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Informative Articles

7 Tips for Beautiful Skin and Beauty Nutrition
For most women, part of the morning and evening routines involve a skincare regimen of applying creams, moisturizers, tonics, lotions, and the like. Why do women put themselves through this? They do it primarily to combat the signs of aging, and...

Body Jewelry: an unusual way of enhancing the beauty of your own body
Since ancient times body jewelry has been a part of the culture and heritage of different religions. It has been known to be an essential part of the clothing and appearance of the people in many regions of the world. At different parts of time...

e-Matchmaking: Can a Computer Find Love For You?
I logged on to a dating site the other day and was greeted by a large, flashing message. It promised that if I took the time to answer a series of questions that they would find a "perfect match" for me. Imagine that? All the work and worry of being...

Endings Are Beautiful Too
Endings Are Beautiful Too Helaine Iris © 2003 “To be able to look at change as an opportunity to grow--that is the secret to being happy.” Joan Lunden As I stepped outside this morning for my daily power walk the brisk October air braced my...

How to Really Enjoy Christmas, Written by a Pro
I’m known in my family as the original Christmas Elf. I’ve always loved Christmas and thought it was created just for me. And this even when for many years I held jobs that escalated dramatically during December. I thought I’d share ten ways to...

New Sources of Hyaluronic Acid Provide Hope for Increased Availability, Hyaluronic Acid Injection Restylane ® Announces New Rewards Program
E-Hyaluronicacid.com announced recently that research continues into the purification of Hyaluronic acid from the vitreous humor of fish. This method is highly efficient and easier than derivation from rooster combs and other sources. In other news,...

Sunburn, UV Overexposure & Skin Cancer: Prevention or Cure?
Overexposure to the sun and UV rays is rarely obvious at the time, -- and on many occasions, probably quite unintentional. However repeated exposure has rather more adverse long-term implications for our bodies and our health. We’re all well...

THE REFLECTION
You can’t escape it - every time you look in a mirror there it is. It may be a pleasurable experience, or it can be a soul-searching, dismal attempt at facing the world. However, you view or react to what you see in a mirror, it is not the final...

 
Health And Beauty Tip: Why Fat-Free Is A Beauty No-No

Fat free has almost become a cornerstone in many households. It is certainly something of a fixture on modern restaurant menus. And industries have catered to the fat free preoccupation by supplying foods labeled fat free and low fat, as well as herbal and medical products that block fat metabolism. But the bottom line on the beauty and health fronts, is that if you want beautiful skin with fewer wrinkles, or to speed up your metabolism, you need to eat the right kind of fats.

The benefits to your skin of eating the right fats daily are many. Beneficial fats stimulate the production of collagen, improves the blood flow in the layer below the skin that supplies nutrients for the creation of new, healthy skin cells. Poor quality blood flow here means under performing new skin cells. Fats keep the skin moist, from the inside. Fats are crucial for the absorption of the fat soluble vitamin - A, D, E, and K. And the beneficial phytonutrients like carotene, lycopene and lutein need fat to be absorbed also.

For example, eating salad with a dressing containing fats increases the absorption of these phytonutrients. A study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (and referenced in Gorgeous Skin by E Angyal) found that those who ate a salad with a low fat dressing had very little alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene in blood tests taken afterwards. Those who had a full fat dressing with the salad had noticeably higher levels of these carotenes and lycopene metabolites in their blood.

Fats also help produce and regulate hormones, reduce inflammation (the right fats anyway), and prevent eczema, psoriasis, and hair loss.

According to Erica Angyal, you need about 2tbsp, or 20 grams of fats per day so the skin can lubricate itself, and so enough vitamin A can be absorbed. Vitamin A prevents premature aging.

Erica Angyal recommends olive oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, coconut oil, mustard seed oil, avocado oil, soy oil, macadamia oil, and canola oil. She suggests using extra virgin, virgin, cold pressed oils where they are available, as these are always much better quality, and the way they are processed means unhealthy chemical changes to the oils are avoided. Of the oils here, the mono unsaturated oils are olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, as well as the oil from cold water fish, like swordfish, mackerel and salmon. Mono unsaturated oils can reduce wrinkles. The polyunsaturated oils are flaxseed, walnut, pumpkin seed, and canola oil. For the reasons outlined below, I would not personally use these to gain the bulk of needed daily fats. Coconut oil is a saturated fat, but extremely good for


you.

Coconut Oil

I love this stuff. Not only does it have a beautiful aroma when it is good quality, cold pressed coconut oil, but it has amazing health benefits that go beyond great looking skin. Aging, including aging of the brain and skin, is associated with a process called 'peroxidation'. This simply means that free radicals remove an oxygen electron from the fats (lipids) in our cellular membranes. Ultraviolet light, from the sun, causes peroxidation in unsaturated fats, both in the laboratory and in your skin. This increases the rate at which wrinkles form.

And unsaturated fats, like regular vegetable oils, decrease the metabolic rate. Unsaturated fats suppress the response of the body's tissues to thyroid hormone. Unsaturated fats inhibit the protein digestive enzyme that forms thyroid hormone, as well as damaging the mitochondria in cells, which relates to cellular energy production. Coconut oil counteracts these unwelcome effects of unsaturated fats.

Coconut oil is incredibly versatile. Because it is so stable, it can be used in cooking without becoming hydrogenated. And it doesn't change the flavor of the food, despite its strong aroma. Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids. These are not stored in the cells like other fats but go directly to the liver which converts them into energy. The shorter chain length allows them to bypass the metabolic pathway that other longer chain fats need to use. Coconut oil is the only saturated fat that is good for the body.

Interestingly, Dr Mercola's website quotes an article by Dr Ray Peat in which he mentions that when so called essential fatty acids were used in patients fed intravenously, their immune systems were suppressed. Consequently, coconut oil is used instead. The only exceptions are in cases where immunosuppression is needed, such as in organ transplant patients. The essential fatty acids are the omega 3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Examples are flaxseed oil, the oils of cold water fish like salmon, evening primrose oil, and sunflower oil.

References:
1. http://www.mercola.com/2001/mar/24/coconut_oil.htm
2. Erica Angyal, Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian Books, 2005)


About the Author: If you're troubled by acne scars, check out this article to learn about the different types and the best forms of treatment for each: www.acnetohealth.com/acne-scars.html" title="http://www.acnetohealth.com/acne-scars.html" target="_blank">http://www.acnetohealth.com/acne-scars.html

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