Almira

Transglutaminase: A Delicious Story of Meat Glue

by Almira June 23, 2011

[image source] In March, Australian TV show Today Tonight did a story on a supposed meat glue scandal. Transglutaminase, known as Activa in the culinary world, is a blood-clotting enzyme being used to “glue” small scraps of meat into what looks like prime cuts to sell for a high price. Pork, lamb, fish and chicken [...]

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Lyme Disease: Under Our Skin

by Almira June 21, 2011

“Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, ALS—could it be that some of the cases of spinal cord degeneration are actually due to a sneaky manifestation of Lyme disease?” —Alan MacDonald, MD, Pathologist [image source] What’s lurking in the bushes and tall grasses may prove to be worse than the infamous worry of lions, tigers, and bears (I’m personally [...]

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Liquid Candy: Is Soda Making You Fat?…Even Diet Soda?

by Almira May 24, 2011

“You’ll end up fat, toothless, and dying of cancer. But seriously, regular and diet sodas increase your rise of pancreatic cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, dental problems, and weight issues.” – Lauren Slayton, Nutritionist [image: The Lunch Tray] Sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, soda has been called Liquid Candy on documentary King Corn. As cases of [...]

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DIY: Homemade Toothpaste, Deodorant, Shampoo, Conditioner and Lip Balm

by Almira May 23, 2011

Homemade hygiene. After researching natural allergy remedies, I thought it only fitting to list some all-natural *recipes for homemade whitening toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo & conditioner, and lip balm—they also happen to be really cheap to make! Homemade Toothpaste (Whitening):   Tutorials: Passionate Homemaking, Frugal Granola, Naturally Knocked Up Revised recipe ingredients from Gorgeously Green: 2 [...]

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Water Series: Buying a Home Water Filtering System

by Almira May 20, 2011

Upon waking each morning, the first thing I reach for is a tall glass of clean, delectable water. That luxury has become more apparent as of late. Within the past month, the husband and I purchased some poor-quality “reverse osmosis” water from 2 different water suppliers. The brands: Culligan and Cuzn. We’re not sure if [...]

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Natural Allergy Remedies

by Almira May 19, 2011

[image: Healthy Republic] Seasonal allergies were never an issue for me until I moved to Atlanta. Although spring in the south is gorgeous with fragrant flora showing off new buds and greenery, it also happens to be the time when pollen is at its highest. During the month of April, Pine trees coat everything in [...]

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Living Jewelry – A Wearable Planter

by Almira April 28, 2011

A Wearable Planter that houses little succulents! Image via Etsy Find Healthy Republic on Twitter and Facebook Fan Page

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Biodegradable Shoes

by Almira March 15, 2011

OAT Shoes. I’m almost certain that these would make a terrible meal…even if doused in brown sugar and milk, but biodegradable shoes are a cool idea.

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Water Series: The Luxury of Clean H2O

by Almira March 14, 2011

After learning the effects of fluoride, I followed up on my curiosities about water with the following delicious documentaries (see trailers below).

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Water Series: The Incredible, Edible…Fluoride

by Almira February 17, 2011

In 1950, the U.S. Public Health Service endorsed fluoridation of our municipal water systems.

Fluoride is a toxic waste product complimentary of the phosphate fertilizer industry. The fertilizer industry had this fabulous idea to cheaply rid themselves of their production waste by selling it to the government with the idea that hydrofluorosilic acid helps prevent tooth decay if used as a water additive. Hydrofluorosilic acid is an industrial-grade, un-purified and corrosive form of fluoride, and yet, despite the increasing evidence of its negative effects on human health, the American Dental Association and the Center for Disease Control continue to promote, and in some cases, mandate water fluoridation.

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Cradle To Cradle

by Almira February 11, 2011

Architect and designer, William McDonough shares his views on the importance of green design, specifically from his book, Cradle To Cradle, for a TED Conference:

“Design is the first signal of human intentions. So what are our intentions?

How do we love all the children of all species for all time? …we start our designs with that question.”

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A Fashion Fast

by Almira February 9, 2011

In an effort to curb fast fashion and promote eco-fashion Kristy Powell began a her year-long commitment to a One Dress Protest. Yep, she will be wearing the same dress everyday for an entire year. She’s only on

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Valentine’s Day: Conflict-Free Diamond Jewelry

by Almira February 8, 2011

No blood diamonds here, just conflict-free diamond jewelry and recycled gold and platinum.

