Daily Blog Posts

Twenty-six years ago today, Three Branches' Allison Monteith Evans was born! And thank the Lord she was!

Allison has graced everyone she knows with her hilarious and unique sense of humor and more recently with her passion for healthy living.

It is an honor and a pleasure to own a company with my best friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AL!

Posted in healthy body By Kelly | 294 Comments

So yesterday we talked about toxins hidden car seats. Let's look at two other potentially health-dooming toxins that linger around our little loved ones...

1. Cleaning Products

Problem: Many conventional "cleaning" products play the lead antagonist in our air quality play. Filled with harsh bleach, ammonia and synthetic fragrances (just the one ingredient "fragrance" can have up to 300 different chemicals!), they can cause immediate hazards like skin or respiratory irritation, watery eyes and chemical burns. And some of the ingredients are stored in those little developing organs chronic, or long-term, effects such as cancer.

Solution: Branch Basics. Yep, our human-safe (can-be-injested) cleaning product truly does it all. From cleaning your baby's sippy cup spills and cheese-covered cheeks to de-greasing your pots and shining the counters and hardwoods, we promise Branch Basics is the answer! Not to mention, it's proven itself to be a more-than-miraculous burn treatment, bug-bite healer and insect killer! Sounds too good to be true? Buy it today and find out for yourself!

(Yes, this is my sobrina preciosa clinging to her fav product, Branch Basics! She knows what's up...)

2. Chlorinated Water

Problem: Babies are born with natural skin oils that play a huge role in fighting eczema, dry skin, rashes, red patches, etc. Those oils are robbed when we bathe or babies in chlorine-filled tap water...everyday! Not to mention, chlorine is absorbed through their (very thin) skin, ending up in their bloodstream, even inhibiting nutrient uptake and increasing their chemical load.

Solution: One of our very best baby-sellers, the Rainshow'r Bath Ball is the solution for safe sudsing! An entirely new concept in de-chlorination, you simply drag the ball through the drawn bath. It's also super easy to travel with. A brand new shipment just arrived, so order today and bathe your babe in chlorine-free water by next week!

Posted in healthy body By TB Admin | 22 Comments

When in the market for your baby's car seat, you probably don't put much thought into it besides, "Is this brand legit?" and "Does it look sturdy and safe?" And, perhaps most of all, "Do I like the fabric print?!"

But studies have shown we need to look beyond the obvious. In fact, we need to go beyond looking, and start using our noses! According to a recent CNN health article, "More than half of 2011 model children’s car seats contain one or more potentially hazardous chemicals."

In the 150+ seats tested, chemicals including brominated flame retardants, arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury were found. These toxins have been linked to reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities, hormone imbalances and cancer.

Good news? "...the seats fared far better than previous years, healthystuff.org found."

Best news? Healthystuff.org has also done the research for us! Click here to find out which brands are safe and which ones you can turn your nose up at.

Image courtesy of voices.com.

Posted in healthy body By TB Admin | 20 Comments

Have you gotten your daily dose of chlorella today? I'm going to guess that many of you haven't. So you should know that according to Green Med Info there is evidence supporting the amazing health benefits of chlorella for over 40 conditions and diseases.

One benefit of chlorella that I want to highlight is it's ability to detoxify heavy metals like mercury out of your system. If you eat a lot of fish, have or have ever had mercury fillings, are an artist that works with a lot of metals, or you just know that you have high levels of mercury, then you need to know this. Read the following excerpt from Dr. Mercola's post "This Almost Perfect Food Gobbles Up Your Body's Toxins."

"Heavy metal toxicity, just like chemical toxicity, has become one of the most pressing health hazards of our day, and this is where chlorella may be profoundly useful. Its ability to bind to heavy metal toxins, allowing them to be safely excreted from your body, has been well established. It's particularly crucial for systemic mercury elimination, because the majority of mercury is rid through your stool. Once the mercury burden is lowered from your intestines, mercury from other body tissues will more readily migrate into your intestines where chlorella will work to remove it.

You can also add cilantro, which works as a synergetic detoxification aid along with the chlorella. This combination is particularly useful to take when you're consuming seafood, as most are invariably contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals. Ideally you would take it with the meal so the chlorella can bind directly to the toxins while they are in your gut, before they absorbed into your body.

In order to optimize heavy metal detox, you'll want to take at least four grams of chlorella every day, year-round.

Be aware that side effects may occur. As your body starts to detox, you may initially experience some slight nausea, and/or mild diarrhea. If these symptoms are too bothersome, you may want to lower your dose initially, and slowly increase the dose. As your body is cleansed of toxins, these side effects should disappear."

