Thursday, January 31, 2013

Graceful Aging: How to Get Clear Skin as You Age

Putting a "good face" on the act of graceful aging doesn't have to be difficult. You simply need to pay attention (or, should we say, more careful attention than you used to) to your skin! Age spots, sun damage, scars, and other marks that appear on skin can age us, making us look older than we would like. To counteract this effect, focus on a skin routine and lifestyle that gives you the best chance of having clear youthful-looking skin. In this article we provide a number of easy tips on how to get clear skin as you age!

Five Tips and Techniques on How to Get Clear Skin as You Age
The truth about aging is that we are all getting older, one day at a time, no matter our current chronological age. So while these tips are especially useful for people who want to ensure clear healthy skin as a part of graceful aging, the suggestions below are useful for anyone who wants clear skin at any age. The body responds well to good care and a healthy lifestyle from birth onward!

Clear Skin Tip #1: Avoid the Sun
Yes, we know! This is the tip that all beauty experts repeat and repeat and repeat. And here we are, repeating this tip yet again ... and we have good reason. Even though the incidence of skin cancer is on the rise, only one in seven Americans wears sunscreen daily (http://on.self.com/WsRLrZ). In addition, many sunscreens do not protect from both UVA and UVB rays from the sun, both of which can damage the skin ... not to mention age the skin!  A truly quality sunscreen must have a strong UVB filter plus as many as three UVA filters (http://bit.ly/XCJuAZ). Most sunscreens have only one UVA filter, if any. The best advice, of course, is simply to stay out of the sun. If you are going to be in the sun, avoid the hours between 10 am and 3 pm, when the rays are the most harmful. Cover up (hats and long sleeve shirts), and remember that you get sun exposure even on cloudy days!

Clear Skin Tip #2: Apply Antioxidants to Your Skin
The sad fact is that many of us were raised in an era when no one talked about skin protection or skin damage. So many of us baked ourselves in the sun with abandon (and apparently many Americans continue to do so today!). So what do you do if your skin has already been damaged by the sun? Here's the one word you need to know: antioxidants! Antioxidants are those molecular warriors that roam the body (or work on the surface of your skin) to repair, remove, or replace damaged cells. Antioxidants support your body's natural healing response. Our favorite antioxidant lotion is this one and we love it because it not only protects and renews your skin, it allows antioxidants to be absorbed through the skin and into your body. Now that is an antioxidant lotion that does double duty!

Clear Skin Tip #3: Take Antioxidants and Probiotics
This tip is a no-brainer. What is good for your biggest protective bodily organ (your skin) is also good for all the other organs inside your body. Nutritional experts say that "we have food on our faces," meaning that our diets are reflected by our facial skin. This is true because if your internal organs, such as your kidneys and liver, are not functioning well, they cannot purify your bodies. Some of those impurities will show up on your skin in the form of inflammation, eruptions, dark marks, poor or uneven tone, or marks and bumps. Not good. There are many good antioxidants on the market. Two that have proven effective for us include sprouted wheat in capsule form and Co-enzyme Q10. Adding probiotics and/or enzymes to your daily regimen of supplements can also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your digestive system, which means you will have fewer of those diet-related impurities on your face!

Clear Skin Tip #4: Rest and Exercise
Most people talk about "beauty rest," but few people actually get enough rest to keep their skin looking youthful and clear. Americans are among the most sleep-deprived people in the world. Is it any wonder that we look older than we actually are? Medical experts say that most people need seven to eight hours of continuous rest to allow their bodies to recuperate and rejuvenate from the stresses of daily life. Most people get between four and six hours of rest, even if they spend longer in bed. So getting enough beauty sleep is a big deal when it comes to graceful aging!

While sleeping and remaining at rest are important, movement is just as important to keeping skin clear and healthy. Exercise, even gentle exercise, increases circulation throughout the body. This helps your skin, which is the largest organ in your body, by flushing toxins from your skin cells. Improved circulation also helps your skin cells receive more oxygen and nutrients, which experts believe can stave off wrinkles and other signs of aging skin. Finally, remember that sweating is good since it can actually help unclog pores. Just be sure to wash your face right after your exercise routine as part of your regular skin care routine. After all, you wouldn't want all those toxins you just sweated out just sitting on your skin, right?

