EiR Blog

 For those who suffer from allergies and intolerances, or have a partner that does, Valentine's Day is often not a simple affair. Places to eat, romantic home-cooked meals,  and traditional gifts all have their problems. Food allergies are a particular problem and can cause  symptoms including nasal congestion or a scratchy throat after eating a food. They can also cause serious problems such as throat closures, tightness, swelling of the face, breathing trouble and anaphylaxis (a life-threatening blockage of the airways). I certainly don't want to bring down the mood on what should be a celebration of love however...hopefully the following information will mean that you and your partner can enjoy Valentine's Day in each other's company...despite those troublemaking allergies!   A Romantic Meal Whether dining out at your favourite restaurant or enjoying a candle lit dinner at home, a romatnic meal for two is often a big part of the way couples choose to...

If there are two words that should surely not lay in close proximity to each other, "toxic" and "toys" are they. Yet headlines including the words "toxic toys" have been everywhere for the past few weeks triggered by an independent investigation in the US that claimed to have found high levels of the toxic metal antimony in not just any toy, but the Mr Squiggles version of the Zhu Zhu Pets Go Go Hamster toy, set to become the biggest selling Christmas toy ever with some stores having already sold out weeks ago in the US, UK and other countries. The consumer watch group GoodGuide tested the Mr Squiggles version of the cute little Go Go Hamster toy and found antimony at levels of 93ppm (parts per million) in its fur and 103ppm in its nose. In the US the Federal legal limit for antimony is 60ppm. Co-founder of GoodGuide and associate professor of environmental science at...

 For those of us suffering from environmental illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and gut problems including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), leaky gut syndrome (LGS) and Candida it can be hard to stay positive and enjoy life at any time of year but the holidays can be particularly difficult. Just when the generally healthy majority are taking time out, indulging and letting their hair down us 'canaries' can often find life even more of a struggle than normal. At Christmas people are told to "eat, drink and be merry" - and most people happily comply but this poses a problem for us unfortunates. First of all there is the eating. Most of us will have some kind of dietary restriction whether our own bodies have told us to avoid certain foods, we've discovered the "baddies" through our own research, or we've been put on a...