Bad Breath, Bad Reputation

Today, I will be writing an honest review for BzzAgent, which is a program where I have the opportunity to get free stuff. BzzAgent have asked me to write a review for Crest Pro-Health Advanced Mouthwash. So, I am doing this out of the courtesy of BzzAgent and Crest, on their behalf.

This is my little snippet on my Amazon review:

 

For this review, I received the blue one for free, and I personally bought the purple one at one of my local grocery stores. It's the same thing, just different colors. I think I prefer the alcohol over the alcohol-free versions of these. Why? Let's take a look of the ingredients:
water, glycerin, cetylpyridinium chloride, flavor, sodium saccharin, phosphoric acid, methylparaben, sucralose, poloxamer 407, propylparaben, disodium phosphate, red 33, green 3

-- This isn't vegetarian/vegan friendly since it contains: glycerin -- commonly derived from animal fats.
-- Another dropped star: two ingredients contain parabens. The government allows very little to be consumed to be considered to be safe, but this chemical is known to cause breast cancer and respiratory problems. By the way, parabens are banned in Europe and Canada.
-- cetylpyridinium chloride is a chemical which fights plaque, but it causes mild staining on your teeth with the addition of artificial colors used in here. You will notice your tongue turning ocean blue or Concord grape purple, after you spit out the mouthwash.
-- I have no idea what's poloxamer 407 and it doesn't sound natural too. Lol.
-- One of the things I notice, once I spit out the mouthwash, I find these residues looking like little strings. I am not sure why's that happening. But I know my natural mouthwash (Dessert Essence) doesn't do that.


…All in all, definitely not for me to use with my high concerns about parabens and unnecessary colorings. I ended up giving my two bottles away, so someone else could enjoy it more than I would.

 

Let’s look at more ingredients closely that I have bolded… Aside from methylparaben and propylparaben which pose dangers in the family of parabens, there other ingredients I would like to discuss furthermore:

 

Ø  Sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda) and sodium saccharin are artificial sweeteners. You have may noticed by now that beverage companies are slowly removing these artificial sweeteners because clinical studies have proven that they do “300-600 times more harm than standard table sugars” (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262475.php). From that link, the Italian medical study group suggests that we should AVOID sodium saccharin, but be very cautious about sucralose, which may be harmful for children and adults over age 60. Another study done by toxicologists of The Compounder, said that they did a pre-approval study, which indicated that rats were 50x more likely to, cause “cancer or immune system or neurological problems after many years or decades of use” (http://thecompounder.com/splenda-can-kill-you/). So, having a “sugar free” beverage on special occasions or once in a while is fine. But in a mouthwash? You’re most likely to consume it accidentally since the instructions say not to rinse. The Compounder also mentions that even though the study was tested on lab rats, we have to take the numbers and divide by half. Rats are noticeably smaller than us, and we are more resistant to diseases than they are.

 

Ø  Poloxamer 407 is a surfactant (a substance that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved [Oxford Dictionaries]). Poloxamer 407 has been noted that it has contributed to disrupting liver cells and natural producing cholesterol in our bodies (http://dangersofmouthwash.weebly.com/poloxamer-407.html). Even our U.S. government says to be very careful since it may be “responsible for lipidic profile alteration and possible renal toxicity, which compromises its development for parenteral applications” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17096184).

Ø  Glycerin is usually derived from animal fats, unless it is noted.

Ø  Flavor, we don’t know whether it is natural or not, but I am pretty sure it is synthetic which can cause allergic reactions or you are introducing foreign elements to your body where it can hurt you in the long run.

Ø  Red 33 is a synthetic dye, and as noted with EWG.org, they mentioned how this ingredient is commonly derived from coceal beetles, which they are grind up to make that red coloring (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/701803/D%26C_RED_33/).

Ø  Green 3 is another synthetic dye. In the Europe Union, they have banned the use of green 3 since it contains “tumorigenic and mutagenic effects on both animals and humans” (http://www.drugs.com/inactive/fd-c-green-no-3-252.html).

Ø  Disodium phosphate is probably one of the least concern ingredient out of everything else, aside from phosphoric acid and water. Disodium phosphate is a salt element that is commonly used in foods to keep them moist. But in mouthwash, it is used as a flame retardant (hence, the non-burning sensation from Crest Pro-Health). Do note that, too much use or inducing, especially in foods, can cause “upset stomach, diarrhea, and constipation” (http://www.livestrong.com/article/138968-the-use-disodium-phosphate/). Those with heart failure or any similar conditions, disodium phosphate will lead to edema. Medline Plus suggested, disodium phosphate “potentially increase phosphorus levels too much in people who eat a lot of processed foods containing these additives. Conditions of concern include kidney disease, severe heart and lung disease, thyroid problems, liver disease and Addison's disease.”

