Acne Improved on Low-Glycemic Diet

By Dr. Ray Sahelian, MD

Foods that produce a high glycemic load - such as sugared drinks, white bread, and white potatoes - cause a quick rise in blood sugar. More complex carbohydrates with fiber, such as unrefined cereals, grains, and beans, have a more gradual effect on blood sugar, and, thus, have a low glycemic index. Eating low-glycemic foods can help stave off obesity and diabetes. It can also help clear up unsightly acne.

Dr. Robyn N. Smith, from the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, evaluated acne symptoms in 43 male patients. The participants - who ranged in age from 15 to 25 - were randomly assigned to a low-glycemic-load diet or a normal diet. After three months, the low-glycemic diet was associated with a significant reduction in acne compared with the normal diet. In addition, the low-glycemic diet produced greater reductions in body weight and body mass and a greater increase in insulin sensitivity.

One reason for the success of the low-glycemic diet is that it limits the increase in insulin levels. Chronically high levels of insulin may lead to blockages in skin pores and extra oil building up under the skin.

Along with sticking to low-glycemic foods, eating lots of fish full of omega-3 EPA and DHA oils is very helpful for people with acne. Even with the best diet, many teenagers will be bothered with pimples. But their skin problem is likely to be less severe when they adopt a healthier diet.

How to Care For Dry Skin

Dry skin care is necessary for individuals that have skin that does not normally retain its moisture for one or more reasons. This is a medical condition that can cause a great deal of pain if it gets to a severe level and/or if it goes untreated. The good news is that dry skin can be cared for properly and can be relieved. If you take the necessary steps to getting care for your skin, you’ll find that your skin feels and looks better.

How To Improve Dry Skin

There are a wide range of products on the market, both organic and natural to chemicals that can help you to get rid of dry skin. To choose the right product for your skin, though, you’ll need to pay close attention to what the product is and how it can work for your specific condition.

First, you will need to wash your skin properly. Because the skin is being pulled tight and is often distorted in its shape, it can be painful to scrub the skin. You should not do this. What you should do is to gently wash your skin with a moisturizing cleanser. There should be no perfumes or other ingredients in the product. For dry skin, do not use anything that is rough to the touch either. Clarins has a gentle foaming cleanser that gently removes surface impurities and makeup. You can get one for $25.50 from Macy's
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If the skin is very dry and irritated, it is necessary to use a moisturizer throughout the day as well. These can be purchased throughout the web in good qualities. Make sure to use chemicals and cosmetics at a minimum as they can dry out the skin even more.

Lastly, when fighting dry skin, you should also try to improve your diet to insure that your body is getting the vitamins and minerals that it needs to keep skin healthy. This will include a wide range of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It may also be necessary to seek the help of a doctor if the condition does not improve.

Skin care is very important to your health. Improve dry skin with quality products and through diet and stop hurting every time the wind blows past your lips and face.

Good Skin Care Habits For a Healthy Skin

Adapted from an article by Mayo Clinic

The busy lifestyle we live nowadays leave little time for pampering our skin. And with age, our skin gradually becomes thinner and wrinkled. Oil-producing glands grow less active leaving your skin drier. The number of blood vessels in the skin decreases causing our skin to become more fragile, and lose its youthful color and glow.

Good skin care — such as avoiding the sun, washing your skin gently and applying moisturizer regularly — can help delay the natural aging process and prevent many skin problems. These simple skin-care habits will help you protect your skin to keep it healthy and glowing for years to come.

1. Wash your skin gently

Cleaning is an essential part of caring for your skin. The key is to treat your skin gently.

* Use warm water and limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time to about 15 minutes or less, and use warm, rather than hot, water.

* Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps strip oil from your skin leaving your skin dry. Instead, choose mild soaps with oils and fats added to them. (like Clinique soap products as featured on the right)
* Remove eye makeup carefully. Use a soft sponge, cotton cloth or cotton balls when removing eye makeup to avoid damaging the delicate tissue around your eyes. If you wear heavy, waterproof makeup, you may need to use an oil-based product such as petroleum jelly.
* Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on the skin. Immediately moisturize your skin with an oil or cream.