You know us though, we're choosy about the supplements we recommend. Don't waste your money on a chlorella supplement that you know you can't trust 100% to be pure, unadulterated, and free of chemicals and fillers. We've done the research and have confidence that the Quantum Nutrition Labs Chlorella is simply the best.

Posted in healthy body By TB Admin | 19 Comments

If you recall the recent cocoa brownie post then you know that I made three different desserts in one day. (All from the Clean Start cook book.)

In addition to the brownies, I tried the black currant plum crisp. This one turned out to be simple and delicious too! And it serves as a great basis for a crisp recipe that you can get creative with by adding different fruits.

The black currant and plums were tasty, but the plums I used made it a bit too tart. I decided that I want to try it with peaches and with apples to see if I like either of those more. I also sprinkled cinnamon on top which I think made it even tastier.

I couldn't find ivory teff flour at my local Whole Foods so I had to use brown, which I believe tastes the same but makes the crisp darker in color. (That is why the picture in the book looks lighter than mine.)

Here is Terry Walter's delicious and easy recipe:

FILLING

2 1/2 pounds plums (10-12) (Like I said, I think peaches and apples are good options too!)

1/2 cup dried currants

2-3 dashes ground nutmeg

Pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup ivory teff flour

CRISP

1 cup almond meal

1 cup ivory teff flour

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

PREPARING FILLING

Leaving skins on, halve plums, remove and discard pits and slice into thin wedges (about 1/4 inch thick). Place in large mixing bowl and set aside.

In small pot over medium heat, place currants with just enough water to cover, bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes to soften and plump. Drain well and add to bowl with plums. Ad nutmeg and salt, and stir. Add maple syrup and teff flour and stir until plums are evenly coated and ingredients are combined. Pour mixture into 8x8-inch casserole and set aside.

PREPARING CRISP

Using same mixing bowl, combine almond meal, teff flour, almonds, nutmeg and salt. Over low heat, melt coconut oil in small skillet. Remove from heat, whisk in maple syrup and vanilla and pour over flour mixture. Stir to combine and crumble over plum mixture.

Bake 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and plums are soft. Remove from oven, and cool slightly before serving.

Serves 6. Enjoy!

Posted in Delicious and Health Recipes - Three Branches Healthy Living - Recipes By Kelly | 403 Comments

(photo courtesy of beyondpesticides.org)

If you follow our blog, you know that this isn't the first time we've discussed the indisputable link between Autism and the environment - chemicals in our air, food, water and even personal care products. They're ubiquitous! Back in February, we wrote a post titled "Autism-Toxin Connection" where we cited the New York Times article titled "Do Toxins Cause Autism?" In it, op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof interviewed Dr. Philip Landrigan, professor of pediatrics at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine and chairman of the school’s department of preventive medicine. Dr. Landrigan told him that "he is increasingly confident that autism and other ailments are, in part, the result of the impact of environmental chemicals on the brain as it is being formed."

“The crux of this is brain development,” Landrigan said in the article. “If babies are exposed in the womb or shortly after birth to chemicals that interfere with brain development, the consequences last a lifetime.”

Also, in a December post titled "Chemicals Linked to Learning and Developmental Disabilities (LLDs)", we cited a health report that stated Autism has increased more than 10 times in the past 15 years. Wow.

Just this past week, The San Fransisco Chronicle and the New York Times both referred to a recent study done on 192 sets of twins (identical and fraternal) that suggests environmental factors - namely toxin exposures while in the womb - may be just as important in causing Autism as genetics.

The New York Times article, New Study Implicates Environmental Factors in Autism says, "...surprisingly, mathematical modeling suggested that only 38 percent of [Autism] cases could be attributed to genetic factors, compared with the 90 percent suggested by previous studies. And more surprising still, shared environmental factors appeared to be at work in 58 percent of the cases."

But this can be good news!

These studies show that we have much more control over whether our children develop Autism or not. By making safer choices with respect to personal care products, home fragrances (candles, perfumes, etc), cleaning products, pesticides and, of course, food, we can drastically decrease the amount of chemicals we exposure our children to. This is especially important for women in their conception, pregnancy and nursing stages when the fetus and/or baby is in its developmental stages.

(photo courtesy of mindbodygreen.com)

So what steps can we take to reduce our exposures to environmental toxins?

Start by reading our article, "Reducing Toxic Exposures: Where do I Start?" It may seem overwhelming, but we encourage you to take it one step at a time. Tackle what you feel most comfortable with, whether its switching our your toxic cleaning products or saying no to certain processed foods. Speaking of food, our article, "Dietary Additions: Getting your Feet Wet" is a great place to start if you want to address the chemicals you consume in your diet. Reducing your chemical intake by any amount is a step in the right direction!

