My husband and I just returned from having extensive physical physical examinations courtesy of LifeSigns in Atlanta. LifeSigns is a medical facility that takes each patient through a battery of wellness tests to ensure that every organ is functioning correctly. Friends of ours told us that they go to LifeSigns each year on their anniversary, so my husband and I decided to follow the same tradition. The great thing about the facility is that all tests are covered by your health insurance so you only have to pay the normal co-pay. While there, I had the normal tests conducted (blood pressure, cholesterol, height/weight, "female stuff", etc), but I also had an extensive hearing exam, EKG, heart stress test, and they even ran sonograms of my liver, kidneys, and intestines! Completion of all of our tests took 3 hours, but it was worth it.
Before we took the tests, we had to fill out paperwork that highlighted diseases that we may have been pre-disposed to. When I looked at my husband's paperwork, I almost fainted. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke conditions had affected each parent and almost every grandparent. And while I was aware of this information before we married, it was jarring to see it on paper. Then and there, I vowed to reduce my husband's chances of being affected.
I came across the following article in Skin Inc Magazine and thought I would share it with you. Even if you are not pre-disposed to cancer, its still a good idea to eat well. And due to all of the anti-oxidants on this list, the skin benefits will be off the charts!!
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Nutrition is an important elements of staying healthy, and there are a few foods that are ideal to add to your diet to help battle cancer and other diseases.
According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 11.1 million people alive in this country have a history of cancer. And that doesn’t even include all those who have had bouts with other diseases and illnesses, such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. While there is no surefire way to prevent every possible illness that may come your way, there are plenty of natural foods that you can incorporate into your regular diet to help heal your body and keep it healthy.
“Food is a powerful thing. Because we eat so frequently, it is important to make sure that we are including foods that will do our bodies good,” says Gina Kopera, author of the book Cure Yourself Naturally: What To Do When Your Doctor Cannot Heal You. She is a certified master herbalist and owner of Gina’s Corner Healing Herbs and Supplements. “The problem is that people are not always aware of which foods are the ones they should eat and which they should avoid.”
To help keep your body healthy and striving for optimum wellness, it is best to eat a diet that contains a lot of natural foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Also, be sure to include the following potent natural healing foods in your diet:
“There are many ways to heal the body naturally,” adds Kopera. “Foods are just one way. Eating natural healing foods prepared in their wholesome state can be an effective way to get and stay healthy.”
They say its a man's favorite scent. Its probably one of the most recognizable and copied scents of all time. And though it seems common in spa products, its actually one of the most exotic spices of them all. Its Vanilla and most would agree that it smells and tastes delicious.
The vanilla bean is produced by a variety of the orchid plant and is the only spice produced by orchids. Vanilla is only sourced from 4 places on the globe - Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, Indonesian vanilla, Mexican vanilla and Tahitian vanilla. The process for producing vanilla is an arduous one. One one type of bee, the Melipona bee, can pollinate the flowers and the flowers open for only one hour per day!!
While visiting the Tahitian island of Taha'a (also known as the Vanilla island), I learned that Tahitians manually pollinate each flower. Can you imagine?!? Incredibly hard work but vanilla remains one of their top exports.
According to Rebecca James Gadberry, ingredient guru and author, "The major benefit of vanilla in the spa is its incredible aromatherapeutic properties, which help strengthen the stress-reduction response".
Here are some quick facts about Vanilla (Courtesy of Skin Inc Magazine)
I think the whole nutra-cosmetics craze is going way too far. I just picked up this article from one of my trade magazines. While this product is not yet offered in the US, buyer beware and above all else, use common sense when selecting these types of products!!
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A new coffee offering from beverage manufacturer Nescafe includes collagen, aiming to help give coffee-drinkers' skin a boost.
The coffee manufacturer Nescafe has developed a new product containing collagen, the beauty-enhancing ingredient. Aimed at women, the coffee producer has started selling the sachets, that contain coffee, skimmed milk and 200mg of collagen, the protein found naturally in body tissue.
But health experts have questioned how drinking collagen could boost levels in the skin because it would be simply broken down by the gut before being excreted.
Collagen is the elastic material that helps give skin its shape. It is used by cosmetic surgeons as a "filler" to remove fine lines and is an ingredient in many anti-wrinkle creams.
Despite the precise beauty benefits of mixing coffee with collagen remaining unclear, this new beverage offering is part of a much wider trend known as “nutri-cosmetics.” This is where food and drink producers promote new products by highlighting the positive effect it can have one eyes, skin, hair and a person's general appearance.
David Jago, director of trends and innovation at market analysts Mintel, told the Daily Express, “Collagen is just one popular ingredient used to lend a more skin and beauty-friendly image to a product and is increasingly found not just in beauty products but also in food and drink products—including coffee.”
To date, the product has been launched in Singapore to rave reviews.
While Swiss-based manufacturer Nestle, the maker of Nescafe, says it has no immediate plans to launch it in Britain or elsewhere, Jago predicted European consumers would follow as more brands decide to launch nutri-styled cosmetic products.
Reprinted from:: TelegraphNews, October 19, 2009
