WHOLE FOODS & WATER, A BEAUTIFUL THING - FROM ARCHIVES : 10 23 06
CURRENT

What does being beautiful mean to you? Being strong, feeling good and active makes me feel beautiful. Have you ever heard the term you are what you eat? What you put into your body can have long lasting affects and actually make you feel good or bad.

It can also determine your mood and your age. Educate yourself on proper eating so that you are not persuaded to spend $100 on that bottle of cream that promises to turn back time. Eating the right foods can actually make you stronger and not only look more refreshed but feel better too.

Many experts determine your real age by what you eat and your lifestyle. Exercise, vitamins found in whole foods and plenty of water is necessary for a healthy mind and body. The most talked about vitamin is vitamin C. It is an antioxidant and works to neutralize damaging free radical molecules in the skin. Many manufactures bottle this up and sell it to protect skin from the harmful effects caused by sunlight's UVA and UVB rays that can lead to skin damage. Fancy bottles of expensive creams can be found at your local Sephora.

Important note to you the consumer: Understand that vitamins in skin care are one of the biggest trends in beauty products. They're so popular, in fact, that the number of skin care products containing vitamins has increased several fold since 1990, according to experts reporting at an annual conference of the American Academy of Dermatology held in October 2006.

Many companies have gone as far as producing cellulite vanishing creams. I say, if you have cellulite, understand what it is so that you don't waste your time and money trying to get rid of it with a cream.

Who gets cellulite and why? Primarily the women who get cellulite are destined from birth to develop it. It begins to appear in girls around the age of 14 and increases as we mature when the subcutaneous skin layer thins and redistributes. Cellulite often forms in postnatal women and those who take birth control pills because the body's waste system can't get rid of the enormous flow of estrogen in the body. Cellulite can develop after a traumatic injury, where the circulatory system has been disturbed. A sedentary lifestyle leads to a hardening of the connective tissue, causing a dimpling of the skin.

There are many causes of cellulite; insufficient water intake is a main one. Water helps the waste system operate, flushing toxins from your body. Drink seven glasses of water a day. Poor eating habits (alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods) contribute to the formation of cellulite because the toxins they produce get trapped in the fatty tissue. And despite what you've heard, crash diets don't work to fight cellulite. In fact, crash diets increase the risk of cellulite because the body thinks it's starving and by attempting to compensate, it assists in cellulite formation. All saturated fats help build cellulite. These fats block the arteries and get trapped in the tissue as well, preventing sufficient waste and toxin elimination. Smoking is not only bad for the skin and lungs, but it weakens the skin by causing constriction of capillaries. It further damages the connective tissue that causes the dimpling effect of cellulite, too. I could go on and on, but will spare you the details.

My point is do you think slathering on vitamin-laden lotions actually work? In my opinion it is hard to know for sure. Much of the research on vitamins and skin has been conducted on animals or in test tubes not on human skin and with concentrations of vitamins that are much stronger than what's available on beauty store shelves. And while some studies substantiate the claims that vitamins aren't a complete waste of money, Deborah Sarnoff, MD, a dermatologist in New York City and associate clinical professor at New York University Medical Center, says that "Many of the studies are sponsored by and paid for by companies invested in selling their product," making any claims of dubious accuracy”. Need I say more?

What we do know for sure is that a good diet can include things that you will actually like. Nuts, cheese and small amounts of dark chocolate are part of an acceptable and healthy diet. If you crave chocolate or peanut butter cups, try buying some dates at the health food store and putting a little peanut butter in the middle. The snack will provide you a quick pick me up, loads of fiber and the feeling that you just indulged in that peanut butter cup escaping the calories.

Whatever your cravings are, you can find a healthy alternative to the over hyped, over processed food that you will find at your local grocery store. Keep in mind what is essential to maintain a healthy body is whole foods and water.

Few people realize that an average sized person requires about three quarts of water daily. Water is important because it's the main transport media of the body. It delivers nutrients to all the cells. Water is also necessary for digestion. Water helps to absorb, assimilate and eliminate. Some amazing facts about water are:

• Your body is about 60 percent water.
• Your muscles are about 75 percent water
• Your brain is about 75 percent water.
• Your blood is about 82 percent water.
• Your bones are approximately 25 percent water
  

You can visualize how much water the average person should drink by thinking of a one-gallon container of milk. Imagine it three-quarters full. That's how much water their body needs every day. Yet most people don't even drink one cup of water a day, let alone three quarts. You can determine how much water you need by dividing your body weight by 2. This gives you the amount of water you need in ounces. A two hundred pound man needs 100 ounces of water daily: 200 divided by 2 equals 100 ounces.

The good news is that you get about one quart from the food you eat provided you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. The other two quarts need to be consumed daily. However, if your main food sources are starchy processed foods, cooked meats and fats, you will need to consume more because these foods contain very little water. Keep in mind a woman who drinks plenty of water can get that awesome glow that makes you want to give her a kiss on the check.