Top 10 Lifestyle Habits for Beautiful Skin

Most skin care authorities that would agree that our skin is a direct reflection of the health of our inner landscape. The other factors at play are the effects of our environment, topical skin care habits, and of course, genetics. But I believe that our diet and lifestyle is the one facet that we have the most control over and that will produce the most profound results with regards to our skin. 

Here is a list of the top ten lifestyle habits to integrate into our lives that will help to create healthy, glowing skin from head to toe!

One –  Eat Well
Eating a simple, clean diet is so important for the health of our bodies, including our mental health, and in effect, our skin. Choose foods that have not been processed and are not man-made. Fresh fish, vegetables and an abundance of raw fruits and greens make us look and feel amazing.

Two – Have Fun 
Balance is key!  Life is to be enjoyed and laughing and playing is not just for kids. Try having a some amount of ‘fun’ each and every day. Isn’t this why most of us work, so we can have more fun. Induce a sense of humor as often as possible to keep things light and in perspective. 

Three – Hydrate 
Pretty basic idea that is an oldie but a goodie. Make it happen.  Avoid drinking with meals. Sip instead of gulp. Consider the best quality water you can afford. You’re worth it and you’re skin will appreciate it.

Four – Exercise 
Another oldie but goodie. Find something you truly enjoy. It all works – dancing, walking, swimming, gardening, hiking. Recruiting a partner can double the fun factor.  

Five – Give
There is much scientific proof that the side effects of ‘giving’ to others is giving to ourselves. Doing volunteer work or giving regularly to charitable organizations has a very positive effect on our mental and physical body. This is not a reason to be generous with our time or money but simply a beautiful fact within the gesture.

Six – Do What You Love
I’m not necessarily suggesting quit your job and go live on the beach in Hawaii, however, there really are no limits with this one.  We all need at least one thing in our lives that we are truly passionate about, something that transcends time and money – mentoring, a charity, a project, a garden, a hobby! 

Seven – Sleep
Sleep is great. The benefits of quality sleep are so abundant.  I believe the quantity varies from one person to the next, however, the average number is six hours. Try to ensure complete darkness in a clean room with fresh air. Upon awakening decide to make the first thought a happy one. If this doesn’t come naturally, fake it till you make it a habit.

Eight – Sunshine
The sun is our friend and, in moderation, it can be the simplest and least expensive health ally ever. If you’re out for more than a few minutes at a time a quality sunscreen is advised.  We still get plenty of Vitamin D and all the other wonderful things from the sun through our eyes and scalp.

Nine – Don’t fall asleep at the wheel
Sometimes we get caught up in the day to day and lose sight of the big picture of our lives. Months may pass by and suddenly we take notice that some things have gotten out of balance. We need to stay in touch with our goals and dreams. It’s helpful to make it a regular practice to check in and see what needs our attention the most. If there is an area of our lives that has been suffering we can take action. One step at a time in the direction that feels right. Walking, laying in the grass, meditating, whatever creates the space for us to survey what we’re manifesting.

Ten – Friends and Family
According to many global studies, this is the most important thing in life contributing to our overall fulfillment and happiness in life. Love is the best. 

Anti Oxidants and Sun Damaged Skin

Sun damage or photo damage produces both skin cancers as well as photo-aging. Photo-aging shows itself on the skin as wrinkling, scaling, dryness, and mottled pigmentation. Ultra-violet light is absorbed by skin, which in turn produces a photo-chemical reaction.
The UVA light is absorbed by both DNA as well as urocanic acid, the photo-chemical reaction produces oxidation of both DNA, nucleide acid, and protein, as well as lipids, this is known as oxidative damage. Anti-oxidants have been evolved to protect against, and reverse some of the damage produced by sunlight. An anti-oxidant mechanism is very advanced in plants that protect against the damage from sun exposure.

Oxidation:

Oxidation is produced by reactive oxygen molecules. The DNA absorbs ultra-violet light mostly in the UVB (290-320 manometres) range. This produces damage mainly within the epidermis. UVA (320-400 manometres) penetrates deeper into the skin and produces damage in the epidermis, the dermis as well as affecting blood vessels. The UVA has a much more oxidizing effect on cells.

The carcinogenic or cancer forming effects of ultra-violet B produce mutations within the DNA. This initiates tumours within the epidermis. The UVA promotes these tumours as it has much more oxidizing stress on the skin than UVB. It may as a result be more cytotoxic and immunosuppressive.

