Food-Skin-Health: all links so far

food-skin-health

• Acne and imbalance—What to do

• Alcohol: What drinking does to your skin (new!)

• Alternative Medicine—the power of choice

• Dermatology, skin care & 2 sets of belief systems

• Food & Skin: You ARE what you EAT

• How to alkalize your body first thing in the morning

• Juicing for Better Health

• The Lazy (or Busy) Person’s Guide to Juicing

• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin 

• Spirulina—a great all-around supplement 

• Sugar & Skin Problems

• Supplements & Skin

• Understanding antioxidants & free radicals
 

• Wholistic or Holistic: However you spell it—make the healthy choice

• Why does skin break out? More contributing factors

Alcohol: What drinking does to your skin

Why is alcohol bad, and what does drinking do to my skin?

As much as alcohol can add to a situation, like helping you to relax or otherwise enjoy a social event, there are many reasons why it isn’t great for your skin. I wouldn’t classify alcohol as “bad” per se, but it certainly isn’t helping to keep your skin hydrated and healthy-looking. Depletion is the operative word for what alcohol does to your body in general and specifically to your skin.   

First of all, alcohol is a diuretic, so drinking it depletes your body’s supply of water. A good rule of thumb is to drink two glasses of water for every alcoholic drink. Then you are helping to replace water you will lose from drinking.

Next, alcohol depletes vitamins and minerals, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, choline, inositol, magnesium, and potassium at the very least. Vitamin C and B-complex are both water-soluble vitamins, meaning they are easily flushed out of your system, especially by alcohol. If you are drinking alcohol on any kind of a regular basis, be aware you may be lowering the vitamins stored in your body. I’m not saying never have a glass of wine. But if you drink, I think it would be beneficial to know what it is doing to your body, which ends up affecting your skin.

Alcohol takes the mineral calcium from bone and reduces your body’s ability to metabolize iron; both of these processes are especially bad for women. According to Dr. Christiane Northrup in her book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, alcohol increases the amount of free-floating estrogens in the bloodstream and has been linked in some clinical studies to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Alcohol is toxic, so when you drink it, your eliminating organs swing into high gear. You may be feeling tipsy from your libation, but your kidneys and liver are hard at work trying to filter out and release the toxins found in that glass of whatever you are drinking.

Finally, alcohol impairs your judgment. Without going into great detail, making poor choices can be catastrophic, like getting behind the wheel. If you drink, don’t drive. Poor choices can also be as minor as not washing your face before going to bed. Better choices? Drink lots of water when you are drinking alcohol and drink a lot of water the following day to help your body (especially your kidneys and liver) process the alcohol.

I like to live my life by this saying: Everything in moderation, including moderation. If you want to have some wine with dinner after a hard day’s work or at a party, don’t stress out about it. Your skin isn’t going to be ruined by a few drinks. But if you drink regularly or even infrequently, I highly recommend taking supplements and other health-producing measures when you do indulge.

Hangover? I’ve written a few articles on things you can do to help keep a hangover to a minimum. Even if you only have one glass of wine, try the suggested cures to help your body recover from the toxic effect of (even a little) alcohol. 

For more information, see:

• Holiday Hangover Helpers
• Hot water and lemon to the rescue
• Emergen-C—a little effervescence for your health 
• Sugar, wine, and breakout

Food & Skin: You ARE what you EAT

This marvelous machine that we walk around in takes us wherever we want to go. We are not just a bunch of muscles and bones built for locomotion; we are so much more than that.

Cars need gas, oil, window wiper fluid, etc. They need certain types of products in order to perform optimally. If we are looking to burn fuel efficiently inside our own bodies, then why would we put junk and poison in our mouths? We’ve all done it, but when are we going to realize the connection between fuel and energy? Stop, take a look at what is going from your hand to your mouth and then how you feel. Do you see and/or feel a connection?

In regard to fueling this wonderful machine, I believe we are what we eat. Food equals fuel. How are you fueling your machine?

