Save a lot of bucks, do the Earth a favor and come out beautiful!
Never in my life have I used make-up (okay, okay, once as a teenager!) and it shows at sixty five (disclosure: The picture I am using here is two years old and flattering).
Good genes help, of course. Other than that – here is what I did and what you can do. Or, in skin care, what you DON'T do seems to count the most:
• No smoking. Smoking is the worst wrinkle-maker in the world (confirmed by studies).
• Cold water: Whenever you wash you hands, splash you face with, especially if you tend oily skin. Cold water acts like a mini instant face mask.
• No soap. Unless you are a miner or auto mechanic, soap has no place in your face. And if you have to use something, use a pH-adjusted detergent. But for normal people: Absolutely no soap! Americans, on average, must be taking a shower every day or every other day. How dirty can you be? Let warm (not hot in your face!) water gently run over your face (and end each warm shower with a cold one!).
• In the shower, use your shampoo gently for your armpits and private parts. Rinse well! Again: soap is too harsh for delicate areas.
• No make-up, no moisturizer, no cold cream, no lotions – no nothing. Beauty can't be bought.
• Use olive oil or virgin coconut oil for your skin – find out which suits your skin type better. But only if you need them – don’t clog the pores with perfectly good skin with anything. I started using oil around my eyes in my fifties, not earlier. If you have very dry skin, start earlier. But don’t slobber it all over. If your cheeks and chin are fine, keep to eyes and neck.
And here is the biggest beauty secret of them all: Skin beauty comes from inside. It depends on what you eat: good oils (again olive oil and coconut oil; I take my cosmetics directly from the kitchen…) and heaps of vegetables. Leave out sugars, sweeteners, fried foods, an excess of meats (poultry is also meat!), trans fats, bad cooking oils and dairy. Eat more fish than meat - preferably small fish as they are less polluted.
If you want to do something special, take some good fish oil capsules (if you burp back fish, they aren’t so good!).
Get a good night's sleep before midnight! Make sure you are not getting sleeping folds by placing pillows to support you.
And: Smile! Friendliness and compassion show in your face - latest after thirty! Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
The Super Foods … Bunkum
April 27, 2010
You have read and heard it so often: The Ten best foods, the Five Best Fruits, The Super Foods Without Which You Will Die...
Some of the lists contain meritable foodstuffs, often judged by their anti-oxidant contents. Apart from outright scams (brand-names) on those super-food lists, the usual suspects are blueberries (all the berries, really), broccoli, walnuts, spinach, beans, cinnamon (without the bun), almonds, avocados.
There is nothing wrong with these foods. But the concept of “super foods” is all wrong.
If you eat the same super food again and again, you have a higher chance to sensitize against it and end up with an allergy. Also, you might get an overfill of some phyto-nutrients, and become deficient in others. Not to mention that we have to worry about pollution - you don’t want to eat the same mercury-laden morsels day after day. We were made for roaming the savannah and nibble here and there, all day long. That gave us enough exercise, and rotated our groceries, depending on area and season.
Asked about healthy nutrition, I like to say (stolen from realtors who stress “location, location, location”): Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. Today I want to add: Rotate, rotate, rotate! The point is to eat a wide variety of meats, fish and vegetables, preferably local and in season (less meat, more vegetables!).
Having emphasized variety, here are some under–used and relatively inexpensive vegetables: Onions, garlic and all cabbages (broccoli, kale, brocco rabe, broccolini, Brussels sprouts, white, red, Savoy) – eat them often. Summer and winter squash, too. Don’t forget root vegetables: Red beets, carrots, celeriac, daikon, jicama, rutabaga.
Assignment: Each time you venture to your local market/supermarket, find one new vegetable! Bring it home and serve it - any vegetable tastes good cooked (but not overcooked!) with olive oil and garlic. Read More
Who Loves It Dark, Warm, Moist and Sweet?
April 23, 2010
Under-cover, in America’s shoes, nail fungus is attacking like body-snatchers. To call it “athlete’s foot” is giving nail fungus a too-nice name. Think about the germs invading a body after death; nail fungus is invading your body already before death!
Conventional wisdom has it that we get the fungus because we catch it from public spaces like pools and hotel rooms. Truth is, the offending fungus spores – most often those of Trichophyton rubrum - are everywhere and hard to avoid. Still, nail fungus was uncommon only a few generations earlier. We pick up the offenders because our body defenses are down. Down from a diet high in sugar. Note that the acronym for American Standard Diet is SAD!
Nail fungus likes it dark, warm, moist and sweet. Therefore, let’s spoil it for the invaders and make it bright, cool, dry and decidedly unsweet! Wear light, airy shoes. Go barefoot often. If you have to wear heavy boots or sneakers, use ample baby powder, and change shoes and socks often. You can microwave your shoes after wearing (one minute on high) – but only if there are no metal buckles on them. And you want to try out with less than a minute because some modern materials melt and blister. Alternatively, dust your shoes with foot powder right after slipping out of them. Walk barefoot at home or wear slip-resistant socks.
There are many natural methods to fight nail fungus, usually involving the one or other essential oil and/or garlic. This is what is highly effective (unless you have an allergy to any of the ingredients):
Rub feet and nails twice a day with tea tree oil. Since tea tree oil tends to dry out the skin, apply olive oil (perhaps with a drop of thyme or rosemary oil) afterward to keep the skin nice and smooth. Repeat religiously twice a day until all signs of fungus is gone; then continue once daily for prevention.
And the unsweet part? Whenever you eat something sugary, your nail fungus thrives. Don’t feed the invader! Build a shield around you – by a diet high in vegetables!
The above applies also to another fungal disease: Jock itch. It is only so much harder to air the area out... Read More