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H&M Conscious Collection

by Almira February 7, 2011

Using organic linen, Tencel, organic cotton, and recycled polyester, H&M is revamping its known business model for turning out cheap, disposable clothing to incorporate a zero-waste, conscious approach to garment production in the form of a sustainable clothing line.

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The Alkaline Diet

by Almira February 5, 2011

During these cold, comfort-food ridden months I’ve been craving something fresh. The Alkaline Sisters has solved my problem. These two sisters decided to change their eating habits to include more raw foods and focus on foods that decrease inflammation in the body and increase energy and overall health. With beautiful food photography, scrumptious recipes, and great resources for alkalizing and revamping your eating habits (and waistline), I believe I’ve found a new favorite food blog!

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The Monsanto Wars

by Almira February 4, 2011

Upon watching Food, Inc. and David Versus Monsanto (see full version here), I was introduced to the farming world in the U.S and got a sneak peak of some of the struggles farmers face daily. The likes of Monsanto and their industry of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are wreaking some terrible havoc, “If you are contaminated, against your wishes, by Monsanto’s GMOs, you no longer own your seeds or plants. They become the ownership of a corporation, in this case, Monsanto,” says Percy Schmeiser, a canola farmer from Saskatchewan, Canada. He claims his fields were contaminated with the Roundup Ready Canola genes, ruining 50 years of work on his 1400 acre farm in breeding saved seeds. The lawsuit lasted 3 years, and ended in favor of Percy and his wife, Louise.

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Chicken Tractors

by Almira February 3, 2011

Though your fowl darlings won’t actually be pulling a plow down each row as the chicken tractor might suggest (I can’t imagine them keeping to straight lines anyway), they will do something even better. Here’s how a chicken tractor works:

Move the chicken tractor along your garden rows or yard every so often for excellent fertilizer, while giving your chickens premium worms and bugs to munch on, and allowing them to do some weeding for you. No clean-up required, just refill their water and food, shut their “bedroom” door at night, and collect the eggs!

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No Money Man

by Almira February 2, 2011

A Year Without Spending Money… For those of you who haven’t yet heard of Mark Boyle, aka No Money Man, feast upon the crazy experiment of a British man who refused to spend any money for an entire year. His daily regime includes dumpster diving, solar showers, and teeth brushing with bone meal and fennel [...]

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A Gentleman’s Guide To All-Natural Skin Care

by Almira February 1, 2011

After years of trial and error in search of the perfect all-natural skin care products, my husband has finally narrowed his skin care regime down to just three products—each work their wonders naturally with no harsh chemicals, phthalates, parabens, or sulfates:

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How To Dye Your Clothes With All-Natural Dye

by Almira January 31, 2011

How To Dye Your Clothes With All-Natural Dye

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Forks Over Knives Documentary

by Almira December 15, 2010

This should be interesting… [Movie not showing up? Watch here] Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. In theaters March 11, 2011 Find Healthy Republic on Twitter [...]

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All-Natural Skin Care Secrets

by Almira December 6, 2010

I’m fussy about what I put on my face. It can’t be too waxy or too buttery and it has to be all-natural—no phthalates, parabens, sulfates, etc—see why in my upcoming review on Slow Death By Rubber Duck. Through trial and error, I’ve found 3 products that give my skin the best results (I have “normal to dry”). The best part about this magic 3? They’re far cheaper than the all-natural, organic products you can buy at the store and they last much longer—PLUS there are no added ingredients and preservatives! Without further adieu, here are the 3 miracle workers…

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All Natural Laundry Detergent – Soap Nuts

by Almira October 26, 2010

Laundry Tree – Soap Nuts

One of the more shockingly cool things I’ve come across recently is Soap Nuts by Laundry Tree. They are an alternative to laundry detergents and are actually organically grown dried fruit that are biodegradable, antimicrobial and work in HE washers! You just pop a few of these Soap Nuts inside the little white pouch shown above and throw it into your wash cycle and voila! Clean clothes…

