Submitted questions will be posted with my response by the following Tuesday or before.
Submitted comments will be moderated and approved within 24 hours.
Green Pro and EarthPan nonstick cookware
Question from LaNae Atkinson
Hi Debra, Have you heard of GREEN PRO HARD ANODIZED NONSTICK cookware or GREEN PRO ALUMINUM NONSTICK (8 gauge aluminum) w/ SandFlow nonstick innterior? They are both being sold in NapaStyle Magazine. I would love your thoughts, as I love Michael Chiarello’s products, and these are both on sale. Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
Sincerely,
LaNae Atkinson
Debra’s Answer
I love Michael Chiarello too…I actually met him in person one day in his NapaStyle store in Berkeley, California.
I had not heard of this pan, but I called Napa Style and they are going to see if they can find out more about the finish for me. The woman on the phone went and looked at a pan for me and she said it had a “glassy” finish, not like plastic at all.
The links to this cookware are:
Green Pro Hard-Anodized Nonstick 10-piece Cookware Set
Green Pro Aluminum Nonstick 10-piece Cookware Set
The website says the nonstick finish is SandFlow, and “It’s main component is sand, one of nature’s most abundant resources…a terrific material for high heat conductivity. And, SandFlow is three times more durable than competitive ceramic nonstick coatings.” It uses no harmful PTFEs or PFOAs, and requires a third less energy to apply than traditional nonstick. It is manufactured in Thailand.
Peanut Allergies
Question from T. Rice
Hi Debra,
I recently found that peanut shells are used as an additive to pesticides that are sprayed on fruits and vegetables. Is it possible that this is the reason that severe peanut alergies have increased and become so fatal in the last 5 to 7 years?
Debra’s Answer
I have no idea. I would imagine that in making the pesticides, they are so processed that any remnant of peanuts would be broken down.
If that were true, I would think anyone sensitive to peanuts would not be able to eat produce sprayed with pesticides without having a reaction. My father was deathly allergic to nuts and ate pesticide-sprayed produce all the time with no reaction. However, that was prior to 2000.
Your Local Source of Honey
Question from T. Rice
Hi Debra,
I recently watched Emeril Green talk about if you use your local source of honey as a sweetener that it is possible to build up your immunity to pollen. I mean it does make sense, bees polinate flowers as well as produce the honey.
Debra’s Answer
That’s absolutely true.
How to Launder Mold Out of Clothing
Question from Susan P.
Dear Debra,
A freakish accident which happened during a move caused my clothes and my husband’s clothes and all our linens to become permeated with mold spores, to which I am highly allergic. (I have MCS.) I have washed and rewashed various loads of clothing using Ivory detergent, but the mold remains. I run a bleach cycle between each washing to kill off any mold that might be inside my washing machine.
Do you have any suggestions about how to get rid of the mold spores in our clothing? Am I going to have to throw it all away? The only things I can wear are ones I have just bought and, after wearing, wash by hand.
I have a Maytag Neptune washing machine — front loading — which never actually fills with water. Rather it drips water on the clothes from above. You can open the door of the machine at any time in the wash cycle.
I don’t know if my problem is the design of my washing machine or the lack of some agent added to the wash to kill or remove the mold. I have heard people advise bleach or borax, and I have tried both, but since I have MCS I can’t tell if my allergic reaction is to these chemicals or to mold still clinging to the fabric after washing.
I haven’t dared to use my dryer, for fear of contaminating it forever with mold spores, and the summer will soon be over, so I fear I literally will be unable to dry my clothing for much longer.
Debra’s Answer
Readers?
Vinegar Lowers Blood Sugar
I just came across an article that states that eating 2 tablespoons of vinegar before a meal will significantly lower blood sugar.
Here are links to several different versions of this article:
- A Spoonful of Vinegar Helps the Sugar Go Down
- Web MD (video)
- Apple Cider Vinegar Used for Diabetes
- Apple Cider Vinegar Used for Diabetics Note: This article recommends to mix the ACV with water and Splenda. I do not recommend Splenda. If you need to sweeten it, use zero-carb chicory root powder such as Sweet Perfection.
