Skincare should be part of an overall health and beauty program. Apart from nourishing the skin with topical application, you also need a proper diet, exercise and the use of good nutritional supplements.

Improper nutrition causes chaos to the skin. It increases free-radical oxidative stress. Antioxidants in your diet is very important. Poor diet can inhibit sebum production and result in dry skin. It’s impossible to topically introduce elastin and collagen through the skin with today’s technology. They must be produced from within the skin.

Sufficient water intake is also important for proper nutrition and skincare. It hydrates the skin and flushes out toxins. Bioflavonoids, flavones and vitamin C and K strengthen capillary walls. Healthy blood vessels deliver necessary nutrients to the cells and protect against varicose veins, broken capillaries and cherry angiomas.

Proper exercise contributes to the skin’s health and beauty. It increases capillary density and improves the body’s ability to nutrient the skin. The circulatory system not only feeds the skin, but also provides its color and tone.

Smoking age the skin very fast. It reduces the oxygen in your blood and increases free-radical oxidative stress. It magnifies capillary elation and constriction and exacerbates capillary disorders, such as varicose veins. It destroys irreplaceable skin tissue and over time, creates dull skin and yellow patches.

Proper skincare requires a four stage treatment. Cleanse First, cleanse the skin with a gentle cleanser to remove impurities without drying or irritating the skin. Don’t use soap. Sucrose-based emollients and cleansers are preferred to ensure dermal hygiene. The objective is to cleanse the skin with minimum disruption to the skin’s acid mantle or pH balance. An initial introduction of nutrients during the process is desirable (such as vitamins A, C, E and others.)

Tone Toning completes the cleansing process by rinsing away leftover impurities. Skin pores are cleared by removing the excess oils. The skin is now receptive to the nutrients both included in the toner and those supplied later in the regimen.

Renew and refine The cleansed and toned skin is prepared for renewing and refining compounds, specifically designed to diminish the signs of aging, such as sagging skin and uneven tone and to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Cleansing and toning have opened avenues into the skin which permit deep penetration of nourishing and firming compounds. Exfoliant agents applied at this stage loosen dead keratin cells so that they are more readily and evenly removed at the next cleansing. Skin brighteners are introduced to stimulate the skin to display an enhanced and vibrant tone.

Nourishment The final step is nourishing your skin. Deep moisturizers hydrate and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Stabilizing oils restore a proper pH-balanced acid mantle. Protective lipid emollients will nurture this balance and minimize dehydration until the next cleansing.

Protecting your skin can take on many forms at this stage. Antioxidants defend against oxidative stress. Ultraviolet A(UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) absorbing ingredients mitigate solar radiation damage. Vitamins, flavonoids and phytonutrients nourish the skin to enhance its native defence mechanism. Emollients help maintain these protections well after the regimen is completed.

An evening nourisher differ from the morning formula as protection against UVA and UVB is unnecessary. Night formulas can retexture and restore the skin in ways unavailable in daytime environment.

In most regimens,a special formula is used for application around the eyes.The skin around the eyes is usually thinner and more prone to wrinkles and puffines. Eye shadow, eye liners, mascarades and the solvents required to remove these cosmetics all irritate the skin near the eye.Quality eye nourishers must include additional emollients and appearance revitalizers as well as firmers ( skin tighteners ) to reduce puffiness.

The key to health and beauty is a solid offense: it requires proper nutrition, exercise, habits and nutritional supplementation.

   Edition # 43

Keeping Emotions under Control

Childhood and adolescence are ages of constant change and crucial experiences. At times the emotional weight can be difficult to manage and may lead to psychological issues in adulthood. Neuro feedback is a method that helps individuals to keep their brain activity (for example a response to an emotional event ) under control. While routinely used on adults, a new study published in NeuroImage demonstrates that the technique shows promise for young people as well.    continue reading ….

Is Red Meat Really as Dangerous as Cigarrettes? The REAL Story on Red Meat and Processed Meats

November 29, 2015

Our body is build up of approximately 75 trillion cells and there are many different types of cells for every part of our body.They continually replicate themselves. When we age, get sick or get diseases, our cells do too. Each cell has a set of genetic instructions in its center, called the DNA, which controls cell growth, development and replication.