I like equating our bodies with cars because for some reason we take into consideration how a car works and take for granted our own machine, our bodies. You would never dream of getting into your car for a long drive with the gas gauge on empty. Every time you skip a meal, this is essentially what you are doing. Do you eat to live or live to eat? Either one is valid, but do you eat to fuel the machine, or does the way you eat have a detrimental impact on your body?

People are always asking me, “What are the best foods to eat for my skin?” I am not a nutritionist or a doctor, but I believe in following common sense and becoming aware of how certain foods are affecting our bodies. If we eat a healthy, balanced diet filled with all the “right” foods and very little of the “wrong” foods, our bodies will do well, and therefore our skin cells will also reap the benefits of this healthy diet. Instead of focusing on what foods to eat for your skin specifically, I recommend using food to keep your entire body functioning at its best; this will in turn have positive effects on your skin.

Connect with your food. If you are wondering what to eat for your health and for healthy skin, ask yourself this question: Am I about to eat health-producing food or health-reducing food? Of course, there are many healthy foods that may not be healthy for you, but start at the beginning and acknowledge whether the majority of the food you are eating is providing an environment for your body to benefit from. Are foods that are alive, foods that contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, and foods that are health-producing foremost in your diet?

Packaged or manufactured foods (generally found in boxes or cans) are not going to contain the high volume of nutrients that live food does. One benefit of packaged foods is they are required to list ingredients, and many provide a helpful nutrient guide that includes calorie, fat, protein, and carbohydrate content. You can learn a lot about the foods you eat by reading these labels. You will be amazed at how many poor-quality ingredients are used in the manufactured foods that you eat.

As with skin care, exercise, or in this discussion about food, keeping things simple is best. Keeping it simple with food means grilling rather than frying, eating fresh fruits and vegetables instead of canned, and steaming or stir-frying veggies rather than sautéing them in butter. Try drinking water instead of sodas and caffeine-laden teas and coffee drinks; and why not skip dessert once in a while, or skip it altogether. Use sweets as a separate treat to have every now and then.

I believe in moderation. One of my favorite sayings is “Everything in moderation—including moderation.” Sometimes you have to break away and have some “bad” foods or drinks. But don’t make these poor-quality choices a mainstay of your diet. Make them a treat. Something that you look forward to—especially since you’ve been so good about what you’ve been eating. Remember, your body is a machine and food is its fuel. How are your fueling your machine?

For more information, see:

• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin
• Supplements & Skin
• Juicing for Health: all links so far

“Everything in moderation—including moderation.”

Dermatology, skin care & 2 sets of belief systems

My dermatologist told me it didn’t matter what I used on my skin. Is that true?

My first question would be does that make sense to you? How can it be possible that what you are using on your skin isn’t affecting it? The products you are using are either helping to maintain healthy skin, or they are helping to cause problems. There really isn’t much room for anything else to be occurring. I suppose a product could just be sitting on your skin doing nothing, but this would be possible only if you had perfect, no problem skin and if the product was inert or inactive.

You may think these are old beliefs that don’t hold true today, but just the other day I was talking to a client whose dermatologist told her that facials were a waste of time. Ten years ago that statement wouldn’t have surprised me, but to hear it now was somewhat disappointing. So many dermatologists nowadays have joined the bandwagon and have aestheticians on staff at their clinics. I believe this is more fiscally motivated than based on a belief that facials are beneficial, but you can’t ignore the fact that dermatology and aesthetics are now holding hands.

Having a dermatologist you like and trust is very important, and I highly recommend that you begin to build a relationship with one in your area. Usually, skin problems need immediate attention, and if you are experiencing a reaction or have a strange-looking mole you want to get looked at, it’s better to already have someone on board to help you.

I also recommend getting a baseline mole check if you haven't done so already. You and your dermatologist can and should work together to decrease your chances of skin cancer. I believe it’s not a matter of whether you will develop some form of skin cancer, but when. Sun damage is so unpredictable, and having a qualified doctor monitoring your skin irregularities and moles is a good idea. I hope you will take my suggestion and if you don’t already have one, find a dermatologist.

How do I go about finding a dermatologist? It seems like everyone I know has one but me! What do I need to look for?