Clear Skin Tip #5: Stop Poisoning Your Skin
Just as most Americans don't put on sunscreen even though they know they "should," most smokers and drinkers don't stop themselves, even when they know that these two substances are among the most harmful to skin. If you want to age gracefully, stop smoking and drink only in moderation. Smoke not only dries out the skin, but it adds toxins to your body both inside and out. If you think wearing your diet on your face is bad, wearing the effects of smoking is even worse!

Alcohol also deters the body's natural healing processes because it causes dehydration and blood vessel dilation. Both of these can affect the tone and texture of skin, and certain forms of alcohol can cause an inflammatory effect in the skin cells. This is why long-term heavy drinkers often have red flushed faces. Drinking excessively is definitely not a way to have clear skin! Start drinking in moderation early because the damage caused by alcohol becomes permanent over time!

How to Get Clear Skin as You Age ... Not as Difficult as You Think!
At least, we hope that these tips appear simple. They do to us. Aging gracefully and keeping a clear youthful complexion is all about making small changes in your diet and your lifestyle a bit at a time. Start making these changes as early as possible in your life, and your skin will reward you many times over!


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Thursday, January 3, 2013

What Supplements Should I Take?

"What supplements should I take?" is one of the most common questions we get on our website. Most people know that the foods we eat no longer provide all the nutrition we need to stay healthy, but have no idea what supplements they should take to boost their diet.

In actuality, the question that people should be asking is, "What supplements should I take FIRST?" Obviously, the supplements that you choose should be tailored to your unique health and lifestyle requirements. For instance, if you have a particular health goal, such as to develop your stamina or flexibility, you would choose one group of supplements. If, on the other hand, your goal is to boost your immune system so that you don't catch every cold and flu this winter, then your supplement choices would look different.

But, and this is a big but, no matter which supplements you choose to take, you need to look at choosing some foundational supplements first. These foundational supplements will help you maximize the benefits from the other supplements you choose specifically for your health goals.

What Supplements Should I Take First?
This is the real question to ask yourself before hunting for goal-specific supplements at your health food store. So, what supplements should you take first? The answer is simple. You should take supplements that improve your digestion and assimilation of nutrients. These supplements are mostly probiotics and enzymes.

Probiotics
Let's take a look at probiotics first. You may have heard this term on recent commercials for yogurt or digestive supplements. Simply stated, probiotics is the term used to describe organisms such as "friendly bacteria" that inhabit a healthy intestinal tract. Literally the term means "for life"!

There are two forms of probiotics that are important for helping your body get the most out of the food you eat and the supplements you take: acidophilus and bifidus.

Acidophilus plays a key role in supporting the health of the small intestine. Specifically, the strain of acidophilus we recommend the most (the Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 strain) is uniquely designed to help the body process food efficiently and eliminate waste from the small intestine. So acidophilus helps enhance the body's ability to absorb nutrients. In addition, this strain of acidophilus produces B-vitamins and acidophilin for immune system support--what you could call Nature's form of antibiotics (only they are PRObiotics!) That's a lot of bang for your buck!

Then there is bifidus, which supports the health and balance of the large intestine. The large intestine performs a number of important digestive functions, including the absorption of water from food that is consumed and the passage from the body of remaining waste products. Bifidus promotes the growth of good intestinal flora in the large intestine, which not only promotes efficient digestion and assimilation of nutrients, but also helps inhibit gas and bloating. Now that will really help a lot of people rest easier after a big meal! Finally, bifidus lowers the pH of the intestine, manufactures specific B-vitamins, and promotes immune function and overall health.

Enzymes
In addition to probiotics, the third foundational supplement that helps you get the most out of your food and other supplements is enzymes. We recommend these enzymes, which contain natural food enzymes to help the body break down fats, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber, and to help enhance the digestive process. When you take enzymes, your body is able to get more nourishment from foods and supplements.

In addition, this formulation of enzymes contains MycoPepsin, the first enzyme on the market that works in a low pH environment. As food digests, the stomach becomes more acidic. The addition of MycoPepsin makes this product even more effective because, unlike other enzymes, MycoPepsin remains active in a highly acidic environment.

 Got It?
So when it comes to answering the question, "What supplements should I take first?" you should be good to go. Just follow this simple three-ingredient recipe--acidophilus, bifidus, and enzymes--and you'll be good to go. Then you can go about building a supplement regimen that will specifically support any health goals you may have.

Confused? Still not sure what to take? Don't worry. If you need a little nutritional guidance, just request a product consult. One of our nutritional coaches will be happy to provide some suggestions. Check out the product consult.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.