Nutrition & Skin Care

Nutrition

Diet, cell rejuvenation, hydration, hormonal activity, circulation, elimination, energy

I first became interested in proper diet and nutrition back in ’76 when a friend commented that I may have put on a few pounds. I was quickly taken back, but at the same time I had never worried about my weight before as a ‘string bean’. My response was to rush out and grab the latest Cosmopolitan for the first clue in dieting I could find. This led to me immediately cancel my jaunts to the fast food restaurants and I never looked back on that good decision.

How nutrition has changed

The cold hard fact is that we never get the dietary nutrition we need to maintain healthy cellular vibrancy from what we eat because the nutritional value has been in significant decline since 1950. Research cites that decline to be 5% to 40% and upward depending on the crop with the main reasons being soil depletion and post-war engineering of seeds to produce quantity over quality. Meat and dairy are no exceptions, like in the cattle industry with the noticeable reduction in fat and marbling because of hormone injections that make animals grow faster to satisfy market demands.

This decline in the quality of foodstuffs has not gone unnoticed by the palettes of many people and food tastiness is one of those joys in life where our olfactory and gustatory senses are fulfilled. The lifestyle change that has become more popular in this scenario is that shoppers are reducing their meat intake, but buying higher quality and adding more vegetarian proteins to their diet. This is a good solution, but it still doesn’t address the lack of nutritional value in relying on food alone for sustenance.

Water rule

Most people don’t drink enough water, which is Rule #1 in well-being because the body is 60% H2O on average and one to two liters of this plain liquid is ideal, depending on the intake of  coffee, tea, juice, fruits, and vegetables.

Besides improving sleep quality, cognition and mood, proper hydration is necessary to:

• regulate body temperature
• keep joints lubricated
• prevent infections
• deliver nutrients to cells
• keep organs functioning properly
• prevent constipation

Please do avoid buying water in plastic bottles and get into the habit of taking your own refillable bottle from home, as certain plastics have toxins that leech into the pre-bottled water, especially on hot days.

Plus, it’s just good environmental stewardship to consider the Earth that provides the water in the first place. Some towns like Nanaimo are known as a Blue Community, which does not allow the sale of bottled water at public venues, but has dispensing machines of filtered water instead.

Dietary supplements to the rescue & ruin

Studies show that 95% of the population is not meeting their daily requirements of vitamins and minerals, which is a pretty large percentile. So, to solve that problem consumers turn to the next best thing: vitamin supplements. It makes sense that as the quality of food products declines the popularity of food supplements increases. Or does it? The question remains, “How long will we let this go on?”

What makes things worse is the ‘nutritional hunger’ that ensues from this type of malnutrition is being filled by the junk food industry. This merely exacerbates the depletion of health because highly processed foods, chemical food enhancers and especially white flour and white sugar actually take vitamins from the body to digest. They give nothing back but a heart attack.

People are led into a false sense of nutritional security with the notion that one-a-day vitamin supplements are the answer to health and well-being and it simply isn’t true. For one thing, the body has to be able to assimilate the chosen concoction of dietary supplements that are part water-soluble such as Vitamins B and C and part fat-soluble such as Vitamins A, D, E and K. Water-soluble means it can’t be stored in the body and must be replenished daily, while fat-soluble means it is stored in the fat cells of the body. How many people know that they can overdose on vitamins and minerals, because too much creates a toxicity?

Super-nutrient foods

I’ve always loved the superfood Spirulina and anti-oxidant Grape Seed Extract because they worked well with my system and always added them first before vitamins to my diet. Then came the day when they simply weren’t enough and I developed a bad case of chronic fatigue from a toxic stress situation compounded by grief. At this point I was again shifted back into my 1976 mindset and conscientiously researched the latest new super-nutrient foods and found everything I needed with Juice Plus.

Herbal remedies

The decision to opt for natural products rather than prescribed synthetic ones is best made with the help of experts in your local Health Food store or section of your grocery store where they have designated qualified staff. Herbs and plant medicines are nature’s solution to ailments and hormonal imbalances that have been used for millennia and normally have less side effects than synthetic. It may take longer for results to appear with herbal than synthetic, but it’s because natural medicines treat the cause and prescriptions treat the symptoms.

For example, Black Cohosh is a popular herbal remedy for menopausal symptoms where Cannabis has a very broad range of healing and painkilling properties. The Cannabis plant produces 100 cannabinoids with the two main ones being: cannabidiol (CBD) for its medicinal properties & tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for its psychoactive ones.

Megadoses & making allowances

The one-a-day supplement routine does not make allowances for aging, pregnancy, medications, dieting, illness, injury, stress periods or recreational drugs and alcohol – you must do that yourself. And what about Seasonal Affective Disorder? The most popular solution is anti-depressants! Yikes! Upping the Vitamin D intake is a much better start along with using a sun lamp, but don’t overdo either. As well, what about aches and pains? Again with the prescription drugs when Vitamin D is a natural painkiller.

I learned about Vitamin D for pain from a pain specialist when I had a disc herniation and had to megadose to 4,000IUs/day for about a week and then down to 2,000IUs/day thereafter. What was shocking was my lab test showed I had barely a trace of Vitamin D in my system so it was no wonder I was in so much pain. Thankfully, there are such tests for that provide an accurate method of how much a person needs that can be referred through your doctor or purchased from LifeLabs in BC or similar in other provinces and states.

