Tag Archive for: diet

,

Jump Start Your Daily Overall Health With These Simple Rules

We know how crazy the mornings can be, but in order for all of us to stay and look healthy, these are three things that we NEVER forget to do before walking out of the house. By taking 10 minutes in the morning, you can ensure that you always start your morning off right.

Screen Shot 2015-01-13 at 2.02.51 PMPhoto via Natural Beauty Island

#1: 25 second skincare prep 

Practicing a simple skincare morning regimen helps wake your skin up and prime it for makeup, ensuring that your features radiate and your makeup lasts throughout the day.

Cleanse: Dissolve nightly impurities and remove your nightly treatment in one step. Skin is left clean, clear, smooth, and energized.

Treat: Help protect your skin from daily free radical damaged caused by UVA/UVB rays and environmental damage by applying a potent anti-oxidant serum. Our top picks for anti-oxidants include, Organic Red Tea (50X more potent of an anti-oxidant that green tea), Pomegranate and Cherry extracts.

Moisturize: This is two-fold as we need to also de-puff our eyes (look for eye-products that contain Vitamin K + Arnica which help to reduce puffiness and dark circles) and prep our overall complexion for makeup.

#2: Don’t skimp on breakfast

According to Livestrong: While a recent human clinical trial reported that eating breakfast isn’t necessary for weight loss, there are plenty of other studies that suggest otherwise. In the largest sample of successful dieters, 78 percent reported eating breakfast every day. Still, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults skip their first meal on any given day — and that increases your risk for other chronic conditions. What’s more, a Harvard study reported that men who skipped breakfast were 27 percent more likely to develop heart disease and that female breakfast skippers had a 28 percent higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Eating breakfast may also give you more energy: One study found that breakfast eaters burned 400 more calories during a day through increased daily activity.

Our favorites include: Steel Cut Oatmeal with raisins and fresh berries and egg whites mixed with spinach and a side of sliced avocado.

#3: AM Detox 

Add a slice of lemon to a warm cup of water in the morning. By adding lemon to your water, it has been shown to promote fresher breath, realigns your bodies pH balance and improves digestive function to name a few. And don’t forget to get your daily dose of recommended water intake of 8 full glasses daily.

by

Foods that have been linked to skin related issues

It’s often said that “we are what we eat” and with countless studies to substantiate these claims, we are now more than ever, aware of all the consequences to our daily diet. We’re breaking down for you the most potent food culprits that leave pure skin anything but glowing. There are easy ways substitute these foods with healthier skin-friendly alternatives, as featured below.

– Alcohol: All in moderation and if possible try to stick to red wine. Alcohol contains a ton of sugar which can cause glycation (the breakdown of the proteins in skin (collagen and elastin), ultimately causing skin to sag and age. Glucose also causes cells to be malformed and irregular thus creating free radicals.

Substitution: Drink 1 – 2 X per week!

– White Sugar: Leading the cause glycation breakdown, this is a big one to stay clear of. Try adding non-processed sugars or fruits into your diet.

Substitution: Cinnamon can also be substituted and it helps with inflammation! Honey and/or Cacao are great alternatives to actual sugar and they are both super foods.

– White bread: Contain extremely high glycemic levels. Foods that have a high glycemic level raise blood sugar and can cause inflammation. This can cause a puffy look to the skin and face.

Substitution: Look for breads listed as low glycemic. Our favorite is Ezekiel bread!

Fried foods: Fried foods also have high glycemic levels and can be full of preservatives which can cause bloating.

Substitution: If you are cooking with oil, try and use olive oil or coconut.

Soda: Whether it is the sugar or the artificial sweetener, stay away from drinking soda. Soda causes bloating and can dehydrate the skin.

Substitution: Kombucha or Sparkling Water

Preservatives:  can cause inflammation. Inflammation inside the body is a very bad thing and looks pretty bad our your skin too. Preservatives are in many foods. Stay clear of deli meats, pre-packaged snack foods and try cooking from scratch instead of reaching for the chines food.

Substitution: When cooking at home use natural ingredients buying processed food. Use ingredients to season food like garlic, tumeric and ginger. All three are extremely healthy and aid with inflammation.

Meat: All meat if not organic will contain hormones that the animal has been fed. Hormones can need to eat organic in order to not ingest hormones the animal has been fed.

Substitution: Aim for fish instead. Salmon, arguably the most healthy food, is the best because of omegas.

Dairy: Does nothing but cause inflammation.

Substitution: There are so many dairy alternatives including almond and coconut derived non-dairy products. For a complete listing see here: Non-Dairy.

Our “IT” List: Water, oily fish such as salmon and sardines, avocado, berries, citrus fruit, nuts, seeds, green vegetables, red wine in moderation, green tea, rooibos tea, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and plain yogurt.

 

by

How healthy is wine?

Who doesn’t like a glass or two of wine? Over 330 million cases of wine is purchased yearly in America and the average person consumes 267oz yearly. White wine, specifically Chardonnay, is the favorite just beating out Cabernet by a slim margin. But how healthy is wine for your diet, skin, allergies and overall health?

aaIf you’re watching your diet, wine is high in calories and you need to consider that before guzzling away. The average glass of wine has around 125 calories, 3.5 grams of sugar and 5 grams of carbs. So, one or two glasses are fine but more than that and you are blowing your calorie intake for the day.

Wine can both aid and age your skin depending on the amount consumed.  Red wine contains Flavonoids, antioxidants and Resveratrol. Resveratrol comes from grapes and works it’s magic by not allowing the telomere (ends of DNA strand) to shorten, thus causing the aging process. However, consuming too much wine/alcohol can have the reverse affect. For example it you look at a heavy drinker’s skin they tend to be blotchy, red and dehydrated. Unfortunately for me and many people, wine can cause allergies. Many people are allergic or become allergic to tannins, sulfites and histamines. All of these can cause hives, redness, itching or congestion. Personally red wine is worse that white for me, but neither make me feel great, so I am trying to stay away, it’s so hard!

Red wine tends to be a tiny bit healthier than white wine. Remember anything in nature that is dark in the colors blue, red and green is beneficial for our health. Think blueberries, spinach and red wine. Red wine is also particularly good for the ‘good cholesterol‘. Red wine is considered heart healthy! So the moral of the story is, if you don’t have allergies to wine-drink up, in moderation of course…….just look at the Italians!

 

by