My beauty regimen contains many fruits, but here are “9 Fruits for Healthy Skin Care.”

Many of my beauty recipes include then use of fruits either by themselves or in tandem with other natural products. This is primarily because of the fantastic benefits derived from the vitamins and minerals that fruits possess.

The beauty recipes I use and recommend to my clients and some of the celebrities I work with are natural and cost only pennies on the dollar compared to expensive spa treatments. Many of the ingredients we have in our refrigerator or kitchen cupboards.

As always, please seek the advice of your physician, skin care specialist, or dermatologist should there be any adverse reactions to fruit or fruit masks.

Here are 9 Fruits you can’t go wrong with:

Lemons

Lemons are one of many fruits containing Vitamin C. As such they have multiple antioxidant benefits which fight cancer, bacteria, and infections. But there are seven other benefits lemons can provide your skin including: exfoliating, brightening, eradicating environmental damage, toning the skin,

hydrating the skin, fighting wrinkles, and pore cleansing.

Check this 1 Minute Beauty Recipe Video:

How to give yourself a mini facelift with yogurt and lemons

Oranges

Oranges and Vitamin C have gone hand-in-hand for years. Thus, the antioxidant benefits of Oranges are multiple. From fighting heart disease and diabetes to skin care and collagen build-up oranges provide an added boost to your skin. But for the skin, it’s the Vitamin C contained in the skin of the orange that helps your skin.

Check out this 1 Minute Beauty Recipe Video:

Use orange juice to soften feet

Bananas

Banana is a favorite when it comes to your skin. It contains the three essential sugars but also has Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, and Vitamin F.  It is not a surprise that the vitamins and minerals contained in bananas mix well with other natural products to make great facial masks to improve the quality and health of the skin.

Check out this 1 Minute Beauty Recipe Video:

Banana and Honey Face Mask for All Skin Types

Papaya

The skin of a papaya has many exfoliating benefits for the skin. Because it is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E, the antioxidant properties it possesses helps to moisturize the skin as well as protect it from free radicals. The skin of the papaya and its enzymes are used extensively in facial masks and facial peels.

Check out this 1 Minute Beauty Recipe video:

Papaya Enzyme Peel

Cucumber

Cucumbers contain ascorbic acid and can be used to decrease puffiness in and around the eyes as well as reducing water retention. They also contain silica and have an abundance of antioxidants which help rejuvenate the skin and leave it feeling soft. Here are some other applications of cucumbers and skin care: reduce dark circles under the eyes, treat puffy eyes, reduce freckles, improve complexion, treat sunburn, and tighten open pores.

Honey

Raw honey is full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes. Skin care product manufactures have used honey for years in their products because it helps keeping the skin moisturized and hydrated. But honey in concert with other fruits or natural products can provide great facial masks as well as applications for chapped lips and cracked lips.

Check out this 1 Minute Beauty Recipe video:

2-Step Homemade Remedy Heals Cracked Chapped Lips

Apples

Apples contain an alpha-hydroxy acid, which refines and rejuvenates the skin. It is best known for it’s moisturizing and anti-aging properties, making it perfect for dry or mature skin. It also has exceptional elastase inhibition activity, making it suitable for treatments aimed at maintaining the skin’s youthful elasticity. Applying the fruit to your face and neck will give you a healthy dose of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C and vitamin E as well as antioxidants protecting your skin from sun damage.

Pineapples

Pineapple is often an overlooked fruit when it comes to skin care. However, it is a great natural skin care tool for eliminating dirt, eradicating dead skin cells, and also producing soft and supple skin. Bromeliad is an ingredient of pineapple. Bromeliad is a digestive enzyme that provides anti-inflammatory properties.

Peaches

Peaches are loaded with Vitamin A and Vitamin C and are also a source of alpha-hydroxy acids. As such, peaches are a fruit that can help with the following skin care problems: tighten the skin, unclog pores, reduce wrinkles and lighten age spots. Because Peaches contain Vitamin C, it also possess antioxidant properties which help fight infections and bacteria.

 

References:

Look and Feel Your Best On Any Budget: Copyright 2007,2011 Louisa Maccan Graves
Beauty Recipes and Tips That Really Work” Copyright 2007,2011 Louisa Maccan Graves
Hollywood Beauty Secrets Remedies To the Rescue: Copyright 2007,2011 Louisa Maccan Graves

 

What is Omega 3 Fatty Acids?

Facts about Omega 3 Fatty Acids 1Maybe you’ve had some skin issues which include dry skin or itchy skin and someone recommended Omega-3 Fatty Acids.  If you take a look at my Vitamin and Supplement Favorites list, you’ll notice that Omega-3’s are right on the list. But what exactly are they.

