Today’s Re-Powering Information – Stress – its every where. We have physical stress, mental, emotional, environmental, chemical and mechanical stressors all around us. We have moved so far away from what is natural regarding sleeping and eating and recovering that our bodies many times are under chronic stress. Since stress is everywhere, we have no choice but to manage it as best we can. You should have an arsenal of stress relievers. Boot camp is a great one. Everyone always compliments about how fast the hour goes (most of the time) and that they leave feeling wonderful! Another wonderful and easy to apply stress reliever is breathing exercises. I have taken classes in breath therapy and can tell you first hand that your breath can make you feel very heavy, very light and completely invigorated. Read on to see some stress relieving breathing exercises. You may feel silly doing them, but they work!
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
As many of you already know, I am passionate about finding simple, inexpensive resources that can have profound impact on your health. And breathing is one strategy that can make a tremendous difference in how you feel and age, yet it receives little attention. After all, you breathe in and out without conscious thought. As soon as you stop, you die. Surely everyone’s got this one all figured out already?
Not really. In fact, improper breathing is more the norm than the exception these days.
So implementing a breathing technique may actually be one of the most beneficial things you can do to elevate your physical health and soothe your mind.
Actually, one of my first journeys into natural health was in the early 90’s, when I attended several week-long seminars in Southern California to learn different breathing practices. They were all very useful, but a bit complicated to perform without proper instructions and practice.
There are many different breathing practices that you can try, but here I’m going to share with you one that is both powerful and very easy to perform.
I like to do it before each meal as that ensures that I will do it at least three times a day. I also like to combine it with gratitude for my meal, so for the two minutes it actually takes to do the technique, I seek to focus on gratitude for not only the food, but all the blessings in my life.
I recently learned this one when I attended a presentation by Dr. Weil at Expo West in California.
In the presentation summary he outlined some of the best resources he’s learned over his clinical career for improving health, and topping the list, interestingly, was a breathing exercise called the 4-7-8, or Relaxing Breath Exercise.
On his site, he states:
"Practicing regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders."
The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise
The key to this exercise is to remember the numbers 4, 7 and 8. It’s not important to focus on how much time you spend in each phase of the breathing activity, but rather that you get the ratio correct.
Here’s how it’s done:
1. Sit up straight
2. Place the tip of your tongue up against the back of your front teeth. Keep it there through the entire breathing process
3. Breathe in silently through your nose to the count of four
4. Hold your breath to the count of seven
5. Exhale through your mouth to the count of eight, making an audible “woosh” sound
6. That completes one full breath. Repeat the cycle another three times, for a total of four breaths
You can do this exercise as frequently as you want throughout the day, but it’s recommended you don’t do more than four full breaths during the first month or so of practice. Later you may work your way up to eight full breath cycles at a time.
The benefits of this simple practice are enormous and work as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system.
Personally, I think one of its greatest values may be gained when you combine it with your meals. Most of us eat three meals a day, so it makes remembering to do it easier. Also, I believe that combining it with the attitude of gratitude for the healthy meal you just ate, or are about to eat, can have a powerful, beneficial influence on your health.
The Health Benefits of Breathing Exercises
Self-applied health enhancement methods like the 4-7-8 breathing technique are particularly remarkable because of the broad array of real health benefits that are triggered.
Learning to breathe mindfully can modify and accelerate your body's inherent self-regulating physiological and bioenergetic mechanisms.
These changes are in large part due to the fact that you’re oxygenating your body properly as well as correcting your internal and energetic balance, and it has a direct impact your nervous system.
This in turn affects your entire body and its countless cellular functions, including all of your subtle energy systems.
The web site breathing.com offers a list of clinical studies into the health benefits of optimal breathing. One such study, which spanned a 30-year period, concluded that the most significant factor in your health and longevity is how well you breathe.
It focused on the long-term predictive power of forced exhalation volume as the primary marker for life span. According to the researchers,
"This pulmonary function measurement appears to be an indicator of general health and vigor and literally a measure of living capacity."
It’s also important to realize that much of hypertension is controlled by the way you breathe, so breathing exercises are an excellent adjunct to your other healthy lifestyle strategies to control high blood pressure.
Breathing exercises such as the one I showed you above have a positive impact on your:
* Respiratory system, which can reduce mental and physical fatigue, as well as relieve symptoms of asthma and bronchitis
* Circulatory system; improving blood circulation and cell oxygenation throughout your body
* Nervous system
* Digestive system, by acting as a pump to massage internal organs
* Endocrine system. The action of your diaphragm helps push lymph throughout your body, which helps eliminate toxic waste and strengthen your immune system
* Urinary system, by helping to eliminate fluids and massaging your kidneys
* Skin. Toxic CO2 waste is eliminated more directly through your breath, and your skin can also be positively affected by improved blood flow and oxygenation
Breathing Your Way to Optimal Health
Another obvious use for the 4-7-8 breathing technique is to use it whenever you feel stressed or anxious. It’s a powerful way to help relax your system without drugs.
Best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything but a couple of minutes of your time! And, if you commit to it, I believe you’ll be absolutely shocked, and pleasantly surprised, by how quickly and easily it can center and relax you and allow you to achieve high levels of health.
For even more breathing practices, I recommend you read the article Breathing Exercises and Self Healing, written by Roger Jahnke, O.M.D., or see Dr. Weil’s website for additional exercises.
Do something special for yourself today!
