New Travel Radiation Concerns

Happy Holidays!  We're on the last day of November before true holiday chaos ensues!!

May your holiday season be filled with peace, joy, and love - rather than materialism, stress, and greed!  (Did you know on Black Friday this year, people actually brought MACE to stores so they could fight their way to the deals they wanted?!)

And with the holiday season comes travelling for many.  Back in 2010, I shared a post called Flying and Frying, about some of the damaging radiation from flying, and ways to help stay healthy on plane flights.

More recently, you're probably heard about the privacy invasion arguments regarding TSA's full body scans.  (You may want to check out the Colbert Report snippet on it, if you need a little laugh about it, rather than too much stress!)



From http://www.allvoices.com/



And now there is some concern that these scans may be adding even MORE damaging radiation to a body! 

I am not trying to sound like an alarmist. I know that our bodies are constantly being bombarded with toxins.  I know that travel is fun and I am not saying to stop.  Just make sure you're taking care of your health! 

The full article can be found here, but here are some bits from the article, TSA Attempts to Cover Up Cancer Threat From Its Airport X-ray Machines:

• "The European Union has even put a moratorium on the [backscatter] scanners in light of the cancer threats—member states have been told not to install scanners until scientific assessment of risks has been carried out, and they will be banned completely in April if experts find them dangerous"
• "According to a ProPublica/PBS NewsHour investigation, up to 100 US airplane passengers could get cancer from the machines each year."
• "the majority of the [backscatter] machine’s energy is delivered to the skin and the underlying tissue—not distributed throughout the volume of the entire body—so the dose to the skin may be dangerously high."
• "After the release of the ProPublica report, TSA Administrator John Pistole agreed to conduct a new independent study of the health effects of backscatters. But now the TSA is refusing to honor its commitment to conduct that safety study."

Pretty Spinach Salad Wreath

So drink your green smoothies and water, fill up on the antioxidant fruit, crave cancer-fighting cruciferous veggies, and enjoy your holidays!  Yes, you CAN still enjoy a healthy holiday even with healthy food!  I hope to make a handful of healthy, natural desserts to go with the traditional unhealthy desserts my family loves :)  I'll share recipes and links soon!

Healthy cashew spread snowman!

Holiday Hugs!

~Katie