Category: health and fitness

June 1, 2018

Harmony Patches: Easy Application for Natural Relief of Digestive, Cough, Cold and Allergies

One of the hardest jobs of being a parent? Giving your child, no matter what age, their medication. It has led to tears, screaming and absolute breakdowns in our house.

Both of our children as infants suffered from digestive symptoms, especially our youngest. I breastfed him for the first six months before he decided to wean himself. When we switched him to formula, he began to vomit daily and would cry every night. After multiple different brands tried, our family physician switched him to soy which seemed to help.

On top of this, our children suffer from allergies and eczema. We deal with runny noses, red eyes and coughing from early spring right through to the fall. You can imagine how they have begun to react to having to take medications orally! Not to mention that many of the over the counter medications can not be taken by children under the age of four that leaves you with very few options, frustrating right?

About Harmony Patches

Harmony Patches were designed to be placed strategically on the body for fast relief of specific symptoms. The patches release the ingredients gradually, which provides lasting relief over a period of time (we used ours over ten hours as directed on the label).

The patches are completely natural – ingredients include organic ginger, chamomile and fennel used in differing amounts. These ingredients are completely safe and have been found to be effective for all ages (they have also been used for centuries). The patches adhesive contain no silicone, latex, acrylic or rubber, which makes them gentle and perfect for sensitive skin (and if you suffer from digestive and allergic conditions more than likely, you also have sensitive skin).

The Harmony patches come in:

Infant cough Harmony patches (0-12 months)
Infant Colic Harmony patches (0-12 months)
Child Cough Harmony patches (1-7 years)
Child Tummy Harmony patches (1-7 years)
Adult Cough Harmony patches (8 and up)
Adult Tummy Harmony patches (8 and up)

Our Thoughts

I could not wait to try these patches out both on myself and my youngest. It is allergy season for us and we are all suffering with plugged noses, sinus pain, coughs and red eyes. The products were all natural (a definite bonus) and contained no allergens that could cause my skin to react (I am allergic to latex).

The patches were easy to apply, just peel and follow the instructions on where to apply on the chest or stomach. They stuck to the skin easily and came off just as easy without any pain or leaving any marks or residue. I really liked the ease and simplicity of application, we had no fights or spilled liquid on the floor.

The patches were left on between ten and twelve hours which is great for school and work. I was able to apply my son’s before I left for work and he had relief throughout the day. There were no side effects from the patches – no drowsiness or headaches. Sometimes with liquid medication, we found our youngest would first get hyper and then crash, which forced us to give him medication at night but he was having no relief during the day when pollen count was highest.

The Harmony patches are a fantastic alternative for parents for both their children and themselves, to relieve common digestive, cough, cold and allergy symptoms throughout the year. They are easy to use, provide great relief with no side effects. A win for everyone involved.

About Dr. Loo

Dr. Loo is a graduate of the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine and has served as a Clinical Professor at Stanford University Medical School for twenty-one years. She is an expert in five schools of Chinese medicine. She has been a presenter to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. She is the author of several medical textbooks and has lectured throughout the US, Canada, Europe and China.

Where to Purchase

You can purchase the Harmony patches both on their website and Amazon.

Make sure to follow Harmony Patches on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with their products and the newest information.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

May 29, 2018

At Home Teeth Whitening Systems for Sensitive Teeth: Does it Work?

Your teeth are the very first thing a person will notice about you whether you are smiling or not. Without realizing it, we can judge a person by the colour of their teeth, missing teeth and even the angle of them.

While we can’t control genetics, the damage we do to our teeth through eating and drinking can be reversed. Some of our favourite foods and drinks can cause a lot of discolouration to our teeth over time without us noticing. These items include coffee, wine, dark soda, chocolate, candy and berries! I love my coffee and tea so for me removing these items out of my diet would be extremely difficult. In the past, I’ve had Dark Spots on Gums Treatment to cure some dark spots I had on my gums that I thought was a side-effect of coffee and smoking. I have found ways to cut back but eliminating entirely has felt impossible.

Smile Brilliant is an at home teeth whitening system that allows you to reverse the damage done over time from the comfort of your couch or bed (literally). You can easily spend a lot of money on over the counter products which are not guaranteed to work or in an office where you not only lose time away from work but also have to adjust for the cost of these treatments. Smile Brilliant is an easy to use at home system that is tailored to your teeth!

What I loved the most about this system is that you first have to complete your own dental trays. The package comes with enough material that if needed due to an error you make trying to create the impressions, you can always redo your dental trays. The components were easy to mix together (they felt like Playdoh) and easy to place into the trays. Once the trays were ready to insert into your mouth (one at a time) you were sailing. I did find that I produced a lot of saliva at this point, so don’t leave the bathroom when completing this part. My kids had a great laugh as saliva was dripping out of my mouth. I had this unexplainable fear of my teeth coming out with the trays (I have a fake tooth on a bridge at the front of my mouth) and it did not do any damage at all to my bridge or tooth. Once the trays have been left to harden, your next step is to mail them off.