Finding a dermatologist is no different than finding any doctor. You want to find someone whom you trust and who offices in an area that is convenient for you. Not all dermatologists are alike, but there does seem to be a common thread that runs though many of them. I know this from my own experience and from hearing countless stories from my clients over the years.

Dermatologists tend not to spend a whole lot of time with you. Typically a dermatologist will come in, take a quick look at your skin, and either prescribe something or otherwise diagnose the problem and send you on your way. Because of this, I always encourage my clients to have a list of questions with them and get answers before they leave the office. I know when I’m at the doctor’s, I tend to lose my train of thought and forget the questions I may have wanted to ask.

I also recommend that you have your dermatologist check your moles even if you are seeing them for something unrelated. Skin cancer is preventable and curable if caught early, so don’t pass up an opportunity to be looked at from head to toe.

Another commonality I have found in the field of dermatology is there isn’t a lot of emphasis on nutrition as it relates to skin problems. In fact, I ask my clients to pose the question “Do you think diet affects the skin?” to their dermatologists, and nine times out of ten, the answer is no. If this is the case, know you are probably dealing with a doctor who chooses to look at the symptom alone, without considering the body as a whole.

As you probably know, I believe the body must be looked at as an entire machine, although it may be only one part that is in need of repair. If your dermatologist is progressive and understands this wholistic approach, consider yourself lucky. As with any doctor or health care practitioner, if you don’t feel comfortable or confident in someone you go to, listen to yourself and find an alternative next time. 

Touching back to the original question of what you use on your skin doesn’t matter—it does! If you have no-problem skin, you can get away with using less expensive products or products that a problem skin would have issues with. In most cases, it matters what you use. There are dozens of articles on this blog for sensitive, problem, acne and even no-problem skin types to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of product sales.   

For more information, see:

• Products—Finding What’s Right: all links so far
• Wholistic or Holistic: However you spell it—make the healthy choice
• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin

Wholistic or Holistic: However you spell it—make the healthy choice

I choose to spell this word wholistic vs holistic. It immediately implies whole, as in the whole body. No matter how you choose to spell it, this word has gotten a bad rap. For certain people, I think it connotes some sort of airy-fairy, nonsensical, even religious meaning that has nothing to do with its actual definition. The base word is whole. This, as anyone knows, means entire, all, or everything. So wholistic, in relation to the human body means taking into account the body in its entirety.

A wholistic approach to medicine or a medical condition simply means looking at the body as a whole instead of just focusing on the affected area. I use this wholistic approach as a rule whenever I am treating someone with problem skin. It’s never just about the breakout and how to make the blemishes go away.

For me, and thus my clients, it is about looking at the individual as a whole person, breaking down their diets, their exercise programs (or lack of one), and looking at how much stress is in their lives. I also look for other factors such as things that are new. New laundry detergent, a new living situation (new local, new house, new housemate), new foods, (eating unusual food while on vacation, for instance), a new workout routine—new anything that might be contributing to their skin problems.

If you are only treating the symptom, or just one part of the body (in this example, the skin), I believe you are missing out on the total and long-term solution. Try the word wholistic on for size next time you are faced with a skin condition or other problem with your body. Don’t just focus your attention on the symptoms; truly look at all aspects of your life as holding answers to the potential cause or causes of your health concerns. Take a wholistic approach.

For more information, see:

• What is causing your breakouts?
• Dermatology, skin care & 2 sets of belief systems
• Juicing for Health: all links so far

Supplements & Skin

What vitamins are good for skin?

Many people ask me about vitamins and other supplements. What should they take and which ones are good for skin? Although there may be certain vitamins and minerals that are specifically good for the skin, eating a well-balanced diet is the best way to get them.

My feeling is that all vitamins and minerals are important and that no one or two should be taken in lieu of the others. The best way to get your vitamins is through the food you eat. Barring being able to do this, taking a wide range of supplements is probably a wiser idea than just focusing on one or two. You can really throw off the balance of nutrients in your body by taking large amounts of one vitamin or mineral.

