Tag Archives: health

Causes of Sun Damage

by • 3 Comments

Ultraviolet radiation (UV)

Everyone recognizes that chronic overexposure to sunlight plays a role in skin aging and the development of skin cancer. UV radiation is the main environmental factor that causes skin aging and makes us need a wrinkle cure. While human skin is like other organs, it is the only one in direct contact with the environment.

This environmental damage adds an additional dimension to the aging process. Sun bathing and tanning accelerates skin aging and increases the risk of skin cancer at any age – particularly as we grow older.

Sun damage is caused by Ultraviolet (UV) rays – an invisible form of radiation. UV rays can penetrate and change the structure of skin cells. UV rays can cause skin damage during any season or temperature, so protection from excessive sun exposure is important all year round. A testament to this fact is the higher-than-national-average skin cancer rates among inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest of the United States – a region that ironically has more cloud cover than almost anywhere else in the country.

Rule-of-thumb: If you go outdoors, you need sunblock.

While some sun exposure does provide health benefits, be sure to use moderation and avoid the sun during peak hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. during daylight savings time and 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. during standard time, the most hazardous for UV exposure. It is also important to remember that UV rays reach you on cloudy and hazy days, as well as bright and sunny days. They also reflect off surfaces such as water, cement, sand, and snow.

Sun damage is cumulative

Like chronological aging, this sun-induced skin aging is a cumulative process. It also greatly depends on an individual’s degree of sun exposure and their skin pigment. Lightly- pigmented people who spend a lot of time outdoors, especially those who live in warm climates, will experience the greatest degree of photoaging, which can result in the following:

  • Loss of skin elasticity
  • Thinner, more translucent-looking skin
  • Wrinkles
  • Dry, rough, leathery skin
  • Broken capillaries on the face
  • Freckles
  • Liver spots on the face, back of hands, arms, chest and upper back
  • Spots or blemishes on the lower legs and arms
  • Skin Cancer

Essential Fatty Acids

by • Comment

The omega 3 essential fatty acids are particularly important and the best sources are the cold water fish and fish oil capsules, with nuts and seeds as the second best source.

However, omega-3 is not the only type of essential fatty acid necessary for good health.  Also important are the omega-6 and omega-9.  All are needed to form and maintain the structural and functional integrity of cell membranes, provide fuel for cellular energy and create the hormone-like messenger chemicals, the prostaglandins and the eicosanoids, which regulate many key metabolic functions.

Because the body cannot make these essential fats, we must obtain them from our diets.  This is a lot easier said than done.  For one thing, many of us consume a low ratio of essential fatty acids compared to our intake of saturated fatty acids, such as those found in full fat dairy products and meat (we all know that saturated fats are pro-inflammatory and are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease).

Unfortunately, when most of us do consume essential fatty acids, they tend to be omega-6, which is found in grains and vegetable oils such as corn and safflower.  In fact, very few of us are getting the proper ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, which may account for the growing prevalence of serious health conditions like heart attacks, cancer, asthma, lupus, schizophrenia, depression, accelerated aging, ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes in our society.

This imbalance upsets the proverbial fat-metabolizing apple cart.  An overabundance of omega-6 is inflammatory and interferes with the body’s ability to use omega-3s—a serious situation because of the positive effects of omega-3s we talked about earlier:  They inhibit the calories we consume from being stored as body fat, while promoting the burning of body fat we already have.  It is believed that humans evolved with a 1:1 ratio of omega 3 to omega 6.  It is now believed that the Western diet is 15:1 or significantly greater with the omega 6 intake far surpassing the omega 3 intake.  To prevent disease, make a wrinkle cure, and feel your best, drastically limit intake of omega 6, eliminate all refined vegetables oils other than extra virgin olive oil and increase your intake of the omega 3’s.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the best food choices to get your Omega 3s and Omega 6s.

The Power of Protein

by • 4 Comments

Protein is the basic material of life.  In fact, the word “protein” comes from an ancient Greek root meaning “of first importance.”  The body could not grow or function without it. When protein is broken down by digestion the result is 22 known amino acids. Eight are essential (cannot be manufactured by the body) the rest are non-essential (can be manufactured by the body with proper nutrition). Since the human body can only manufacture 14 of the twenty-two amino acids that are essential for life, the remaining eight must be provided through the intake of dietary protein.  Yet, the contemporary American diet rarely contains protein in sufficient quantity to maintain and repair cell and skin health.

When the protein supply is depleted, the body is forced to feed upon itself.  This causes both tissue and muscle to break down.

Protein is essential to cellular repair.  Without adequate protein, our bodies enter into an accelerated aging mode. Our muscles, organs, bones, cartilage, skin, and the antibodies that guard us from disease are all made of protein.  Even the enzymes that facilitate all-important chemical reactions in our body—from digestion to building cells—are made of protein.  If your cells do not have complete availability of all essential amino acids, cellular repair will not only be incomplete, it will be much slower than it should be.

Remember this key fact: we cannot store protein in our bodies. To keep our face and body firm, toned, lithe, and supple, provide it with a fresh supply of high quality protein every day.  That’s three meals a day and two snacks. This protein, combined with skin care products, can help you maintain your youthful glow–skin that is virtually ageless!

Recommended Proteins include:

  • Fish – wild Alaskan salmon is the best choice
  • Shellfish
  • Free range poultry
  • Omega 3 organic eggs from free range chickens
  • Tofu
  • Low fat dairy products, esp. yogurt and kefir

PROTEIN FIRST!
As always, eat your protein first, and enjoy your fruits at the end of the meal to avoid any possible negative effects on blood sugar.  An added bonus — protein will help suppress your appetite and keep you from overeating.