2. Moisturize regularly

Moisturizers help maintain your skin's natural moisture levels. They work by providing a seal over your skin — to keep water from escaping — or by slowly releasing water into your skin.

The moisturizer that's best for you and the frequency with which you need to moisturize depends on many factors, including your skin type, your age and whether you have specific conditions such as acne. A good way to test if you need a moisturizer is to wait 20 minutes after bathing. If your skin feels tight, you should apply a moisturizer.

Select a moisturizer with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 to help protect your skin from damaging ultraviolet rays. If you have sensitive skin, look for products free of heavy dyes, perfumes or other additives. If your skin is very dry, you may want to apply an oil, such as baby oil, while your skin is still moist. Oil has more staying power than moisturizers do and prevents the evaporation of water from the surface of your skin. If your skin is oily, you may want to skip moisturizing.


3. Shave with care

Shaving is a common and inexpensive way to remove unwanted hair. But shaving can cause skin irritations, especially if your skin is thin, dry or very sensitive. For a smooth shave:

* Press a warm wash cloth on your skin before shaving to soften the hair. Or shave after a warm bath or shower.
* Don't shave dry skin, which can cause razor burn. Apply shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving to protect and lubricate your skin.
* Use a clean, sharp razor. If using an electric razor, don't use the closest setting, which can irritate the skin.
* Shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it.
* Rinse your skin afterwards with warm water.

If irritation does occur, apply a lotion that doesn't contain ethyl or isopropyl alcohol. Though alcohol and alcohol-based products may feel cooling, they don't really soothe irritated skin because the alcohol evaporates rapidly from the skin.

4. Protect yourself from the sun

The best way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. Ultraviolet light — the invisible but intense rays of the sun — damages your skin, causing deep wrinkles, dry, rough skin, liver spots, and more serious disorders, such as noncancerous (benign) and cancerous (malignant) skin tumors.

For the most complete sun protection, use all three of these methods:

* Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours. The sun's rays are most damaging from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reduce the time you spend outdoors during these hours.
* Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. Also, keep in mind that certain clothing styles and fabrics offer better protection from the sun than do others. For example, long-sleeved shirts offer better protection than short-sleeved shirts do. And tightly woven fabrics such as denim are better than loosely woven fabrics such as knits.
* Use sunscreen. Apply sunscreen liberally 20 minutes before going outdoors and reapply every two hours, after heavy sweating or after being in water.


5. Avoid smoking

Smoking can accelerate the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. Skin changes from smoking can be seen in young adults who have been smoking for as few as 10 years.

Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin. This decreases blood flow, depleting the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health. All of these factors increase damage to the elastic fibers (elastin) and collagen which give your skin strength and elasticity.

In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles. It's also possible that repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes may damage your facial skin over time.

~Source: Mayo Clinic

Beauty Secrets for an Acne Free Skin

Looking young and desirable is the trend these days as our subconscious minds get bombarded with images of beautiful models with flawless skin. We have become obsessed with losing weight and getting rid of wrinkles. Cosmetic surgery is beyond the means of a lot of people, so we search the glossy magazines for any beauty secrets that the experts can give us. Celebrities give their tips too, of course it's easier to stay gorgeous when you have an entourage containing a personal fitness trainer, make up artist and hair stylist.

Millions of dollars are spent on face creams and products that promise to remove wrinkles. Men have become just as vain as women, moisturizing, exfoliating and dying their hair. Is there anything we can do apart from botox injections? Some beauty secrets have been handed down from the old Hollywood stars. Many an actress today plunges her face into a bowl of cold water and ice. If the shock doesn't kill you, it's supposed to invigorate and stimulate the skin. This might be too extreme for a daily regime but no pain, no gain.

