Green Mothers’ Digest

One of the summer treats my kids and I like the best are ice cold slices of watermelon.  My pleasure of eating this is enhanced by the knowledge that watermelon is incredibly rich in antioxidants.

But now there is a caveat to this:  the level of antioxidants actually depends on whether the watermelon is served cold (YESSSS!) or room temperature (blah).  And yes, room temperature is better in this case.  It says in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that watermelon that is stored uncut at a room temperature of 70 degrees F contains up to 40% of the antioxidant lycopene.

And that’s not all.  Leaving a watermelon out at this room temperature for 7 to 8 days before cutting it will cause the watermelon to continue to produce lycopene even though it has been picked.  Refrigerating the watermelon, even uncut, will slow the lycopene down.  

Up until now I have never bought a whole watermelon yet because of the limited space available in my refrigerator, but I might change this practice now.  If I can store a watermelon on the counter until I cut it for the first time, then after everyone had their fill cut the rest into manageable chunks and store as they fit, we’ll have antioxidant-rich fruit for a few days without the inconvenience of having to empty out almost an entire shelf!  And, all of us like watermelon, so it will be gone quickly too.

It is okay to chill the watermelon right before slicing.  Apparently this will not kill the lycopene.

It’s worth doing this.  Of all the fresh fruits and vegetables available, watermelon has the highest amount of lycopene which protects from cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer.

Yesterday I was truly afraid.  Through some insurance mix-up I haven’t been able to obtain a refill on my asthma medication, the fabulous Serevent Diskus.  I have been using it for years, and have been attack-free because of it.  For the past several days I had to manage with only a Proventil inhalor, and finally all this caught up with me last night and I began to really wheeze and be out of breath…

And once again, a homeopathic remedy came to the rescue.   This time it was Arsenicum.  I took 5 pellets, which is usually the highest dose one usually takes at a time (more pellets would be useless), and even though I didn’t expect any relief - due to the fact that I thought this had all progressed way too much already - it not only took the edge off, but actually calmed the wheezing and made me feel, for a while, 80 percent better.

I think this really warrants perhaps its own section on this blog.  Homeopathics in an emergency type of situation, or even on a regular basis.   Children benefit from homeopathics without ever experiencing scary side effects.  More on this later….

Outrageous!  Another recall of a product manufactured in China, this time a toy which may contain lead: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1 million of the popular “Thomas & Friends” wooden railway toys made in China are being voluntarily recalled because some may contain lead paint, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Wednesday. read more 

In addition, fake Colgate (yes, there is apparently such a thing as counterfit toothpaste, for heaven’s sake!!) sold in discount stores is also being recalled.  It contains a substance called DEG (diethylene glycol) which is toxic.  read more here

I must pat myself on the back a little bit here.  I tend to shy away from anything made in China, simply because I don’t trust their standards of safety.  It was after all courtesy of China that we all introduced lead into our houses through innocent looking vinyl blinds.  Who would have thought they could contain lead?  I feel consumers are innocent babes when it comes to assessing risks simply because of ignorance.  The average person just doesn’t know enough, if anything, about manufacturing common items and what the substances we fear so much might be used for in those items.  Another example of that is plastic baby bottles.

To get back to the toothpaste - I actually quickly ran and checked my own toothpaste which happens to be Colgate, and happens to come from a discount store.  But, sigh of relief, it says it’s distributed by Palmolive in New York.

My children btw use Toms of Maine, without fluoride, as well as Orajel, also without fluoride.  There is too much controversy for my taste concerning fluoride, so for the time being we try to avoid it.  

… I don’t often comment on other blogs, but for once I felt compelled to, and the strangest thing happened.  I was unable to leave my comment after typing in my contact info, and then having to copy a number into a box. 

I completely obeyed and copied numbers into this box ad nauseum, and still it wouldn’t show my comment, but my name, email, and this url are still there.  And not only that, on every single post you click on you’ll see my info without the comment.  It is sooo annoying……

It makes me think of those car alarms that go off in the middle of the night with no reason.  We are controlled by gadgets….

Tomorrow daughter number one (DN1) is going on a class trip to Disney World.  And I already know, along with the fun in the sun, there is going to be absolute ueber-indulgence in junk foods.  She told me what they are going to eat on the trip and I still got heartburn from listening.  Let’s put it this way, lots of crunchy stuff with salsas, and stuff in cans that would burn holes into shoulder steaks if soaked in it overnight. 

But….. I won’t say anything.  Every so often I feel kids can have their fun, if junk food is their idea of fun, as long as the madness doesn’t go on every single day of their growing up.  I may be wrong about this, but — let them have a blast all the way.  Mothers will pick up the pieces and put everything back together again, whether it is restoring order in the house after play dates, or reinforcing again good eating habits.  Meanwhile, as someone said the other day, nobody likes the kid that brings rice cakes to the birthday party…..