Archive for the ‘Diet’ Category
Sex Appeal Boosters
Turns out we are more attracted to faces that glow naturally from eating fruits and vegetables than we are to sun-tanned faces. This is according to 3 scientific studies published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
This reinforces an earlier study we wrote about that found people who eat plenty of fresh produce have a more attractive complexion, due to the carotinoids in their diet – carotinoids are what give fruits and vegetables their vivid colors.
So if you are thinking of using a sun-bed this winter, think again! You’d be better off in every way if you ate more fruits and vegetables.
How What We Eat Affects Our Skin
Robynne Chutkan, MD explains how what we put into our bodies affects our skin.
As a gastroenterologist treating GI issues, she finds…. “When I work with people on their diet, whether it’s cutting back on dairy, or switching them from a starchier, sugary processed diet, to a more plant-based way of eating, their skin often clears up.”
And when people have difficult skin disorders, often the solution lies deep in the gut, not in topical treatments.
“Skin disorders like rosacea, which a lot of people confuse with acne is a good example. A lot of people are using harsh things on their skin for this sort of redness on the cheeks and nose. Rosacea’s actually an autoimmune disease and, like most autoimmune diseases, we don’t actually know what causes it, but there’s a very strong association with something called dysbiosis, a bacterial imbalance and overgrowth of the wrong kinds of bacteria in the gut.”
She speaks of the “incredible connection” between the GI tract and the skin, and has published a book – Gutbliss: A 10-Day Plan to Ban Bloat, Flush Toxins, and Dump Your Digestive Baggage – that shows how to create a healthy gut, improve wellness, and give skin a healthy glow.
She says “the skin actually represents the outside of our GI tract.”
You can learn more about Dr. Chutkan’s work in this interview with her by James Hamblin in TheAtlantic.com. I’m ordering the book!
Soap Supreme – Best Cleanser Ever!
Lovely review of Soap Supreme by the gorgeous Sasha Stone of Be Open Yoga in Hollywood.
In addition to her review, Sasha goes over the lifestyle factors that give her skin such a youthful glow. Seeing is believing!
Click on the picture below to see what Sasha does to nurture her beauty.
Her newsletter has a Special Beauty Issue this month, too. You can see it by clicking here.
Colors For Collagen
Red Revs Up Collagen
Redness comes from compounds that “have important anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tumor properties and are capable of modulating enzymatic processes.” University of Barcelona
For example, tomatoes, peppers and beets contain lycopene, an antioxidant that protects skin from sun damage and increases collagen. And strawberry extract protects skin cells from solar damage.
Orange is also a mark of collagen boosters, as in carrots and sweet potatoes.
Green Grows Collagen
Vitamin C is critical for collagen production. It is abundant in green leafy vegetables.
Kale and cabbage are my favorites. Check out this kale and white bean soup recipe. It’s perfect for the cooler weather.
And collagen cannot be produced without sulphur – there’s plenty of sulphur in cucumber and celery.
Blue Boosts Collagen
Berries are anti-aging superstars. It’s so easy to be sweet on them.
They increase collagen levels and fight off free radicals, reducing sun damage and supporting firmer skin.
Red, purple and black berries tend to contain the highest levels of skin-friendly antioxidants. Look for deep, vivid colors.
The Best Collagen Diet
The best beauty diet is bright with the whole spectrum of colors.
It will give your skin the collagen-boosting, anti-aging support it needs.
And it will delight your every sense.
Tea – An Anti-Aging Superhero
Anti-wrinkle power in every cup
Antioxidants are 25% of the dry weight of tea
They are up to 100 times stronger than Vitamin C or E
Read More… Beauty Benefits Of Green Tea
How Can A Product That Contains Carcinogens Actually Be Good For Us?
According to the largest-ever study of the health effects of coffee, it looks like coffee drinkers may live longer.
The study was published by the New England Journal Of Medicine, where the researchers state that
“In this large prospective study, coffee consumption was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality.”
Yet coffee contains over 20 compounds that have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. And there may be more. A thousand or so additional compounds in coffee have yet to be tested. We just don’t know.
So how can a product that contains known carcinogens be good for us?
When we drink coffee, we benefit from the whole coffee bean. But if we isolate individual compounds from coffee, we can have a whole different experience.
Which underlines the fact that nature packs super-complex chemistry into deceptively-simple packages. We are only beginning to understand it. But it is clear that the benefits of the whole are different from the effects of the parts.
