Treatments For Your Skin

Trialling skin products and treatments with honest and fair reviews.

Skin Treatments for Anti-aging

The Best 10 Anti-Aging Foods for Your Skin

January 14th, 2010

Creams, lotions and treatments are not the only thing that can fight aging. Simple foods from the supermarket will really help you look younger. Foods such as spinach, chocolate (yes!) and beans all have hidden secrets which aid your body fight the effects of aging.

1 - Spinach

Spinach contains an antioxidant named Lutein which helps fight wrinkles and lines by increasing skin elasticity and hydration. Start adding dark leafy vegetable to your meals like spinach, kale and cabbage and you will start seeing the effects on your skin in a few weeks. It might also be mentioned that spinach is very high in all sort of vitamins that are good for your overall health.

2 - Goji Berries

Goji Berries are super nutritious and have very strong anti-aging powers. Vitamin C is responsible for helping make collagen and collagen keeps skin firm. Goji Berries have 500 times more Vitamin C than Oranges. They also contain a fat (linoleic acid) that promotes plumper skin. Sprinkle some goji berries over your cereal, mix it into your muesli mix, or add some to your smoothie.

3 - Turkey

Turkey has a protein named carnosine which helps slow down the process of cross linking ( cross linking involves fibers that grow in collagen causing the skin to become inelastic and stiff) in your skin. try to eat turkey at lest 2 or 3 times a week.

4 - Chocolate

Some great news for chocolate lovers! studies in Germany have found that drinking cocoa rich drinks boosts blood flow to the skin (meaning more moisture and nutrients for the skin). This is only for dark chocolate as it is the only type that contains enough antioxidants.

5 - Prunes

Free radicals break down healthy skin tissue and is one of the largest causes of skin aging. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals before they do more damage. Prunes have the highest levels of antioxidants (blueberries come close). Try to eat about 5 prunes a day.

6 - Beans

Beans (kidney, butter or baked) help produce an anti-aging acid in your body named hyaluronic acid. When we are babies our skin is overflowing with this and it is what helps to make our skin look so smooth and plump, this decreases with age and eating beans can help restore it. Try eating about 2 tablespoons of beans daily.

7 - Beetroot

Beetroot contains a great source of anthocyanadins (antioxidant), this promotes collagen production. Beetroot is excellent in salads and hamburgers.

8 - Olives

Olives and olive oil contain oleic acid which is a great emollient for the skin. Oleic acidhelp make wrinkles and fine lines soften by penetrating skin cell membranes and plumping them up.

9 - Red Peppers

Red Peppers are super rich in Vitamin B-12, this vitamin helps fight wrinkles and fine lines!

10 - Flaxseed

Flaxseed is a major source of healthy Omega-3 fat. This fat disguises wrinkles and lines by plumping up your skin. Try to have a tablespoon of flaxseed oil daily. (You can be this over the net or in health food stores)

Now How Do I Know Which Foods to Eat?

First of all, I will say that the above list is great, but if you eat those foods raw you are really going to increase your energy levels by 200%!

It's not so hard to figure out which foods you need to start eating, but I have found it's handy to have a guide to take with you to the market.

The best book I have found on re-engineering your diet for maximum energy is Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim.

I know what you are thinking: "Oh great! ANOTHER diet e-book". Well, sure, there are a lot and I was also skeptical.

I did some 'digging' about the author and found out Yuri is actually the nutrition coach at the University of Toronto (for the Men's Soccer Team). He also actively participates on Twitter and has over 3000 followers. I already got some good health tips for free from his tweets! Since then, I've also seen his name in Fitness mag as a contributor.

Anyway, my point is, he's not a fly-by-nigher! This is a real guy, who has put his reputation on the line with this book. So that made me feel pretty safe with buying it.

So I did.

When I got it, I dived in and started reading. What struck me was:

It's well organised and easy to read
He explains which fats are actually GOOD for you to eat.
He explains why counting calories doesn't work - hallejujah! I hate counting every last calorie, every darn day!
He has 12 top superfoods (2 more than I do!!)
He goes through, in great detail, exactly how to optimise your energy. What was great for me, was that I was able cut out foods that weren't energy efficient, and replace them with more of the ones that agreed with my metabolism.
He gives you a 12 week eating plan - this really helped me get used to the changes. When you introduce it over time like that, it's easier to form a habit.

So that's it from me: Yuri's page on the book has a LOT more info. PLUS you can get a 6-part course called Energy Secrets for free. This is all about how to get more energy and losing weight - something we all need!

This course is totally free, and a great way to see if you like what Yuri has to say. All you need to give is your email address.

Go read more about Eating for Energy now!

http://www.treatmentsforyourskin.com/go/superfoods

No comments »

Posted in Anti-aging, Foods for Healthy Skin

Tags: Anti-aging antioxidants beans beetroot dark chocolate flaxseed oil goji berries olives prunes red peppers spinach turkey

Sun Damaged Skin

January 11th, 2010

When you compare the skin of a young child with the skin of your face you'll be able to begin to understand what sun damage looks like. A young child has skin which is uniform in color, carries a radiant translucent glow and smooth texture. By the time most of us reach 30 to 40 years of age we have some redness or blotchiness, some sagging, some wrinkling, brown spots and dry perhaps leathery skin. Most of this is thanks to photoaging - sun damage.

