Lessons learned from a Health Show
By Marilyn Zink
You can learn a lot of lessons sometimes from attending a health show.
There are often many products to try; food and drink to sample, creams to put on the skin and scents to smell. Sometimes you need to be a little careful about how much you use, especially if you have a sensitivity.
Sometimes it just helps to ask the right questions, like for instance, if the mild hot sauce if an 8 on a scale of 1 - 10. I tried a mild version of the African hot sauce, putting a teaspoon on a cracker. Who-eee!
Good thing there was a water cooler handy, which is probably not the best treatment for a burning mouth, but it was the only thing handy. Some other poor fella told me with a rather red face that he had tried the hot version. His face was red from the hot sauce, not from shame.
Another thing to be wary of are creams that one might try. Perhaps the best approach is to put a small toothpick amount on the back of your hand. But no-o-o.
I had to try a larger amount and put it directly on my face. Bad idea. There were essential oils in the cream that immediately caused a burning sensation, turning my face bright red.
I should point out that my face was already sensitive, so I should have been more wary. Plenty of cold water and some ice helped cool things down.
I have nothing against the people who were selling the hot sauce and the cream - I’m sure they’re good products. But I do want my readers to know that you don’t want to try too much of any given product at a health show, especially if you’ve never tried it before, are a little sensitive and are not sure what sort of reaction you’ll have.
But, all in all, a health show is a great way to find out more about new products. Even the ones you don’t like.
Marilyn Zink is the publisher of the Herbal Collective magazine. To learn more about natural health and herbs, sign up to the newsletter at www.herbalcollective.ca