When DNA is damaged by free radicals, it can replicate a damaged cell. When this cell replicates itself, it can become cancer.

In order to slow down the aging process, prevent sickness and diseases, we must protect and properly feed our cells.

Cells are made up of many atoms. When these atoms are healthy, the cells replicate (make an exact copy) and keep the body young, healthy and free from diseases. A healthy atom has “paired” electrons around the nucleus.

Atoms missing an electron are called free radicals.They are not only bad, but actually destroy surrounding atoms by stealing their electrons.

Dying cells and cells replicating in a damaged state are the cause or contribute to premature aging, sickness and disease such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease and many others.

Where do free radicals come from? First, understand the concept of “oxidative stress”. Oxygen is essential for life itself, but it is also inherently dangerous. This is called the “dark-side” of oxygen. As a result, bodies rust, both inside and out.The same process causing a cut apple to turn brown or iron to rust is the cause of all the chronic degenerative diseases and even ageing.

Within every cell of the body is a furnace called the mitochondria. As oxygen is utilized within the furnace of the cell to create energy and life itself, occasionally a charged oxygen molecule, called a free radical, is created. If this free radical is not readily neutralized by an antioxidant, it can create more volatile free radicals, damage the cell wall, vessel wall,proteins, fats, and even the DNA nucleus. Chemically, this reaction has been shown to be so volatile that it actually causes bursts of light within the body!

To give the best illustration of the process of oxidation and free radical damage, imagine sitting in front of a fireplace. The fire burns safely most of the time, but occasionally a hot cinder pops out that lands on your carpet and burns a little hole in it. One cinder doesn’t pose much of a threat; but if this sparking and popping continues month after month, year after year, a pretty “ratty” carpet results.

The fireplace represent the furnace of the cell (the mitochondria), the cinder is the charged free radical and the carpet is the body. Whichever part of the body receives the most free radical damage will be the first to wear out and potentially cause a degenerative disease. If it’s the arteries, you could develop a heart attack or stroke. If it is the brain, we get Alzheimer’s dementia or Parkinson’s disease. If it’s your joints, we get arthritis.

The cause of free radicals. Free radicals are caused by smoking, stress, sunlight, pesticides and insecticides put on our plants,grass, and weeds. Pollution in air and water, soil depletion, airline travel (Jetleg), medications, food additives, x-rays, exercise, chloride in treated water, chemicals in our home, mercury in seafood and teeth fillings and many more. One cigarette generates approximately one quadrillian free radicals.

The Solution. Fortunately, biochemical research shows that people are not defenseless against this attack on the body by free radicals. Antioxidants have additional electrons around the nucleus to give to free radicals,which neutralizes the harmful effects. Antioxidants are like the glass doors or fine-wire mesh in front of the fireplace. The sparks are still going to fly but the carpet is protected.

Imagine the war taking place within every cell in the body, like two opposing forces: the enemy–free radicals; and your allies– antioxidants and there supporting nutrients.

The cause of Heart Disease. Many different forms of heart disease primarily come from a buildup of fatty deposits on the inner surface of arteries. Eventually, blocking blood flow, leading to heart attack or stroke.

Free radicals cause and/or contribute to heart disease. Scientists now believe that it’s not just the eating of fat causing buildup in arteries, but fats that damaged by free radicals. This is called oxidized fat,which causes the fat to be more “sticky”, adhering to the inner artery walls more easily. This explains why smoking and stress are risk factors to heart disease, as is high fat consumption.

Antioxidants reduce the risk of cancer. The most important role antioxidants play in the body is to protect the DNA from damage caused by free radicals,by correct use of the right antioxidants. It can even reverse many forms of cancer.The importance of maintaining proper antioxidant levels cannot be over emphasized.

Living a healthy life becomes a matter of balance. There should be enough antioxidants readily available to neutralize free radicals produced by the body. Otherwise “oxidative stress” occurs. When this oxidative stress persists over a prolonged period of time, it will most likely cause a serious chronic degenerative disease.

