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Healthy Benefits of Cooking with Avocado Oil
Forty years ago, chefs across the continent switched from butter to margarine. Thirty years ago the trend shifted from margarine to sunflower oil. Since then, a series of oils, including canola, safflower, sunflower and olive oil have debuted and either found a permanent place on the grocery store shelf or been shoved to the back of the discount rack. Today’s consumers are demanding natural oils over man made, and one of the relative newcomers in beneficial natural oils is avocado or nutrition oils. The surprising and broad sweeping benefits of avocado oil will quickly win over many who may doubt its effectiveness.
For cooking, avocado oil contains heart-friendly monounsaturated fats. Its high-smoke point exceeds that of olive oil, making it ideal for cooking at higher temperature ranges. Unlike many other nutrition oils, avocado oil is rich in fiber giving users a healthier alternative that actually aids digestion. As a matter of fact, avocado oil retains many of the nutrients and vitamins of the avocado, including folate, potassium, antioxidants and Vitamins B5, B6, C, E and K, along with other nutrients in trace amounts that your body needs.
Knowing avocado oil contains these nutrients is not nearly as important as understanding their roles in the body.
The monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) in avocado oil lowers triglyceride and cholesterol levels, decreases inflammation and positively enhances a gene’s ability to detect cancer. Oleic acid has also been proven to aid arthritis sufferers.
Fiber is indigestible but acts as a catalyst in digestion by moving other food stuff through the intestinal tract. This leads to weight loss and better digestive health. Avocado oil also reduces blood sugar spikes after hearty meals.
Potassium (Vitamin K) lowers blood pressure, which decreases chances of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.
In numerous studies on the effects of avocado oil on the heart, it has been proven that ongoing ingestion of avocado oil reduces total cholesterol levels significantly, lowers blood triglycerides and reduces LDL cholesterol levels while maintaining healthy HDL cholesterol levels.
Consider switching your common cooking or nutrition oil to avocado oil. It could be the best decision you make this year – and for years to come. Learn more from the nutrition-oil experts at Bell Chem.
Why Coconut Oil?
Coconut oil brings to mind tropical beaches, calypso music and beautiful skin. Surprisingly, the fragrant oil we have been rubbing on our bodies to promote a healthy, robust tan has been found to house properties that reduce the effects of the sun. In fact, this beauty care chemical diminishes the appearance of fine lines in the face and hands, and its repertoire stretches from the kitchen to the shower to the makeup table. Valentine’s Day is coming up, so add coconut oil to your beauty regimen and diet for amazing results before the day of love is here.
While this blog is focusing on coconut oil’s beauty benefits, do not overlook how cooking or baking with coconut oil as an ingredient may help the body as well as the skin and hair. Coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides that the brain utilizes as fuel in place of glucose. A small study of patients with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive disorders who used coconut oil as part of their daily regimen found their impairments were more than halted. In fact, they were reversed. While a large-scale study is still in the future, many families find that if this small change in consumption opens their loved ones’ abilities to reason, then why not switch? The cost is minimal, and the results may be extraordinary for the investment you’ve made with your over-the-counter coconut oil purchase.
In the meantime, the switch to cooking with coconut oil will benefit almost everyone because this no-cholesterol alternative to butter is heart healthy and acts as a solid at room temperature. Switching from olive oil to coconut oil is just as simple since the boiling point for coconut oil is quite low because it rapidly changes to an oil with a touch of heat.
Coconut oil is naturally anti-microbial, making it a good fit for your beauty regimen. Individuals suffering from dermatitis, including eczema, rosacea, acne or any condition that causes skin fragility respond favorably to coconut oil because of its high levels of lauric acid. Medical studies of eczema patients found that given a cleansing regimen with this beauty care chemical stopped the Staphylococcus bacteria from invading the skin – remarkable news for these sufferers.
Along with its medical advantages, coconut oil also has beauty secrets to share. If your hair is dry, damaged or frizzy, dab a bit of coconut oil on your palm and brush it through your hair at night. In the morning, wash your hair as normal and awaken the natural beauty of your hair. Keep coconut oil on your dresser or in the bathroom to remove makeup, even long-lasting mascara. After shaving, coconut oil soothes the skin and leaves your legs supple and healthy.
With its myriad of uses, it’s no wonder coconut oil has become popular in the marketplace. Learn more about the healthy, rejuvenating benefits of this beauty care chemical for Valentine’s Day and beyond from Bell Chem.
Bell Chem Sponsors Central Florida Community Arts Christmas Concert
December 15, 2014 — Longwood, Fla. — Bell Chem, a full-line independent chemical distributor in Orlando, sponsored this year’s Central Florida Community Arts’ Christmas concert. The annual holiday concert provided an evening of enjoyment for families at Northland, A Church Distributed on December 11 and 12, 2014 in Longwood, Fla.