It may be a cliché but the best advice on looking good is to live right. Smoking, partying, eating rich foods and alcohol all take their toll if not moderated. The body can only take so much and the skin will start to show the visible results of an unhealthy lifestyle. Dry, creased skin and dark circles under the eyes will betray all. There is no great mystery to beauty secrets. There's nothing wrong with buying lotions and potions but it's only a temporary fix before it all catches up with you. Eating plenty fruit and vegetables, no smoking and drinking water or pure juice instead of caffeine is a good regime to follow. A sufficient amount of sleep is also beneficial. The body needs time to recuperate.

Some women won't take the garbage out until they are fully made up. The thought of facing the world without putting their face on sends them into blind terror. The fact is that cosmetics were not invented to preserve our youth. The less make up, the better. It's important to cleanse, tone and moisturize every day. If you are buying products that claim to offer all the beauty secrets known to civilization, make sure the manufacturer has a good pedigree. If it retails at a ridiculously low price, the chances are that the ingredients are not as pure as you would wish.

Natural foods the way to go for beautiful skin

The skin is the body's largest organ, and one that people pay a lot of attention to, whether it's pampering faces with creams and lotions or moisturizing hands and feet for a more youthful-looking appearance.

Besides over-the-counter products that promise to whiten, tighten and smoothen, Mother Nature can also help you maintain your skin's youth and health.

Patrick Holford, a nutritionist and health author, advised that skin can maintain its lustre with proper care and optimum nutrition.

He said:"What nutrients you feed your skin, from both inside through diets and supplements, and from the outside through skin creams, is the single most important factor for ensuring healthy, young and glowing skin."
And that also means junking the junk in favour of wholesome alternatives like fresh and unprocessed food.

Holford said:"A good intake of antioxidants is vital for the health of your skin. Eating plenty of antioxidant-rich food daily is a key dietary factor."

That's because the flexibility of collagen and elestin fibres present in skin reduces over time due to the damage caused by free radicals - hence the need for antioxidants like vitamins A, C, E and selenium. Vitamin C for example, is responsible for creating collagen in the skin by converting amino acid proline, into hydroxyproline.

Holford cites oxidants(free radicals), present in the environment and food we eat, as our skin's main enemy. These are commonly found in pollution from car exhaust and cigarette smoke, in fried and burnt food and processed cooking oils.

According to Holford, to ensure skin stays healthy, it's best to include at least five servings of colourful fruit and vegetables in one's diet, in addition to other skin-friendly foods like a tablespoon of pumpkin, sesame, sunflower or linseed seeds, as well as helpings of fibre-rich wholegrains,root vegetables, lentils and beans.

In addition, drinking at least six glasses of water a day is also good for maintaining healthy skin as well as is taking low fat, organic yoghurt and fruit juices. And when the hunger pangs strike at tea-time, resist the urge to gorge on fatty curry puffs and cake. Opt instead for a handful of raw nuts like almonds or hazelnuts, or try munching on carrot and celery sticks with low-fat dips.

So, for healthy skin, be disciplined instead in choosing the right natural foods that are not only nutritious, but also skin-friendly.

Natural Herbal Acne Skin Care

Recently there have been numerous negative rumors circulating about various up-market skin-whitening products claiming that they contain harmful chemicals. Whether these rumors are true or not, hopefully the truth will eventually come with time and trial. But worry and anxiety are always the biggest obstacles to a beautiful complexion. So as an alternative, why not try some natural herbal skin care products free from chemical additives?

Different herbal plants have different curative effects. Here are some basic tips about some commonly used herbal plants. Read on before rushing to apply just any herbal skin care product to your body.

Lemon, liquorice and bergamot (picture on right) have amazing whitening effects. Mint, aloe and witch hazel are good for controlling oil and acne. Neroli, bergamot and geraniums work well to combat wrinkles. Cucumber, rose and camellia help keep skin moist. Green tea, chamomile, rosemary and grapeseed oil are good antioxidants.