If you believe that the way your face looks at that age is due to normal aging then you need only look at the skin in parts of your body which have been regularly protected from the sun like your upper thighs or the skin on your breasts. Notice the difference? That is how the skin on your face would look if it had not received any sun damage. Of course time does eventually etch lines into the face, but sunlight exposure helps the aging process accelerate dramatically. By the time we reach the age of 18 many of us have already received 80% of our lifetime sun exposure. Skin damage caused by sunlight builds up from continuous exposure even when you do not burn.According to dermatologists the worst type of sun damage occurs when the skin receives a prolonged dose of sun exposure after weeks or months of hardly any sun exposure at all.

Tanning causes sever damage to your skin in the long run

It is important to know that both UVA and UVB radiation can contribute to skin cancer and photoaging.

UVA Radiation

UVA radiation consists of longer wave lengths than UVB. This may generate fewer burns but it creates more damage the elastic fibers and collagen as it is capable of penetrating deeper into your skin. This of-course can cause wrinkles and skin cancers.
UVA radiation is able to penetrate through windows and through clouds. Tanning salons use this type of radiation so while you may come out of there without a burn you can be sure that you exposed your skin to some radiation damage. In fact tanning yourself using sunbeds is worse than basking in the suns rays because the UVA light tanning beds expose you to are 3 times more concentrated than the suns. One session in a sunbed is the same as a full day at the beach. Tanning beds and skin cancer go hand in hand because most people who use tanning beds do not wear sunscreen thereby dramatically increasing their risk of skin cancer.

UVB Radiation:

UVB emits shorter wavelengths of light and is at its strongest between the hours of 11:00 am and 3:00 pm. UVB rays penetrate the epidermis causing an immediate reaction in the skin in the form of redness and sunburn. This is the type of radiation that is responsible for most sunburns and unfortunately it is the severe sunburns caused in childhood which are responsible for the deadliest skin cancer - melanoma.

To prevent sun damage which is the cause behind wrinkles, age spots, skin cancer and many other things, it is important to always wear sunscreen that blocks both UVB and UVA light. For detailed information on sunscreens and for choosing the correct sunscreen for you please read the following: Wear Sunscreen Guide.

5 comments »

Posted in Anti-aging, Bad Skin Habits, Wrinkles, sun damage

Tags: aging photoaging Skin cancer skin damage sun damage sun damaged skin sunbeds tanning UVA UVB

Fine Lines Around The Eyes

January 10th, 2010

If like me you have just turned 30 you may have started to notice fine lines around your eye area. These fine wrinkles that surround the eye are usually the first wrinkles to appear on our face. This is due to the fact that the skin around our eye area contains much fewer oils glands (sebaceous) and is much thinner. The older we get there is elasticity damage caused by the sun on this area as well as the constant amount of use that it gets with facial expressions, and for some even the loss of the fat pad in this area.

What Can You Do?

Use a non irritating sunscreen on your eye area to prevent further sun damage. Try Dermalogica Total Eye Care SPF 15 (of course there are other brands on the market). An alternative is to use your regular moisturizer and then apply your nonirritating sunscreen to the eye area, be careful to avoid contact with the eyes.
Also try wearing a hat and sunglasses outdoors not only to protect your face from the sun but to avoid squinting which is a major contributer to wrinkles and crows feet around your eyes.
You can use an erbium or carbon dioxide laser peel which can give a great outcome around the eye area. You do have to be very careful with this method, especially is the entire skin on your face has damages as it can create a raccoon like effect with the skin around the eyes appearing fresher and younger than the rest of your face. Some great dermatologists will utilize this laser around your eyes and a TCA peel on the rest of your face to make sure that the color tone on your face is nice and even.
If your skin is not overly sensitive you can try using a very low level Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) to encourage cell turnover rate. Using this method it may take several months to see an improvement if at all. M.D Forte is a good brand to try.

Skin Care Through The Ages

January 6th, 2010

Healthy, radiant skin can be had at any point in your life. The important thing is to work out which skin benefiting ingredients you should look for in products depending on your age. Using the wrong products on your skin could end up costing you a lot financially and physically as the wrong products could cause more damage to your skin. Using harsh exfoliation and or micro dermabrasion on your skin for example could cause more trauma to the skin that cannot always be reversed.

It is important to learn how the skin functions. The skin weighs about 2.7 kg and is the largest organ in the body. This skin is quite amazing in that it does so many things for us; it serves as a protective shield against heat, infection, and injury. It helps to regulate body temperature, it can store fat, water and vitamin D and senses both pleasant and painful stimulation. the skin is made up of three layers: The Epidermis, the Dermis and the Subcutis.

Following are a set of articles with information on skin care and how to look after your skin at all the different stages and ages of your life:

No comments »

Posted in Anti-aging

Tags: dermis different stages exfoliation fifties forties micro dermabrasion radiant skin skin care subcutis teen years thirties

Skincare in Your Fifties

January 6th, 2010

Your skincare regime in your 50s should consist of staying out of the sun, wearing sunblock; cleansing, toning and moisturizing twice daily. Continue to use eye serums and creams high in Vitamins A, C and E. (see Skincare in Your Thirties)

Mature and dry skin can really benefit from moisturizers that high in lipids like ceramides. Grapeseed extract and vitamin E can help protect against the decrease in lipids as we get older. Lipids play a major role in keeping the skin moist and stopping it from drying out.

A natural alternative to oestrogen therapy is to use a skin cream that contains phyto-oestrogens. Phyto-oestrogens include: fresh flaxseed oil from the fridge and soy, wild yam, red clover and dong quai.