bugs

While it's important to keep pets away from insects with stingers like wasps, many doggies and kitties like Milo here loooooooove to chase the moving creatures. No matter if they never catch them, the joy is in the pursuit, right?

Don't let a bunch of nipping mosquitoes keep you from enjoying your evening BBQ.

Here's a 100% DEET-free bug spray called Herbal Armor made by All Terrain. It was clinically tested at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada to be 100% effective at repelling bugs for 2 hours, 95.8% effective for 3 hours, and 77.1% effective for 4 hours. So it's recommended that you apply it every 2-3 hours to stay fully protected against those buggers.

It's made of 6 essential oils recognized by the EPA as bug repellents including Citronella, Soybean, Peppermint, Cedar, Lemongrass, and Geranium. It's water and sweat resistant, and it works! (I speak from experience.)

Even though it has Citronella Oil in it, the other oils mixed in there give it this lovely lemony scent. It's safe to spray on your skin and on your clothes. If you want to protect your face, just spritz some on your hands and rub them on your face, to avoid getting it in your eyes.

If you don't want the 4 oz spray (for $7.99), they also make a 4 oz lotion (for $7.99).

This stuff is safe for your skin, won't damage your clothes, and protects you from mosquitoes, ticks, gnats, flies, ants, black flies and other pesky insects, so bugs beware!

Are you a fan of probiotics? Maybe prebiotics? What's the difference anyway?

Probiotics - dietary supplements/foods containing good bacteria - are a big trend in supplements today. This is because they can help regulate your digestive system by managing lactose intolerance, preventing colon cancer, lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, improving immune function and preventing infections, reducing inflammation, improves mineral absorption, prevents harmful bacterial growth under stress and improving systems of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Colitis. That is quite a list!!!

The reason is because probiotics assist the body's naturally occurring gut flora (useful microorganisms that live in the digestive tract) that often get out of whack from the foods we eat to the antibacterial soap we use. That's one good bug. Probiotics can be found in yogurt (live & active cultures) and yeast, but they are most commonly consumed in supplement form. You can buy probiotic supplements from The Vitamin Shoppe.

While probiotics are getting increasing popular in the United States, evidence supports that the benefits of prebiotics - Non-digestible food ingredients that selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and improve host health- are a better way to increase good bacterial growth in the gut. Prebiotic foods include soybeans, Jerusalem artichokes, raw oats, unrefined wheat and unrefined barley. Prebiotics naturally occur in breast milk and are believed to play an important role in the development of a healthy immune system in infants.