Sunscreens:

Sunscreens certainly protect against ultra-violet light, the sunburning spectrum is UVB and sunscreens are very effective. Ultra-violet A is the most difficult to protect against. It is important to realize that the SPF numbers are calculated with an amount of sunscreen on skin that exceeds what most of us put on our own skin.

The SPF is calculated with a quantity of 2mg. of sunscreen per centimetre2. Most people will put on about half to one quarter of this when used as sun protection. Unfortunately, low quantities of sunscreen of per centimtre2 will have minimal sun protective effects. Usually if 5mg. per cm.2 of sunscreen is applied to the skin, the sun protective factor is in the region of an SPF of 3.

Anti-Oxidants:

Anti-oxidants play a significant part in the protective and repair mechanisms within animals and plants. This can be achieved by anti-oxidants that are produced within the skin itself or by those consumed or applied from plants. The anti-oxidant effects can be divided into those that have their protection through enzymes, and those that tend to reduce the quantity of hydrogen peroxide as well as lipid hydroperoxides.

Topical Anti-Oxidants:

The use of topical anti-oxidants has certain requirements, these have to be stable as well as being cosmetically acceptable. It is clear that anti-oxidants have a photo-protective benefit. The physiological anti-oxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, and ubiquinol. Vitamin C is water-soluble and is a free radical scavenger, it is required for collagen synthesis and may inhibit elastin formation in the dermis.

It may also reduce pigment synthesis, as well as enhance epidermal barrier function. For it to be active it must be present on the skin at a pH of 3.5 or lower in order to have an anti-oxidative effect. Vitamin E is different from vitamin C, in that it is lipid soluble, there is evidence that combining vitamin E and vitamin C may be of some benefit. Other anti-oxidants to be considered will be selenium as well as zinc.

Plant Anti-Oxidants:

Plants synthesize vitamin C, vitamin E and flavones, and polyphenolic compounds.

• Silymarin
• Soy isoflavones
• Tea
• Polyphenols

These are all potent plant anti-oxidants.

Silymarin:

This is a Milk Thistle extract, the main component in terms of anti-oxidants is silybyn. This prevents lipid peroxidase action. It also has been shown to inhibit tumour promotion in animals.

Soy isoflavones:

Soy has been connected with a reduction in cardiovascular disease, and in some incidents’ of breast cancer when taken by mouth in large quantities. It has a phytoestrogen effect, which can reduce menopausal symptoms. The isoflavones are genistein and gaidzein. The genistein has a collagen synthesis effect. It is also anti-cancer. It has been used both orally as well as topically.

The genistein is a powerful scavenger of peroxyl radicals. This has a significant reduction in lipid peroxidase activity. It has been shown to reduce redness in the skin of mice which are subject to ultra-violet A. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect. The use of this compound reduces the immune suppression effect of ultra-violet light.

Tea polyphenols:

Tea is fermented initially to green, and then to black tea. The drinking of black tea has been shown to reduce the frequency of squamous cell carcinomas. Work done with green tea both topically and taken orally, shows that it reduces the ability of ultra-violet to produce skin cancers and redness, particularly in animals. The possibility of combining tea, plus vitamin E, to work together as anti-oxidants is interesting.

Much more work needs to be done in order to establish how combining anti-oxidants with sunscreens will have a very beneficial effect on reducing sun damage to skin.

5 Steps for Healthy Skin

Are you serious about your skin care? Serious skin care requires a total health approach, or you’ll never achieve the skin care results you want.

After all, our health is the most important thing to us. What are we without our health? And our overall state of health is related to the state of our skin as well as our overall wellbeing. With good health we achieve great skin, but without it it’s extremely difficult to achieve great skin.

So if, to achieve serious skin care results, we need to get serious about our skin, and health, first, what should we do? How do we go about this?

Simple. Notice I said simple, not easy. There’s 5 simple things we can do to achieve the skin we want, and the look we want. And if we do these 5 things then we’ll also achieve great overall health and feel great as well as achieving serious skin health.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Exercise. There’s no doubt that exercise has an impact on just about every aspect of our life, and health, including our skin. Exercise, for example, increases our ability to circulate the blood around our body, and as the skin, like other organs, requires a good blood supply, improved circulation will improve your skin health. Serious skin care must involve a minimum amount of exercise.

2. Improve your diet. Cut down on the Pizzas and burgers, increase your intake of high quality fresh fruit and vegetables. Increase your intake of good vitamins and minerals and antioxidants and your skin will thank you for it.