And that is why at Gaelle Organic we use whole natural ingredients in our products, in preference to synthesized ones.
Study Finds Powerful Health Benefits of Popular Herbal Teas
The three most popular herbal teas in the US – chamomile, peppermint and hibiscus – have been studied for their health benefits by USDA-funded scientists. The results of their research are reported today by Eurekalert.org.
Diane McKay and Jeffrey Blumberg are at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. Both work in the center’s Antioxidants Research Laboratory, which Blumberg directs.
They found that peppermint tea has significant antimicrobial and antiviral activities, and strong antioxidant and anti-tumor properties, and that hibiscus tea helps lower blood pressure. Chamomile had significant effects on preventing platelets to “clump”, which would lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. You can read more in this article in Agriculture Research magazine, where their findings were published.
Although I’m a huge fan of green tea, I enjoy all kinds of herbal teas, starting with yogi tea. By the afternoon, though, I’m more inclined towards a peppermint or chamomile tea, something without caffeine.
The Beauty Benefits Of Probiotics
Probiotics are bacterial microorganisms that are well-known for their ability to alleviate certain internal issues, such as diarrhea, IBS and lactose intolerance. However, dermatologists and other skin experts have found that their benefits go beyond digestive health. Daily Beauty
This article speaks to the many benefits of ingesting probiotics. It describes how improved intestinal bacteria can reflect in better skin by improving eczema, acne and other conditions, and delivering anti-aging protection. You can read more about the beauty benefits of probiotics at the Daily Beauty site.
It’s also worth noting that bacteria play a crucial role on the skin as well as inside the body. They break down the natural oil we secrete (sebum) and convert it into antiseptic fatty acids that protect us from troublesome microbes. On its own, our sebum has no antiseptic properties.
Here’s a review of a new skincare line devoted to bringing a better class of bugs onto you face. Not a bad idea, actually.
Eating Olive Oil & Greens Almost Halves Risk Of Heart Disease
An article in today’s Live In The Now covers 2 clinical studies that show dramatic health benefits from consuming olive oil and fresh green vegetables.
One study found that “consuming at least an ounce of extra virgin olive oil each day lowered the risk of a cardiac event by 44% compared to those who consumed a half-ounce or less.”
They also found that “women with the highest daily consumption (one serving or about 2 ounces) of raw vegetables such as spinach or endive had a 46% lower risk of developing heart disease compared with women eating less than 2 servings per week.”
The best way to eat olive oil is cold, in salad dressing. And it you have it over fresh greens, well, you get double the benefit.
Getting Rid Of Cellulite
Women often ask me about getting rid of cellulite. There was a time when I was troubled by cellulite, and I sure didn’t like it. The things that got rid of it for me were, first of all, dry skin brushing, and then changing the fats that I eat.
Dry skin brushing worked right away to reduce the amount of cellulite that I could see, but it didn’t stop cellulite from coming back. However, after I stopped eating fats that were bad for me, my cellulite went away, and didn’t come back.
Trans-fats are out of the question, of course, but even organic vegetable oils can turn into trouble when they are heated. So I cook only with coconut oil. And I use olive oil in my salad dressing every day. That’s it for oils that I eat. These two oils work wonders both on the body and inside it.
I use a whole range of organic oils in my moisturizer, but I do not believe they make any difference to cellulite when applied topically, even though they do amazing things for my complexion. But, when I totally changed my approach to the oils I let into my body, that’s what made the difference in my experience with cellulite. And the funny thing is, I didn’t make the change with cellulite in mind. I did it because the overall health benefits of cooking with coconut oil are so compelling, as are the benefits of eating unheated organic olive oil. Since I made the change, I’ve never felt better, and, happily, I no longer have cellulite.
Most web sites that address cellulite are focused on a particular cream or therapy, and I am not sure there is a magic bullet for cellulite reduction – something you can just put onto your skin and make it go away. The best information I found online is from a site called The Cellulite Investigation. It is not about any particular cream or treatment and it provides an unbiased, in-depth look at all of the options, including a lot of real-world case studies and reports from readers. Here is a quote from them…
The anti-cellulite industry is by nature only interested in finding a solution to cellulite that can be bottled and sold. What if the real answer is more complicated than that? The Cellulite Investigation
It could be that the answer is both more complicated (you cannot buy it in a bottle) and more simple (changes to your diet may solve the problem). I’m a big fan of natural solutions. They make beautiful skin simple.
Read more…
