Happy Hand Washing

Flu season is still here!

For the past few days my home has been a Pandora's box of terrible coughs, runny noses, stomach cramps, muscle aches and general misery. Of course the cure to the flu is simply to let it run it's course, hence the best way to get a handle on it is to prevent it.

 

We all fall ill at some point in time, but many sick days can be avoided if we practice good hygiene.  My wonderful sons do not always wash their hands when they should. While looking for tools to help me reinforce proper hand washing downcast statistics such as 66% of Americans do not wash their hands after using the toilet stood out.1 Additionally 32% of people wash their hands after sneezing or coughing, only 21% wash after counting money and 43% wash after petting a cat or dog.2

 

Washing our hands is an important part of maintaining personal health while promoting a healthy society. My husband and I made a quick visual guide to washing our hands, using Beltré Products Moisture Clean Hand Soap for our sons.

 

 

We use a generous amount of soap

 

 

We spread the soap on our hands.

 

 

 

It is important to wash our hand with soap and water for 20 seconds.

 

Some say sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice while washing.

 

  

We should use a clean towel to dry our hands.

 

To keep our hands clean, we close the faucet using the towel.

 



 

 Happy hand washing!

 

 

Resourses

1. Goldberg, Eleanor. "Here`s How Many People Actually Wash Their Hands After Using the Bathroom" HuffPost online 10/15/15.
2. Carey, Bjorn "American`s Dirty Little Secret Revealed." Live Science online. 9/21/05.

BELTRE Weight Loss Products

Recently several inquiries have come in regarding natural weight loss products and nutritional supplements. BELTRE Products are personal  skin care products made with naturally occurring edible ingredients. Our products are for external use.

But while we are on the subject of weight loss and supplements.... Here are 3 reasons why we do not promote the use such things.

1. Safety First
While the FDA regulates dietary supplements and dietery ingredients, these products are considered safe until proven unsafe. Many weight loss products may contain ingredients which interfere with medications. Your physician is the best person to discuss the use of supplements with.

2. Mathematics!
1 pound = 3,500 calories
Slow weight loss accomplished by conscious behavioral change is more sustainable than extreme loss with no change in habits.
Some doctors advocate loosing about 1 pound per week.

3,500 calories ÷ 7 days = 500 calories
Figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. Then plan your excercise program based on your reality and lifestyle. Finally as my physician once said, "if you want to loose weight remove 500 calories from your plates or excercise long enough to burn 500 calories."

3. Balance
Eat a balanced diet. Our bodies need water, carbohydrates, fats and protein. Vitamins and minerals are present in our naturally occurring food. Cooking denatures protiens and can remove vitamins and minerals from food. It is a positive idea to include diverse raw unprocessed fruit and vegetables in our diets.

There are many reasons why some of us may not get all we need from our food. Vitamin and mineral supplements can be useful in many cases. It is a good idea to discuss your needs and use of supplements with your healthcare provider.

Finally, we encourage everyone to educate themselves more about the effectivenesss of supplements and the ingredients contained in weight loss products.

Tasty Excretions

TASTY EXCRETIONS

Many of us would not dream of eating a substance that comes from an animal’s bottom. However, excretions from beavers and coffee beans processed in the digestive systems of elephants and asian palm civets, otherwise known as a toddy cat (in the same family as the mongoose) are available for human consumption.

VANILLA FLAVOR

Many of us do not know castoreum, an aromatic brown viscous substance (close to molasses in texture and color) used in American Food and perfume for over 80 years.1 Castoreum is released by beavers as a way to mark territory. Every beaver has a castor sac, found between the pelvis and base of the tails. The castor sac is very close to the beaver’s anal glands, hence the castoreum often contains anal secretions and urine. The Food and Drug Administration has found the secretion to be Generally Regarded As Safe.2 Castoreum is extracted by “milking” sedated beavers.3

Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients published in 2005 lists foods containing castoreum. Generally the foods in which castoreum is listed as natural flavoring include non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, desserts and treats such as baked goods, frozen dairy products, gelatins, puddings, hard candy and chewing gum.

Castoreum is said to taste like vanilla, is it in vanilla extract? The Food and Drug Administration has set drawn out a clear definition of vanilla extract.5 Castoreum is not included in the list of allowable additives.

“Vanilla extract is the solution in aqueous ethyl alcohol of the sapid and odorous principles extractable from vanilla beans. In vanilla extract the content of ethyl alcohol is not less than 35 percent by volume and the content of vanilla constituent, as defined in 169.3(c),4 is not less than one unit per gallon. The vanilla constituent may be extracted directly from vanilla beans or it may be added in the form of concentrated vanilla extract or concentrated vanilla flavoring or vanilla flavoring concentrated to the semisolid form called vanilla oleo-resin. Vanilla extract may contain one or more of the following optional ingredients:(1) Glycerin.(2) Propylene glycol.(3) Sugar (including invert sugar).(4) Dextrose.(5) Corn syrup (including dried corn sirup).”5

COFFEE

Elephants eat large portions of varied fruit and foliage throughout their day. In parts of Asia in times of droughts, elephants eat parts of coffee plants. Under normal circumstances Elephant fecal matter contains large amounts of vegetation and seeds not broken down in the process of digestion. In nature animals like the dung beetle feed off of elephant feces. Within the last decade a herd of Thai elephants has been encouraged to eat coffee beans. The beans are collected from the dung. After collection the beans are washed, dried and roasted. Today Black Ivory Coffee is sold for about $200 for 105 grams ( less than 4 ounces). This coffee is said to have no bitterness and is sold primarily at five star hotels..

ASIAN PALM CIVET

Figure 3: Asian Palm Civet

https://www.thainationalparks.com/species/asian-palm-civet

The Asian Palm Civet’s partially digested coffee beans inspired Black Ivory Coffee. The coffee processed by the Civet is known as Wild Kopi Luwak, once the most expensive coffee in the world. The coffee is said to be less bitter and highly aromatic. Harvesting usable beans from animal feces is not an easy or common this raises the price on both Black Ivory Coffee and Wild Kopi Luwak.

BEER

Sankt Gallen Brewery made Un Kono Kuro, a Japanese beer made by taking coffee beans excreted by elephants and fermenting them into beer. Un Kono Kuro is said to have had an initial bitterness and an earthly flavor. This beer almost completely sold out upon release and is currently not in production.

Reading labels is important but can be a bit complicated when ingredients are disguised and unspecified. In the case of Black Ivory Coffee and Wild Kopi Luwak as well as Un Kono Kuro the companies selling the products have websites discussing the predigested beans. As consumers it is important to educate ourselves about the products we consume and consciously make our own decisions about the materials we choose to put on and in our bodies.

REFERENCES

1 Burdock, George F. Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients, Fifth Edition. CRC Press, 2005.

2 GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) Database

http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/SCOGS/default.htm

3 Bloudoff-Indelicato, Mollie. “Beaver Butts Emit Goo Used for Vanilla Flavoring.” National Geographic 10/1/2013. http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/01/beaver-butts-emit-goo-used-for-vanilla-flavoring/

4 Code of Federal Regulations.Title 21. Vol 2. Chapter 1. Subchapter B. Part 169 Subpart A. Sec 169.3 Definitions.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=169.3

5 Code of Federal Regulations.Title 21. Vol 2. Chapter 1. Subchapter B. Part 169 Subpart B. Sec 169.175 Vanilla Extract

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=169.175