First Personal Care Products Certified Under New Natural Seal and Standard Program
from the Natural Products Association
The first health and beauty care products to be certified as truly natural by the Natural Products Association were announced today and are set to hit store shelves in the very near future. Products from Aubrey Organics, Burt’s Bees and J.R. Watkins Apothecary have met the program’s strict criteria and are entitled to display the seal shown to the right. More

Too Much Sun, Too Few Antioxidants Spell Eye Trouble

If you're planning to retire to Florida or Arizona for health reasons, be sure to pack your sunglasses. That's the message from a new study that found that older people with low levels of certain antioxidants present in many fruits and vegetables, and who are exposed to short-wavelength blue light from the sun, are more likely to develop certain types of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). But the damage can start decades before you turn 65. More

Blocking Vitamin K Can Harm Kids' Bone Health

Blocking vitamin K activity in the body via the use of anticoagulants can have a detrimental effect on bone health in children, according to researchers. They found children who took anticoagulants long-term for thromboembolic events could inhibit vitamin K recycling, disturbing the equilibrium between bone formation and resorption. More

The Healing Power of Honey

Wound care is problematic for people with diabetes. A mere nick from an ill-fitting shoe or hangnail haphazardly cut can fester for months and develop into a gaping ulcer teeming with bacteria. Researchers, however, have started to find that a dab of a certain type of honey with potent antimicrobial properties—is a worthy weapon against an ulcer that refuses to heal. More

Organic Produce Business Thriving in Los Angeles

At a time when scores of produce companies, along with firms in other industries, are talking doom and gloom, organic shippers in Los Angeles see room for a boom. Consumers and retailers alike continue to patronize the organic category, which, at least in Southern California, seems to be defying the economic malaise and maintaining its growth phase. More

Vitamin D A Key Player in Overall Health of Several Body Organs

Essential for life in higher animals, vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D. More

Eco-friendly Books Run the Gamut of Green

America is deep into green: You can wear green fashion, carry a green bag and dab your face with green makeup. You can hire a green architect to design your green house, walk on green floors, decorate with green accessories and fabrics, sleep on green beds, sit on green chairs. Teens can be green, babies should be green, singles can join green dating clubs. Green books are filling up bookstore shelves. You can even read them with green reading glasses — made of bamboo. More

Pediatricians Recommend Doubling Vitamin D for Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics has doubled its recommendation for children's daily dose of vitamin D in the hopes of preventing rickets and reaping other health benefits. The new guidelines from the nation's leading group of pediatricians call for children to receive 400 international units of vitamin D per day, beginning in the first few days of life. More