How to get enough antioxidants from diet? The number of free radicals the body produces varies every day. Pollutants in the air, food and water, enormous stress, excessive exercise, cigarette smoke, sunlight, dramatically increase free radicals. There has never been a generation more effected by oxidative stress then our present one. The population is literally under attack from a polluted environment, stressful lifestyles and over-medication.

This ongoing attack is depriving society of the most precious gift:health. Thankfully,nobody is defenceless against free radical attack. The antioxidant army neutralizes free radicals, making them harmless. In past generations, this defence system was sufficient. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Bodies’ defence systems need additional support.

Food is depleted in antioxidant content and supporting minerals as a result of mineral depletion in soils, green harvesting,cold storage, highly processed – and genetically modified food, our poor food choices and food preparation.

Most antioxidants come from vegetables and fruits, in the form of vitamin C & E, and beta-carotene.Other natural compounds are present as flavonoids in vegetables like: indoles, phenols, coumarins, isothiocyanates, and pycnogenols (procyanadins). Much of their action is antioxidant too.

Everybody must take charge of health in a time of heavy attack from the environment on natural defense systems and do everything to rebuild them with a healthy diet, supplemented with complete and well balanced, high quality supplements.
This is the best hope in winning the war within and maintaining health.

It’s a proven fact that the right exercise not only maintains your heart, your lungs, your muscles, your bones, a healthy level of body fat and even your intestinal function, but also some more subtle functions, like insulin and your body’s dealing with sugar.

It has been known for more than fifty years that lack of exercise leads to glucose intolerance. However, not long ago research has shown that getting of the couch and start moving, not only maintain insulin function to deal with the sugar, but it also can reverse decades of damage. Insulin dependent diabetics, for example, using the right exercise program, can increase insulin efficiency so much that some patients, who have used insulin daily for years, no longer need it.

In healthy people, the right exercise completely protects glucose tolerance against the degenerative changes in insulin metabolism that lead to adult-onset diabetes. Healthy old men who maintain a lifelong exercise program, have the same healthy insulin efficiency as young men. A high sugar diet, which progressively destroys insulin metabolism, makes it virtually mandatory to exercise if you want to avoid glucose intolerance as you grow older.

Most physicians believe that hardening of the arteries, a degenerative process, is inevitable. Dr. Lakatta at the National Institute on Aging Research Center in Baltimore, is showing in ongoing experiments, that regular exercise maintains arterial elasticity and even reverses arterial hardening that has already occurred.

I could fill many pages citing numerous bodily functions which are maintained by regular exercise. But I will keep it short. Research recently undertaken has revealed the major way in which exercise protects you against all diseases. It started with the evidence that exercise increases the overall number of white blood cells. Followed by more precise findings that moderate exercise increases bodily production of lymphocytes, interleukin 2, neutrophils and other disease fighting components of the immune system. There is no doubt that the right exercise strengthens your immunity. And it also strengthens your resistance to all forms of damage, decay, bacteria, viruses, toxins and even radiation. Closing with the wise words of Louis Pasteur, the father of modern medicine:“Host resistance is the key.”

   Edition #42

UEA research shows high protein foods
boost cardiovascular health

University of East Anglia

Study Finds More Evidence that Coffee can be a Life Saver

Many companies today falsely label their supplements “natural” for one reason: because the word sells. But don’t get confused. The ingredients in vitamin pills are about as natural as a plastic bag. Manufacturers play around this issue with statements like:”natural grown”, “natural source”, “food grown” etc. but to tell you the truth, most pill ingredients are synthetic.That means,they use natural materials and treat them with various chemical procedures, so that their resemblance to natural materials is gone.

For example, most vitamin C is made from corn.First the corn is chemically converted to sugar (d-ribose). Then the sugar is chemically converted to pure, ascorbic acid. There is not a molecule of corn left in it. The chemical processing makes it synthetic, not the raw materials it came from.

Let’s look at “natural rose hip’ and “acerola” vitamin C. The best rose hip and acerola powders contain only a few milligrams of vitamin C per gram.A 1000mg pill of natural rose hip vitamin C would be about the seize of a baseball. All these so-called “natural” pills are predominantly synthetic ascorbic acid, with a pinch of the natural powder thrown in for marketing.