The concert featured a voice choir of 300 and 100-member orchestra that transported the audience back in time during the big-band and swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, which is the period where Christmas music found its sound.
“We are proud to sponsor the Central Florida Community Arts Concert,” says John Cervo, president of Bell Chem. “This year’s concert was one to remember and offered a great opportunity for families to enjoy the spirit of Christmas.”
To learn more about Bell Chem and the chemical products they offer, please visit http://www.bellchem.com or call 407-339-2355.
About Bell Chem
Founded in 1992, Bell Chem is an independent chemical distributor located in Longwood, Fla. On top of a full line of industrial and water treatment chemicals, Bell Chem offers a diverse blend of food, pharmaceutical and personal-care raw materials, as well as technical-grade and sanitation chemicals and custom compounds. Bell Chem’s vision is to provide high-quality chemical products with a “just-in-time” inventory approach to provide customers with the very best service in the industry.
Learning About Lubricant-Free Chains
When I was growing up, I was taught to properly maintain my bicycle. One of the requirements of maintenance was to ensure the chain was not corroded, did not rub more than necessary, and had the correct amount of oil. The amount of oil was tricky for me, and most of the time I was faced with the quandary of applying too much oil and risking grit and road grime from building up on the chain, or neglecting to add enough with the result of the chain grinding the gears, causing both to wear more quickly than normal.
Nearly every industry utilizes chains for most of its assembly line processes. Much like the chain on my bicycle, industrial chains are maintained by people who strive to maintain them to the best of their abilities. However, the same conundrum of too much or too little oil perseveres. Too little oil causes the chains, bearings, and other equipment to wear much more rapidly than expected. Too much oil invites contamination from airborne particles, which may spray oil in droplets across the surface of the product being manufactured. This latter predicament is extremely detrimental when the material is fabric or technology hardware, for instance.
To address this problem, sanitation chemical suppliers developed lubricant-free chains. These chains have an initial cost more than double that of a traditional chain, but because they are not maintained by the unintentional over- or under-oiling of maintenance personnel, the span of usefulness may stretch more than ten times that of a lubricated chain.
Lubricated chains are created with the lubricant added as the components are manufactured, a process known as sintering by sanitation chemical suppliers, or by packing the rollers with a high-viscosity grease lubricant. Of the two, the former is more highly recommended. Both have the advantage of dispersing oil internally to the chain rather than externally on the chain. Internal application repels more of the airborne particulate matter from adhering to the surface of the chain and causing undue wear.
Give your products and machinery the advantage of lubricated chains. The amount of man-hours saved in maintaining the chains of your equipment along with the greater amount of clean, oil-free products will certainly make the purchase of lubricated chains beneficial.
To learn more about sanitation chemicals, contact the Orlando sanitation chemical supplier at Bell Chem today.
Clean Water With Polyphosphates
Polyphosphates, the water treatment chemical components, play a vital role in maintaining a precise chemical level of potable (drinking) water. It is inevitable that metals exist in water; polyphosphates work to remove or reduce the level of these metals more rapidly than other chemicals; they are also used as a catalyst to stimulate other chemical reactions. For instance, hard deposits of calcium carbonate and iron oxides tend to flocculate, or clump, and cause buildups in pipes and in the water. Polyphosphates coat individual metal particles, halting flocculation and preventing clogging. Sodium hexametaphosphate interferes with early crystallization of hard metal deposits to remove these metals from the water at levels far below what is typical for other reactions. Polyphosphates also act as sequestration agents, surrounding metal ions such as iron and manganese to form soluble chemical complexes that move through pipes rather than adhering to them.
Many water treatment chemicals have a specific pH range and strict environmental protocol to work properly. Polyphosphate configuration is varied and works in a wide range of neutral or alkaline pH levels. Polyphosphates are stable under conditions considered too harsh for other water treatment chemicals, such as those found in chlorinated drinking water. Stability is also important in storing chemicals, and polyphosphates have the ability to retain physical and chemical properties over an extended period of time.
If you are looking for an array of stable, hard-working water treatment chemicals to quickly improve your water treatment system, give polyphosphates a try. For the most reliable water treatment chemical supplier in the Orlando area, contact Bell Chem today. By simply calling 407-339-BELL(2355), you’ll be establishing a lasting and reliable relationship, unlike any other. Along with a vast selection of water treatment chemicals, we also have various pharmaceutical and personal care, as well as raw materials to suit any need or desire.
Beyond the Sunburn: Aloe Vera’s Uses as a Beauty Care Chemical
My grandmother always had at least one aloe vera plant at her house that we primarily utilized as a curative for any minor skin irritation, from burns to punctures and even abrasions. The soothing gel of the aloe did not irritate or dry the skin. As I grew up, aloe vera’s usefulness grew with me. The beauty care chemical became my go-to remedy for sunburn relief and to enhance my skin’s pliability. Aloe does much more than making the skin look healthy, though; aloe significantly improves many facets of skin health.
