The pressure cooker is an interesting invention of the modern world. It was designed to save cooking time by forcing food to cook quickly under extreme steam pressure. Pressure is created by boiling a liquid (mostly water) inside the closed pot. The trapped steam increases the internal pressure and allows the temperature to rise, which forces food to cook quickly. In the end, the pressure is slowly released so the lid can be opened safely.

A conventional pressure cooker is a metal pot – made from aluminum or stainless steel. These are reactive metals and therefore toxic to food.

Problems with cooking in a toxic material:

Metals are reactive, they leach and react with food at cooking temperature. This contaminates food and regular intake of such food accumulates metal toxins in your tissues, organs, and blood. As a result, the immune system starts wearing down and your body is prone to sickness – which may range from common illnesses or even life-threatening diseases.

Secondly, the harsh heat from metal walls destroys delicate nutrients. As a result, your body will stay deficient in essential nutrients and this creates a nutritional imbalance – a common cause of diseases like diabetes (for example, complex carbs that slow down the release of sugar are destroyed in metal pots).

The Essential Water-soluble nutrients are gone!

Besides the issue of the metals, the cooking mechanism itself is destructive to water-soluble nutrients. The steam going out of the pot is water soluble nutrients – the body needs them on a daily basis. If you are not getting them from food, there is no other natural way to fulfill the body’s requirement.

So, What makes an Ideal Pressure cooker, which is the most non-toxic material?

Unglazed primary clay or pure clay is a naturally inert material that can be harvested from earth’s surface. It has absolutely no metals or chemical toxins. If no glazes are used, it can make an 100% non-toxic cooking pot that is ideal for pressure cooking. Pure Clay has been used for making cookware for ages until few decades ago when metal cookware came into practice.

This material does not destroy essential nutrients when cooking:

The unique far infrared heat from pure clay penetrates food deeper but without destroying nutrients. And this is done just on medium heat!

Naturally condenses steam and keeps it in the food!

An ergonomically designed pot and lid can manage steam inside. When designed the right way and using this pure material the lid stays cooler than the pot. So, the steam rising from the food condenses on the inner side of lid and settles back into the food keeping water-soluble nutrients inside!

Is 100% Non-toxic so does not leach toxins into your food:

We saw the problem with metal cookware… it’s just the opposite with pure clay cooking pots. It is a 100% inert or non-reactive material so nothing from the pot leaches into your food!

By switching to this ideal pressure cooker, you can be sure you are cooking 100% non-toxic food rich in essential nutrients that nourish your body with every meal – no more nutritional deficiencies and no more toxins accumulating in your body.

A little known reality of home décor is the fact that some items in your home contain toxic substances that can actually have a negative impact on the health of you and your family. Carpet, upholstery, and even window blinds are just a few of these items, so it’s important to know what you have in your home and whether there is any risk to your health. Fortunately, there are a wide range of environmentally friendly products that do not contain unnecessary chemicals, and non-toxic window blinds are one example. Aluminum blinds, honeycomb cellular shades, and bamboo shades are examples of non-toxic window blinds that are safe and have minimal impact on the indoor air quality of your home.

Of course, homeowners don’t always realize that they need to consider safety when purchasing new blinds, and oftentimes, their main concerns are style and affordability. Still, even non-toxic window blinds are constructed from a variety of materials making them an excellent choice regardless of your style preferences or budget. Let’s discuss some of the most popular varieties of non-toxic window blinds.

Aluminum Blinds

Aluminum window blinds are a hugely popular choice for homeowners because they are affordable, durable, and available in a range of colours and styles. Indeed, aluminum window blinds are the most common non-toxic window blind found in homes today. Because they are long lasting and lightweight, these flexible window coverings stand up well in any condition. They resist corrosion, they are easy to clean, and they provide excellent light blocking. Moreover, their low cost is a real bonus.