It is a complicated process how everything is digested and assimilated in your body, so use caution when seeking out vitamins to help your skin specifically. Do your research on supplements that will build a strong and healthy body as a whole; unquestionably this will also help your skin.

I have had several clients, myself included, who found that taking certain supplements including herbs, actually caused problem with their skin. Monitor what supplements you are taking and any changes, for better or worse, that are occurring in your body in general, your skin specifically, or even your energy level. Before deciding to take any supplements listed here or wherever you may find them, check with your health care provider to see if there are any contraindications that you may not be aware of.

Drink your salad. Because eating all the right foods and getting all the vitamins in the course of a day can be (or at least can seem) impossible, I do rely on several things that give my body the nutrients I should be getting from my food. I consider these supplements in my diet to be “foods.”

Something I love to take in lieu of pill supplements is Green Foods’ Veggie Magma. They call it, “Your salad in a glass.” It contains broccoli sprout powder and 16 other vegetables and herbs that make an excellent addition to my daily intake of food—especially if that intake isn’t so nutritious. Basically it provides a wealth of vitamins and minerals in a powder. I take the recommended dosage, two teaspoons dissolved in a glass of clean, preferably filtered water. I fill the glass halfway, stir in the powder, then try to get all the lumps out. Next I add the rest of the water and drink it down. It tastes really good, and I know it is good for me. Yes, it would be preferable to be getting all that nutrition and bulk fiber from eating vegetables, but this product is a great substitute.

Another way to drink your salad is to juice. I am an avid proponent of juicing as a way to ensure I am getting a good supply of fruits and vegetables, thus their nutrients, into my body on a daily basis. See a link to one of the articles on this blog about juicing for better health below.

Spirulina is a great energy booster for me. So much so that I won’t take it after 5 o’clock in the evening. Otherwise (I found this out accidentally) it tends to keep me up at night. If you know you’re not getting enough protein and other vitamins in your diet, I highly recommend spirulina. And if you’re looking for something to give you extra energy without the side effects of caffeinated drinks or supplements containing stimulants, try spirulina. For more detailed information about this nutritious supplement, see the article listed below.

Doing all the right things all of the time. I don’t want to portray myself as a yoga-practicing, acupuncture-receiving, perfect-diet-eating, do-everything-right-all-the-time person. I am far from that! All of those things and more are the things I aspire to do. Life, as we all know, has other plans for us from time to time.

Take my diet as an example. I know a lot about nutrition and what to eat and what to avoid for my particular body. There are times, however, that I let go of that knowing and literally let myself go. It may be a shock for some of you who have decided that I am a certain kind of person, but I do eat sugar and “bad” foods on occasion. And sometimes I do so in excess, especially when I am under stress or have a large project that takes a lot of my time to complete.

I am sharing this with you so you will afford yourself the same leniency of being human as you no doubt extend to others. I think we are hardest on ourselves and give a lot more leeway to our fellow humans when they falter. Be kind to yourself and do try to do the right things most of the time. When life takes over and you can’t do it all, be sure to have supplements that will give you the vitamins and minerals that your body needs even though you may not be able to eat your way to this level of nutrition.

For more information, see:

• Juicing for Better Health
• Spirulina—a great all-around supplement
• Essential fatty acids—yum

Why does skin break out? More contributing factors

In What is causing your breakouts? (link below), I go over a checklist of possible reasons you are having issues with your skin. If you haven’t taken a look at that, do because it might open your eyes to things you weren’t looking at before. Below I’ll go over more factors that can and do contribute to breakouts. Hopefully with all of this information, you will be well on your way to clear and healthy skin.

Anything in excess can have a physical effect like breakout. This can mean too much of something in your diet, but it can also mean too much exercise, too much stress, and of course too much soda, caffeine, alcohol, or cigarettes. Just look at your day-to-day routines and see where you hit the excess meter. This way you may discover something that is contributing to your breakout in your everyday life.

As you have know or have learned (I hope), sugar and sugary foods are huge contributors to problem skin. So if you are eating excessive amounts of sugar (I consider excessive to be eating some form of sugar every day), you probably have breakout. And if you don’t, you may have regular headaches. And if you don’t have either, believe me, something is going on in your body to counteract all the toxic, sugary foods, and it’s not a positive effect. I have written several articles about sugar and skin issues, I highly recommend reading some (or all!) to help you understand the relationship between sugar sensitivity and skin issues.