Once you have decided where you want to start, browse our wide range of home and body products. From our very own Branch Basics non-toxic cleaner to Genoma Skin Care line, we have everything you need for a healthy home...and healthy baby!

Posted in healthy body By TB Admin | 31 Comments

From conception through lactation, moms have the opportunity to make choices that could significantly affect their baby's health. This starts by choosing the best prenatal vitamins available. (Be picky! Even if a brand is recommended by your doctor, it doesn't hurt to do a little more research. Doctors are busy and often don't have the time to investigate every single ingredient before prescribing/recommending a prenatal.) Because supplement companies can make a wide range of claims, it's up to us to turn the bottle around and look at the ingredients in our pre-natal vitamins. Are there unnecessary chemical dyes - like FD&C - used to make the pills a pretty pink or a bold blue? These ingredients can be toxic to the body, and at the very least, inhibit absorption of other essential nutrients.

The RAW food-created nutrients in Vitamin Code formulas are individually cultivated with their unique original make-up intact, not made with synthetic ingredients like most prenatals. This enables the most effective delivery and natural assimilation of nutrients by the body. This RAW Vitamin for prenatal health uses raw nutrient ingredients that are uncooked, untreated, unadulterated and contains no binders or fillers. Vitamin Code RAW PRENATAL delivers body-ready nutrition as nature intended, with living nutrients.

Here are some of the key components in Vitamin Code:

• A must for pre-conception, pregnancy and lactation
• Food-source folic acid (folate), not from synthetic sources
• Provide head-start for baby's immune system and digestive tract
• Ginger for digestion discomfort and morning sickness
• Supports healthy digestion and elimination with probiotics, ginger, vitamin D, and zinc
• Supports skin health with Vitamins A and C, Copper and Iron
• Raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
• NO soy allergens, binders, fillers, additives, dyes

Read Your Labels!

Attend our workshops, read our blogs, visit our website...we are like a broken record when it comes to this advice...read your labels, read your labels, read your labels! And this doesn't mean the front label. Nope, turn it around! From lip gloss, shampoo and baby wipes to air fresheners, packaged food and supplements, it's up to us to make sure we're not absorbing, eating or breathing toxic ingredients. This is especially true of our prenatal vitamins. If there's an ingredient you can't pronounce or one that seems a little fishy, do a little research. Here's the label for Vitamin Code RAW PRENATAL:

(As you can see, all of these ingredients are food-derived, not synthetically-made)

Folic Acid: Get REAL, Don't fake it!

Folate is a B vitamin found mostly in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach or kale. It supports healthy neural tube development, decreasing the risk of babies being born with a birth defect of the brain or spinal cord. It is involved with DNA synthesis and DNA methylation, which essentially turns genes on and off. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate and is chemically different from dietary folate, which results in differences in uptake and processing of these two substances by the cells in the intestinal wall. Some folic acid is chemically modified to be more similar to natural folate, but the intestinal cells are limited in how much folic acid they can modify - excess folic acid often enters the circulation unmodified.

The recommendation that pregnant women take synthetic folic acid supplements is especially troubling. Women could safely increase their folate status and prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) by eating green vegetables or taking a prenatal vitamin with food-derived folate, sometimes still called "folic acid" for familiarity, but made clear that it is non-synthetic. Unlike synthetic folic acid, folate obtained from food sources - especially green vegetables - protects against breast and prostate cancer.

The Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal contains 800mcg of raw food-created folic acid, which is natural folate (not synthetic even though the label calls it folic acid). The Centers for Disease Control recommends at least 400mcg of folic acid in support of healthy neural tube development before conception through at least the first trimester of pregnancy.

The Right Prenatals Decrease Chance of Autism

"Taking prenatal vitamins around the time of conception decreased the risk of autism in the children by almost half, finds a study of mom/child pairs from California. Mothers with specific genetic variants that hinder the breakdown of nutrients important to early brain development – like folate –  were further at risk if they didn't take prenatal vitamins. 

The results – published in the journal Epidemiology – indicate that proper prenatal nutrition may be especially important  for susceptible individuals and may help prevent autism overall."

Read entire article, Prenatal Vitamins Lower Autism Risk.

Who is Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal for?

Most people think that a prenatal supplement is exclusively formulated for pregnant women. But healthy nutrient intake is vital prior, during, and after child birth. In a 2011 study, mothers who took prenatal vitamins during the three months before and the first month of pregnancy – called the peri-conceptional period – had nearly half the risk of having a child with autism when compared to mothers who did not take prenatal vitamins during this pregnancy stage. Because pregnant and lactating women are constantly feeding their child from their body's own nutrients, a plentiful and regular supply of vitamins and minerals is essential. Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal formula is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of women during preconception, pregnancy and lactation. Whether a woman is planning to get pregnant or not, she may not be aware of her condition for at least 2 to 3 weeks after conception; women who have irregular periods may even take longer to suspect they are pregnant. Proper folic acid supplementation is suggested at least two months before conceiving.