Honeycomb Cellular Shades

Another variety of non-toxic window blinds are honeycomb cellular shades. Constructed from a series of hollow cells designed to trap air, these blinds are durable and make an excellent choice when it comes to energy efficiency. Each cell in these blinds is made from non-toxic cellulose fibres that are bonded through an environmentally-friendly process known as spunlacing. Instead of using chemical binders, spunlacing utilizes a stream of fast-moving water that essentially binds fibers into a non-woven fabric. Honeycomb cellular shades have an incredibly soft feel without compromising strength.

Bamboo Shades

Among the most common choices for a clean, contemporary design, bamboo shades are popular because they are stylish, durable, and non-toxic. Made from all natural bamboo sometimes in combination with other types of grasses, bamboo blinds can be constructed without the use of chemicals, though this isn’t always the case. If you want to install bamboo shades in your home, make sure to find a manufacturer that processes their blinds without the use of harsh chemicals. Instead, find a manufacturer with green certification and who ensures that their shades are toxin-free.

The main benefit of non-toxic window blinds is their impact on the air quality of your home. Unlike less environmentally-friendly alternatives, non-toxic blinds will not release unsafe chemicals into the air in your home making them the safest options especially for young families.

INTRODUCTION:

The organochlorine pesticide endosulfan (6,7,8,9,10,10-Hexachloro-1,5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-6,9-methano-2,4,3-benzodioxathiepin-3-oxide) is a chlorinated hydrocarbon which is among the most toxic pesticides for aquatic life, especially fish, and therefore has been registered as a priority pollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Particularly in developing countries, endosulfan is in general use for pest control in jute, cotton, sugar cane and vegetables. Due to agricultural activities, endosulfan has repeatedly been reported in surface waters and soil of developing and established countries. It is more toxic to the fish model of the present study, as the fish is a mud dweller and remains in contact to the soil for longer time. Endosulfan is moderately persistent in the soil environment with a reported average field half-life of 50 days. Acute toxicity of endosulfan to fish was reported previously.

Previous histopathological studies on fishes exposed to pollutants revealed that fish organs are efficient indicators of water quality. The gills are important organs in fish to perform respiration, osmoregulation, acid base balance and nitrogenous waste excretion. Fish gills are also vulnerable to pollutants in water because of their large surface area and external location. For this reason, fish gills are considered to be most appropriate indicators of water pollution levels. Many investigators have reported the histopathological changes in the gills of different fish species exposed to various pesticides. However, there has been little information on the histopathological impact of endosulfan on fish gills.. Therefore, it was decided to determine the histopathological effects of gills in a catfish, Clarias batrachus Linn. exposed chronically to endosulfan in the present research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Adult fish with an average body weight of 0.2 ± 0.03 Kg and total length of 20 ± 0.4 cm were collected from the local market. The fish were transferred in oxygenated containers to the laboratory. They were acclimated in glass aquaria at a constant temperature (24±l°C) and pH 7.5 ± 0.3 for 7 days prior to the experiment. Aged tap water was used for acclimation as well as for preparing test solutions. Water was continuously aerated. Fish were fed twice daily with Tubifex tubifex. Technical grade endosulfan (Thiodan®, 33.70% endosulfan) was provided by Hoechst Co. India Ltd.

The fish were divided into two groups and placed in separate glass aquaria. Ten fishes were used for each group. Group I was exposed to commercial formulations of endosulfan. The nominal concentrations tested were 0.5 µg/L for endosulfan, being the l/12th fractions of the 96h LC50 value. Group II was maintained in pesticide-free water to serve as control. Half the amount of test water was renewed every 24 hour. The average values for the water quality data were, temperature 24±l°C, pH 7.5 ± 0.3, dissolved oxygen 7.2 mg/L and total hardness 168 mg/L as CaCO3.

Clarias batrachus exposed to endosulfan did not show any alteration in behavioural patterns and feeding activity. Likewise, growth was not retarded following exposure to endosulfan, and apart from mucus secretion no macroscopically overt signs of pathology could be discerned during dissection.

