real food, feeling good and having a lot of energy. Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is nutrient-depleted, acid-forming, and laden with sugar and additives. In a land of plenty, we […]
Lymph: The Missing Link in a Liver Detox Thinking about doing a detox cleanse or reducing your chemical exposure? If you’ve been following along with our Common Household Chemicals to Avoid series, you know how easy it can be to start removing harmful chemicals from your home. Many people get discouraged when they go on a […]
We know it’s polite to chew our food and not to talk with our mouth full, but there’s more behind it than just good manners. Chewing is perhaps the simplest tool you can use to get the most nutrition out of what you eat. Whether eating on the run or sitting down to a formal […]
A Bath Recipe to Neutralize Ionizing Radiation Exposure This salt and soda soak is a radiation-neutralizing bath designed to help you detox and to clear your system of ionizing radiation, a particularly invasive environmental factor that can devastate your immune system. A salt and soda soak is an ideal way to detox after taking a […]
The holidays are coming and that sometimes means taking an airplane to visit friends and relatives. Since it is well known that airline travel presents the body with a myriad of stressors and this festive time is concurrent with the yearly cold and flu season, it is wise to be proactive and take steps to […]
The Fresh, Clean Smell: Air Pollution Have you ever walked around your neighborhood and noticed that fresh smell of someone doing laundry? Bad news: when you breathe in that “clean” familiar scent, you’re actually getting a lung-full of toxic chemicals. According to research by the University of Washington, when scented laundry detergents and fabric softeners […]
Chicken bone broth has been considered throughout history as a base for traditional healing soups in cultures around the world. The bones and meat from healthy, organic, pasture-raised chickens release an abundant array of powerful micro nutrients, amino acids, antioxidants, and minerals into the water when simmered for hours at a low temperature. The resultant […]
Healthy people with strong digestive function do not need more HCL (stomach acid). Unfortunately, in today’s world of high stress, fast and processed foods, antibiotic use, prescription, and over the counter drug side effects, many people have a deficient supply of HCL. Strong, healthy digestive function plays a foundational role in determining a person’s state of wellbeing and health.
Autumn is in the air and according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, fall’s onset kicks off the cold and flu season which typically peaks during the winter months. Colds and flu spread from person to person, mostly through coughs, sneezes, talking, or by touching an infected surface then transmitting it to […]
“NATURAL PEST CONTROL” – A BRANCH BASICS SERIES Throughout this past year, we have continued to receive questions from you about healthy living in general, but inquiries about how to deal with pests in the home without the use of harmful pesticides have prevailed. In our series last year, Common Chemicals to Avoid, our initial […]
We humbly apologize for our unintentional misrepresentations about the original Branch Basics Concentrate. Everything we have said about this product is what we have believed to be true and we’d like the opportunity to share our history with this unique formula. In the early 90s, I was a desperate mother looking for something to clean […]
The Medicinal Properties of Chicken Soup with Bone Broth What could be more inviting on a crisp fall day than a steaming bowl of chicken soup? Studies show that humble soup is more than just a tasty meal. Treasured by traditional cultures chicken soup has been documented to help clear nasal congestion, reduce upper respiratory […]
Non-Stick, Stain-Resistant & Water-Repellent: Chemicals of Convenience Aren’t Worth the Cost “Better things for better living — through chemistry.” This popular DuPont slogan solicited customers from the 1940s to the 1980s. But today, some chemicals, such as PFASs, developed by DuPont and other companies during that era are showing how “better living” comes at a […]
Harmful to Humans, Deadly to Birds Avoid Nonstick Cookware Within a few minutes of being heated on a stove, a nonstick, Teflon pan begins offgassing harmful chemicals. An example of the hazards of Teflon and other nonstick chemicals is the sudden death of pet birds exposed to heating cookware made with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), […]
Is the air quality in your child’s school making students sick? Marilee Nelson’s son, Douglas, was dramatically affected by pesticide exposures at school. In December 1989, at age ten, he was exposed to high levels of pesticides, which devastated him mentally and physically. Doctors offered no hope of recovery from the extreme chemical injury and […]
Gear Up for School: Start with Safe School Supplies Most kids love getting back to school supplies! The new school year provides a perfect opportunity to check out the many safe “attractive to kids” school supply options that are widely available today. This was not always true. Parents in the recent past had no idea […]
Having enough HCL (hydrochloric acid or stomach acid) is critical for good digestion and immune health. Without adequate HCL food is incompletely digested and failure of assimilation occurs so that we become vitamin and especially mineral deficient. When a person starts to eat the stomach is stimulated to start producing HCL. The HCL activates the chief cells in the middle portion of the stomach to start …
What is Offgassing or Outgassing? Offgassing or outgassing are interchangeable terms that relate to indoor air quality. Offgassing refers to the release of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from a material or solution that has been trapped or absorbed. For example, when a room is freshly painted, the chemicals from the curing paint slowly offgas into […]
What is a VOC? What do a fragrant rose, a new car, a new home, fresh paint, air fresheners, or new clothes have in common? All of these things release VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Anything that smells fragrant releases VOCs into the air (usually giving it that “new” or “fresh” smell) – even a rose! […]
Japanese SUMMER RICE SALAD Traditional, medicinal Japanese foods like seaweed and plum paste enrich this rice salad with easy to absorb nutrients. Umeboshi paste is made from umeboshi plums. This traditional medicinal food is often used in rice and vegetable dishes in Japan. The sour and salty paste has a strong alkalizing effect on the […]