Exercise as we all know is an important part of daily (or at least three times weekly) life. But like any other good thing, too much of it can turn against you. Wanting to be in shape and keeping your body fit and healthy is obviously a good thing. But I’m sure you know someone (is it you?) who just cannot get off the exercise treadmill. I mean that metaphorically, but I suppose it could be taken literally too. For some, exercise has turned into an unhealthy addiction, and unfortunately your skin may be paying the price for those extreme efforts.

You may be wondering how this affects your skin. First, if you exercise, you have to get more water than the daily recommended eight glasses a day we all grew up hearing about. Your body is throwing off sweat in order to keep your core body temperature down, since you are heating it up by increasing circulation and raising your body’s heat index. Without drinking water all throughout the day and even while exercising, your smart and creative body will simply take the water it needs from wherever it can get it—namely your organs. Your skin is an organ—the largest one—so why not take water from it?

Not drinking enough water and dehydration go hand in hand. Dehydration can take the form of dehydrated skin on the outside as well as dehydration inside your body. And you don’t want your insides to become dehydrated. That is why the eight 8-oz. glasses theory is drilled into us from such an early age. It is absolutely necessary. If you exercise regularly, think about adjusting your water intake accordingly.

By the way, I don't see dehydrated skin from a lack of ingesting water as much as many imagine. Dehydration on the outside that manifests as dry-feeling skin, is more a matter of an accumulation of dead skin buildup than a matter of not drinking enough water.

Too much coffee, sodas, iced tea, candy, sugar in your coffee, and artificial sweeteners. All of these and more can contribute to your skin problems. Do I need to go over why drinking too many sodas may be contributing to your skin care woes? (If so, then read Sodas, sugar, your skin & breakouts, link below.) If you drink regular, sugary, caffeinated sodas you are shoveling 10-15 teaspoons of sugar into your body with each and every soda pop, to say nothing of the caffeine your poor adrenal glands have to contend with. Sugar is lethal for many reasons and is a common denominator I have found to cause breakouts in a high percentage of my clients.

Even drinking fruit juice can cause some people to break out. Store-bought juice is a concentrate of sugar with some vitamins added. And although the sugar is fructose (fruit sugar), this kind of juice will have added sugar if it’s from concentrate. People down glass upon glass of juice thinking it is a healthy drink. I have many clients who come in for facials with breakout and after finding out about their diets, I discover they are drinking juice every day or on some kind of regular basis—even just a small amount. Remember, when you drink juice, you are getting a lot of carbohydrates from sugar and also a lot of calories. I heard someone say they don’t like to drink their meals—meaning they want to eat foods with high nutrient contents rather than a glass of sugary juice.

Stress plays a huge role in skin care problems. Stress breaks down your immune system, leaving your body ill-equipped to function optimally. This includes its ability to excrete toxic waste and eliminate properly. Many times when the body is under a lot of stress, one of the unfortunate symptoms is breakout. Try HEADSPACE: Get your meditation on (link below) and other articles under the stress/anti-stress category and see if they help you understand this crucial balance of stress along with anti-stress activities. 

If you have a genetic predisposition for oily, problem, or acne skin, there is little you can do to stop this driving force fueled by your ancestry. However, keeping all other areas in check (diet, stress, lifestyle habits, skin care routine) can and will contribute to keeping your skin clear and breakout-free. 

Sleeping with your makeup on is another no-no in the skin care realm. I have said this many times: If you brush your teeth at night, you certainly can wash your face. Just put cleanser on prior to brushing your teeth, brush, and simply rinse the cleanser off. This only takes a few seconds and goes a long way to help keep your skin clean. If you don’t want to “wash” your face, try a waterless cleanser. Something is better than nothing!

