FitSugar

Burning Question: When Is It OK to Eat Moldy Food?

YumSugar — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:50:51 -0700

The other day, a co-worker asked me whether it was OK to eat a piece of cheese that had grown slightly moldy. That question sparked a discussion on how to handle moldy foods. Can you ever simply cut off the bad parts and proceed to eat the rest? Find out the answer when you read more

How-To: Eliminate Mold in Your Home

CasaSugar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:00:41 -0700

Mold is not your friend. Being exposed to mold in your home can cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems, and is very hazardous to your health. So, if you see it, or smell a musty odor in your digs, you need to remove it. Mold grows in moist areas, so anywhere you've had water leaks, flooding, or high humidity, especially bathrooms and kitchens, you're likely to have a problem. To learn how to eliminate mold in your home, read more.

The first step is to remove the mold and clean the surfaces where you found it. To prevent inhalation, you should put on a mask or respirator before you begin, and also put on goggles, rubber gloves, and clothes you can wash immediately after.

You'll want to begin by misting the moldy areas or dampening them with a sponge; this will keep airborne particles to a minimum.
To remove mold from hard surfaces like counters, plastic, porcelain, glass, etc., you'll need to scrub them with a non-ammonia soap or detergent using a heavy duty sponge or a bristle brush.
If you find mold on any porous surfaces like paper, drywall, or carpeting/carpet padding, you'll need to discard them entirely, as mold cannot be removed completely from them. Sorry!
If you're working with a hard surface that's wood, scrubbing may not work entirely, so you should sand the surface down to remove the mold.

The second step is to disinfect the affected area with either a bleach and water solution or another disinfectant. If the surface is clean, you can use 1/4 cup of bleach diluted in one gallon of water. If it's dirty, you should use more bleach.
Let the disinfectant sit for 15 minutes, then rinse it with clean water.
The last, and crucial step, is to dry it immediately (so no more mold grows!). Dry it with a cloth and then use a blow-dryer, fan, or dehumidifier to dry it thoroughly.
Be sure to wash and dry your clothes and any rags that you used, and dispose of any other mess.

Casa Quickie: Natural Mold Defeaters

CasaSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:15:00 -0800

Grapefruit seed extract, along with essential oils such as clove, lavender, and tea tree oil, have antiseptic properties and operate as natural fungicides. If you're dealing with mold when cleaning a bathroom or kitchen, try adding one to two teaspoons of essential oil to two cups of water in a spray bottle. You can also mix 20 drops of grapefruit seed extract with one quart of water. Not sure where to buy essential oils or grapefruit seed extract? Check here for a variety of oils, or here for grapefruit seed extract.

Source

Minutes to a Healthier You . . .

FitSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:00:00 -0700

Sometimes it's the little things we do to keep on track for optimal health that make a difference. Thinking about the quality of air you breathe in your own home takes but a minute or two, but can have a profound effect on your daily life.

Poor indoor air quality can affect your general health, causing allergies and respiratory problems. Houses are much more energy efficient and airtight these days - meaning less outside air makes its way inside to freshen up your home. Constant air-conditioning use in the Summer months just makes the situation worse. Taking five minutes to walk around your home checking for mold, a common indoor air pollutant, is a simple way to take care of your lungs. Mold lurks, unsurprisingly, in bathrooms, so check the walls and shower curtain, but you should also wash your bathmats and towels once a week. Don't forget to check under the sink in your kitchen and the drip tray in your fridge. If your house has central air, you will also want to check the air filter to see if it needs to be replaced.

If you do find mold, clean it up with detergent and let the area dry completely. For more tips on dealing with mold check out the EPA Mold Cleanup Guidelines.

Source

Recipe For Clean: Make a Mold Defeater

CasaSugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:15:15 -0700

Of all the ick-worthy parts of cleaning my house, nothing makes me wrinkle my nose and say "ew" like mold does. Not only is mold gross-looking, it's also bad for your health, especially if you have asthma or respiratory issues. If you've assembled your home cleaning kit, you have all the natural ingredients needed to banish mold from your home. I have a great Recipe For Clean for getting your surfaces mold-free. Use it on tile, in the fridge, or on any other mold-ridden surface to get your house so fresh and so clean.

Supplies

2 teaspoons tea tree oil
2 cups water
Spray bottle

To find out the steps for this DIY, just read more.

Carefully pour all of the ingredients into a spray bottle.
Put the bottle top on, and give the mixture a good shake.
Spray on moldy surfaces.
Let sit then gently wipe, but don't spray clean.
If the mixture is too potent smelling for you (tea tree oil is strong) then mix with some drops of essential oil.

Source

How To: Kill Shower Curtain Mold

CasaSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:30:00 -0800

FitSugar recently came to me with an icky shower curtain mold dilemma. The base of her shower curtain has been taken over by a gross pink mold. Despite efforts to tell it what time it is, putting it in the washing machine with a stain-killer, and letting it sit for hours, no dice. Unfortunately, mold thrives in the warm, damp environment of bathrooms, and the shower curtain is no exception. With a quick Google, I found that most of the advice recommended is just what Fit had tried, the washing machine. Then, I came across an archive of a Wall Street Journal article by Sam Schechner called "Testing Ways to Kill Shower-Curtain Mold." Success! To hear a summary of Schechner's techniques for battling that repulsive pink mold, read more.

He tested five methods, slicing up the same nasty shower curtain into fifths. He sprayed one slice with bleach (Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover), one bleach free of chlorine (Seventh Generation Shower Cleaner), "soaked another slice in a bathtub with a bottle of distilled vinegar," dumped another "in a washing machine along with bleach and white towels (for friction)," and "scrubbed one slice with a mixture of water, dish soap, and tea tree oil." A pretty thorough experiment, huh?