Both the experimental and control fish were sacrificed every 15 days for 30 days. Immediately after decapitation the gills were removed and dropped into aqueous Bouin’s fluid. After fixation for 24 hours, tissues were dehydrated through a graded series of ethanol, cleared in xylene and infiltrated in the paraffin. 4-6 µm thick sections were cut on microtome and stained in Hematoxylin-Eosin. Pathological lesions were examined under optical microscope.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Endosulfan is a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide and acaricide of the cyclodiene subgroup which acts as a poison to a wide variety of insects and mites on contact. Although it may also be used as a wood preservative, it is used primarily on a wide variety of food crops including tea, coffee, fruits, and vegetables, as well as on rice, cereals, maize, sorghum or other grains (Extoxnet, 1996). It enters the air, water, and soil during its manufacture and use. It is often sprayed onto crops and the spray may travel long distances before it lands on crops, soil or water. Endosulfan on crops usually breaks down in a few weeks, but sticks to soil particles and may take years to completely break down. By hydrolysis, the expected half-lives for the alpha- and beta-endosulfan isomers were found to be 3.6 days and 1.7 days, respectively. Endosulfan does not dissolve easily in water. In surface water, it gets attached to soil particles floating in water or attached to soil at the bottom. It can build up in the bodies of animals that live in endosulfan-contaminated water (ATSDR, 2000). Endosulfan is moderately persistent in the soil environment with a reported average field half-life of 50 days.

The EPA recommends that the amount of endosulfan in rivers, lakes, and streams should not be more than 74 parts per billion (74 ppb). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows no more than 24 parts per million (24 ppm) endosulfan on dried tea. EPA allows no more than 0.1 to 2 ppm endosulfan on other raw agricultural products. The commercial formulations of endosulfan are 1.88 times more toxic than its technical materials.

The histopathological changes were apparent in specimens exposed to endosulfan and were not observed in the control fish. After exposure, an excessive amount of mucous observed over the gills of live specimens. It has been reported that the stress caused by variations in the environment and pathologic agents induce the proliferation of mucous cells and increase secretion.

In the present study, after 15 days of exposure to 0.5 µg/L endosulfan, epithelial necrosis, hypertrophy of epithelial cells, rupture of gill epithelium, haemorrhage at primary lamellae, sloughing of the respiratory epithelium and hypertrophy of epithelial cells were noted. The lifting of the epithelium, oedema, epithelial necrosis, fusion of adjacent secondary lamellae, and haemorrhage at primary lamellae were observed in the gills of fish examined after 30 days of exposure to 0.5 µg/L.

Epithelial necrosis and rupture of gill epithelium are direct deleterious effects of the irritants. The fish’s defense responses are excessive mucus secretion. Lifting of the epithelium, lamellar fusion, and club-shaped lamellae could be protective in that it diminishes the amount of vulnerable gill surface area. The histopathological changes of gill can result in hypoxia, respiratory failure problems with ionic and acid-base balance.

REFERENCES:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry [ATSDR]. (2000). Toxicological Profile for endosulfan . Update. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.

Extension Toxicology Network [EXTOXNET] (1996). Pesticide Information Profiles, files maintained and archived at Oregon State University.

When we think of our health and food we often think of the ingredients we try to avoid pesticides, additives (such as sweeteners, artificial colors) and chemicals (preservatives). How about when you purchase your cookware? Do you ask what goes into this pan? What additives or chemicals are used in its production? How does its production affect the environment? Why is it important to choose safe and non-toxic cookware? How does it affect our food?

Why should you buy non-toxic cookware? Simple, to prevent toxins from finding their way into your food. You may think well I’ve already done that by buying all natural and organic food items. Good for you but once you place your food into that nonstick, metal, glazed or enameled pan they become contaminated by the pan itself.

Not sure if you believe chemicals are leaching into your food or you just want to know it for yourself?

Here’s an easy test you can try: Boil 2 to 4 cups water in any metal, glazed, enameled, ceramic pot/pan you cook with. Add 1 TBSP of baking soda to the boiling water. After 5 to 10 minutes turn off the stove and wait for it to cool down. Take a small sip (just enough for a taste). If you experience a foul metallic taste your pot is leaching metal. If you did this in a ceramic/glazed or enamel pot and get a rubbery or paint like flavor your pan is leaching chemicals. As a control, stir the same quantity of baking soda to a glass of water and compare the taste. You will see the difference in the taste in the different pots. Now perform the same experiment with a MEC pure clay pot and taste the difference.