Sources of Omega 3 Fatty acids

They’re necessary for the human body to survive but we have to get through them foods. They can be found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, other seafood including algae and krill, some plants, and nut oils.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids foods are also referred to a polyunsaturated fatty acids and they’re know to be extremely helpful in brain function in addition to normal the human body normal growth and development.

Other Omega 3 facts:

Recently, the American Heart Association recommends them because they help prevent the risk of heart disease. The recommended dosage is at least twice per week.

So, do you eat fish?

What is fish oil good for?

Do you know which fish are recommended by the American Heart Association?

The other sources of omega 3  that the AHA recommends fatty fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon.

But what additional benefits does Omega 3 Fatty Acids provide us! They not only help with heart

Omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

disease but also inflammation reduction and lower risk of chronic diseases cancer and arthritis.

Most importantly as we age, Omega 3 fatty acids have been determined to be beneficial in cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral processes.

What problems can be associated with a lack of Omega 3 Fatty Acids? Infants have been determined to be prone to vision and nerve problems. Other omega 3 fatty acid deficiency problems include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids benefits:

Blood fat [triglycerides]. According to a number of studies, fish oil supplements can also cut elevated triglyceride levels. Having high levels of this blood fat is a risk factor for heart disease. DHA alone has also been shown to lower triglycerides.

Cardiovascular health. Omega 3 fatty acids appear to lower the overall risk of death from heart disease. Fish oil may reduce arrhythmias, and people who take fish oil supplements after a heart attack cut their risk of having another heart attack. Eating fish once or twice a week seems to significantly lower the risk of stroke.

Rheumatoid arthritis. A number of studies have found that fish oil supplements [EPA+DHA] significantly reduced stiffness and joint pain. Omega 3 supplements also seem to boost the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs.

Depression. Researchers have found that cultures that eat foods with high levels of omega-3s have lower levels of depression. Fish oil also seems to boost the effects of antidepressants. Fish oil may help reduce the depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Prenatal health. Studies show that EPA and DHA supplementation during pregnancy boost the health of pregnant women and the development of their children. DHA appears to be important for visual and neurological development in infants.

Asthma. Evidence suggests that a diet high in omega 3s reduces inflammation, a key component in asthma. However, more studies are needed to show if fish oil supplements improve lung function or reduce the amount of medication a person needs to control their disease.

ADHD. Some studies show that fish oil can reduce the symptoms of ADHD in some children and improve their cognitive function. However, more research is needed in this area, and omega-3 supplements as a primary treatment for this disorder are not supported by research.

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The evidence is preliminary, but some research suggests that omega 3s may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Recent studies have also evaluated whether the omega-3 supplement DHA can slow the decline seen in those with Alzheimer’s dementia or in age-associated memory impairment. One recent study showed that DHA can be a beneficial supplement and may have a positive effect on gradual memory loss associated with aging. However, more research needs to be done.

Here are some other articles about vitamins and minerals you may enjoy reading:
[pagelist child_of=”2375″][pagelist include=”2375″]

omega 3 fatty acids

Over the past 20 years, Americans have witnessed an increase in portion sizes as we have watched our waistlines bulge. Restaurant meals, whether at fast food chains or fancy restaurants, have gotten larger as we equate the quality of the restaurant with getting more food for our money. Restaurant meals aren’t the only culprit; packages containing snack foods and soft drinks are getting larger and now contain multiple servings per package. This has made it more difficult for people to know what a normal serving size is and even more difficult to eat only that amount.

Here are some guidelines for the most confused serving sizes:

  • 2 tablespoons of nut butter = the size of a ping-pong ball
  • 3 ounces of cooked meat = the size of a palm or deck of cards
  • 3 ounces of grilled fish = the size of a checkbook
  • 1 ounce of nuts = the size of one handful or 2 shot glasses

One of the best tips you can follow is learning to read food labels to determine the actual serving size and the number of servings per package. What you read might surprise you. It also goes back to the topic of conscious eating, which I shared in last week’s issue; instead of being distracted when you eat, be aware of where you are, what you’re eating, and how you’re feeling.

Here are some strategies for controlling your calorie intake with smaller portions:

  • At restaurants, ask for the meal to be divided in half, plating half of it and putting the rest into a doggie bag to take home.
  • At home, serve reasonable portions of food on individual plates, and keep the rest of the food in the kitchen and off the table. Also serve food on smaller salad plates.
  • If eating in front of the television, put a reasonable portion of food into a bowl and leave the rest in the kitchen. An even better strategy is to restrict the food you eat in front of the TV.
  • Because you tend to consume food more easily when you have easy access to it, keep healthy options like high-fiber fruits and nuts out in front.