I received my personalized dental trays back within two weeks from the USA. It was pretty neat to see the impressions of my teeth and how well they fit into my mouth. I think that this is the part that makes the biggest difference and sets this system apart – it is fit to your mouth and teeth, leaving no area untouched. The initial package came with the de-sensitizing gels and whitening gels that I would need. Each syringe has enough of the gel to complete 3-4 applications, the syringes looked like they would be awkward to use at first but it was quite simple to open them and apply them to the dental impressions. After that it was just a matter of applying the impressions to my teeth and waiting the recommended time, easy peasey right? The impressions did feel awkward on my teeth the first time I put them in because I wasn’t used to them. After two usages this feeling went away and it was like they were just my own teeth.

Here is my before photo:

You can see the stains from the coffee and tea on all my teeth especially the ones in the front. It is one of the few things that I am actually quite self conscious about and it causes me not to smile as often as I would like.

Here is my before and after photo together so that you can truly appreciate the difference it made:

I was so impressed with the difference the trays made in just under two weeks. I used them only for thirty to sixty minutes a day for that time frame and after each usage I noticed an improvement. It really helped me with my confidence and smiling more because I was not as self conscious about the colour of my teeth.

The system is easy to use, affordable and can be easily done from the comfort of your home. I felt supported by the entire Smile Brilliant team throughout the whole process as well as them providing me with tips and tricks to get the most out of the process. These tips included:

brushing your teeth with only water before applying the trays
whiten for 45 minutes to 3 hours a day (never overnight and never for greater than 3 hours)
rinse your trays with cool water
brush with a non-whitening toothpaste
avoid food and drinks that can cause stains

If you don’t like the thought of using teeth whitening kits and would prefer to visit the likes of a Cosmetic Dentist in Vista, CA, then this is still an option. What I would recommend you to do, is see which one suits your lifestyle best before making a quick, uninformed decision. Take your time and I hope you find your happy medium, reaching your goal of sparkly, white teeth!
THE GIVEAWAY!

Want to win your own Smile Brilliant Kit? Enter now to win by clicking on the link below which will take you to Smile Brilliant to enter.

Win a Smile Brilliant System

Don’t want to wait? Head over to Smile Brilliant to order now and receive 20% off your order using coupon code: workingmommyjournal20

Head over to Smile Brilliant now to learn more about their home teeth whitening system and to order your own. Make sure you are following them on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest news and deals.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tooth Whitening Gel

December 12, 2017

Cook Healthy and Quick #DKCanada

What is one of the greatest barriers people state when it comes to eating healthy? Time! Let Cook Healthy and Quick guide you to making healthy and fast meals for the whole family.

About Cook Healthy and Quick

Want to eat healthy – fast? Cook Healthy & Quick makes it simple. This cookbook includes 300 easy-to-follow recipes that tap into the latest health trends, from gluten-free eating to intermittent fasting. Bursting with ideas for clean and green salads, plant-based main courses, protein-paired breakfasts, and grab-and-go snacks that can all be prepared in 30 minutes or less, Cook Healthy & Quick doesn’t require combing through a health food store for the ingredients; they can all be found at your local supermarket.

Get inspired by the food photography throughout the book. Keep track of your calorie, fat, and sugar intake with the detailed nutritional information highlighted for each recipe, from Muffin Frittatas to No-Cook Mozzarella Salad to Marinated Lamb Chops, Cajun-Spiced Salmon, Crispy Seasoned Vegetable Chips, Chocolate-Covered Kiwi Pops, and more.

My Thoughts

Life is busy whether you have one partner staying at home or with both parents working. Many families (and individuals as well) are constantly on the go – from work, to doctor and dentist appointments, to extra curricular activities and to the holidays. The last thing so many of us want to do is to have to come home, cook an elaborate meal while trying to make sure it hits all the nutritional guidelines. Many of us have good intentions and will check the internet for recipes, print them out, get the ingredients but then when the day comes we are too tired and resort to the old and faithful recipes. I am one of those!

This recipe book breaks daily meals down not only by the type of meal (breakfast, soups, mains, sides, etc..) but also by time. Only have fifteen minutes to whip together something before soccer practice? Check the list in the beginning of the book and head straight to those pages to pick out a recipe. All of the recipes (and there are over 300) can be prepared in under thirty minutes. Most of the ingredients you will find at home in your pantry but some of the items are a bit more specific (for example not all of us stock veal or liver in our freezer). There are enough recipes that you could easily prepare two weeks of meals that are different each day and gives you plenty of variety while satisfying the whole families personal preferences.

The recipes each take up about one page and include a colour photo as well as easy to follow instructions that are straight and to the point leaving no guess-work. Each recipe also includes a colour coded nutritional guide that highlights whether the recipe is dairy free, low in saturated fat, high fiber, gluten free and so on. Which is very helpful for those that have dietary restrictions due to health or personal reasons.

This recipe book would make an excellent gift for the cook in your life, the individual that loves healthy food but just doesn’t have the time to prepare meals and even a young adult moving out on their own who needs to learn how to prepare healthy meals for themselves.

You can purchase a copy of this book on DK Canada and Amazon.