Non-toxic & safe cookware should not allow chemicals to seep into your food but also shouldn’t zap the nutrition out either. Conventional metal and ceramic cookware cook with a very harsh form of heat that quickly destroys the nutritive cells in food AND let all the steam evaporate letting all the water soluble nutrients leave the pot. Why buy those great organic carrots if all their water soluble vitamins and minerals will go up in a puff of steam? When cooking with pots and pans made from 100% natural material such as pure-clay the food will retain its nutritional value. How is this possible? First pure clay cooks with far infrared heat which is a gentler heat that doesn’t breakdown nutritional cells in the food you cook. Secondly, pure clay helps to naturally lock in steam keeping the nutrients in the food as well as making it moist and flavorful.

So in all, non-toxic cookware and healthy cookware go hand and hand. Cookware that is made from 100% natural renewable material that will not pollute your food, preserve the nutrients intact and doesn’t harm the environment during the manufacturing or its functioning is the best choice for non-toxic cookware.

Narcissists have a tendency towards being self centered, showy in their generosity, and sulky when they don’t get their own way.

So, if you were wondering if they could have been a narcissist, here are 5 signs to look out for.

1. Superiority.

The narcissist believes they are above other people. They don’t form friendships easily at work, and if they do, they have a tendency to refer to them simply as colleagues. If you had friends at work, there’s a chance that your ex diminished those friendships, dismissed them as “fake.”

Their superior tendencies will make them do the annoying superior “sniff”; you know what I mean don’t you? When you say something, and they pause for effect, give a dismissive sniff, and then launch into all the reasons why you’re wrong. Lovely. Pretentiousness and conceit are the giveaways, and they will claim that no one could possibly know you as well as they do, and there seems to be a real belief that they are better than others. A person with healthy self-esteem and a realistic self-image will recognise their strengths AND weaknesses.

2. Lack of empathy.

Did you lose a family member when you were with your toxic ex? And did they support you and look after you? Or did they somehow twist it to being about them, or simply not acknowledge how much you were hurting? The narcissist doesn’t really love anyone but themselves.

They can show empathy in an intellectual way; behave as they know they are expected to; but if they are particularly toxic, they possibly won’t even bother with that. It’s great to be told “it’s about time you stopped grieving” a week after your father died…

3. The injured party.

Did your toxic ex wander about with an face like a smacked bum? I bet this happened because you either disagreed with him/her or you were critical of something. Now, we like to keep arguments to a minimum, and kicking someone when they are down is unfair; but I’m not talking about that; I mean the smallest, unintentional slight, or a disagreement over something you couldn’t ever predict happening (“But why don’t you like Seat Ibizas? That’s just stupid. Can you hear how stupid you’re being?” (True story)). If you upset the finely tuned equilibrium of someone who loves themselves more than they could ever pretend to love you, expect to pay for it.

4. Public displays of generosity.

“Look what I’ve done/bought for you.”

This is quite a tough one to deal with. When someone is making a big show of their generosity in public, it’s hard to see how other people may view it when you’re stuck in the middle of your toxic relationship. Now, from speaking to friends and family, I now know that it was seen for what it was; a big act, designed to make me look, quite frankly, like an ungrateful bitch. But the narcissist doesn’t see it that way. It’s another notch on the scale of “look how great I am to you, you don’t deserve me” and a reason for them to play Ben Folds Five “Song for the Dumped” at full volume AT you. (Another true story, check it out on YouTube, and enjoy the line, “Give me my money back, you bitch.”)