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Gourmet TV’s Diary Of A Foodie – Farm To Fork

by Almira October 25, 2010

Gourmet TV’s Diary of a Foodie is an absolute favorite and lives on despite Gourmet Magazine’s death (RIP). My absolute favorite episode is Farm To Fork (episode 45). I could watch it over and over! It would be such a dream to be able to eat everything you need off of your own land: roaming and livestock along with vegetables and fruits picked at their prime from the permaculture garden!…

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Make Your Own Oil

by Almira October 22, 2010

The Blest Machine is an at-home solution to excess trash, specifically plastic waste. Now, instead of throwing your plastic rubbish in a landfill, you can place it in your Blest Machine and have it converted with an electric heater into usable oil for your car, motorbike, or generator/broiler/stove. Cool! Another great feature: it doesn’t produce any CO2 or toxins!

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Endurance Running. No Limits.

by Almira August 27, 2010

“Know your limits, but never accept them.” —Unknown Ultra marathons are 26.2188 mi or longer and many endurance runners go even farther. They run like crazy, and perhaps they literally are. I’m not an endurance runner, but I aspire to be one when I grow up. In the meantime, I like keeping abreast of all their [...]

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ALERT! Watch Out For Vibram FiveFingers Knock-Offs

by Almira August 17, 2010

For those of you who were able to get a pair of the Vibram FiveFingers before the hysteric obsession began and back-orders galore, you may be interested in reading this CNN article on barefoot running knock-offs. Chinese counter-fitting companies are copying the shoes, even down to the packaging. “Unsatisfied customers, unaware that they bought fake [...]

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World’s Tallest Roses Are Also Sustainable: VeriFlora

by Almira August 13, 2010

VeriFlora is a sustainable farm that grows fair trade, certified organic roses in the mountains of Ecuador, with blooming stems that can reach the heights of 5-6 feet tall. The workers are compensated fairly and their children are provided with daycare and meals during the workday. We should have companies doing that here in the U.S.!

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A Living Dress!

by Almira August 12, 2010

Today’s Slow Fashion Inspiration: Living Clothes! Commissioned to create a piece for the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture (ARCAM), fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen and landscape architect Anouk Vogel crafted this dress out of wool and recycled bicycle inner tubes. The flowers are held in little vases that hold the flowers’ water.

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King Corn

by Almira August 10, 2010

This Month’s Film Review: King Corn, Directed by Aaron Woolf, with co-producers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis {Available on Netflix and Amazon On-Demand} On a scale of 1 (gouge my eyes out) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis, from Boston, MA, became best friends at Yale, [...]

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Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.

by Almira August 3, 2010

This month’s book review comes from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D. On a scale of 1 (major qualms) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS I must admit that when this highly-recommended book came in the [...]

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The Odd World of Kombucha

by Almira July 22, 2010

When I was a girl, I remember peeking into a bowl which housed contents that I considered gross-looking. Inside of this bowl was a rather transparent brown liquid with a floating squishy ‘blob’ on its surface. Underneath the blob, was its ‘baby’ that would soon be moved to its own bowl to start a new [...]

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EcoTourism and EcoVolunteering in EcoDestinations!

by Almira July 15, 2010

Whew! Quite the tongue-twister of a title… Vacation + Conservation = Ecotourism. Ecotourism: “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” (TIES, 1990) My husband and I volunteered at an Ecotourism and Conservation Center in Costa Rica two years ago and loved it. Ever since I’ve been [...]

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Big Ideas For A Small Planet (Season 3)

by Almira July 14, 2010

On a scale of 1 (gouge my eyes out) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS 13 episodes (Games doesn’t work on Netflix, so no-go on that one, but each episode is 25 minutes—so many nuggets of great information rolled into such a small amount of time! I realize this list is [...]

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Fora.tv, Food Inc. and Food Matters

by Almira July 13, 2010

Enjoy this Fora.tv with Pulitzer Prize winner for his E Coli story, Michael Moss, on food safety (1 hr): Michael Moss: Inside The Food Industry

“Food companies are increasingly reaching overseas for lower-cost ingredients that can keep their product prices down.” —Michael Moss

Michael ends his speech at 16:41 minutes where they begin the question and answer, so it’s really not too long if you’re just looking to hear his lecture.

