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I Did The No Poo Shampoo and I liked it!
I did the no shampoo and I liked it, more commonly know as the NO POO shampoo. What is it? It is using baking soda (the kind you put in your refrigerator to soak up the evil smells) and Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). Why would you wash your hair with banking soda and ACV? Because typical store-bought shampoos have chemical in them that are not good for you. Things like:
BPA: Can mimic the effects of the hormone estrogen which signals the body to store fat.
Parabens: Can lead to diminished muscle mass, extra fat storage, and male breast growth.
Gluten: If you are gluten sensitive you could be having an inflammatory reaction to these chemicals which can cause you to bloat up (others develop rashes, acne or have headaches)
Why do shampoo companies use nasty chemical in their products? BPA is actually the chemicals that come from the plastic bottles. It has been on DO NOT USE list for many years. Oh please bring back glass bottles. Parabens are used to prevent the growth of microbes in cosmetics products and can be absorbed through skin, blood and the digestive system. Parabens have been found in biopsies from breast tumors at concentrations similar to those found in consumer products and parabens may be found in a wide variety of products including shampoos, lotions, deodorants, scrubs and eye makeup, and are found in nearly all urine samples from U.S. adults regardless of ethnic, socioeconomic or geographic backgrounds. (source: http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=291)
“Gluten is the new “bad boy” in food and causes a host of digestive problems in people, even people who do not test positive for celiac disease.”
Gluten is the new bad boy in food and causes a host of digestive problems in people, even people who do not test positive for celiac disease. What is the devil protein causing this? Gliadin. Gluten (more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten) gives bread its elasticity that is why gluten-free breads are usually dry and fall apart, at least the gluten-free bread that I make. I particular have to avoid gluten because it is an inflammatory and I am trying to avoid inflammation in my system as much as I can. And as you know, anything we put on our skin has the same effect as eating it. So even though we are not consuming the shampoos, it’s just as bad because we are putting it our skin (or in our hair) and our skin is a GIANT SPONGE!
So, back to my own NO POO shampoo. My hair is pretty frizzy and after I shampoo I have to bow dry and then flat iron to get the frizz out. Ugh! Shampooing my hair with baking soda and ACV was going to take a lot of guts as I seem to be dependent on expensive, salon purchased shampoos. Anyway, I jumped in the shower with a box of baking soda and a ice cold bottle of ACV. I wet my hair and grabbed a handful of baking soda and threw it on top of my head and tried to massage it into my scalp through my ends as best as I could. I cannot say it felt good and I missed the suds because to me nothing says CLEAN like suds. Did my hair feel like it was getting clean? Heck no!
After a few minutes of rubbing the baking soda into my hair I rinsed and mixed about a 1/3 cup of ACV with warm water in a measuring cup and poured it over my head, and rinsed again. It did immediately feel like my hair was slicker and that I got a lot of the build-up off my shafts (build-up from products) however, not slick enough to get a comb through so I did resort to a conditioner as a final step, and rinse again.
After I got out of the shower and combed my wet hair I was thinking, meh…not so impressed. I then let my hair air dry because it was late and I was too tired for the whole blow dry and flat iron thing, and I put a towel on my pillow and went to bed with damp hair knowing that I would have to rewash my hair in the morning to style. But, hello, the next morning I got up and felt my hair: dry and smooth. I looked in the bathroom mirror and was shocked to see hair that was shiny and looking fantastic. I had no need to do anything. It was a miracle in hair miracles! Eureka!
I checked out some Youtube videos and some people swear by the No Poo shampoo and there are some that says it dries your hair out and it causes more CO2 into the atmosphere (what?!), and some people said to mix the banking soda into water first before putting it on your hair, etc.
To test that this smooth and shiny hair wasn’t just a fluke, I decided to wash my hair with Sauve Clarifying Shampoo. I saw some positive reviews on that particular shampoo and I wanted to see if it was as good at eliminating build-up of products on my hair. Next shampoo time I washed my hair with the Suave and used the same conditioner I used when I did the NO POO process and then I again air dried. FAIL! Super fail! Ugh! A rat’s nest of hair.