Then there are those companies who claim that their pills are made of superior vitamins. Let’s get this one straight too. Almost all the vitamin raw materials in America come from a few large companies. Hoffman La Roche makes most of the vitamin C and many of the B-vitamins. Henkel makes most of the vitamin E. Almost all pill manufacturers buy their bulk powders from the same sources that are available to everyone.

Elemental Minerals. Most consumers don’t know that chemical forms of minerals are not elemental forms. For example, a 1200 mg pill calcium gluconate is only 9% elemental.That means, it contans only 108 mg of calcium. To get the RDA for calcium, you would have to swallow eleven of these pills every day.

The same is true for every mineral.Calcium citrate is only 21% calcium and chromium picolinate contains only 12.5% chromium. Magnesium aspartate is only 11% magnesium. Some forms contain only 1-2% of the mineral element.Manufacturers are supposed to state the elemental amounts on the label, but many do not.

Chemical Forms. Supplement pills only have to be true to label by law. That means, if the bottle says the pill contains 300 mg of magnesium, that is all that is required. But many chemical forms of nutrients are hardly bioavailable at all. They pass right through your intestines without ever being absorbed.

Magnesium supplied as magnesium oxide for example, is only one-tenth as bioavailable as magnesium aspartate. But the aspartate form is more expensive than the oxide and takes up more room in the pill.Manufacturers save money by using the magnesium oxide. They can also fit more magnesium into a given size pill by using the oxide, and therefore can put a bigger number for magnesium on the label. Consumers like big numbers.

Some manufacturers fudge bioavailability by claiming particular absorption rates, such as 60%, for their multi-nutrient supplements. All such claims are false, because different nutrients and different forms of the same nutrient are all absorbed at different rates. An average absorption rate is advertising nonsense.

For example, of a 100 mcg vitamin B12 tablet, only about 3% is absorbed, whereas calcium acetate is 32% absorbed. To say the average absorption rate is 17.5% for the two combined, tell you nothing about either.

This will give you an idea what you can expect when you look to buy supplements. Many supplement contents are not true to the label,there are only a few companies on the market you can trust.

Our modern lifestyle is the cause of a serious, epidemic problem that affects our society to-day:
heart disease and stroke.In America half of all death are from coronary heart disease, most of them with advanced atherosclerosis(narrowing of the arteries).

The first report of coronary artery disease in America was published in 1912 in ‘The Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. James Herrick.

The disease was so rare that famous cardiologist DR. Paul Dudley White, spent the next 10 years searching for it and found only three cases. Today we have thousands of cases in any small city.

In the same medical journal 77 years later, on July 7 1989, a nationwide analysis showed that 60 million American adults aged 20 – 90 now have coronary disease to some degree.

There is no longer any doubt that the wanton destruction of our food, air and water and the inept and corrupt work of our health authorities created this monster and it’s alive and growing in every third one of us.

Humbug physicians will object that cardiovascular disease is declining, because modern medicine has become so wonderful at detecting it early and treating it successfully.
Don’t believe them! Even advanced cardiovascular disease is very difficult to detect.

Dr. Lewis Kuller, for example, analyzed records of 326 people who died of sudden heart attacks,all of whom had received medical examinations within six months before death. Eighty-six of the subjects had received medical examinations within 7 days of their death. Not a single one of the heart attacks had been predicted by their physicians.

If you are fortunate enough to have cardiovascular disease correctly diagnosed before it manifests as a heart attack or stroke, then surely modern treatment can tackle it? No way! Most medial therapies for cardiovascular disease are simply symptomatic relief, that does nothing to reverse or even arrest the disease process.

Has the modern electronic bypass wizardry done a better job than the 100-year- old traditional advice to cut the fat in your diet and go for a daily walk?

The American government Coronary Artery Surgery Study spent 24 million dollars to find out.

Their studies examined records of 16,626 angiogram patients. From these records researchers selected 780 patients with good heart function, but a significant blockage of one or more coronary arteries.

Half the patients were given bypass surgery plus drugs. The other half were treated with nutritional and lifestyle changes plus drugs. Bypass surgery conferred no advantage at all, neither in longevity nor in incidence of future heart attacks.