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The Backyard Homestead

by Almira July 13, 2010

This Month’s book review comes from The Backyard Homestead, edited by Carleen Madigan. On a scale of 1 (major qualms) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS Madigan claims that you can “Produce all the food you need in just a quarter of an acre!” and although I haven’t had the opportunity [...]

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Almost Barefoot Running

by Almira July 13, 2010

I love to trail run. I didn’t, however, always like running just for running’s sake. Hmm…perhaps my lack of desire to run came from some negative reinforcement: when my siblings and I were naughty, we had to run 1/4 acre “laps” on our property as a punishment. Despite my disdain for laps, when I “grew [...]

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Freecycle: Don’t Throw It Away, Give It Away!

by Almira July 12, 2010

Have something that’s in good condition that you’s like to sell or get rid of? Immediately, I think to give it to Goodwill or Craigslist it. Both great choices, but I didn’t know about option #3 until recently. Freecycle is a nonprofit movement to “keep good stuff out of landfills.” This network of people throughout [...]

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Why Choose Organic Baby Care Products?

by Almira July 9, 2010

Although the Johnson & Johnson brand has been supposedly synonymous with safety for years, a month after the recall, we find two class-action lawsuits aimed at Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo and Wal-Mart’s Equate Tearless Baby Wash because it contained the FDA banned methylene chloride.

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Danny Dreyer’s Chi Running: Effortless, Injury-Free Walking And Running

by Almira July 8, 2010

Want to improve your posture, walk and run effortlessly, rid yourself of chronic aches and pains, and stop world hunger? Well, besides that last one, Chi Running is supposed to help you do all of that. Danny Dreyer, author of Chi Running: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running, has set out to teach the world how to run and walk pain-free.
Chi Running Basic Tips:

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Au Naturale Home Design

by Almira July 8, 2010

A big shout out goes to the bees today and their lovely craftsmanship in home designs. I’m absolutely in awe. These incredible creations are quite “modern” in their architectural tastes! Check out more about these natural architectural wonders here. Photos by Treehugger … Find Healthy Republic on Twitter and Facebook Fan Page

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Introducing: The Media Club

by Almira July 7, 2010

Though it’s quite mid-summer, I thought I’d start start a little Media Club for those breezy hot days under a tree cuddled up with a nice read, as well as for those lovely nights watching an informative and inspiring documentaries.
SUMMER 2010 READING & VIEWING LIST:

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Introducing: The Healthy Republic Little Shop

by Almira July 7, 2010

From the gardening and homesteading to holistic healing, nutrition and fitness, you can find many of the Healthy Republic recommended reads at the Healthy Republic A-Store. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Since Amazon doesn’t carry everything—try The Little Green Book.
BOOK CATEGORIES:

Media Club: Summer Reading

Nutrition & Healing

Gardening

Fitness

Documentaries

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A Thrifters Love Affair

by Almira July 2, 2010

Inspired by the movie Julia & Julia, with Meryl Streep,—which I absolutely LOVED—Marisa decides to get inspired. Instead of cooking through the Julia Child Cookbook, she opted to combine something that she enjoys (shopping) with frugality in a year-long challenge: $365, 365 days, 365 dresses.

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Green Design Library: A Visual Guide To Sustainable Products

by Almira July 1, 2010

A designer’s guide to over 150 green solutions (eye candy for non-designers), the Green Design Library was created to be a lookbook of sorts to avoid duplication of design research for green products. Brilliant.

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Baby Swimming

by Almira July 1, 2010

When I first watched this YouTube video on infant swimming, I was mortified. The idea of a baby falling into the water, fully clothed in pajamas and coughing up water made me wonder why child services everyone hadn’t banned the idea. It was disturbing at best, however, I’ve known many families who’s baby has either drown in their own pool, a river/lake, the ocean, and even the bathtub.

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Land, It’s The Only Thing That Lasts

by Almira June 30, 2010

There’s something magical about owning your own little plot of land that brings this quote particularly to life. In my case, it’s a relatively small sized back yard, but I’m not complaining, at 1,740 sq. ft., it’s much bigger than my previous small concrete slab condo patio! I’ve certainly been waiting for years to be able to do a little more than grow sprouts from my condo window. Now that a somewhat self-sufficient lifestyle is possible, I’m absolutely overwhelmed—yet excited.

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