5. Gaslighting.

Gaslighting is a power trip, odd and manipulative behaviour where you may be told that you’re stupid to like something, because they want their own way; then there’s the behaviour where you’re being put down so that you start to believe it; “you’re a rubbish cook because you never had to go away to university at 18 and learn to take care of yourself like I did… “

Believing this leads to you living a life where you’re constantly put down; and when you try to defend yourself or you decide that you won’t put up with it again, you end up crying and apologising for hurting them; somehow or other, the situation has been turned around so that you’re at fault. How dare you confront this treatment and ask for respect, after all. You are constantly second guessing yourself, and trying to avoid put downs, and making excuses for him to family and friends.

If you lived through these signs then there’s a good chance that you were living with a narcissist. We all have a little of the narcissism in us. It’s healthy, keeps us feeling good when we do well, gives us a well balanced sense of self esteem. The danger is in the narcissistic behaviour that doesn’t leave room for anyone else.

Food is a joy and a pleasure enjoyed by every person who has come into this planet. The people of different cultures, regions, races have always enjoyed cooking and eating from time immemorial. The interesting part is the significance of food does not end there… it is the one thing that strengthens and sustains life inside of us more than anything else. And is also one of the most important factors that determine our health. Amongst the different pots and pans available today, the best ones that fully cater to all these 3 aspects of food are clay cooking pots – they preserve the taste, nutritional value, and health of the food. To understand these benefits, we need to compare them to what is commonly used now and the difference clay cooking pots can make in each case:

Conventional Cookware, why is it toxic and unhealthy?

Most conventional cookware these days are made from either metals or chemical laden clay called ceramics. All metals are reactive including cast iron, steel, aluminum, titanium, they leach metal ions at cooking temperature that react with food’s nutrients and form toxic compounds – they are of no nutritional value in the body and keep accumulating in blood, tissues, and organs to form the foundation for a sick body and weak immune system. The ceramic pots are full of chemicals that contain metal compounds that leach metal ions like metals do. On the contrary, the right clay pot would be 100% non-toxic as the raw material is naturally inert and doesn’t leach. It will keep the nutrients in food intact.

How they interact with the nutrients in the food?

The harsh heat from the walls of metals and ceramics destroy essential delicate nutrients like complex carbs, phytonutrients, and vitamins. The water-soluble nutrients present as steam is constantly leaving the pot. This leaves your food nutritionally deficient in more than one way.

How are clay cooking pots different?

With clay cookware, however, the gentle heat cooks food just the way it needs to be – no nutrients are lost and the natural taste and aroma of food stay intact. Most importantly, the steam can be managed well in an ergonomically designed clay pot – all thanks to unique far infrared heat that keeps the lid at a lower temperature than the rest of the pot. So the steam condenses on the inner surface of the lid and keeps falling back into food while cooking. This not only improves the nutritional value of your food but it also makes it taste better!

How to Choose the right clay cooking pots for you?

The food cooked in clay pot is a lot healthier than in metal or ceramic pots – with absolutely no toxins and improved nutritional value. But it is extremely important to choose the right clay pot because the market is full of clay pots that are made without its complete health value in mind. As the demand grows and the need to keep prices low, toxic additives are mixed to the clay. this is done in order to expedite drying or for making in slip molds – a faster making method. And the product is now being glazed with the same color as what the fired piece would have turned out to be without the glaze. This is done in order to save time with the finishing, but the same color is used so consumers can think its unglazed. A fully unglazed piece takes longer to finish and require more skill to work on but yields great benefits to cooking.

The best option for healthy clay pot cooking is using pots made from unglazed primary clay or pure clay. They are truly healthy as no chemicals or glazes are used and are 100% green, unlike any other cookware. They are fully biodegradable and are equally good for the environment as they are for your health.

While many people desire a mutually fulfilling, loving relationship with someone else, many people struggle in toxic relationships. A toxic relationship takes a significant toll on the traumatized party, and can be the result of personal issues and a unhealthy relationship dynamic. Whether the toxic partner is abusive, abusing drugs and alcohol, or has betrayed you through infidelities, it is common for self esteem to take a hard hit. However, if you you’ve satisfied yourself that you’ve tried all you can and you are ready to leave the relationship, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Here are 5 benefits to leaving your toxic relationship:

1. Your focus on your own life and priorities will increase. A toxic relationship takes a lot of time and mental energy to maintain as you struggle to figure out how to improve it and how to prevent the damaging behavior of your partner from occurring. Freed from that burden, you have the freedom to imagine who you want to be and where you want to go in life.