Listen to your body

The solution is to pay attention to your energy levels as well as aches and pains. Use meditation to get in touch with what’s happening on the inside, because any disease will show up in a bigger way if you ignore it at the start, like high blood pressure or cancer. Do the research to find a product that will work with your personal metabolism and get a blood test if you can.

Alternatively, seek out a Quantum Biofeedback therapist who specializes in the SCIO device and you will be profoundly amazed at how this technology works to instantaneously shift your entire body into optimum health. I first used this in 2005 when a friend offered me treatments and I would leave her office as if I was stepping through clouds. The SCIO machine reads cellular vitality and reveals vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as certain disease markers to provide a snapshot of information about what’s going on inside your body. On top of that, it resets everything to a be in total balance, which is why you feel so good afterward. This kind of advanced technology may not be for everyone, but I always keep my mind open to new ways to be healthy inside and out.

Dietary variety & requirements

The best balanced diet is a varied one with a cornucopia of colour when it comes to fruits and vegetables: Prime-grade for excellent marbling when it comes to meat and A-grade milk with higher sanitation standards for drinking. The other important point to remember is the body’s need for fiber and complex carbohydrates which are both found in whole grains.

Temporary changes to diet include fasting, fad diets and allergy identification where certain foods are restricted or removed all together from the menu with the extreme of a water fast. Always check with your doctor, particularly if you are considering such a feat as dangerous as denying your body its basic nutritional needs with severely altered diets.

• Intermittent fasting is a good way to give your entire digestive system a break and reset your metabolism. One thing to remember is you will need peace and quiet because you may have less energy and may experience moods swings depending on your initial health.
• A restrictive diet for allergies can be monitored by an allergy specialist where suspected foodstuffs are removed altogether and then slowly reinstated one at a time to determine the culprit food.
• If fat loss is the goal, one should never alter their diet drastically with the notion it will help them lose weight permanently that was previously gained from poor eating habits. It is best to adapt new and better eating habits as a lifestyle and lose excess body fat naturally than yo-yo back and forth between regimens. The first action to take is remove all heavily processed, salted, sugared, bleached white flour and junk foods from your kitchen cupboards and never buy them again.

Eating disorders

Bulimia and anorexia are two pretty awful results from a diet gone too far when you just want to look pretty and nothing looks or feels as ugly as bulimia – believe me. It is often a precursor to anorexia and at that point your mind plays tricks on you as it instills the fear of food and distorts your body image to be one of overweight when it is clearly skin and bone to others. These types of eating disorders can be rooted in the need to take control of one’s own life in the face of overbearing parents and unrealistic representations of beauty in society.

Skin Care

Cleanliness, moisturization, exfoliation, breathability

What happens on the outside of your body is a direct result of what’s happening on the inside, which means the best skin care begins with the best nutrition. The same factors that affect your inner health affect this vast area that covers your body with the addition of environmental factors. The dermal layer is actually an organ that helps directly with elimination and oxygenation. Besides the fact that you breathe through your skin as well as your lungs, the skin produces Vitamin D from the sun and assists in removing excess water, salt and toxins through the sweat glands.

Shy as I am, I love being able to put my best face forward and learned to take my skin care seriously when the wrinkles stage came and I had to adapt my routine. My skin has a tendency to be dry, so if a product is going to work I will notice a more soft and smooth feel rather than what I can only describe as rice paper skin. Then finding the right product was a chore after Beauticontrol changed their formula, spending $600 at a mall boutique and experimenting with the cosmetics department at the pharmacy – all with no real signs of improvement.

Then I remembered my old friend, AVON and decided to revisit that option now that it’s online and I don’t have to find someone with a brochure, setup a meeting and wait.

Of course, it was a no-brainer to become a representative and get all the great discounts, plus it was perfect for gifting.

Facial care basics

1. Clean: use a gentle cleanser with warm water morning and night
2. Moisturize: use a light lotion moisturizer with a high SPF factor during the day and heavier creme for night applications when your skin is repairing itself
3. Exfoliate: once a week simply add a teaspoon of baking soda to the cleanser to help removed dead skin cells and do not overdo exfoliation, as it will over-stimulate the oil glands

Environmental impurities

Smoking and pollution cause free-radical damage to the skin that results in premature aging, psoriasis and dehydration. One solution to address that problem is to use products that contain antioxidants.

Special treatments

A good skin care regimen doesn’t required extra attention, but sometimes our skin changes due to seasonal shifts, health concerns and lifestyle and your skin needs an extra boost.

• Eye Cream: daily attention to this more sensitive area of the face requires a much lighter touch and cream
• Serums: daily applications to treat specific skin problems such as dullness, dryness, aging, hyperpigmentation or uneven texture.
• Masks: weekly skin care boost that traps the moisture or ingredient to hydrate, moisturize, dry or exfoliate the skin depending on its purpose.

Body care basics

• Use non-drying bath soaps and shower gels
• Epsom and dead sea salts added to the bath water or washcloth not only help to remove toxins they work as an exfoliant to remove dead skin cells
• Add moisturizer after toweling to keep moisture in
• Give hands special attention with lotions after washing, occasional hand masks, massage and a weekly home manicure
• Give feet special attention with foot baths, pumice stones, occasional foot masks, massage and a weekly home pedicure

Disclaimer

The information I provide here is not medical advice; it is data based on experience and research. Consult with your doctor before making drastic or questionable changes to your diet, especially if you take prescription medication, such as for high blood pressure.