Why is Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal suggested while nursing?

It is important to continue the usage of a prenatal multivitamin during lactation. Breast feeding can take a physical toll on a womans body. Milk production does require a great deal of the body's energy and resources. Breast-feeding mothers burn almost 500 additional calories daily (equivalent to running about four to five miles a day). Most importantly, babies that are exclusively breastfed rely solely on their mothers breast milk for nutrition.

Buy NOW!

So, if you or anyone you know is thinking about getting pregnant, already pregnant or lactating, go RAW! Buy Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal today for only $29.96. (1 month supply).

Posted in healthy body By Allison | 360 Comments

I threw together a super-simple, last-minute meal that ended up tasting surprisingly well-planned. I listed the veggies I used, but honestly, it's what I had fresh on hand. So get creative and adapt to your taste. We've decided it's the perfect recipe for our not-so-keen-on-vegetarian-meals friends. The best part of this one-pot-wonder (besides the taste) is the easy clean-up! :)

Ingredients:

3.5 cups water

1.5 cups rice

1 zuchinni

1 squash

1 onion

Handful okra

Handful mushrooms

Few stalks kale

Pink Salt

3 defrosted/fresh organic chicken breasts

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a casserole dish (I used an oval Le Creucet) in the order listed above. 

The chicken breasts will just sit on top, shown above. Bring water to a boil and let sit for 10-15 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 400. Cook for 1 hour, covered. I tore up a dried Nori sheet (seaweed found at most healthfood stores) and added it atop each finished bowl before serving. Serves about 4.

Posted in Delicious and Health Recipes - Three Branches Healthy Living - Recipes By TB Admin | 27 Comments

I was asked by my sister to make some healthy desserts so she wouldn't eat a bunch of unhealthy desserts full of white flour, white sugar, and butter when she got a sweet craving. So, I made three different desserts for our Fourth of July family celebration and I think the favorite of the bunch was the cocoa brownies.

I got the recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Clean Start, that we have blogged about plenty of times. They were so easy to make so I highly recommend trying them out!

And just as a side note, I thought they actually tasted better the next day so you could bake them the night before you plan to eat them.

Here is the recipe...

1/2 cup grated apple or applesauce

8 pitted dates

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown teff flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat over to 350 degrees F and lightly grease 8 x 8 inch baking dish. (I used coconut oil for this.)

In food processor, combine applesauce, dates, banana, maple syrup and vanilla until almost smooth, but with some chunks of dates remaining. In separate bowl, combine teff flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix as briefly as possible to incorporate all ingredients. Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake 25 minutes or until top appears slightly dry. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely before cutting and removing from pan.

Makes 16 ooey, gooey brownies

Posted in Delicious and Health Recipes - Three Branches Healthy Living - Recipes By Kelly | 135 Comments

Since we didn't know if Shepard was going to be a boy or a girl, when he got home from the hospital he only had a few pieces of clothing. It didn't take long, though, for my mom to take care of that problem. By the end of the day she came home with about twenty new outfits for the little guy.

This meant it was laundry time. Shannon knows that conventional laundry detergents, fabric softeners and dryer sheets contain highly toxic chemicals that manufacturers are not required to list in the ingredients (see Learn: Laundry for more information) so she washed everything in Seventh Generation, a healthier alternative to common detergents like Tide and Gain.  But she noticed that when she would clothe Shepard he would break out in little red bumps and they would nearly go away when she undressed him. Hence the bare baby on his mama's shoulder..

Well, Shep couldn't go on without ever getting dressed so we re-washed everything In Branch Basics. It's gentle and safe enough for babies' very sensitive skin and it pulls out the detergent residues. It also pulls out any contaminants that could be in the clothing since not everything she got was organic cotton (which is preferable).

Branch Basics is a soap (not a detergent) that has active enzymes from edible and seed bearing plants and absolutely no synthetic fragrances, preservatives, dyes, or additives. It is equally effective in cold water as it is in hot. It can be used in HD washers that require low-sudsing soaps. Because it’s not a strong detergent, Branch Basics extends the longevity of your clothes. It’s also very effective for stains.

And it was also effective in not causing Shepard to break out with little red bumbs all over his body. From now on all of the clothes, sheets, blankets, and towels in Shepard's household will be washed in Branch Basics. 

Posted in healthy body By Kelly | 4 Comments