2. You’ll begin to have more confidence in your own judgment and decision making. Often, a toxic relationship leaves you feeling incapable, inferior, and even crazy. As you distance yourself form the negative messages of your partner, you’ll see that you are capable of managing your life and making good decisions.

3. Relationships with others in your life will improve. It is likely you have pulled away from your relationships or been less engaged. Being so absorbed in trying to deal with your own real problems in the relationship doesn’t leave much capability to be fully engaged in the lives and struggles of others you care about. Your partner may even have put pressure on you to stay away from certain people or attempted to isolate you from others.

4. You will no longer have to live your life walking on eggshells so as not to upset or provoke your partner’s behavior. Instead of having to deal with chaos and unpredictability on a day to day basis, you’ll be able to live your life in peace and with emotional stability.

5. Your depressed feelings will ease. In many cases a toxic relationship results in feelings of depression due to the hurtful behaviors of your partner. Away from this influence, you’ll likely see things in a more positive light.

Many people will remember a famous TV ad where a woman races to her washing machine, fabric softener in hand, only to arrive just as the wash ends. This woman who “forgot to ad the fabric softener” was actually doing herself and her family a favor.

Although they may make your clothes feel soft and smell fresh, fabric softener and dryer sheets are some of the most toxic products around. And chances are that the staggering 99.8 percent of Americans who use common commercial detergents, fabric softeners, bleaches, and stain removers would think twice if they knew they contained chemicals that could cause cancer and brain damage.

Laundry

Here is a list of just some of the chemicals found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets:

* Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer

* Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant

* Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders

* Limonene: Known carcinogen

* A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage

* Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list

* Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders

* Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic

* Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders

* Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

So how could products with pretty names like Soft Ocean Mist, Summer Orchard and April Fresh be so dangerous?

The chemicals in fabric softeners are pungent and strong smelling — so strong that they require the use of these heavy fragrances (think 50 times as much fragrance) just to cover up the smells. Furthermore, synthetic fabrics, which are the reason fabric softeners were created in the first place, do not smell good either when heated in a dryer or heated by our bodies … hence the need for even more hefty fragrances.

In other words, remove all the added fragrance that endears people to fabric softeners and — like the cliché wolf in sheep’s clothing — the real smells of the chemical-laced fabric softener and the synthetic fabrics they were designed around may prompt people to shoot their laundry machines and be done with it.

Are “Soft” Clothes Worth It?

Fabric softeners are made to stay in your clothing for long periods of time. As such, chemicals are slowly released either into the air for you to inhale or onto your skin for you to absorb. Dryer sheets are particularly noxious because they are heated in the dryer and the chemicals are released through dryer vents and out into the environment. Health effects from being exposed to the chemicals in fabric softeners include:

* Central nervous system disorders

* Headaches

* Nausea

* Vomiting

* Dizziness

* Blood pressure reduction

* Irritation to skin, mucus membranes and respiratory tract

* Pancreatic cancer

Baby Fabric

Soften Your Clothes Safely With These Tips

Even if you don’t feel the effects of these chemicals today, they can affect you gradually over time, and children, whose systems are still developing, are particularly at risk. There’s really no reason to expose yourself to these risky chemicals when natural alternatives exist. Not only are they safer for you, your family and the environment, but they’re much more economical too:

* Add a quarter cup of baking soda to wash cycle to soften fabric

* Add a quarter cup of white vinegar to rinse to soften fabric and eliminate cling

* Check out your local health food store for a natural fabric softener that uses a natural base like soy instead of chemicals

It’s likely that fabric softeners and dryer sheets aren’t the only toxic products in your home. Many household products that consumers regard as safe are also full of toxic chemicals. Our past articles on PEG Compounds in Cosmetics and Phenols in Common Household Cleansers are two of the all-time most popular articles on SixWise.com and will make you more aware of the pervasiveness of harmful chemicals that can be eliminated from your home.

