If you take food supplements in the form of tablets or capsules, take note. We have just learned that Magnesium Stearate, a component of many supplements is potentially harmful. Contrary to what you may believe, Magnesium Stearate is not a source of magnesium and has no benefits, but may have a detrimental effect on your immune function as it has been linked to suppression of T cells.
Another issue that has been raised is the fact that the stearate is commonly sourced from hydrogenated oils such as cottonseed oil. This crop is often genetically engineered, but even when it’s not, cottonseed oil tends to have very high levels of pesticide residues.
Cherries….so many good things about them and they taste fantastic too. Did you know that cherries are said to be beneficial for bones and joints?
An unwelcome symptom of ageing, but cherries can do a lot to protect you. Their rich anthocyanin content acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory, combating pain in joints and muscles. These anthocyanins also have the same heart-protective effect as red wine. Additionally, they may help with sleep problems because they contain melatonin, the nutrient that plays an important role in promoting healthy sleep patterns. Other nutrients include Vitamin B-comples, C, calcium and potassium.
Green Cyprus’s favourite fruit! The dark cherries you find here in Cyprus just taste fantastic especially if you can source them from mountain growers – we could munch through about 1kg of these in one go if given the chance! 
Need a coffee fix? Frappuccino maybe? Try this healthier version:
The archetypal frozen coffee drink of our generation is the Starbucks Frappuccino. It’s cold, it’s chocolately, it’s caffeinated, and it tastes great. But at around 5 euros for a large glass, not to mention 400 calories, it’s fattening, expensive and not organic.
Why not try your own version, it’s far healthier, lower in calories and organic! Here’s the recipe:
The green detectives are at it again! Here’s another great find……BPA-Free, Foldable Water Bottles. Spotted in Jumbo Toy Store, these bottles are foldable, reusable, washable, freezable and attachable. And at an unbelievable price of just 99 cents!!! They are great for kids and travelling and save you buying countless plastic bottles of water. Worth a trip to Jumbo? We think so!
A phrase I find myself repeating more and more these days is “how much?!” I’m not talking about the price of electricity (the highest in Europe apparently) or the price of a cup of coffee at some coffee chains (also most definitely the highest in Europe!) but the price of food generally here in Cyprus which has gone through the roof.
No doubt this is partly down to world economics, but regardless of the reasons, gone are the days I could pop down to my local supermarket, load up on food supplies and other goodies barely glancing at the prices. Everything seemed far more reasonable then and certainly back in the days of the Cyprus pound, you seemed to get so much more for your money. I don’t feel too confident that we’ll ever return to the old days and perhaps I will sadly have to accept that high prices are here to stay, certainly for the foreseeable future, but I keep reminding myself that regardless of the world economy, there is, and never was such a thing as cheap food. This leads me onto the subject of my discussion…
Finally, but very importantly, a key cooking ingredient where buying cheap is just NOT an option as far as your health is concerned are oils. Take this as a rule of thumb…if you squeeze an olive, you get oil out of it, but you might have noticed that if you squeeze corn, you don’t get anything like that! That should make you nervous, never mind the damage that comes when trying to make oils from substances not naturally oily: vegetable (which vegetable, exactly, is in this oil?), corn, safflower, soy, rapeseed. To make them, they have to be heated far beyond their tolerance, creating a rancidity that you would notice if they weren’t deodorised as well. These polyunsaturated oils contribute directly to creating plaques in the arteries. Saturated fat, on the other hand, does not, despite what you might have heard. Good fats including saturated fats like coconut oil and butter don’t go rancid (you’ll notice you can leave them out on your worktop).
Living an organic lifestyle is getting so cool that now it’s trending in Hollywood. Hippies and granola kids aren’t the only participants in supporting local farms, buying natural products, and changing their chi — Hollywood’s not just dieting these days, Hollywood’s gone green. Here are 5 celebrities living the organic lifestyle:
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She was obsessive compulsive on Friends and apparently Courtney Cox is slightly obsessive in real life too. Tobey Maguire inspired this MILF to start living an organic lifestyle and she just flew with it. She buys everything organic from skin care products to bedroom linens!
Julia Roberts
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Julia Roberts lives organically and she grows an organic garden! This seems to be a pretty fast moving trend; in cities people are growing organic gardens in their apartment balconies and courtyards. It’s actually really an excellent hobby, it inspires local eating and is fun to watch your babies grow and then be able to show off your bounty to friends!
Kelly Osbourne
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Before Kelly Osbourne started talking about getting tattoos removed she had removed some other things from her life. She traded in her partying ways to make organic “mocktails.” Not only did she switch to “mocktails,” Kelly also started taking organic supplements to make sure her body was getting all the nutrients it needs.
Rachelle Lefevre
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Star of ABC’s new medical drama Off the Map and new Golden Globe nominated films Barney’s Version and Casino Jack, Rachelle Lefevre is living and working to make Los Angeles a more organic place. She first got involved, thanks to Amy Smart, in Environmental Media Association (EMA) which promotes the building of local organic gardens in inner-city L.A. Now, Lefevre eats organically, which she attributes to ending the stomach pains she was getting when eating meats that were not organic.
Brangelina
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And obviously can’t talk about celebrities doing any good in the world without mentioning Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Not only are these two adopting kids that need better living but also they lease Chateaus in France that contain 75-acre organic vineyards. Only these two could promote drinking responsibly and more beautifully through French culture and the good of organic nurturing.
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Say NO to Aluminium. Aluminium poses a very serious danger to the human body, even in small amounts. Complications include stomach and intestinal disorders, Parkinsons Disease, liver disease, skin problems, headaches, heartburn, learning disorders in children….and the list goes on.
Aluminium does not occur as a free metal but is found in minerals and ores. In its natural state it doesn’t pose a threat. It’s plentiful, (most abundant metal in the earth), and it is cheaply extracted for use in many things. It is resistant to corrosion and very light weight. For these reasons, it is used widely, in places you may not even thing to look for it. We wear it, cook in it, with it, eat and drink it and there is no use for aluminium in the human body. It is dangerous, toxic, to the human body and we continue to use it.
So the message is….stop! Aluminium is present in a large number of consumer products including: cookware, foil, cans, medications and vaccines, talcum powder, lipstick, deodorant, baking powder and cake mixes to name a few. For cooking, Green Cyprus recommends Unbleached Totally Chlorine-Free Parchment Baking Paper (see photo). Available from all good health shops.
Not sure if anyone shares the same opinion as us here at Green Cyprus, but most big name perfumes apart from being a concoction of chemicals, all seem to have the same strong, sickly sweet overpowering smell. Here is a list of the Top 10 eco-friendly perfumes. Stella McCartney and Lush are available here….we’re not sure about the rest but we can certainly highly recommend Aveda which smells divine (like all their products!).
A green economy according to the UN Environment Program, is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, whilst significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.
Green Cyprus says ‘green’ is a hot topic and with the current worldwide economic situation it is an important tactic for helping to get the world economy ‘back on the right track’. It’s good to see that Cyprus will be participating in the world clean up day but it’s just the tip of the iceberg and we could certainly do with stepping up our green activities here. We can start by leaning more about what a green economy is.