 

If consumers know about these harmful effects, the government would do something about it. Unfortunately, the FDA has not concluding “enough evidence” to rule out that these chemicals added into our everyday foods and household products, are considered potentially hazardous. The European Union, Canada, Japan, and Australia, have done their research. They already implemented stricter rulers or banned these chemicals to help their consumers. Let me summarize Crest Pro-Health Advanced Mouthwash in a sentence. The bulk of the ingredients are listed as potentially dangerous to them human body, yet it is inexpensive to buy. I suggest that if you want to buy safer mouthwashes, I would go to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ and see if your mouthwash, body care, cosmetic, food items, etc. are rated “safe” to use/eat. Currently, the mouthwashes I have used so far, and are labeled as “safe” or “EWG approved” are “JASON PowerSmile” and “Dessert Essence”. They are cruelty free, and have a green coloring on EWG’s website. As I wrap things up, thank you BzzAgent for letting me try out Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash, even though my research findings ended up to be quite a shocker.

For the Environment & You

Hi everyone,

I do apologize for my sudden appearance. I got occupied with school and now, I have more leisure time to do more of my blogging. What to expect these last precious months? Well, I have a lot – and I mean A LOT – of things to share with you, on my blog. Stay tune and see what I have to say. As a welcoming back surprise, I am going to review a product from Seventh Generation.

Seventh Generation is one of those unique brands where I occasionally do buy. They do offer more natural and sometimes organic alternatives that your household does not have like their organic tampons/pads, cleaning products with mild fragrances, etc. They launched an awareness campaign regarding, the “Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which regulates toxic chemicals”. By gaining your senators’ attention and tweeting them, they would do something about the act which states, “1) protects the rights of states to regulate toxic chemicals; 2) immediately gets the worst, most toxic chemicals off the market; and 3) prioritizes identifying and reviewing the most high-risk chemicals first”.
 

To participate,

Step 1 - Email your Senators NOW to tell the senate we want strong TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) reform!

Step 2 - Find your Senators' Twitter Handles HERE.

Sample tweet: @senatorsname I'm a mom who wants toxic chemical laws fixed! Support stronger TSCA reform, please!

 

Now back to my review…

I originally posted a review for Energy Smart Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Gel (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/energy-smart-automatic-dishwasher-detergent-gel). This was my brief review that I posted for them:

“I received this full size trial for free. I kindly thank Seventh Generation for giving this opportunity to test this out on their behalf. My following opinions below will be bluntly honest about this dishwashing machine detergent, and I am NOT getting paid to write this review or endorsement. Here is what I thought about Seventh Generation Energy Saver Dishwashing Detergent:

Unfortunately, I don’t have a high efficacy dishwashing machine. For many years, Costco only carries the cheap brand which is Cascade. To be honest, it was the only available and bargain valued dishwashing detergent available. Cascade dishwasher detergent always left like a soapy white residue, it didn’t really clean thoroughly, and I always had to hand wash dishes whenever I had the time. Seventh Generation, on the other hand, did an excellent job. Before I load my dishwasher rack, I always quickly rinse them out since my dishwasher isn’t the state-of-the art kind I would prefer using. Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent definitely saved me a bunch of my time. I wouldn’t need to go back and rewash every single thing I placed in my dishwasher. “

Allow me to go into further details. You might wonder why I could have bought a new dishwasher. Well, I live in a rental unit, so my landlord won’t allow that and he isn’t fond of spending more unless the machine consistently breaks down. I only use the dishwasher on special occasions such as hosting parties, cooking a big meal, or having visitors over. Dishes do pile up, and leaving the dishes out for more than 24 hours may lead to unwanted visitors.