Aloe vera plants are storehouses of remarkable beauty care chemicals, designed to counteract the effects of time and environment. Long strings of extremely polar proteins called mucopolysaccharides encapsulate water within the skin’s surface to help skin maintain moisture. Aloe vera also stimulates the production of the skin’s collagen and elastin fibers, the fibers responsible for skin elasticity. The breakdown of elastin fibers gives the skin a wrinkled appearance; aloe vera prevents this breakdown.
The surface of the skin, the epidermis, is constantly flaking away. These small cellular regions are shed without notice for the most part, but their departure often gives the skin a rougher appearance. Aloe adheres these flaking skin cells together for a softer, more uniform skin appearance. The amino acids within aloe vera work to soften toughened skin areas, such as feet and fingers. As a matter of fact, when gloves are infused with aloe, hands become less erythematous and wrinkles decrease. Another dermatological difficulty aloe corrects is pore size. When the pores on the skin’s surface are large, not only does the skin look rough, but the larger openings increase permeability, inviting bacterial infection of the oil glands. The zinc within aloe vera is proven to tighten pores and relieve many of the symptoms caused by larger pores.
The components of aloe vera also act as an anti-inflammatory, which aids in removing or reducing fluid build-up beneath the skin. Studies are also proving that aloe vera may inhibit tumor growth in animals. In the future, we may see aloe as part of cancer chemoprevention.
Stock up on aloe vera today by contacting Bell Chem. Your skin will thank you for investing in this amazing beauty care chemical for years to come.
Oxygen Scavengers
While we consider oxygen extremely important for life, it has only been quite recently in the history of the world that oxygen moved from the category of “toxic chemical” to “life-giving gas,” both classifications due to its ability to chemically bond with so many elements. Today, there are still instances where oxygen causes extreme damage. In chemistry, a scavenger is a substance that removes or de-activates impurities. Oxygen scavengers remove oxygen or prevent an oxidation reaction--the transfer of electrons from one chemical to another. As it relates to oxygen, an oxidation reaction forms an oxide. Because of its electronegativity, oxygen is highly reactive and quickly bonds to almost every other element when exposed to elevated temperatures, forming an oxide of that element. However, a number of elements form oxides at standard temperatures, most readily identified as iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3)--commonly referred to as “rust”. Oxygen scavenging negates the presence of oxygen in normal atmospheric conditions, stanching its ability to corrode or form oxides.
Oxygen scavenging is a simple process that occurs when an organic chemical--which tends to have a slightly negative charge--comes in contact with a slightly positive oxygen molecule. In essence, science has caused oxidation to occur with a compound at our discretion rather than nature’s. Oxygen is absorbed from the surrounding area and its ability to corrode is negated. Two oxygen scavengers used in this manner are the water treatment chemicals: sodium hydrogen carbonate and ascorbic acid. Adding either of these chemicals, or any other oxygen scavenger, negates oxygen’s corrosive properties. Carbohydrazine is another oxygen scavenger known for its ability to convert iron (III) oxide (ferric oxide) to iron (II) oxide (ferrous oxide). In order to control the corrosive properties of oxygen, it is imperative to introduce oxygen scavengers into a water treatment system. Without water treatment chemical oxygen scavengers, the metals will corrode and cause maintenance difficulties and breakdowns, and, more importantly, the health of consumers will be negatively affected.
If you’re looking for a water treatment chemical supplier, contact Bell Chem. We’re the the leading chemical supply company in Orlando and we’re more than happy to help you in any way that we can. For more information, call 407-339-BELL (2355) today.
Hydrogen Chloride as a pH Conditioner
Obtained from a water treatment chemical supplier, hydrogen chloride has an extremely low pH (around 1.5-2), making it a strong acid. The water treatment process is often presented with situations that demand an added strong acid and hydrogen chloride, which becomes hydrochloric acid when it forms an aqueous solution with water, fills this role nicely. Hydrogen chloride’s role in the water treatment process is to lower the pH of basic (alkaline) water. When water is too alkaline, corrosion in pipes and equipment occurs, and, more significantly, the health of anyone drinking the water is negatively affected. Elevated pH levels also causes scale formations in water treatment equipment, eventually lead to pinhole leaks in copper pipes, decrease water heater efficiency, and stain porcelain.
If you are concerned about the pH balance of your water, specifically if your water is basic, it is important to recognize the signs of alkaline water. Your water will taste bitter, and the telltale blue-green staining caused by the leaching of copper from pipes will be noted on surfaces coming in contact with the water. To remedy this situation, hydrogen chloride is a dependable acid with many benefits. While other strong acids are available, the water treatment chemical, hydrochloric acid, is the least hazardous to handle, the most stable during storage (concentrations of HCl in water remain more constant than other acids), is available as a pure reagent, and it contains non-toxic and non-reactive chloride ions.
