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From artificial sweeteners to antibacterial soaps, here’s a list of 10 everyday items you should kick to the curb for better health 1. Artificial sweeteners If you’re trying to lose weight using artificial sweeteners, you’re doing it wrong. A recent study found that saccharin and aspartame can cause greater weight gain than sugar, unrelated to calorie intake.  Low or no-calorie sweeteners can stimulate your appetite, increase cravings for carbohydrates and stimulate fat storage.  While real sugar allows your body to accurately determine it has received enough calories, with sweeteners your appetite is activated by the sweet taste but leaves you searching for more when no calories are delivered. Some researchers also believe artificial sweeteners can disrupt intestinal microflora and even alter metabolic function.  In short – ditch them.   You’re better off having a real sugar in your coffee. 2. Old plastic food containers and bottles Heat, along with wear and tear through multiple washings can increase the amount of chemicals being leached from containers and bottles.  The jury’s out on possible side-effects but some believe the chemicals old plastic emits can be harmful to the body’s endocrine system, so holding on to old containers is not a good idea. BPA-free containers are a good start, but opt for glass where possible.   3. Non-stick cookware This is a bit of a contentious one but some believe the coating on non-stick cookware, which relies on a fluoride-like chemical for its non-stick properties, emits toxins when heated.   Switching to ceramic or glass cookware can avoid this if you’re concerned.   4. Air fresheners Room deodorisers are a chemical cocktail of synthetic fragrances, phthalates and other nasty substances.   In the bin they go! If you’re having issues with unpleasant smells, it’s best to address the root problem rather than masking them.  Opening your doors and windows from time to time can help, and if you want a scent, opt for high-quality pure essential oil sprays which actually support your health and wellbeing.  5. Antibacterial soaps and detergents Routinely disinfecting your body and surroundings may actually cause far more harm than good, as it can promote the development of drug-resistant bacteria.  Warm water and mild soap is really all you need to eliminate most harmful microbes, but for a more rigorous clean for walls, benchtops and floors, add a few capfuls of eucalyptus oil.  You can also also use eucalyptus spray in the office or at home – it’s a natural antibacterial proven to kill 99.99% harmful germs like E.coli and Salmonella. 6. Commercial cleaning products You can avoid quite a few hazardous chemicals simply by tossing these in the bin. With a short list of basic ingredients, including baking soda, white vinegar, liquid castile soap, lemon juice and pure essential oils you can make just about any cleaning product for your home.   Shannon Lush has some great recipes, you can find some of them here: http://www.wellbeing.com.au/article/Greenliving/Features/14-homemade-cleaning-products_1461    7. Personal care products No-one wants to smell like a stinky hippie or look terrible, but reducing the items in your bathroom cupboard can go a long way towards reducing your toxic load.  Makeup can be a hidden source of heavy metals, including lead and even arsenic – especially in foundations, concealers, lipsticks and blushes.  Try switching to an organic brand, or try making your own lotions and potions!  Bosisto’s have some great pampering recipes on our blog, here, and there are also a million ways you can use coconut oil for your hair and skin. 8. Stale spices Herbs and cooking spices contain a wide variety of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.  Freshness matters, though, so expired, stale spices are not doing you much good (they won’t have any flavour, either).  So do a cull of that spice rack and throw out any that are past their use-by date, lost colour or don’t have any aroma.   9. Soft drinks If there is one food that healthcare practitioners, dieticians and other medical professionals all around the world would like to permanently resign to the rubbish bin, it’s sugary fizzy drinks. Just one 375mL can of soft drink can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar.  This amount of sugar skyrockets blood sugar levels and causes a severe insulin response in the body – studies have repeatedly linked soft drink consumption with obesity (even in children).  Over time, it can even contribute to developing diabetes.   Plaque, cavities and gum disease are another significant issue linked to soft drink consumption.   Soft drink contains chemicals that block the absorption of calcium, while containing zero helpful nutrients itself.   Is “diet” soft drink any better?  Unfortunately no – it’s probably worse (see no.1). 10. Your chair Throw out your chair?  It might not be such a crazy idea.  Prolonged sitting has repeatedly been shown to be an independent risk factor for chronic disease, even if you exercise regularly.  That’s right, exercise cannot undo the damage caused by hours of daily sitting, just like it cannot undo the harm done by smoking. In fact some medical experts are calling inactivity ‘the new smoking’.  Sitting has been found to increase your risk of death from virtually all health problems, from diabetes and cardiovascular disease to cancer. What’s the solution? Stand up as much as possible.  A standing desk is one option, or at least stand up at regular intervals during work hours.  As a general rule, if you’ve been sitting for one hour, you’ve sat too long.  At a bare minimum, avoid sitting for more than 50 minutes out of every hour, over and above any exercise regime you may have.  Simply getting and staying out of your chair could be the most powerful thing you’ll do for your health all day.      