The safest cookware has to be 100% Non-toxic, i.e. not leach any chemicals or metals into food while cooking. All metals are reactive while food is a biochemical substance. Cooking food involves a series of reactions that convert raw food into cooked and when this process is carried out in reactive cookware, the output (cooked food) can never be the same. In this article, let’s find out cookware made from which raw material can qualify for this high standard of safety by being 100% non-reactive?

When it comes to choosing the safest cookware, one must not compromise on the raw material. The toxins like lead, cadmium, arsenic are frequently found in cookware today and they are still labeled as ‘safe’ just because the manufacturers have supposedly followed the prescribed guidelines. This is a loophole that is often exploited because even if these toxins are in so-called “permissible limit”, is it worth taking the risk, looking at the havoc they can cause to the body functions?

Just like the test-tube in a lab cannot be reactive while conducting a chemical experiment, it is best to use a 100% non-toxic and inert material for cooking food too – because cooking in itself is a chemical reaction with natural chemicals in the form of vitamins, minerals, halogens etc. For this reason, a test tube is made from pure glass (glass made from sand and without any additives), but with cooking, pure-glass cannot stand the cooking heat, but another pure material that can and is also completely non-reactive, is pure clay!

Pure clay is all-natural and 100% inert, making it the most non-toxic material! It is time tested and has been used for ages in different civilizations and cultures. An alkaline baking soda test (which can be easily done at home) is enough to prove it doesn’t leach anything like modern cookware (metal, ceramic, enameled etc.). Lab tests have also shown it is completely void of toxins like lead, cadmium, and arsenic.

The people who switched to pure clay reported great improvement in their health and some have even claimed to heal diabetes (because nutrients like complex carbohydrates are preserved) with this cookware. Not only this, the food tastes better and is more nutritious when cooked in this all-natural cookware. These are the reasons that make pure clay pots and pans the safest cookware out there. When are you switching to this safest cookware for your family’s health?

Our choice of partners is a staged process. First is the awareness of the others appealing appearance and/or personality; discovery of similarities; then a state of emotional arousal; and finally, the revelation of deeper psychological needs.

Recognizing the SEVEN aspects of a toxic relationships pattern can help you see what is happening in your life and get out of continual frustration, pain and sadness faster.

1. Repetitiveness

You have been involved in more than one relationship that initially offered the conditions of hope but failed to live up to its fulfillment. The people may be different but the beginnings and endings are the same again and again.

2. A conflict

No matter how good the feelings are initially, deep down inside, you knew and felt that there was something about the relationship that made you uncomfortable, or left you feeling anxious, uncertain, worried, jealous, distressed etc.

3. A bodily sensation

You experience a discomforting but familiar biological response that is triggered by something the other person said or did. For example your anxiety level jumping ten points, a sudden knot in your stomach or pain in your forehead.

4. A feeling of deep loss

When a relationship ends, you are left with a sense of loss of something (or rather the hope of something). You experience emptiness where you once felt a ‘real’ connection, no matter how infused with uncertainty, shame, humiliation, pain or suffering the relationship was.

5. Obsessing

You’ve thought about it or actually believe that the rejecting response of the other is due to your own words or actions driving them away but still entertain the notion that you can somehow transform the other person into the loving accepting person that you are so desperately and obsessively seeking.

6. An underlying vulnerability

Your sense of your own self-worth is threatened; and you feel bad in the sense that, as much as you have functioned as a resource for others and have done well where the use of good coping and conflict resolution skills are maximized, you feel overwhelmed and very vulnerable.

7. Disowned parts of self

Underneath the surface, there are deep roots from which your boding patterns have grown. These imprints of are like the fuel that intensifies the negative bonding pattern.

Understanding your deeper psychological needs removes some of the mystery from the force that drives you into the arms of one person, while pushing you away from another who might appear equally desirable to any unbiased observer. It is really possible to break away from a toxic relationships pattern and begin enjoying healthy, happy, and fulfilling long-term relationships.