Birth control pills can, in many cases, cause breakouts. Some women find help with their problem skin while on the Pill; others find their skin becomes worse or starts breaking out when they didn’t have any problems prior to taking these hormones. Going off the Pill can cause problems too. While on the pill you were supplying hormones; going off, your body needs time to adjust. Hormones are what cause breakouts. Since the Pill contains hormones, it makes sense that this seemingly “harmless” form of birth control can and in many cases does cause problems with some people’s their skin.

There are many articles on this blog about how to figure out why you are breaking out along with ways to help treat the breakout. I hope you will continue to use this information to help keep your breakouts to a minimum and possibly stop any breakout from appearing in the first place.

For more information, see:

• What is causing your breakouts?
• Sodas, sugar, your skin & breakouts
• HEADSPACE: Get your meditation on  

Acne and imbalance—What to do

Acne is an exterior sign of internal imbalance. If you have acne, look at your diet, any hormone fluctuations you may be experiencing, and how you are taking care of your skin (or not). All of these have to be in balance in order to control and eventually clear acne.

If you have acne, products and facials—although helpful—are not the sole answer. I believe you must also look to your diet. Please don’t discount the possibility that what you are putting in your mouth is having an effect on your skin. I highly recommend getting in touch with a clinical nutritionist or someone who really understands the relationship between food and skin. I believe you have to go to the source of the problem (in this case, food being a potential contributing factor) rather than merely treating the symptom, which is problem skin. Hormones are the primary cause of skin problems, but food does have a secondary effect.

For those of you with acne, I recommend following The Basics (cleansing, toning, and hydrating with a moisturizer specifically made for problem skin), along with diligent exfoliating with a gel peel (gommage), plus a clay mask. Whenever there are problems with the skin, exfoliating and masking should be done at least two or three times per week.

I also recommend taking a good look at your sugar consumption, something that a lot of people tend to disregard as an issue with skin problems. I can tell you as a practicing aesthetician for more than 30 years and also someone who is sensitive to the sweet stuff, sugar is a major contributor to many peoples’ skin breakouts and also acne. (Although this photo depicts blood sugar issues from sugar, the problems I’m talking about is skin breakouts and oilier skin. But blood sugar issues are certainly caused by ingesting even a little sugar.)

In order to really treat acne, I truly believe you must get your entire house in order. Don’t just look for topical or oral medications from your dermatologist to work miracles on your skin. It really takes a commitment to proper eating habits, a good skin care program, staying away from picking at the skin, and sometimes using prescription topical or oral medications to further reduce the lesions on your face.

I also want to say that if you are a teenager with acne, the element of time is another important component to helping your skin issues to disappear. Sad but true, sometimes you just have to get through the hormone surges your body is going through over time before your skin will clear up. All the other items I’ve talked about in this article will definitely help your skin, so don’t give up!

For more information, see:

• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin
• Sugar & Skin Problems  
• The Basics 1-2-3 Program for proper skin care

The Lazy (or Busy) Person’s Guide to Juicing

The following, for purists, is probably going to sound like an abomination, but life is life and realistically some things just don’t happen exactly the way we always want them to.

For instance, take my love of juicing. Over the past few months I have had out-of-town guests, the holidays, a busy work schedule. This certainly doesn’t preclude doing all it takes to juice, but I did find myself a bit out of the habit. I had even almost let $20 worth of lovely produce spoil in my fridge. It was at that point I decided to take on a new way of juicing. Not one I will adopt long-term, but for now it’s the best I can do.

I decided in order to juice I would have to do something I hadn’t previously thought to do, but given the fact I wasn’t juicing at all, it seemed like a good alternative. I went to the store and purchased packaged veggies vs. the bulk variety. This meant spinach and kale, for the most part, but also packaged carrots and green beans, too. Buying the produce in packages meant not having to do the whole soaking procedure, since the prepackaged produce is already washed (and cut). It may sound lazy, which it is, but this also meant I would be able to juice immediately without all the fuss.

As I’ve said, going the lazy way isn’t the optimal way to get the most from your juice. But when I sip my juice and see all the wonderful ingredients that are getting into my body, prepackaged or not, I know I’m doing great things for my health.