Rating: 4.5/5

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 16, 2017

Snacking Made Healthy with Spokes

Snacking, despite its bad reputation, is actually quite important for our body. It helps keep our metabolism up and can actually help with weight loss goals. Many people have even shown that it is actually better for weight loss to eat several small meals a day spaced out every 2 to 3 hours. I swear by this rule and it has helped improve my physical well-being and aided in weight loss.

Where people tend to go wrong is what they are snacking on. We want our snacks to be easy to prepare but sometimes this can lead us to choose options that are not so healthy and full of empty and not so good calories. But we all get that craving for chips now and then (trust me I know!) and I think it’s so important to balance out our diet so we don’t cheat and feel worse afterwards.

Spokes, puffed potato snacks, are that perfect alternative for snacking that lets you feel like you are being bad but you aren’t because it so much better for you than other snacks like chips.

Spokes are a light, crunchy potato snack that is air puffed (no frying in oil here), lightly misted with oil and seasoned for their delicious taste. They taste delicious and are quite addictive (I am munching away on a bag of Barbecue Spokes as I am typing). One cup of Barbecue Spokes equals only 40 calories with 8gm of carbs and only 1gm of sugar. The brand is available in nine different flavours, including: Sea Salt, Mango Habanero, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Barbecue, Dill Pickle, Salt and Pepper, Fiesta Salsa, Sea Salted Caramel and Simply Bare.

Top nutritional benefits:

free of 11 major allergens including: dairy, gluten, wheat, soy and egg
no artificial preservatives or colours
no trans fat or cholesterol
Non GMO project verified
40 calories per a cup

Besides tasting delicious, I loved the fact that they were created by a Canadian Mom who wanted better snack options for her family. Moms are pretty creative when it comes to keep our families healthy! She definitely developed quite a hit – I struggled with just having one cup. They were full of flavour and had that crunch that you are craving especially in the afternoon. The best part was that I felt guilt free munching on them because of how healthy they were.

You can learn more about Spokes on their website. Spokes are sold in many retailers across Canada including: Whole Foods, Goodness Me!, Planet Organic, Blush Lane, Safeway, Sobeys (Western Canada), Thrifty Foods, Metro (Quebec), London Drugs and Bed, Bath & Beyond. To locate the nearest retailer, head over to their handy retailer locator on their website.

Make sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date and learn more about this healthy snack.

Disclosure: I received the above named product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 13, 2017

Interactive Brushing with Grush Smart Toothbrush

We all know how important brushing our teeth is and we know our children know this too but it doesn’t always translate to proper brushing two to three times a day. We also know many times they aren’t brushing for the required amount of time and are relying on dental visits for thorough cleanings.

How many times have you fought with your child over brushing their teeth? Or have they lied to you that they went in the bathroom and brushed their teeth? Or you looked at their teeth and can tell that they tried to brush them properly but they missed so many spots (got to love juice stains)!

The Grush Smart Toothbrush combines technology and interactive fun to help your child learn how to properly brush their teeth for the right amount of time PLUS it gives you feedback on their brushing. This toothbrush is a parent’s best friend!

The Grush Smart toothbrush kit comes with three removable brushes and rotates at the push of a button. The toothbrush uses bluetooth technology to connect to the Toothy Castles app on your phone. The app is interactive and can detect where your child is brushing – right down to the specific tooth and location (front and back). Once the two minutes is up (which feels like a long time but with the game it makes those two minutes short and fun as you try to gain as many points as possible), you can track their current session to see how well they brushed and compare it to previous brushing sessions.

The brush itself fits perfectly into a child’s hand and is soft with natural curves on the handle to make it more comfortable and easier for their little hands to hold. The app was easy to find and was quick to download on my phone without taking up much space. It is an easy to use app, there really is not any set up which we loved. My son just has to hit play and ensure his brush is in the horizontal position for the app to track his movements. That is all it takes to start the brushing game. We set the phone up on it’s stand so he can easily watch the app and see which tooth he is on and which tooth he should brush next.

The app itself is perfect for young children – I loved the graphics and sound effects (think of pows and bams from popular superhero cartoons) with motivating music and voice prompts to engage your child. They also collect coins for every time they get the bad guys hanging out on their teeth so our youngest couldn’t wait to beat his scores. At the end of the session, you can view their results of how well they brushed their teeth. We go to the dentist every four months for my boys and I know he has a bit of room for improvement when it comes to brushing, but I was still shocked at how much he had missed, especially on the inside of the teeth. It was a great visual to be able to show him because he can listen to me tell him he missed spots in his mouth but when I can show him which teeth he is missing each time, it is easier for him to understand. I noticed great improvement each and every time he went back to brush his teeth and I strongly belief this is because of the tracking and results that we are able to see at the end of a session.

My favourite part about the Grush Smart toothbrush? My son had so much fun brushing his teeth, he actually asked me to brush his teeth three times in one day over the weekend. After I got over my shock, we were in the bathroom so he could brush his teeth. Now that is a Mom win!

You can find more information on Grush on their website. You can purchase a Grush Smart Toothbrush on Amazon, Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Make sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest news and more.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.