- Savvy Natural Healer: Vinegar and Diabetes This blog post also has links to other posts regarding natural susbtances that can affect blood sugar.
- Diabetes Care: Vinegar Improves Insulin Sensitivity to a High-Carbohydrate Meal in Subjects With Insulin Resistance or Type 2 Diabetes a description written by the woman who did the study.
Stinky Mattress
Question from k
Hi. I’m wondering if the nano-UV wands will kill mold or mildew? There are no visible signs, but I just got 3 mattresses and box springs from a basement where they were stored and they smell moldy. If the wands DO work, how do you then get rid of the smell. Seems like a steam cleaner or upholstry cleaner of some kind would just make it wet and subject to more mold! Any ideas?
Debra’s Answer
I’m not familiar with this at all. Readers?
Espresso Machine
Question from kpc
hi
before i start contacting random manufacturers i was wondering if you have any recommendations for an espresso machine with no internal plastic parts?
thanks!
p.s. i purchased a mattress from white lotus per your rec. thanks!!
Debra’s Answer
I haven’t done any research on espresso machines. Readers?
Tile Grout Dangerous?
Question from doodleb
Hi Debra, I enjoy your blog so much! I am now having an anxiety attack because we tried to go green and do away with vinyl flooring on a very very low budget. So what i did was i went to the big box store and got the 68 cent a foot ceramic tile, and bought some grout, BUT on the grout is says Warning: contains silica sand, and .. crystalized silica causes cancer and silicosis. So now im terribly afraid, as my dad will be the one laying the tile. It is made by Laticrete, the grout and the thin set morter.
(What sparked me to look was, I looked at my paint from Olympic, which was suppose to be Zero VOC and i started getting dizzy, which prompted me to go look at the ingredients. It said on it, contains Cristoballite which is crystalized silica and has the warning like on Grout, causes lung cancer and silicosis warning.
Oh you laid tile in your house, does all grout contain crystalized silica, or silica sand?
i also contacted a tile expert (he is from a grout company) and here is his answer.
Debra’s Answer
Veggie Pick-up Truck?
Question from Bev
I have a Toyota Prius and my partner wants to know if a diesel VW Rabbit pickup can be converted to run on vegetable oil. Somebody told me they don’t have much cab space. We’re looking to buy a pickup that can be converted.
Debra’s Answer
Yes. A VW Rabbit Diesel Pick-up can be converted, but it needs a two-tank system (one for diesel and one for vegetable oil). You have to start the engine using diesel, then you can switch over to veggie oil when the engine gets warm.
In the early 1980s, I know Toyota made a diesel pick-up, which has more space in the cab and carrying capacity than the Volkswagon. You might be able to find one on eBay. I’ve seen them there.
Also, full-sized Chevy, Ford, and Dodge diesel pick-ups can be converted with a two-tank system.
Mercedes made a diesel station wagon, which might meet your needs. Years 1977-85 can be converted with a one-tank system.
Filter Tips
Question from Julie
I’ve been sharing your veggie car info with my 13-year-old grandson. He wants to know if frequently replacing the filters would be the expensive part of the veggie car.
Debra’s Answer
Currently my 1978 Mercedes Benz 300D veggiecar has three fuel filters on it.
The first or primary filter is a small disposable plastic filter which filters out the bigger pieces of crud. This filter originally came with my Mercedes and costs three or four dollars at most auto parts stores.
My second fuel filter (which is not original to the Mercedes) is a Racor 500FG filter with a 2 micron filter element. I added this filter because vegetable oil often has many particles in it and I wanted to run the oil through an additional filter to filter out the smaller particles down to 2 microns. Since a single strand of hair is 300 microns, 2 microns is pretty small. These filters and elements are available at many marine supply stores. The elements cost eight to twelve dollars. The filter setup itself costs about $150 new, but you can buy them on eBay for about $60.
The third fuel filter is the standard Mercedes fuel filter, called a “secondary filter”. Cost is ten to twelve dollars at most auto parts stores.
All three of these filter elements need to be changed every 1000 miles or so, or when the car slows down when going up hills it used to take easily.
This is the setup recommended to me by fattywagons.com and it works very well.