Someday I will grow my own produce and that will make the most best-est and most nutritious juice drink available. For now, however, I will do my best to get bulk veggies, and when I can’t—yes, I will buy prepackaged produce, all in good health. 

For more information, see:

• Juicing for Better Health
• Doing The Next Best Thing
• How to alkalize your body first thing in the morning

whenever you can

Alternative Medicine—the power of choice

Alternative medicine encompasses everything from homeopathy to herbal therapy, acupuncture to massage. To me, alternative or complementary medicine is anything that keeps my body well and on the road to balanced healing. Not to denigrate modern medicine, but many drugs that are commonplace today can actually cause imbalances and keep us from achieving our highest states of health. This, of course, is not always true (especially in cases where health is severely compromised), but on a day-to-day basis, I reach for the alternatives to the drugs and medicines you would find at the pharmacist or doctor’s office.

Alternative medicine, to me, would more accurately be termed original medicine. If you read back in the annals of medical history, herbs, essential oils, and medicines that were completely organic were the norm for centuries. Granted, there were diseases and epidemics that ran rampant and ended lives by the thousands. I certainly wouldn’t want to go to the dentist or have surgery without the benefit of modern medicine. But for many everyday maladies, alternative or complementary medicine can be a viable and healthy alternative to the common drug therapy of medicine today.

Alternative medicine has a preventative posture to it. In order to stay well, there are many things we need to avoid as well as take in. Anything in excess, as we know, can create a polluted environment inside our body. For simplicity, sometimes just avoiding excess can be a very powerful preventative measure for our long-term health.

One of the foremost leaders of the alternative medicine movement is Dr. Andrew Weil. (I wish he was a relative of mine so I could pick his brain at family gatherings.) He has written numerous books that contain vital information to help guide you to alternatives that provide health and well-being.

Weil is an allopathic (“traditional”) doctor by training, but he, like many other AMA trained physicians, has gone into a more wholistic* practice, choosing to treat the body as a whole and complete entity vs. specific and individual parts.

*My preference for spelling something involving the whole body.

I’m glad I live in this era where I have a choice as to how I will achieve optimum health, whether it is from conventional treatments or (more likely) from alternative medicine. The alternative for me is prevention.

For more information, see:

• Juicing for Better Health for one idea on how to get lots of nutrients into your system easily
• Why you want to get Acupuncture
• De-stressing Quick Tip: Music IS the doctor!

How to alkalize your body first thing in the morning

As you may have read, I have once again become a proponent of juicing. If you are unsure what exactly juicing involves, read the above article that will tell you the basics of this health-producing activity.

Although I will explain in more detail in future articles, in brief you want your body to be slightly alkaline not acidic on the pH scale. Therefore starting your day by alkalizing your insides is a healthy thing to do—every day. With that said, my new, favorite morning routine looks like this :

• First, right after I wake up, I drink a glass of water with a lemon ice cube melted in it. I do this prior to doing anything, including walking my dog, Quincy Blu. This helps to alkalize my system right away. (Although it seems counterintuitive, lemon juice creates alkalinity not acidity in your body.)
• Second, after returning from our morning walk, I make myself a wonderful glassful of cantaloupe juice. Another easy way to alkalize my insides along with supplying essential nutrients. All before my morning cup of coffee (I only have the one). 

I usually use half a melon unless the cantaloupe is especially large. As with most fruits and vegetables when juicing, the entire rind of the cantaloupe is used as well as the fruit inside. At first this may sound strange, but almost all of the vitamin and mineral content is held in the rinds of fruits. So by drinking the entire cantaloupe, I am getting tremendous benefits, outweighing just eating the inside fruit alone.

Citrus fruits, in general, are the only produce where you don’t put the rinds through the juicer. If you do, it can cause indigestion. (Cantaloupe juice, by the way, isn’t quite as orange as in this photo. Because you are juicing the rind as well as the fruit inside, the juice has more of a greenish hue to it. Still yummy, no matter the color.)