3. Use high quality organic health supplements to supplement those vitamins and minerals that we should be getting in our diet, but aren’t. Because even the best diet will have it’s deficiencies, for a number of reasons, and we need to use high quality organic supplements to correct this.

4. Avoid well known brand name skin care products. Serious skin care cannot be found in a brand name moisturizer. Brand name products contain ingredients that are at best suspect and at worst actively damaging to our health and skin. And the bottom line is that mainstream skin care products don’t work anyway, so even ignoring the health risks, you’re wasting your money using the skincare products on the shelves of your local store.

5. Use a quality organic skin care range that offers tested ingredients proven not only to be safe to your overall health but also to work. And the best ones are backed up with money back guarantees so you can try the products risk free until you’re convinced that they are working for you. Try getting a money back guarantee like that from your mainstream skincare product manufacturers.

Serious skin care requires a serious, thought out approach to overall health, not just skin health, because the two go together. If you’re serious about your skin care you need to make an effort. Anything less and it just won’t work. But if you do it will shine through in far more than just your skin health. It will show in your whole life.

Because your skin is just another organ in your body. It’s a visible organ, not an invisible one. Because people see your skin they see when your skin us unhealthy, because it looks unhealthy. But if you get healthy generally then your skin gets healthy, and looks it.

So make sure you get serious and practice some serious skin care practices. Eat well, stay moving and stay healthy and everyone will know, from how your skin looks.

Where do you get these great skin care products? Not from the mainstream anti aging and skin care companies, in fact the best ones come from a company you’ve probably never heard of.

Sun Safety for Skiers

Higher altitude means increased levels of harmful UV exposure compared to sea level areas. UV exposure increases 8-10 percent with every 1,000 feet above sea level.  At an altitude of 9-10,000 feet, UV may be 45-50 percent more intense than at sea level. In addition, snow reflects about 80 percent of the UV light from the sun, meaning that you are often hit by the same rays twice. This only contributes to the problem, further increasing the risk for skin cancer.

The combination of higher altitude and ultraviolet (UV) rays reflected by the snow puts skiers and snowboarders at an increased risk of sun damage and ultimately, skin cancer. More than 90 percent of all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure. It’s easy to associate winter with frostbite and windburn, but most people are unaware that UV rays can be even more damaging on the slopes than on the beach,it’s important to take proper precautions while on the slopes.

Both snow and strong wind can wear away sunscreen and reduce its effectiveness, so you have to take extra precautions. To protect your skin from the bitter cold, heavy winds and winter sun, follow these important sun protection tips:
•    Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher whenever you spend time outdoors. Apply 30 minutes before hitting the slopes.Be aware that the sun’s reflection off the snow is strong even on cloudy days.
•    Apply sunscreen liberally and evenly to all exposed skin – most skiers and snowboarders do not use enough sunscreen and therefore do not get the maximum protection.
•    Use a more moisturizing sunscreen. Winter conditions can be particularly harsh on the skin.
•    Be sure to cover often-missed spots: lips, ears, around eyes, neck, underside of chin, scalp and hands.
•    Always wear a lip balm with an SPF 15 or higher. Lips are even more sensitive than most parts of the skin.
•    Reapply at least every two hours, and more often after sweating or exposure to wind and snow.
•    Carry a travel-sized sunscreen and lip balm with you on the slopes. Reapply on the chairlift, especially after a long, snow-blown run.

Cover up.
•    Wear items like ski masks, which will cover most of the skin, leaving very little exposed to the wind and sun.
•    UV-blocking sunglasses or goggles that offer 100% UV protection and have wraparound or large frames protect your eyelids and the sensitive skin around your eyes, common sites for skin cancer and sun-induced aging. The sun’s rays and glare can impair your vision, so it’s important to wear sunglasses or goggles to clearly see the terrain. Plus, it will increase your enjoyment and performance while skiing.
Be mindful of time spent in the sun, regardless of the season.
•    Keep track of the time you spend in full sunlight. If possible, ski early in the morning and later on in the day, before 10AM and after 4PM. This helps avoid long lines and decreases the amount of time spent outdoors in the most intense hours of sunlight.
•    If you are on the slopes for most of the day, take a few breaks indoors to reapply sunscreen.
•    Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration from the sun.
Enjoy the winter season, but be sure to take care of your skin to avoid the damage the cold season can cause.The first organization in the U.S committed to educating the public and medical professionals about sun safety, The Skin Cancer Foundation is still the only global organization solely devoted to the prevention, detection and treatment of skin cancer. The mission of the Foundation is to decrease the incidence of skin cancer through public and professional education and research.