So, in conclusion, will I use the NO POO way of washing my hair? Absolutely! But don’t take my word for it. Do your own hairy experiment. Grab of box of baking soda and Braggs (Can you use regular apple cider vinegar? Probably. Maybe.) Apple Cider Vinegar and head for the shower. Good luck! Let me know what you think.
Thank you for reading!
Terry Ryan
Terry Ryan
Karen’s Story-It wasn’t About Losing Weight
I love Karen. She has always been a great friend and we have known each other since high school and we even went to the same college. After all these years, we have kept in touch.
Karen is a real beauty; close to 6 ft tall with dark hair and perfect features she could have been a model. But not only is Karen beautiful on the outside she also has a beautiful and caring personality. She cares so much about people and animals that she volunteers at a nursing home and at animal rescues.
Karen’s weight has always gone up and down on the scale. In college we all put on the freshman 10 or 20 but we would also lose them. As we grew older it was harder to lose and easier to put on weight. Karen and I both got heavier and heavier.
A couple of years ago, Karen and I met halfway between our homes at a coffee shop. Boy was I shocked when I saw her. She must have lost 40 pounds and looked wonderful and full of vitality. Karen told me her weight loss was a result of a healthier diet. She wasn’t feeling well and suspected it was the food that she was eating that was making her feel that way. She said she felt bloated and edgy. After reading a couple of health books she realized that she may have food allergies and started eliminating certain foods from her diet. Top of the list to eliminate: wheat and sugar. After 7 days of not eating these foods, she felt the benefits and started to lose weight…a nice side effect. “It was all about feeling better and never about losing weight,” said Karen. She never gets on a scale so she has no idea how much weight she has lost.
“It’s not about the weight, it’s all about the healing.
What I weigh does not matter.”
She did point out that when you start the better-health journey you should not look outside of yourself for validation. Most people will not understand your new diet or may even mock you, and your family will be eating differently than you do. She said she got her support through websites that concentrated on health, reading health/diet books, meditation, and meeting other people who felt the same way about food as she did.
“I feel good in my own body, and I have become aware of how different foods affect me.”
A typical day for Karen:
Breakfast~
2 Cups of black coffee and lots of water with Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (When I asked her how much Braggs she puts in her water she said she doesn’t measure anything. She just pours some in the water and loves the taste.)
2 Hard boiled eggs with a drizzle of olive oil
Lunch~
Baked chicken with veggies
Dinner~
Same as lunch
Snack is a couple of spoonfuls of unsweetened apple sauce mixed with cashew butter throughout the day.
Karen’s tip is: Start the day eating just pure protein. It makes you feel more satisfied than starting the day with carbs.
I asked her if she ever binges. She said, “No.”
If she goes to a party and there is a cake she will have a slice and eat the entire piece (this is a rare occurrence), and she says she can feel that old sugar addiction kick in. But that is it. She then won’t have any sugar for months. She said it takes her about 7 days to get over the cravings for sugar.
Karen says what she misses most of all is crusty bread and dipping it into olive oil. She eats no dairy and drinks no alcohol nor does she miss it.
As far as exercise, Karen does yoga and takes walks but hitting the gym and sweating on a treadmill is not something she would do.
A good point that she brought up is the jealousy that you will sometimes feel when you see other people eat and drink what they want and seem to look fine or suffer no consequences. She said that you have to depend on self-loving yourself when this happens and also find your tribe; people who you relate to and that relate to you.
Karen has done a couple of fasts but does not recommend them unless you have thoroughly studied up on them and proceed under a professional’s care. She said they can be very dangerous if you are taking medications because a fast can be toxic. Proceed with extreme caution when considering a fast. She said her longest fast was for 4 days and that after 2 days she felt amazingly calm and had no cravings. But for other people who fast, they may feel horrible as toxins are released from their body. Again, the best advice if you want to do a fast is find a physician who is familiar with fasting and can offer advice.
Karen’s reading suggestions:
Alkalize or Die: Superior Health Through Proper Alkaline-Acid Balance
Theodore A. Baroody
Clean Gut: The Breakthrough Plan for Eliminating the Root Cause of Disease and Revolutionizing Your Health
Alejandro Junger
Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System
Paul C. Bragg
Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health
William Davis
Sara Gottfried
Thank you for reading! Terry Ryan
D5 Creation