As you can tell, the differences between using all-natural dishwasher detergent vs. chemically made one is significantly noticeable:

Cascade Advanced Power

Seventh Generation Energy Smart

	Cascade	Seventh Generation
Natural* *Contains no harsh chemicals including petroleum base	No	Yes
Size	7.81 lbs (3.54 kg)	4 lbs (65 oz)
Scent	Citrus	Original
Need to Pre-Wash	No	No
Ingredients Listed**	Only phosphorus is listed	All is listed (No phosphorus used)
Animal Ingredients/Testing	Yes	No
Packaging	Not Listed	Made from 100% recycled post-consumer plastic
Gluten Free	Not Listed	Yes

**Note: The use of phosphate helps the removal of food and grease, spotting, filming (cloudiness on dishes), and controls water hardness. Phosphate in dishwashing detergents cause harm to aquatic life, unsafe drinking water, damage plants and odor (sewage).
(http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/faqs_phosphate_and_dishwasher_detergent.aspx)

 

My experience with Cascade has been more of a hated relationship. I have used other natural dishwasher detergent instead, but they continuously get discontinued, at my local grocery stores. I just want to stick with one brand, and preferably gel since the powder ones sort of leave a mess when loading into the dishwasher. My overall preference would be Seventh Generation Energy Smart dishwasher detergent, why? It actually works, knowing that no harsh chemicals were used, it's cruelty free, cleans better than Cascade, and no phosphates. Below I have provided some pictures when I was using Seventh Generation:

This is after

Before loading into the dishwasher
with Seventh Generation

  



 Picked out a neutral colored plate to showcase
Seventh Generation dishwasher gel

Used a paper towel to show how sparkly clean this glass cup



 

 



Left knife: after using Cascade

Right knife: after using Seventh Generation dishwasher gel

 

 

The New Sweetarts Candy Ropes?

As a child, I used to eat those “Sweetarts” hard candies and their Nerds chewy ropes. However as I grew older, I stopped eating them because it had a lot of artificially flavored chemicals, preservatives, and lots of sugar. I have never tried “Kazoozles”, but either way, they’re made by the same company – Nestle. I received a sample from Smiley360 and they have asked me to review it. I know a few people who love snacking on candy when they’re at the movies or their children are inviting over having a sugary party. I was hesitating at first, but it had been years since I’ve tried a Nestle “Sweetarts” branded candy product. Since I got these “Sweetarts: Soft & Chewy Ropes” as a sample, I will review it based on my opinion and a few others of what they thought about this candy rope. Again, I am not endorsing this product, getting paid to write this review, or forcing you to buy it.

 

Here are my thoughts:

The first thing I do before eating anything, I read the nutritional facts and ingredients. It has a lot of sugar, but you only need to consume 3 ropes preserving which have 140 calories, 85 mg (Daily Value 4%) of sodium, total carbs 34 g (DV 11%), and 23 grams of sugar.  An average person diet is based on a 2,000-2,500 average caloric intake, 2,300 mg of sodium or 1,500 mg those with high blood pressure or over age 51, and 45%-65% average carbohydrate intake. So, this candy snack would be fine, if you eat it once in a while.

As for the ingredients, I am overall pleased that these candy ropes do not contain any artificial flavors or colors. They use natural flavors and colors, no high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils (trans fats), and they use naturally made preservatives which can be found in foods. However, this is not vegetarian/vegan friendly because it contains glycerin and gelatin (often derives from an animal by-product).

Finally, the texture and taste, which are pretty important to determine this candy rope. The outside is a flavored red cherry licorice and inside has like a powdery-like filling of a flavored fruit punch. Indeed, this candy is straightforward by the details in front of the packaging. It is, literally, soft and chewy, sweeter than tart, and fun to play with. The ropes are flimsy, but not to the point that it’ll break off and you can tie it into a knot.

My final thoughts:

It’s made in the USA, so what? It’s made with more natural ingredients, but I do not approve the use of glycerin and gelatin, but that is how confectioner candy ropes are usually made to retain their glossy and hold appearance. The taste is pretty satisfying and texture does not seem to throw me off. Children love it because it’s sweet and they can manipulate the ropes to their candy loving desires. As a final score of “Sweetarts: Soft & Chewy Ropes”, I will give them a 4 out of 5.  Why 1 star off? It’s not nutritious by any means, so eat this candy in moderation; especially those who have diabetes. Plus if you have any gluten allergies, this contains wheat, and it’s not vegan/vegetarian friendly.

 

Thank you again, Smiley360 for providing me some samples of the new "Sweetarts", formerly "Kazoozles" http://h5.sml360.com/-/rk2j .

Quick & Easy Meal Kits

Hello again!

Welcome to my January and February edition of some of my home cooked meals. Today, I will be sharing with you two recipes: 1) Modern Table Meals courtesy of Moms Meet and Modern Table Meals who provided me with the pasta kits, 2) spinach and turkey lasagna by All Recipes, and 3) a modified recipe of your traditional lasagna into a roll by Kroger. I will be dividing the blog section into 3 different sections. I will start off with the Modern Table Meals first.