The Mediterranean Diet

We all know how important diet is to building healthy, beautiful skin. But did you know eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones can actually help prevent wrinkles and minimize the signs of aging?
According to a recent article in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, “Eating a Mediterranean diet can halve the risk of the most dangerous form of skin cancer, research suggests.” The recent study may eventually prove regular intake of fruit, vegetables, nuts and fish may protect against malignant melanoma.

The” Mediterranean diet,” which features plenty of vegetables, legumes, and olive oils, may be a catalyst for the body to absorb and benefit from fat-soluble antioxidant vitamins and phytochemicals, such as vitamin E, lycopene, and isoflavones. In this light, organic produce has been shown to contain a higher level of beneficial antioxidants than conventionally raised fruits and vegetables.

So, what does all this mean if you suffer from dry skin or sensitive skin? With dry skin issues, it is important to get the right types fats into your diet. But what are the right types of fats? For example, increased intake of saturated fat and monounsaturated fat in the diet has been associated with a decrease skin hydration. So consuming some saturated fats but not too many, seems to be best.
Countless studies show that an omega-3 fat deficiency is associated with dry skin and skin problems like eczema. That’s why it is important to consume adequate amounts of these essential fats, found in fatty fish, fish oils, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, etc.

Be aware of the difference from the omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable oils (including corn, canola, and safflower), formerly hailed as healing for the heart. Meaning, most need to eat more omega-3s and less omega-6 oils.
The dairy products you eat (and avoid) can also make a difference in skin aging. Butter, full-fat milk, margarine, and sweets should be minimal, while yogurt, cheese, and reduced-fat milk are neutral in their aging effects.

The epidermis (upper layer of the skin) is composed of 25 percent monounsaturated fatty acids. In the cell membranes, both monosaturated fats and saturated fats resist oxidation, a key process in cellular aging. Omega-6 polyunsaturated oils, on the other hand, contribute to the production of free radicals, the by-products of oxidation – also the cause of the skin aging process. This would increase both wrinkling and the risk of developing skin and other cancers, including melanoma. Polyphenols, found in fresh fruits, vegetable and herbs can protect the body’s cells against the damaging effects of oxidative stress, a process by which oxygen-rich molecules can attack and destroy cells in much the same way as rust rots a car.
Therefore, it is beneficial to eat more olive oil (a monounsaturated) while avoiding omega-6 polyunsaturated oils, such as corn, canola, safflower and others. Included in this list of foods to avoid, are the trans fats, present in margarine, most baked goods, fried, processed foods, and sweets, which are oxidized polyunsaturates, making them even more detrimental. In certain studies they have been shown to block healthy Omega -3 fats. High trans-fats content may interfere with the hormonal pathways needed for healthy fat metabolism and preventing inflammation.

Consuming the omega-3s and avoiding unhealthy oils that block them will help the body absorb the vital lipids needed in the skin cells and improve the hormonal actions. Since skin aging is caused by hormonal shifts that occur naturally in the aging process, it’s best to eliminate the polyunsaturated and trans fats as much as possible.

Fish oils and fish are the purest sources of omega-3 fatty acids,which can increase the lipid content of your cells. These fats have been shown to improve psoriasis and other severe dry skin conditions. If you are pregnant or nursing, please be aware of the mercury content in your fish – which has been shown to cause detrimental effects to mothers, and young children, so supplements may be the best way of obtaining these fats vital to skin health.

Dry, sensitive, and wrinkled skin can also be helped with a diet rich in antioxidants obtained from fresh fruits and vegetables, such as spinach, kale, collard greens, turnips, romaine lettuce, broccoli, leeks, corn, peppers, peas, and mustard greens. Egg yolks and oranges contain the antioxidant lutein. Lutein is an important natural antioxidant that may help your eyes stay healthy while maintaining the health of your skin.
So, to recap your skin-healthy diet should include:
•    Fats from whole foods-nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados
•    A wide variety of whole plant foods
•    Monounsaturated fats, such as olive or nut oils
•    Good sources of omega3 oils (never heated) or in capsule form
•    Moderate use of omega-6 oils (corn, safflower, canola and soy oils)
•    Limited amounts of processed foods and deep-fried foods
•    Pure sources of omega3 fats, including a source of essential fatty acids (EFA)