I’m so excited for the weekend because our Montreal ‘family’ is coming to town! It’s going to be such a good time. In the meantime, here are my favourites over the past week.
3. Tea-Grilled Wings. I’m a fan of barbecues and tea, so this is something definitely up my alley. I want to try this before summer ends!
4. What Happens To Your Face When You Wear Sunscreen. As a former swimmer, my pride was born by the darkness of my skin. It wasn’t ‘cool’ to wear sunblock, also it would ruin all my good suits. When I finished swimming I realized that I look better when I’m dark so the more I didn’t wear sunblock. After a few horrendous festival and beach sunburns, I only adopted a daily habit of putting sunscreen on this year. I’m so late! I promise when I have kids I’m never going to teach them to use sunscreen as so religiously. I use La Roche-Posay Anthelios SPF 50.
Two weeks ago, Charlene and I dropped by Rexall during lunch and finally decided to get an IgG test done. Nutrition has always been the main aspect of my wellness that I struggle with every day, so to have a direction and some specific guidelines to follow definitely helps out a lot.
If you don’t know what an IgG test does, it basically checks what food(s) you’re intolerant to. There is a huge difference between being allergic to something (how Thomas J died in My Girl) and being intolerant to it (feeling constantly constipated, bloated as a result from difficulty digesting it). Food allergies manifest symptoms immediately and may be life threatening. Intolerances on the other hand manifest themselves over time and affect your lifestyle and your quality of life.
The Cost: I took the full panel to test for 250 foods and additives which cost $450. It definitely cost a pretty penny, but it’s definitely worth it to know exactly what I have to avoid. Food is a tricky thing, and I don’t want to be shooting in the dark when it comes to figuring out what’s making my gut funny. Clearly, I don’t have that ‘gut feeling’.
The Process: They do this test now at Rexall under the Hemocode System. I filled up an extensive questionnaire regarding my health history and then the pharmacist took 12 drops of blood (which proved to be more tedious than anything else) which she sent back to the labs to be tested.
The Result: 7 severe and 12 moderate intolerances.
Interestingly enough, save for four things on that list that are coincidentally all food additives (aspartame, karaya gum, sugar, and brilliant black), everything else is supposedly healthy. So how is it possible for me to be intolerant to it?
Intolerances are built over time both from over consumption of these foods and a lack of digestive enzymes to break down these foods. So while it could possibly be that I won’t be intolerant to these foods forever, the only way to heal my gut right now is to completely eliminate them from my diet.
For severe intolerances, you’re supposed to take them out of your diet for 6 months to a year. The moderate ones get a bit of a break as you only need them out of your system for 3-4 months. After then, if symptoms such as bloating, constipation, indigestion, etc subside, then you can slowly reintroduce the offending food(s) one at a time so as to truly determine which is the main culprit. Chances are, it will be more than one thing. On the other end of the spectrum, chances are as well that it’s not everything on the list.
So now that I’ve spent a sizable amount to find out what’s making me feel bad, the only logical thing to do now is to actually follow it right?
And so it begins, my dramatic ballad to all the food I can’t be without but also apparently can’t live with. Wish me luck.
A part of my ongoing summer project is to streamline the stuff I put both in and on my body. So far, with the devastating results of my food intolerance test, I’ve been doing a pretty good job of eliminating the 19 THINGS I’m intolerant to. I’m currently working on the stuff that goes on my body. Since skin is the biggest organ, it wouldn’t make sense for me to be vigilant about food but not be the same with what I put topically.
Since it would be too expensive for me to overhaul my entire skincare regimen (what, am I made of money$?), I’ve decided to finish what I currently have unless it contains any big offenders (no more sweet almond oil, karaya gum, or brilliant black) and then buy cleaner more simplified products to replace them.
So at the moment, these are my three newest bebes.
It took me months to decide on which SPF to get since I was looking into getting one without parabens and all these extra additives. I was even considering making my own, but one of my clients who has extremely sensitive skin swears by this and gave me a sample to try out. I wasn’t sure how I felt spending that much on SPF, but dude this is the skin I live in. If I invest in anything, it should be this right? And I’m happy to report that so far I’m really liking it. I just have to remember to put it on my neck and on the back of my hands as well.
Putting oil on my skin in the middle of summer didn’t sound like the most appealing thing at the start, but I’ve heard too many great things about this oil to wait for the weather to get cooler before I try it out. I’ve consistently been using this for a month now and my skin’s been loving it! I don’t need more than 3 drops to massage onto my entire face, so I have no doubt that this bottle will last me quite a while. I think the act of massaging it onto my face really benefits me as well since it stimulates blood flow.
I’ve been searching for manuka honey all over Toronto and boy am I glad I found this. It’s important to find one that is 100% raw and active 12+ or more (this refers to its strength and anti-bacterial properties), so this fits the bill just right. Bee venom is also a great plus as it’s supposed to be natural botox. Hopefully I’m not at the point yet where I need that, but just in case it’s nice to know it’s available. I use a teaspoon to cover my entire face, and if I’m feeling extra fancy I add a bit of turmeric powder in there (a great anti-inflammatory). I leave the mask on for about 15 minutes then make sure to wash it all off to make sure I don’t have any sticky face residue left.
I’m trying to look for an all natural eye cream and cleanser as well, so if you have any suggestions.. I’m all ears!
attybladorny 