What is Modern Table Meals?

Modern Table is a brand that, in my opinion, is unique from other pasta brands. Their pastas are made from beans. I never knew it was possible until now. Their products are also non-GMO, vegetarian friendly; some products are vegan if you exclude the seasoning packets, fiber and protein rich, and they are ready in 15 minutes!

Again, I am thanking Moms Meet and Modern Table Meals for providing me these meal kits for my group and sampling opportunity. They provided me with a lovely wooden spoon which was perfect for mixing and serving the pasta, a descriptive and educational brochure, a handy tote bag filled with vouchers and coupons, and one of each pasta kits, a total of 4 different flavors (Italian contains milk and soy--vegetarian, Teriyaki contains wheat and soy--vegan, Southwest is vegan and contains no commonly known allergies, & Mediterranean contains milk--vegetarian). For this sampling event, I selected their teriyaki and Italian pastas to make for my get together event.

Sampling Modern Table Meals kits from
Modern Table Meals & Moms Meets

 

Italian Red Lentil Penne

Here’s how you make it (http://www.moderntable.com/our-products/italian/):

Ingredients

-1 package of Modern Table Meals ITALIAN (sauce and seasonings included)

-medium or large sized pot

-2/3 cup of drinking water

-2 tablespoons of organic olive oil

-serving salad bowl

-mixing spoon

Instructions:

Inside of Modern Table Meals Italian pasta kit

Step 1: Open the bag; remove the herb seasoning and parmesan sauce packets from the bag.

Step 2: Use a medium or large pot and filled with water up to half way. Pour pasta and veggies from bag into the pot, boil for 9 minutes and stir occasionally. Drain. No need to rinse out pasta with cold water OR use salt when boiling pasta.

Draining boiled pasta and vegetables

Step 3: In a separate small bowl, open sauce packet, pour contents to mix with 2/3 cups of drinking water and 2 tablespoons of organic olive oil.



Mixing organic olive oil, water and parmesan sauce packet

Step 4: Combine boiled penne and veggies with sauce into serving salad bowl. Let it stand for 2 minutes.

Mixing pasta and sauce together

Step 5: Sprinkle seasoning packet into the pasta.

Ooh, Yummy! Modern Table Meals Italian pasta

Adding herb seasoning packet to pasta




Optional: You can add extra lean protein meats after Step 5 such as cooked chicken breasts, grilled wild caught salmon, or ground turkey meatballs. Need more veggies? Add sautéed mushrooms, grilled sliced zucchini or steamed broccoli florets. The pasta also pairs well with buttered whole wheat bread.

Teriyaki White Bean & Broccoli Noodles

Find where I am getting this (http://www.moderntable.com/our-products/teriyaki/):

Note: Careful when making this, I thought the instructions went the same with the Italian penne, but I did not follow the instructions, and so the teriyaki sauce ended up to be looser. The differences will be indicated.

Ingredients

-1 package of Modern Table Meals TERIAYKI (sauce and seasonings included)

-medium or large sized pot

-1/2 cup of drinking water

-2 tablespoons of organic olive oil

-serving salad bowl

-mixing spoon

Instructions:

Step 1: Open the bag; remove the sesame 5-spice seasoning and teriyaki sauce packets from the bag.

Step 2: Use a medium or large pot and filled with water up to half way. Pour pasta and veggies from bag into the pot and boil for 6 minutes; stir occasionally. Drain. No need to rinse out pasta or use salt when boiling noodles.

Freshly boiled white bean & broccoli noodles with assorted veggies

Step 3: In a separate small bowl, open sauce packet, pour contents to mix with 1/2 cup of drinking water and 2 tablespoons of organic olive oil.

Combining teriyaki sauce with water and organic olive oil

Step 4: Mix boiled noodles and veggies with sauce into serving salad bowl. Let it stand for 2 minutes.

Stirring in the teriyaki sauce with noodles

Step 5: Sprinkle seasoning packet into the noodles.

Including the sesame 5-spice seasoning into the noodles

Optional: You may add extra protein after Step 5 such as grilled or baked wild caught salmon, grilled or lightly fried tofu, marinated beef or chicken or roasted duck. Need more veggies? Add shiitake mushrooms, frozen broccoli florets, edamame, or baby bok choy in Step 4 when boiling the noodles and veggies. Want a little more garnish? Use ground black pepper, chopped cashews or peanuts, or for a little heat, drizzle sriracha sauce.

