"Organic Avenue was a vision that I had probably around the same time as I was going raw," says Denise Mari. "It was just to really make things more convenient for people. I found that people had different excuses for why they couldn't do the organic or vegan lifestyle. It was either they couldn't afford it, they didn't know where to get organic clothing, and it wasn't fashionable or stylish enough." Denise opened Organic Avenue about three years in Lower Manhattan, and has been making going organic the hip thing to do. READ ON

Welcome Our Newest Product!
We love these soaps! These soaps fill up a room with their lovely scents. From a family business located in a log cabin in the beautiful British Columbian countryside, Venables Valley Soaps are handmade, pure, natural soaps. The herbs and oils used in the making of these soaps will nourish your skin, balance your emotions, left your spirits and get you clean--all at the same time! Made daily in small batches using olive oil, coconut oil, certified organic herbs and pure aromatherapy essential oils. We're offering them in a set of five as a great gift set to those you love, including yourself! [INFO]

Overdosed America
For twenty years, Dr. Abramson cared for patients of all ages in a small town north of Boston. But increasingly his role as family doctor was undermined as pressure mounted to use the latest drugs and high-tech solutions for nearly every problem. Drawing on his background in statistics and health policy research, he began to investigate the radical changes that were quietly taking place in American medicine. At the heart of the crisis, he found, lies the changed purpose of medical knowledge--from seeking to optimize health to searching for the greatest profits. The lack of transparency that has become normal in commercially sponsored medical research now taints the scientific evidence published in even our most prestigious medical journals. And unlike the recent scandals in other industries that robbed Americans of money and jobs, this one is undermining our health. The good news, as Dr. Abramson explains, is that the real scientific evidence shows that many of the things that you can do to protect and preserve your own health are far more effective than what the drug companies' top-selling products can do for you--which is precisely why the drug companies work so hard to keep this information under wraps. In what is sure to be one of the most important and eye-opening books you or your doctor will ever read, John Abramson offers conclusive evidence that American medicine has broken its promise to best improve our health and is squandering more than $500 billion each year in the process. [MORE INFO ABOUT THE BOOK]

Acupuncture facelifts...
As baby boomers age, many are searching for ways to get the look of a facelift without surgery. Some acupuncturists believe their tiny needles can help fade facial wrinkles. Already known as an alternative remedy for alleviating backaches and migraines, acupuncture is catching on as a cosmetic procedure. It may not produce the dramatic effect of a surgical facelift--but some patients and practitioners claim these centuries old art of healing can deliver a more youthful look. It's a tranquil and simple procedure. Not what you would expect a facelift in progress to look like. This women says her skin is now smoother than it use to be. And this patient says her laugh lines have gone away. These women didn't undergo the knife to change their appearances. They turned to an acupuncture physician. "There are 57 muscles in the face and they are all connected to each other. So when one goes down they all go down together," said Anna Baker, acupuncture physician, Sarasota, Fl. Anna Baker says acupuncture can re-tighten the face muscles, returning the face to a healthier, revitalized youthful appearance. It's also touted as a way to rejuvenate the cells under the skin. [SOURCE STORY]

Turn your junk into treasure...
The worldwide Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving and getting stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator and membership is free. To sign up, find your city by clicking on the appropriate region on the map. It will generate a automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you an response with instructions on how it works. Or, go directly to the webpage for your city's group by clicking on your city's link on the left. The Freecycle Network is nonprofit organization whose mission includes keeping good stuff out of landfills and helping strengthen local gifting and recycling communities. The Freecycle Network was founded in May, 2003, to promote waste reduction in Tucson, Arizona, and, in doing so, help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. It has since grown a bit to encompass nearly 30 countries and hundreds of thousands of "freecyclers" across the globe. Freecycle provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items. One person's trash can truly be another's treasure! [freecycle.org]

Those party-time calories...
Successful weight loss is all about oxidizing (or burning) more calories than you eat. When going on a diet, many people choose low-calorie alcoholic drinks, mainly because they contain fewer alcohol calories than their regular counterparts. However, drinking too much has a far more damaging effect than you can predict simply by looking at the number of alcohol calories in a drink. Not only does it reduce the number of fat calories you burn, alcohol can increase your appetite and lower your testosterone levels for up to 24 hours after you finish drinking. Rather than getting stored as fat, the main fate of alcohol is conversion into a substance called acetate. In fact, blood levels of acetate after drinking the vodka get to be 2.5 times higher than normal. And it appears this sharp rise in acetate puts the brakes on fat loss. [SOURCE STORY]

Sleepy teens...
Insomnia is a widespread and possibly underrecognized problem among U.S. adolescents, according to research presented here at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies' annual meeting. In an epidemiologic study involving face-to-face interviews with 1,014 teenagers aged 13 to 16 years, one third of the adolescents reported having insomnia symptoms at some point during their lives. Of these teens, 94% reported experiencing insomnia symptoms at least twice per week for a month or longer during the prior year. Nearly one third of this group also had a comorbid psychiatric disorder, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). [MORE INFO]

Power sleeping....
The longest recorded times that human beings have gone without sleep have been: Randy Gardner in 1965, Randy went without sleep for 11 days (That's 264 hours!). And, in 1980, Robert McDonald of California stayed awake for a record 18 days 21 hours and 40 minutes. (453 hours). In both experiments, the subjects only experienced drowsiness and trouble with concentrating. This dispelled the popular myth that sleep deprivation will make you go crazy. In another experiment, a 6-year study done by the University of California, completed in 2002, revealed that people who slept less than 8 hours actually lived longer! Up until this experiment (which involved 1.1 million participants), there were many conflicting beliefs about whether sleeping less was more healthy. Many would argue that sleeping more was actually more beneficial. Both sides of the argument had experimental data to prove their theories. However, none of the previous experiments were carried out with such a large group of people over this long of a period of time. Many people die due to other circumstances, which have nothing to do with how long they sleep. The bottom line is the importance of QUALITY vs. QUANTITY. Ever wondered how those famous heart surgeons do fine with just 3-4 hours of sleep? They have a system, which includes strict sleeping times, light control, and exercise. [TAKE THE COURSE]

BELIEF-O-MATIC
Even if you don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing. [CHECK IT OUT]

DIETS ANYONE?
We recently received this informative diet comparison chart developed by the University of Wisconsin. It compares the dietary plan, the downsides, and the pluses. [CHECK IT OUT]