Cantaloupe is one of the only instances where you do remove the seeds before juicing—or at least I do. If not, they will not be ground in the juicer (they are too flat) and you might find them scattered about since they kind of fly out of the juicer. If you don’t mind this, don’t remove them. Sometimes you can remove most of the seeds while leaving the netting they are held in, which is part of the cantaloupe and does have nutrient value. For me, the mess is not worth the small amount of juice I’ll get from the netting with seeds, so I just scoop all of that out of the middle of the melon.

Cantaloupes are high in vitamin C and provitamin A (beta carotene) and contain high quantities of digestive enzymes. They are also on the higher side of alkalinity, something imperative for healthy body mechanics. Cantaloupes are actually one of the most nutritious fruits available. Drinking this juice first thing in the morning is giving my body a good start each day. Because it’s a seasonal fruit, I usually juice cantaloupes in the warmer months. 

On a personal note: I adhere to several of the rules of food combining. One rule is never mix melons with any other food, including other fruits. So, although when I juice I usually combine several fruits and vegetables together to make one drink, I juice cantaloupe by itself. I drink it first thing in the morning then wait at least 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything else.

I have a routine when I get home from the store to get off as much of the pesticides and other residual “stuff” that might be clinging onto my produce. When you juice, you must not skip this step, otherwise you could be taking in chemicals and toxins that cancel out some of the benefits of the juice you are drinking.

Give cantaloupe juice a try for a first-thing-in-the-morning pickup me up. But be careful: you might get hooked!

For more information, see:

• Juicing for Better Health
• A Quick Tip to have fresh lemon juice at the ready—always
• Hot water and lemon to the rescue

Understanding antioxidants & free radicals

What are antioxidants and free radicals? And should I take them for my skin?

Anything you swallow (pills included) will get into your bloodstream and affect your entire body. Although antioxidants can help your skin look its best, they are important and beneficial to much more than just your skin. I mention this because the mindset of taking supplements to affect one thing is akin to exercising to spot reduce a certain body part. It just can’t be done. Exercise will affect your whole body; antioxidants will too.

Before explaining what antioxidants are, it’s important to understand a bit about their nemesis: free radicals.

What is a free radical? Normally functioning molecules have two or three electrons; free radicals are missing one electron, making that molecule unstable. So they hunt for an electron they can take from a neighboring molecule. Free radicals aren’t particular—they attack the nearest stable molecule in order to create stability for itself. Free radicals are constantly searching to complete themselves with their missing half. Once the free radical finds its “mate,” it sets up a domino effect of scavenging. The molecule it took the electron from becomes unstable and has to steal another molecule’s electron. Each free radical that finds an electron in turn makes the molecule it stole from a free radical. It is an endless cycle of search and swipe, and so the vicious cycle continues.

Free radicals are necessary in certain amounts to promote circulation and other vital functions of the body. Smog, cigarette smoke, and poor food choices are some of the major causes of an overabundance of free radicals in our bodies. When they get out of hand, it’s time to bring in the heavy artillery. This is where antioxidants come into play. If you want to take care of your skin, you want to be sure your body has a good supply of these free radical-destroying nutrients.

Antioxidants. If free radicals cause damage in the body, antioxidants are their worst enemy. Antioxidants basically help to stop the domino effect of free radical scavenging and restore the normal, whole functioning of the cell both inside and out. In supplement form, there are many antioxidants to choose from. If you only take one, vitamin C for instance, you will still derive benefits that outweigh no supplementing at all, but used in combination, antioxidants form a stronger bond and thus a more potent effect.

In future post Antioxidant Sources, I will go over many supplements that you can take to be sure you are supplying your body with enough health-producing antioxidants, as well as whole food sources that you want to include in your diet.

Food sources containing antioxidants are numerous. Most fruits and vegetables have high antioxidant contents, as well as some fish like salmon, which is my all-time favorite. I encourage you to try to incorporate as many antioxidants as you can into your diet for optimal health of your entire body, including your skin.

For more information, see:

• Juicing for Better Health for a relatively easy way to get your antioxidants in a delicious glass of freshly made juice 
• Essential fatty acids—yum for more information on good things to add to your diet
• Wholistic or Holistic: However you spell it—make the healthy choice

Juicing for Better Health