Skin Archives - Not Just a Penguin

Sugar and Skin

You must have heard about that extra intake of sugar adding up to your belly fat smashing all your dreams of a perfect waistline. But to your surprise, that added sugar to your diet does, even more, harm to your skin than you can probably imagine. It contributes to your puffy eyes, patchy and wrinkled skin and that pesky acne and pimples you always hated to see on your facial skin. Yes, you heard that right!

Recent research reveals the harmful effects of sugar intake on the skin. When you take a bite of your favorite flavored cake or even an apple, what happens behind the scene or to be specific under your skin is that your body quickly degenerates the carbohydrates into glucose thereby raising the insulin level in your blood stream. The spike of insulin causes an inflammation burst throughout the body thereby producing enzymes that attach with and break down collagen and elastin fibers leading to wrinkles and sagging skin. This permanent attachment of digested sugar to collagen, a process known as Glycation, creates harmful molecules called AGEs (advanced glycation end-products). AGEs formation, in turn, exacerbates the skin damage thereby reducing insulin resistance of the skin. Results are excess vulnerability to sun damage, sagging, and fine lines.

So, if you want to look young for a longer lifetime, avoid eating foods that are proinflammatory, have high saturated fats or have high glycemic such as white bread, candy, ice-cream, fried foods, packaged foods, sugar, and sodas. Rather eat foods rich in complex carbohydrates such as brown rice and fresh vegetables, have low glycemic such as beans, whole grains, and nuts; and rich in fiber that delays sugar absorption in the blood.

And as you work out a better diet plan, don’t forget to have plenty of sleep, keep stress at bay, consume a balanced diet, follow healthy food preparation habits, eat protein rich meals first as they delay insulin spikes, and include healthy fats in your meals.

Whatever be your age, it’s never too late to reverse the signs of aging with proper diet intake and maintaining reduced stress levels. So, embrace a healthy skin by cautiously planning your sugar intake!

Most Important Medicine for Your Skin

I won’t win any prizes by telling you that water is incredibly important to our health and wellbeing. I mean, we certainly don’t drink it for the taste! However, as well as playing an integral part in digestion, blood circulation, absorption and excretion, it is also vital to keeping your skin looking its best.

Our skin cells need water just like every other cell in our body. Water enables our skin cells to function properly by delivering much-needed nutrients and providing a vehicle for chemical reactions to take place. Without water our skin cells couldn’t function and the results would impact on the health and appearance of our skin.

Here are some of the benefits of water for our skin:

Hydration

If you don’t drink enough water, your body will start taking the water from your skin cells to ensure your other organs and blood have what they need to function. This will leave your skin looking dry, flaky and more prone to wrinkles. Keep well hydrated to ensure your body has all the water it needs and your skin cells remain plump and hydrated. Water in your skin also increases its elasticity. Elasticity is one of the key characteristics of more youthful skin and makes it less prone to wrinkling.

Stress

Short exposure to cold water can have a relaxing effect on the skin and reduce stress levels. Stress is a major contributing factor to dull, tired looking skin. Take a cold shower to keep your stress levels down.

Skin conditions

Drinking water and locking moisture into your skin with creams is a great way to manage skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema, which are exacerbated by dry, damaged skin cells. Applying cold water to your skin also closes your pores. This reduces the chances of them becoming clogged by oil and dirt, which can lead to acne outbreaks.

Cleanses

Water transports anti-oxidants and other nutrients into your skin to fight off and repair the damage caused by free-radicals and other harmful chemicals. Free-radicals are formed through sun exposure and can damage skin cells leading to sunspots, wrinkles and blemishes.

Water also helps to flush out harmful toxins from skin cells just as it does across your whole body, including the circulatory and digestive systems. Ridding your body of such toxins is important to maintain optimum skin health.

Reduce inflammation

Cold water also reduces redness in the skin by inhibiting blood circulation close to the skin’s surface. Cold-water compresses can also be used to reduce under-eye inflammation and puffiness.

How to get water into your skin

You should try and drink between 6-8 glasses of water a day to ensure your body is getting all that it needs. Remember, if your body is short of water, it will be your skin that suffers first.

Lock in moisture directly by applying moisturizers to your skin after you shower or bathe. Creams with hyaluronic acid are also very good as they absorb a lot more water than traditional moisturizers. Here is my favorite Hyaluronic Acid Serum.

Prepare Your Skin For Spring Break and Sun Exposure

Spring break is right around the corner, and I find it to be a great time for family bonding. For me, I plan to take everyone on a trip to the Caribbean for some much-needed rest and relaxation. Just like the majority of us, it’s been a long time since my skin has had much sun, and it’s looking a little pale, dehydrated and feeling sensitive. For most of us, our skin is not prepared at all to handle a sudden burst of heat, ocean water and UV light.

If you’re in the same boat as me, don’t panic. I’ve done a some digging around and found the following tips to help prepare your skin for a vacation to a summer destination.

Diet

About a month before your departure, add extra vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and lycopene to your diet. I prefer to get my vitamins naturally from foods. Also, I add or increase my intake of carrots, sweet potatoes, avocados, Shiitake mushrooms, watercress, salmon, kale, cherries, broccoli, eggs, turmeric, green tea, raspberries and Brazil nuts. I try to avoid excess protein and take extra astaxanthin supplements.