Here are the results:

The spray with Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover trial, which cost $3.29 for a 32 fl. oz. spray bottle, was easy, requiring no scrubbing. The result? The curtain smelled "like a noxious swimming pool," but "came out practically bone-white."
The spray with Seventh Generation Shower Cleaner, which cost $4.99 for a 32 fl. oz. spray bottle, required 14 minutes of scrubbing on just the one section of curtain. The result? The curtain smelled like "sweet lemon soda," but a "grayish pattern remained where the black mold had been," although not so noticeable from across the room.
Soaking the curtain in distilled vinegar and water, which cost $1.29 for a 16 fl. oz. bottle of Heinz distilled white vinegar, required "slightly less elbow grease than some methods," but still took an hour to soak. The result? It smelled "like someone had made a salad in our bathroom," and still left visible gray stains.
Washing the curtain with NOW tea tree oil and dishsoap, which cost $5.95 for a 1 fl. oz. bottle of oil and $1.99 for Palmolive, required what felt like nearly "a full upper-body workout at the gym." The result? The curtain smelled like "a massage parlor" but resulted in "minimal payback for all that effort."
Bleaching the curtain in washing machine on a hot-water cycle, which cost $1.29 for a 24 fl. oz. bottle of Clorox Ultra Regular Bleach, didn't require any work aside from letting the washing machine do its thing. The result? It was left with a "light bleach odor," but "big rust-colored stains remained," even after a second washing.

So, I guess the Tilex did the trick in the stain department, but is still toxic. Letting it air dry might get rid of the chemical smell, but still, who wants to inhale the smell of a "noxious swimming pool?" That can't be good for you or the environment. In terms of results, The Seventh Generation Shower Cleaner sounds like the second best option, but is 70 minutes of scrubbing time (14 mins. x 5) really worth it? It might be better to find a way to recycle, reuse, or repurpose your moldy nylon shower curtain, and buy a new one. Ahh it's hard to be So Fresh and Clean sometimes.
Source

How to Deal With Seasonal Allergies, Asthma and Exercise

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:45:00 -0700

Tis the season for seasonal allergies – ragweed, mold (from soggy leaves) and dust mites galore! When you suffer from itchy eyes and throat, sneezing, runny nose, or allergy induced-asthma, exercising your body is far from top on your list. Here are some tips to help allergy sufferers still get in a workout.

As beautiful as it is outside, you're better off exercising inside. When you huff and puff while doing cardio outside, you're only inhaling the allergens that are bothering you. Join a gym or use your home treadmill or elliptical to keep up with your cardio.
Take your allergy medicine as directed. Even if you're not having symptoms, when taken daily, many of those prescriptions help to prevent attacks if and when your body does come in contact with enemy allergens. Those meds can control your symptoms before they start.

Want to hear the other tips? Then read more

I got this great tip from my allergist: If you have asthma, and you use a rescue inhaler like Albuterol, take a puff or two before you do any cardio. It'll allow you to take deeper breaths, and may prevent an asthma attack.
If you are prone to asthma attacks, keep your inhaler close by while you workout, just in case you need it.
Try to breath through your nose while exercising, since the nose hairs act as a natural filter. Is your nose is stuffed, take a steamy shower before working out, or try using a neti pot to clear out any mucus.
If your symptoms are really bad, do some light exercise inside like a fitness DVD, yoga, weight lifting, or walking on a treadmill.

Source

Pillow Talk

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:15:00 -0700

Is your pillow over 2 years old? If yes, you might be sleeping with a veritable zoo of mold, bacteria and dust mites. Not exactly the kind of pillow talk you want to engage in, is it?

That fluffy bit of comfort on which you rest your head every night can be a hotbed for germs, and might contain even more germs than your bathroom. Yick! Pillows absorb germs from our skin and the air and since we rarely clean or replace our bedroom pillows, bacterias and molds are free to reproduce unhampered. This can become quite a problem if you have allergies to dust mites or mold since you are placing your head in the hot zone for 8 hours a night.

Experts suggest that you replace your pillow every 2 years. Since that can be a costly endeavor, you can try pillow protectors instead since they can prevent dust mites from breeding in your bedding.

Fit's Tip: One quick way to zap all those bacteria is to throw you pillows into the dryer for 20 minutes on high heat. Aim to do this at least once a month and at least once a week if you are experiencing severe allergy symptoms.

Sweet dreams....

Allergies and Humidity

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:30:00 -0700

Allergies are the worst. You know what I'm talking about if you suffer from itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, and coughing.

Summer can be one of the worst times of the year because so many things are growing. It also gets really hot and humid, so I want to know...

Source

To Sprout or Not?

FitSugar — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 02:20:05 -0800

Anyone who eats raw sprouts, or lightly cooked mung bean sprouts, is at risk for exposure to E. coli or Salmonella bacteria. Seeds need a dark and moist environment to sprout, so the sprouting process provides ideal conditions for bacteria to grow.

It's a toss up because sprouts are really healthy for you though. They are a living food, so even after you refrigerate them, they will continue to grow slowly and their vitamin content will actually increase. Sprouts are one of the most complete and nutritional of all foods that exist - rich with vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes.

If you buy them, choose crisp-looking sprouts with the buds attached - avoid musty-smelling, dark or slimy-looking sprouts. If you keep them in the fridge too long, because their roots stay moist, they can get moldy, so try to eat them right away.

Fit's Tips: Since you never know how old sprouts are when you buy them at the store, you could always grow your own. Buy your seeds and sprouters at sproutpeople.com. Unfortunately, this doesn't cut your risk because the seeds themselves could be contaminated.