Different skin stypes should use different combinations of herbal plants. Try a few different kinds before deciding on the best one for you.

For normal skin

Herbal plants diminish inflammation, moisturize and improve balance. You can try:

• Aloe: diminishes inflammation and softens coarse skin.


• French salvia: prevents loss of moisture and improves sebum excretion.


• Rosehip: boosts the balance of oil and water.


• Mint and lime: tightens skin.
  

For oily skin

Try herbal plants containing sebum excretion or antibacterial plants such as:

• French mint: cools skin and boosts blood circulation


• Indian rosehip: helps metabolism.


• Lavender: restrains the superfluous excretion of sedum.


• Rosemary: eliminates accumulated waste and unblocks pores.

For dry skin

The main challenge for dry skin is to add to and keep the water on the skin's surface. Why not try:

• Aloe: diminishes inflammation and softens coarse skin.


• Italian immortelle: increases oxygen supply to skin cells.


• Evening primrose oil: rich in fatty acids it fights wrinkles and spots.


• Rosehip seed oil: prevents water loss.

For sensitive skin

Relaxing and natural herbal plants are best.

• German and Roman chamomile: helps fight allergies.


• Lavender: relaxes.


• Lemon grass: boosts circulation and fights stress.


• Tea tree: kills bacteria, covers scars and prevents infection.

Here are some well known herbal skin care brands:

L'occitane - A long-famous herbal skin care product brand originating from Provence, France, L'occitane offers herbal skin care products especially for men in addition to various herbal skin care products for women, including fine fragrances, body and hand care products, bath and shower products, skin care and hair care products.

Evolu Natural Skin Care Products" - Offers organic and herbal ingredients for facial and body skincare beauty treatment.

Martha Hill - Serious herbal skin care for over 30 years.

Zen Biotic Innovations - Offering natural organic skin care that utilizes live nutrition for maximum rejuvenation and regeneration of skin cells.

~ More information on Natural Herbal Acne Home Remedies

Help Your Acne Condition by First Understanding Your Skin Type

Is keeping your complexion clear becoming an uphill task? Is your skin free of oil, perfectly hydrated, radiant, smooth and free from any imperfections? Although no one is perfect, there is a lot you can do to make sure your skin looking great at all times. Let's face it, we all want a great complexion, and that means staying acne free. What causes acne anyway? Unfortunately most people don't even know. They just go about buying loads of acne treatments, which unfortunately worsens the situation sometimes. To be acne free, you must first understand your face.

Ask a dermatologist or your family doctor about your skin type. With that knowledge you can match products that will work well for you. While we all typically understand that pimples erupt due to clogged pores, many of us do not attack this dilemma the right way. Dead skin, oil and bacteria are the catalysts that initiate acne, but do you know how to deal with them properly? First of all, you don't want to over-cleanse. This will only aggravate and irritate your delicate skin further. The last thing you need is a dry face. This dilemma will actually cause your glands to pump out more oil to compensate. What you need is balance if you want to be acne free. Try a gentle cleanser. One facial cleanser that is still my favorite is the pH Advantage Acne Cleanser. This will wash away the dirt and oil, but not strip the skin's surface. A topical treatment may be necessary to apply after cleansing. It's always prudent to pat the face dry with a clean towel. You don't want to rub and cause further irritation.

Proper diet is also a key factor in maintaining acne free skin. What we eat comes out through our pores. Think fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water. These give our body nutrients that we need everyday. A final tip concerning acne free skin is to get a good night's sleep. Are you getting enough of it? You want to be sure to get enough rest each day. This reduces stress and fatigue, which in turn affects your complexion. You may want to switch pillow cases every night as well. I know this sounds crazy, but all of that bacteria is imbedded into your pillow case every night when you sleep. Do you really want to rub your clean face on it night after night? With the right steps, you too can become acne free.