The Kitchen & Bathroom: Benefits of Coconut Oil

I am just starting to use coconut oil.  Typically things that you can both eat and rub on your body kind of scare me, but coconut oil smells so nice and has lots of health benefits:

• hair care (will rid your scalp of dandruff, kill lice, and is a super conditioner and shine giver)
• skin care (great moisturizer and massage oil, apparently it helps with premature aging as well)
• maintaining cholesterol levels (because it's 50% lauric acid, it helps prevent high cholesterol)
• weight loss (less harmful saturated fats in this oil than other vegetable oils)
• increased immunity (has antifungal, antibacterial, and antivirus properties)
• proper digestion (the antimicrobial properties kill off the various bacteria & fungi in our foods)
• relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, & high blood pressure
• rich in antioxidants

Need I continue??

You can use coconut oil in my homemade deodorant, you can use it as a substitute for oil in baking and cooking, you can use it for hair and skin care...its an all-around great product. :)

Plus, with amazon's subscribe and save discount (which if you decide you don't like the service, you can cancel at anytime!) and coupon code NUTIVSEP you can get 2 jars of coconut oil for $6.49 each-- shipped free. 

Check out The Truth about Coconut Oil if you want to know more.

The Bathroom: Switching from Toothpaste to Listerine

For as long as I can remember, I have disliked toothpaste. Something about the grittiness paired with either bubblegum flavor as a kid or mint as an adult just grosses me out. So when our dentist encouraged us to begin to brush daily with Listerine instead of toothpaste, I was thrilled to give it a try. I LOVE it!

Its not a good idea for kids as they still need the fluoride in toothpaste, but for adults, Listerine is a great option for killing gingivitis and reducing the risk of gum disease. Our dentist says toothpaste is great for a mouth refresher, but Listerine is great for those morning and evening brush times. Try it out.

What do you think? Is it too weird to say goodbye to paste??