It’s an unfortunate truth… bad smells can happen to good people. And with more guests than usual popping by over the summer holidays, the last thing you want is a funky smell you’ve forgotten to attend to. Follow these tricks to deal with the grossest smells in your home: Rubbish bins How smelly exactly is your bin?  If it’s say, a 2 out of 10, the fix might be as simple as spraying with a blast of Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Spray when you change the bin liner.  If the smell’s gotten a bit out of hand, or if there’s leakage or food scraps over your bin you’ll need to bring out the bigger guns.  Fill a spray bottle with an 80:20 solution of warm water and Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Solution.  Spritz it liberally over and use a wet rag to wipe clean, or for stubborn caked-on scraps, a scrubbing brush then rinse with an outdoor hose or tap.  Make sure it’s completely dry before adding a new bin liner.   Pop a few layers of paper towel in the bottom of the bin next time, before the liner, to help absorb any spills. Washing machine Yes, you need to wash your washing machine!  Air almost never circulates inside, allowing mold and mildew to grow and turn it into a stink bomb.Remove the smell by running a hot cycle with nothing in it but two cups of bleach, or for a more natural alternative, use Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Oil or Solution – the oil is a natural germ-killer, disinfectant and solubilises grease, so it’s perfect for cleaning those workings. (ps.  Leave the door open to air out from time to time!)   Dishwasher If you hold your nose every time you empty the dishwasher, it’s really time to clean it out.  Besides, it’s in the kitchen where everyone congregates.  First, remove any lingering food and other gook from your filter basket.  (If you’ve never cleaned it before, check your owner’s manual or contact the manufacturer for instructions.)  Then to fight the smell, pour one cup of distilled white vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher and run a full cycle on the hottest temperature setting (with no dishes).  This will remove mineral deposits plus kill any lingering bacteria.   Pet smells Pets are a joy to have in the house but even the most enthusiastic pet owner will admit they can leave smells (which you might not even notice after a while, but your guests will!).  Any accidents on the carpet, in particular, need to be dealt with straight away or your home will smell like the inside of a litter box.  Make sure you soak up any urine as soon as it happens, then mix a vinegar cleaning solution consisting of one part water to one part vinegar and gently use it with a clean cloth to blot the stain.  Dry with an absorbent towel and give the whole area a spray with Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Spray.  More pet smell tips here!           Tip:  Wipe down kennels, cages and litter trays with Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Solution in warm water, and use the Eucalyptus Spray to deodorise – cattery owners, dog breeders and vets all swear by it.          5. Toilets                It’s a pretty obvious one, but it’s a smell that can’t be ignored – particularly because this is a place plenty of people will be visiting. Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Spray is our top tip for toilet deodorising; keep a can in the guest ensuite and main toilets.                 It kills 99.99% odour-causing germs and does it naturally, so you can be sure not to irritate anyone’s allergies with artificial fragrances.                   For cleaning (and to keep the eucalyptus theme going!) add two capfuls of eucalyptus oil or solution to your toilets before scrubbing to kill germs and freshen.   Tea tree and lavender oils work equally well if you prefer those scents. Mildew towels Nasty smelling towels can stink up the whole bathroom.  Throw them in their own wash cycle (or they’ll stink up your other clothes, too).  Add one cup of white vinegar and 2 capfuls of Bosisto’s Tea Tree Oil to your first wash.  The vinegar will kill any lingering bacteria while tea tree oil is a natural antifungal.  Then, immediately run another load with a standard amount of detergent. Your sock drawer Why does your sock drawer smell like death?  Drawers are dark and poorly ventilated, which makes them a perfect place for mildew to thrive.   To remove the stench, take all the items from the drawer and remove it from the dresser.  Then, vacuum any crumbs or debris that may have accumulated. Next, wipe down with a 50:50 solution of warm water and vinegar, or use a capful or two of Bosisto’s Tea Tree Solution in warm water.  Dry with a towel and let it air out overnight.   This method also works for musty wardrobes and cupboards, too. NOTE:  to help prevent smells in drawers and cupboards, place an opened box of baking soda inside.  Bosisto’s Lavender Spray is also a lovely way to freshen guest bedrooms, closets and other areas that don’t often get a lot of airing out.   Laundry hamper Fillled with your sweaty clothes, laundry hampers can get funky fast.  To prevent that “gym changing room smell” permeating the bedroom, keep a box of baking soda nearby.  Sprinkle some in each time you throw in a smelly item of work or gym gear.  It’s a quick fix that’ll buy you time until you do your next load.