Finished product of Modern Table Meals Teriyaki

 

Overall critiques: The children in our group preferred the Italian over Teriyaki, whereas, the adults had the opposite opinions. Nevertheless, everyone agreed that the quick fix 15 minute meals will be very handy when those busy days show up. The high fiber and protein rich pasta meals are a true crowd pleaser with each bag containing a serving of 4. Yes, we all highly recommend buying this and creating your own healthy and delicious modern meals.

 

Thank you again Modern Table Meals and Moms Meet for providing my group with this awesome sampling kit.

 

 

Cultural Yogurt Face-Off (Holiday Edition)

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hoped everybody had a fantastic and safe holiday with your friends, families and loved ones.

For my Christmas, I had a family Christmas luncheon with my extended families. We did do a traditional turkey with stuffing. But also we had some Vietnamese flare such as Thai style Salmon Tom Yum soup. It was really spicy for me, but for most people who could handle those devilish Thai chili peppers; they’re medium spicy and it gets hotter as you eat more of it. We also had pork and shrimp Asian coleslaw, steamed corn-on-the-cob, baked sweet potatoes and yams, Chow Fun, Chow Mein, and salted pepper chicken.

Later, I had some of my friends, siblings, cousins, and our nephews to try out some So Delicious Cultured Greek Yogurt, So Delicious vanilla bean ice cream, So Delicious Coconut Milk, and So Delicious Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches. I also distributed the So Delicious coconut coffee latte and So Delicious chocolate almond milk courtesy of So Delicious and Moms Meet for sampling purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

Siggi's Nutritional Value

So Delicious on LEFT & Chobani on RIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

For this particular review, I will be focusing mainly on So Delicious Cultured Vanilla Coconut Greek Yogurt, Siggi’s Icelandic Style 2% milkfat cream-skyr and Chobani 2% Fat Milk Coconut Greek Yogurt (see chart below):

	Chobani Coconut Greek 2% Milkfat Yogurt	So Delicious Cultured Vanilla Coconut Greek Yogurt	Siggi’s Icelandic 2% Milkfat style cream-skyr
Texture:	Thick & creamy, obvious coconut flakes,	Very smooth, not at all creamy, light	Medium thickness, hardly chunky, and faintly smooth
Taste:	Rich coconut flavor	Subtle coconut flavor; Hint of vanilla (natural flavor)	Moderate coconut flavor and sweetness; slightly sour (from lemon juice)
Smell:	strong coconut scent	Mild coconut scent	Mild to moderate coconut smell
Live cultures:	4	6	5
Independent company:	Yes	Yes	Yes
Other attributes:	Vegetarian, non-organic, no rBST milk, no use of modified corn starch	Vegan, non-GMO verified seal, and made with organic coconut and dried cane syrup	Vegetarian, milk derived from grass-fed cows, contains fruit ingredients, and cane syrup
Winner:	Taste	Nutritional Value	Texture
Average Survey of 10 said:	4 out of 5 stars	3.5 out of 5 stars	4 out of 5 stars



"More Protein than sugar"
 

 

 

 

 

My personal opinion about Chobani, Siggi’s, and So Delicious Coconut Greek Yogurt were about the same rating considering having an above average rating. Chobani tastes great but is not non-GMO Cerf tied, and isn’t made from organic ingredients. Nonetheless, my survey panel agreed that it does taste better and enjoyed the Greek yogurt being very rich in taste and coconut. On the other side, we have So Delicious Cultured Coconut Greek Yogurt. Then there’s Siggi’s Icelandic cream-skyr yogurt. Its unique velvety texture beats the other two yogurt brands. Siggi’s yogurt is ideal for those who are not really sure if they would enjoy a coconut flavor yogurt, but also want to try something extraordinary. Many of our surveyors were amazed that this particular yogurt brand, So Delicious Cultured Yogurt has more live active cultures, non-GMO verified, use of organic ingredients, and its light. Unfortunately, the taste and presence of coconut left them in a disagreeable state.

Though, I did find a So Delicious cultured yogurt that I surprisingly caught my taste buds. I wouldn’t call it “yogurt”, but more like liquid pudding texture--and that flavor was blueberry (see picture below). The consistency was almost like a drinkable yogurt, but almost had a blueberry muffin taste without the overly added sugar content. I wish I had some extra time to share with my taste-testing group to know what their personal thoughts were. It’s not a bad brand to try So Delicious cultured yogurt. Nevertheless, I highly recommend trying other flavors. Sometimes, I get lucky to find So Delicious coupons online and in-store sale. So, be my guest, and try them for yourself.

My Favorite Flavor from So Delicious