To keep your water treatment equipment safe, check the pH frequently. When a strong acid is necessary to counteract a basic pH, rely on hydrogen chloride to work quickly and effectively. If you’re looking for water treatment chemicals or a water treatment chemical supplier, contact Bell Chem at 407-339-BELL (2355) today.
Chlorinated Detergents
Detergents purchased from sanitation chemical suppliers are renowned for their ability to clean. This process begins when detergents break the surface tension of water used to rinse stainless steel, plastic, or any other hard surface. Once water’s tensile strength is relaxed, water is able to penetrate soiled areas on most hard surfaces and remove grime. Adding a chlorinated component to the detergent will also disinfect surfaces as they are cleaned.
Chlorinated detergents sanitize and bleach stainless steel surfaces, floors, and most plastics. Breweries and wineries use chlorinated detergents as part of their post-fermentation cleaning process to remove brewing deposits. Professional painters find chlorinated detergents excellent for washing walls because it can be entirely rinsed off the surface to be primed and painted. The dairy industry uses chlorinated detergents to clean its milking apparatus and pipelines. Power and spray washers incorporate chlorinated detergents in their equipment; and many convoluted, hard-to-clean machines benefit from the use of chlorinated detergents.
Tannin, a substance released from decaying leaves, stubbornly clings to most hard surfaces. Chlorinated detergents easily remove these stains, leaving a gleaming surface where dark stains once lingered. Along with removing tannin, the sanitation chemicals in chlorinated detergents are also effective in removing proteins, food, and soil.
Add to the above benefits the facts that chlorinated detergents are low-foam, safe to use on soft metals, widely utilized in food manufacturing and production, and hard water tolerant, it is no wonder so many industries turn to chlorinated detergents as their cleaning and disinfecting needs.
At Bell Chem, we are the sanitation chemical supplier offering a variety of products to suit your needs. It’s our goal to provide our clients with the best service in the industry. Along with sanitation chemicals, we provide food, pharmaceuticals, and personal care materials, as well as technical-grade chemicals and custom-blended compounds. If you’re looking for a reliable Florida chemical supply company, contact us today at 407-339-BELL (2355).
Sanitizing vs. Disinfecting
Ask most homeowners the difference between sanitizing and disinfecting and you will probably receive a blank stare. While they seem similar and the two words are often used interchangeably, take it from a knowledgeable sanitation chemical supplier: sanitizing and disinfecting are not the same.
When a countertop is disinfected, the adult forms of bacteria and fungi are either destroyed or inactivated. Sanitizing, on the other hand, decreases the number of pathogens to an amount viewed as safe by public health standards. As an example, food-processing areas are typically disinfected (removing 100% of all organisms within a specified time, such as ten minutes) while other areas may be sanitized (destroying 99.999% for food service areas or 99.9% for non-food surfaces within 30 seconds). Because the chemicals may work quickly to destroy most of the bacteria and more slowly before killing all pathogens, several chemicals are listed as both sanitizers and disinfectants.
Among the list of sanitizing chemicals provided by sanitation chemical suppliers are hypochlorites, chlorine dioxide, iodophors, peroxyacetic acid, and quaternary ammonia compounds.
Hypochlorites: Hypochlorites are strong oxidizers. Their low cost and effectiveness give them the title of most widely used sanitizers.
Chlorine dioxide: Chlorine dioxide works on a greater pH range than hypochlorites, and is relatively safe to use in a solution. The cost is greater than hypochlorites, but less chlorine dioxide is necessary to sanitize an area.
Iodophors: Iodophors work best in slightly acidic conditions. Because the iodine content stains many surfaces, especially plastics, iodophors are typically used on glass surfaces. Iodophors are sustained release, giving continuous levels of sanitizer for extended periods of time without re-application.
Peroxyacetic acid: Peroxyacetic acid works well in temperatures below 4°C. Less corrosive and environmentally friendlier than hypochlorites, peroxyacetic acid is often combined with hydrogen peroxide for better results.
Quaternary ammonium compounds: Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) do not stain or corrode, and are relatively nontoxic. QACs also perform well in a wide pH and temperature range. Once QAC dries on a surface, an anti-microbial film is formed that prevents pathogen growth.
Knowing the difference between a sanitizer and a disinfectant will assist in choosing the correct product for your business needs. If you’re looking to purchase sanitation or disinfectant chemicals from a sanitation chemical supplier, look no further than Bell Chem. We’re located in Central Florida and we’re happy to help with all of your sanitation chemical needs. For additional information, contact us today at 407-339-BELL (2355).