Astaxanthin, if you don’t already know, is a powerful antioxidant found in seafood and shellfish. It’s actually the pigment responsible for turning salmon and crabs pink. When digested, it’s proven to help boost skin moisture and fight against skin wrinkles, spots and freckles. I definitely recommend it to everyone I meet, you can even get it from specially developed chocolate, what’s not to love! I’ve also eliminated processed flours, sugars and trans-fats from my diet until I return from vacation.

Adjust your skincare routine:

– Start using a vitamin C product

Vitamin C is essential to the formation of collagen, the natural protein that keeps the skin looking young and hydrated. It also contains loads of antioxidants that help repair sun damage, reduce sunburn caused by exposure to ultraviolet B radiation and prevent the consequences of long-term sun exposure that leads to wrinkles, fine lines and uneven skin tone.

– Switch to a non-alcohol based facial toner

Alcohol-based toners dry your skin, creating more problems for your skin in the long run. Make the switch today and you’ll never want to go back.

– Start using a lighter moisturizer

In the winter months your skin takes a beating from the weather and needs the extra attention from a thicker moisturizer. However, the last thing you need on hot, sunny days is a thick moisturizer clogging up your pores and adding extra shine to your skin. Switch to a lighter, oil-free moisturizer that keeps your skin hydrated while letting it breathe.

– Stay away from vitamin A

Skin products that many of use may contain vitamin A, also known as retinoids. These can create a number of negative side-effects for our skin, such as sun sensitivity, peeling, and skin redness. Not what you want to use before a trip to sunnier climates.

Other measures:

Besides staying well-hydrated, the most obvious but perhaps most often neglected is stocking up on sunscreen. I cannot stress how important it is to wear sunscreen all year long. It’s probably the best way to ensure your skin is looking good for the summer months when you want to spend more time outdoors.

Wage A War Against Skin Damage With Peaches

There’s a reason we have a saying “peaches and cream complexion”, firstly, those blessed with smooth and creamy skin with a little rosiness in their cheeks are seen to be beautiful. There is another reason though and it’s because peaches are one of nature’s natural antidotes. Adding a peach to your daily diet will go a long way to combat sun damage and help to restore your skin’s natural glow, without any chemicals in sight. As well as that, it will help you with your overall general health. So next time you are at your grocery store add a few gorgeous peaches to your shopping basket then whenever you feel like something sweet and succulent – enjoy one, you’ll savor its delicious flavor and your skin and body will thank you.

Peaches and Skin Health

Peaches are full of nutrients which are kind to your skin. As far as your skin is concerned, every day it is under attack, from free radicals, this means the sun, petrol fumes, industrial fumes, other people’s smoke and more. Your skin needs natural antioxidants to fight against these free radicals and a juicy peach is just one of the things you can add to your diet to enable your skin with the weapons it needs.

A peach contains vitamins A and C as well as selenium. Vitamin A is vital because it helps to renew skin cells, stimulating them to repair and vitamin C is incredibly important to combat skin aging. Used in lotions, moisturisers and serums this vitamin targets wrinkles and fine lines, plumping and hydrating. Consuming vitamin C in fruit especially peaches will help to boost your skin’s resistance to aging. Even more importantly, collagen is formed using vitamin C so make sure you’re consuming enough.

It’s not just vitamins in peaches which fight the harmful battle with the sun’s rays; other nutrients in peaches include vitamin K, beta carotene, magnesium and potassium which are excellent at building protection against ultra violet rays.

As well as eating peaches, you can also rub the fleshy area on the underneath of your eyes because actually peaches are great for reducing dark shadows. So if you’ve had a late night and you feel your skin isn’t looking its best, split a peach in two, eat one half and rub the other under your eyes gently. Rinse off with cold water, pat dry and apply your moisturisers as normal – you’ll look bright eyed in minutes.

Peaches also help to improve skin texture, softening it while gently firming and improving elasticity too. It’s no coincidence you find lots of skincare with peach extract such as facial scrubs, face masks, cleaners and toners. It’s because peaches are known for their ability to tighten pores and refresh skin.

Peaches and Cancer

We now know how good peaches are for anti-aging but they have another huge health benefit too. Peaches are so rich in antioxidants it’s believed they could help to discourage cancerous melanomas. Studies show that peaches can help the body’s protection against other cancers such as lung, colon and oral and the phenolic acids, lycopene and lutein inside peaches indicate the ability to halt breast cancer from growing. Additionally, if you are concerned about heart disease a peach is an excellent preventative because of these aforementioned ingredients which work hard to aid heart health.

Peaches and Eye Health

While peaches are well-known to be a good source of vitamins and help to boost a flagging complexion – they have other huge benefits too. They are excellent for ocular health especially in slowing macular degeneration which is usually age-related. Just three servings a day could help to give ailing vision a much-needed boost and this is because of the high beta carotene content.

Peaches and Stress

If you feel you are under stress, cut up a peach and enjoy its juicy, sweet taste. You might find yourself relaxing immediately and this is because it contains fiber and potassium, known to reduce the risk of stomach ulcers which can occur in those who suffer with regular stress. If you think you might be susceptible to ulcers, try a peach a day and keep that ulcer away. You don’t need to worry about the calories either because just one regular size peach contains approximately 40 calories and no fat – just good all that good fiber mentioned, meaning they are excellent for digestive health.

So, along with your SPF 50, a great looking hat and some fabulous sun sensible clothing add a peach a day to your diet for overall body health and you’ll further benefit by having glowing skin too, the essence of a peaches and cream complexion.