What if you avoid surgery and just use our wonderful new drugs instead? I wouldn’t.

The Johns Hopkins Medical Letter reports on fatal drug reactions in hospitals, where you would think medical expertise would protect you or at least could save you if a drug reaction occurs Prescribed hospital drugs are so toxic, they kill 130,000 Americans every year!

Outside the hospitals, the death toll from the same prescription drugs is probably a lot higher, but is frequently unreported or listed simply as heart failure. The 1994 Physicians Desk Reference contains hundreds of pages of side-effects of common prescription drugs used for cardiovascular disease.

Side-effects include many kinds of cancer, heart disease, liver disease, brain damage and sudden death.

Research has proven that there are many factors, which determine the change of getting heart disease or stroke. Some of the important factors we can influence by changing our diet and avoid smoking.

It’s not a disease of old age, children at the age of 15 can show symptoms of the disease.

Narrowing of the arteries is the main cause of stroke This can start at an early age, without any warning signs.
This process continue and is very hard to detect till suddenly a stroke occurs.
This happens quite fast in most cases and leaves hardly any time to intervene.

Prevention is the key and this has to start at a youthful age; but it has been proven that by changing one’s lifestyle, the process of narrowing of the arteries can be reversed.

There are a number of factors we have to watch for:
1.to maintain a constant body weight
2. the use of unsaturated oil and fat
3. use of the right type of cholesterol (high density lipoproteins, HDL), that scrubs and vacuums excess cholesterol off the walls of your arteries.Heart disease risk starts at a cholesterol level of 168 mg/dl, NOT the 200 mg/dl now bandied about by the media.
4. moderate intake of alcohol, sugar and sugar containing drinks.
5. avoid smoking
6. eat a healthy diet, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, according to the guidelines of the department of health.
7. exercise daily for at least 30 minutes.

May the frequent use of this information contribute to the actual fight against heart disease and stroke.
But let us not lose sight of the fact that nutrition is only one of the factors and that smoking, high blood presure and lack of exercise are also important.

Our daily diet has to consist of sufficient carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy and fit.

The following average quantities are a good daily measure for an adult, who doesn’t need to perform heavy labor:
1/2 ltr fat reduced milk
one decent serving of vegetables
some potatoes
two to three fruits
1 or 2 slices of cheese
+/- 100 gr. meat
+/- 150 gr. fish
250 – 300 gr. beans
+/- 50 gr. diet margarine
4 – 6 slices of wholemeal bread
2 eggs/ week

Don’t be afraid of cholesterol, it belongs to your body,like arms and legs. The body makes the necessary amount of cholesterol, which circulate in the blood through your body.

If a big amount of cholesterol in the food enters our body, the amount of cholesterol in our blood rises and atherosclerosis can develop.

Cholesterol rich foods are: egg york, liver, brains, kidneys and milt and roe from fish.
If you don’t eat more than once in a fortnight liver, kidney and occasionally prawns, milt and roe, you don’t have to be afraid of cholesterol. Plenty of exercise has a favorable influence on the cholesterol content of the blood. Walk or cycle daily to work or when going shopping.

May the frequent use of this information contribute to the actual fight against heart disease and stroke.
But let us not lose sight of the fact that nutrition is only one of the factors and that smoking, high blood pressure and lack of exercise are also important.

   Edition #41

Better Breakfast, Better Grates

A new study from the University of Iowa reinforces the connection between good nutrition and good grades, finding that free school breakfasts help students from low-income families perform better academically. read it all….

Climate Change – We’re Toast!

(psst….or we can all go on a diet)

Nothing short of a nuclear world war threatens our cherished way of life more than climate change. It is therefore not surprising that the most vociferous defenders of the comfortable assumptions that support the status quo tend to be those who profit the most from the existing set-up.   continue reading….

7 Ways to Avoid the Afternoon Slump

We all know the feeling well, 2 or 3 PM rolls around and you find your eyes are suddenly feeling very heavy when sitting at your desk. Getting a good night’s rest is one of the best ways to avoid the afternoon slump. However, even with adequate sleep, you may still feel a slight dip…  Read More »

Recipe of the Day – Vegan summer rolls With a festive twist

I’ve taken a Vietnamese classic and given it a Christmas vegan twist. click here!