Not all items can be tossed in the washing machine and survive the hot water, soap and tumble dry cycle.  Then again, some unlikely items CAN go in the wash that you didn’t think could!  They just need a few precautions.  Here are seven types of items that should be treated with a little TLC. (Note: these are general guidelines – always defer to the directions on your clothing’s tag.) Swimsuits Swimsuits do not belong in the washing machine.  After you wear your suit, give it a quick rinse under cold water and lay out to dry – simple!   If you’ve swum in very chlorinated water (or every few wears), fill a sink with cold water and add a capful of mild liquid detergent like Bosisto’s Allergen Laundry Liquid.  Turn your suit inside out, and hand wash in the sink.  After about 15 minutes, rinse away any remaining detergent and lay out flat to dry. Tip: Do not “wring” out swimsuits, you could misshape them.   Bras Despite what you may have heard, you can put bras in the washing machine. There are just a few rules.  Always use a delicates bag, only wash in cold water and put the bras in a cycle by themselves.  And the most important rule: never, ever use the dryer!  Hang the bras over a clothes horse or on the washing line and let them dry naturally (allow about 24 hours if inside).   Lacy Lingere Black lacy lingere is one thing; faded grey doesn’t have quite the same effect!  Treat your smalls with care, and wash them in the same way you would a swimsuit (ie. handwash in cold, with mild detergent and lay flat to dry naturally).  Make sure you keep them out of the dryer, where the rough and tumble can easily create tears, and away from UV sunlight, which can alter the colour.   Stiched sports vests/ jerseys If your family own basketball, baseball or footy “jerseys” with stiched-on letters and numbers, these also require special care. First, pre-treat any stains or spills with a gentle stain remover like Bosisto’s Pre-Wash.  Then, turn the top inside out to protect the stiching, and wash on a normal cycle.  The most important thing is not to put them in the dryer (lay flat to dry instead - inside or outside) and NOT to iron, because the high temperatures can melt the letters and numbers.   Waterproof clothing These are things like ski pants and rain coats.  Just to be clear you only need to wash these items about once a season.  When it’s wash time, first zip all of the zippers.  Then, machine wash in warm water using a washing detergent specifically made for waterproof gear (try this).  Run them through the rinse cycle twice to ensure all the soap is washed away.  You should always line dry your waterproof clothing (in the sunshine is fine).   Denim Coloured jeans and dark washes especially have a rough time in the regular wash cycle.  To prevent fading, wash your jeans inside out on a delicates cycle and only with other jeans.  Go for cold water only, and add a tablespoon of salt to the load.  Salt prevents bleeding, meaning your denim will hold onto its colour, longer.  Dryer or no dryer?  It’s up to you.  It won’t technically harm jeans, but it can shrink them (some people like the feeling, others don’t).   Downy items Puffer vests, jackets etc. filled with down are actually surprisingly low maintenance.  You can pop them in the washing machine and dryer, you just have to follow a few precautions.  Cold water only.  Gentle detergent.  Low heat.  When down clothes are in the dryer, add a few tennis balls to keep the down fluffy.

Looking for a natural bug repellent spray? Try this recipe now Looking for a natural bug repellent spray that won’t leave you soaked in hideous chemicals?  Try this lovely blend, which contains eucalyptus and lavender essential oils, both known for their insect repelling qualities. What you will need: o   Witch Hazel  (in the beauty section of supermarkets & pharmacies) o   Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Oil o   Bosisto’s Lavender Oil o   An empty spray bottle What to do: First, measure the amount of fluid that your spray bottle holds (if it’s not marked on the bottle) – fill it up with water and then pour the water into a measuring jug. This is so you know the ratio of essential oil to witch hazel. Add the witch hazel to almost fill your spray bottle. For every 15 ml of witch hazel, add 10 drops of essential oils in total. For example, a spray bottle that holds 60 ml will require 40 drops of essential oil. Add 60 ml of witch hazel to your spray bottle plus 20 drops of Eucalyptus oil and 20 drops of Lavender oil and shake to combine. Use a half strength batch on small children (dilute with water) and as with anything you put on your skin, watch for potential reactions.  USING YOUR HOMEMADE MOZZIE SPRAY Give the spray a good shake before use.  Spray on uncovered skin (don’t spray directly onto the face, instead spray on hands and rub it on your face). Natural insect repellents don’t last as long as the DEET based ones, so you will need to reapply your spray every hour or so for it to remain effective, as well as after swimming or heavy perspiring.   Credit: Frugal and Thriving blog http://frugalandthriving.com.au/