More Health & Nutrition from Nutrobalance

Creation
How to Cope with Stress
Essential Fats for Optimal Health

The food industry is constantly creating new ‘functional foods’ that will help you lose weight, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, and help you keep your blood sugar and insulin levels in check and so on and so on. When did eating become so complicated, and since when could food do all of these magical things?

Foods designed to help you lose weight are a multi billion dollar industry. And think of how ironic of an industry that is, how could you possibly eat something to lose weight? That doesn’t make any sense at all. The act of eating always adds mass to your body, it couldn’t possibly take it away.

The only way you can lose weight ever, is to eat less calories than you burn off. Bottom line, there is no arguing this. This rule existed 1000 years ago, and will exist a 1000 years from now. There is no possible way you could gain weight if you ate less calories than you burned off.
No matter how easy you seem to put on weight, and how little food you think you eat, there is always a lesser amount that will cause you to lose weight.
The actual matter that makes up your fat cells has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is your diet. If you eat more food that you burn off then you will store fat and gain weight. If you eat less food than you burn off you will lose fat and lose weight.
That’s it.

So the list of 7 foods you can eat to lose weight consists of any foods you would like to see on that list!
You could lose weight eating cheesecake everyday. As long as you ate less total calories that day than you burned off.
The only weight loss diets that have ever worked or proven to have any effect always make people eat less total calories. That’s it. Carbs, fat, protein and sugar don’t make any difference, as long as you eat less. If anyone tells you otherwise they just haven’t done their research. And I encourage you to challenge anyone who thinks that any ‘special’ food can actually help you lose weight. It’s baloney, eating less is the only way.

Think of it this way. If any of the popular diets like low carb, low fat, high protein actually worked, would you or anyone else still be looking for another way to lose weight?
I know of only one way to effectively eat less and still be able to eat the foods you like. At  http://bit.ly/1fY46gS I found the only nutrition program that makes any sense at all.

Author Brad Pilon basically threw me the biggest curveball ever with this new nutrition program and it makes the most sense out of anything I have ever read. There is no reason to stress over food any longer, there really is a way to lose weight and eat what you like.

Brad Pilon is a nutrition professional with over eight years experience working in the nutritional supplement industry specializing in clinical research management and new product development. Brad has completed graduate studies in nutritional sciences specializing in the use of short term fasting for weight loss.

Edition #40   

Arthritis and Joint Pain

Learn how to live without this debilitating disease!

People in non-western cultures who eat diets low in animal fat and protein have much lower incidences of all types of arthritis!

While most arthritis sufferers are being told that they will need to “learn to live with it,” Drs. Goldhamer and Marano of the TrueNorth Health Center in Penngrove, California, are helping patients learn to live without it.  continue reading…

LOHAS Background

Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) describes an estimated $290 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services focused on health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living. The consumers attracted to this market represent a sizable group in this country. Approximately 13-19% percent of the adults in the U.S. are currently considered LOHAS Consumers. This is based on surveys of the U.S. adult population estimated at 215 million.

Research shows that one in four adult Americans is part of this group—nearly 41 million people. These consumers are the future of your business and also the future of progressive social, environmental and economic change in this country. But their power as a consumer market remains virtually untapped.

For more information on penetrating the LOHAS market visit the LOHAS Group page. good

This Fruit could stop Memory Loss for Good!

Afraid of losing your memory? Turns out there’s a new way to prevent a type of memory loss associated with dementia, according to researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

The solution? Eating a bowl of strawberries.

The findings, which were published in the journal Aging Cell, say that a natural chemical found in strawberries, called fisetin, was shown to reduce memory impairments in mice as their brains aged–and therefore reducing the side effects of Alzheimer’s disease, a type of memory loss disease.   continue reading.…

Recipe of the day:   grilled cod with pancetta and pea mash
click here

More Health & Nutrition by Nutrobalance

The Top 20 Food Rules You NEED to Know to be Truly Lean & Healthy
Boost Your Immune System
Seven Foods You can Eat