Showing posts with label skin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skin. Show all posts
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Feed Your Skin
Today’s Re-Powering information – I don’t mention the skin too much, however it’s our largest organ. If you are taking care of your body from the inside, the outside will take care of yourself (unless exposed to things from the external environment like too much sun). If you are having challenges with your skin, breakouts, moles, rashes, etc, more times than not, its from something going on in the inside that surfaces on the skin. The good news is that many skin conditions can be reversed with great nutrition. Not only that, but with exercise and good nutrition. You can appear up to 10 or more years younger. I’m 70 and don’t look too bad!!! (that was a joke). Read the article below for some skin saving and soothing foods that you can both consume for younger looking and feeling skin. You can even use real foods to make your own scrubs and masks..
Feed Your Skin
By Helen Hawkes
Forget plastic surgery. All you have to do is eat your way to great-looking skin.
Can you look younger by stuffing your face? Absolutely! The healthier the foods you consume are, the better your skin looks. No vitamin C and you'll have no collagen.
Too little vitamin A or essential fats and you'll have dry, rough skin, and too little zinc is a recipe for greasy skin and stretch marks.
So forget plastic surgery. For glowing, gorgeous, youthful skin, it makes sense to eat your way to fewer wrinkles, pimples, age spots and other beauty plagues.
Resurfacing your skin
It's no accident that vitamin A is the number one vitamin used topically to improve the texture and appearance of ageing skin.
Vitamin A is a powerful agent for increasing cell turnover, so that skin looks more youthful.
This skin vitamin comes in two forms: retinol, the animal form found in meat, fish, eggs and dairy products; and beta-carotene, found in red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables.
Apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin are all good sources of beta-carotene.
Sydney-based naturopath Penelope Sach, author of Natural Woman (Penguin), advises: "Include a raw carrot juice daily for the natural vitamin A content, which helps to regenerate skin cells. "
Foods to tighten and tone
Thanks to New York Times bestselling author Dr Nicholas Perricone, we now know that good skin is a very fishy business.
Fish is not only a good source of the antioxidant co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10), but an outstanding source of high-quality protein that helps with cellular repair and essential fatty acids (EFAs), which are responsible for healthy cell membranes, he says.
EFAs hold water, so the stronger they are, the plumper and younger your skin looks.
Fish also contains a powerful antioxidant compound called dimethylaminoethanol or DMAE.
"This chemical stimulates nerve function and the muscles to contract and tighten under the skin," says Dr Perricone in The Perricone Prescription (HarperCollins).
"It is a magic bullet for great skin tone, keeping your face firm and contoured."
Sach says: "For radiant skin, eat cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel or tuna, three times a week."
Other good face firmers are walnuts and flaxseed oil, soya oil, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
Flaxseed oil may also be useful in the treatment of skin conditions such as eczema.
Natural wrinkle fighters
Perhaps your skin's biggest enemies are free radicals, produced by UV rays as well as pollution, stress and even breathing.
These nasties lead to skin inflammation, as well as the degradation of collagen, the support structure for your skin, according to Leslie Baumann, of the dermatology department at the University of Miami in Florida.
But nature has designed some pretty clever foods that, if eaten regularly, act as natural wrinkle fighters.
Start with apricots and tomatoes, rich in lycopene, nature's sunscreen.
For maximum anti-ageing, add a daily bowlful of berries, a glass of red wine or a freshly brewed pot of tea.
In a 2004 study by the veterinary science faculty at the University of Sydney, a potent free-radical scavenger called pycnogenol was found to reduce the amount of inflammatory sunburn in mice.
Pycnogenol can be found in grape seed, grape skin, cranberry, blackcurrant, green tea, black tea, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, black cherry, red wine and red cabbage.
Still want a stronger defense against free radicals and the surgeon's knife?
Here's a potent free radical-busting combination: vitamin C, vitamin E, glutathione and CoQ10.
A 2002 German study published in the Journal Of Pharmacological And Biophysiological Research found that, together, these antioxidants could reduce inflammation caused by UV rays.
You'll find vitamin E in vegetable oils, nuts and green leafy vegetables, and vitamin C in leafy citrus fruit, berries and green leafy vegetables.
Asparagus is high in glutathione and CoQ10 is found in seafood, spinach and nuts.
Other antioxidant-rich foods are prunes, plums, capsicum, beetroot, parsley, figs, raisins and legumes such as red kidney beans.
And don't forget herbs and spices, an often neglected way to boost antioxidants in the body.
"Herbs and spices contain several natural water-soluble phenolic acids and flavonoids that can protect the body against oxidative stress and inflammation," says Dr Michael Fenech, principal research scientist on the CSIRO's Genome Health and Nutrigenomics Project in Adelaide.
Add cinnamon to your cappuccino, drink tea made of fresh mint or ginger, roast lamb with herbs such as rosemary, sage and thyme, and indulge in turmeric-rich curries.
Try Gourmet Garden's herb tubes if you can't buy fresh.
Out, darn spot
There are two types of spots that detract from youthful skin: age spots and pimples.
And Australasian soils are notoriously short of a trace element called selenium.
This deficiency, along with sun exposure and sugar in the diet, is believed to be a factor in age spots, says Erica Angyal, an Australian nutritionist now based in Tokyo and author of Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian Books).
To stop spots, you should not only wear an SPF15+, but eat selenium-rich foods, including garlic, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts and sesame seeds.
A study published in 2003 in the British Journal Of Dermatology also showed that skin was less likely to suffer oxidative damage when selenium levels were high.
Eating garlic, which also contains vitamin C and sulfur, can help banish blemishes.
Zinc is another natural substance that is necessary for good skin. Rich sources of zinc are oysters, ginger root, lamb, pecan nuts and brazil nuts.
Softening up
Extra-virgin olive oil has a high concentration of a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid, one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory foods in existence, says Dr Perricone.
"Oleic acid is a member of the omega 9 family," he says. "It can make the difference between a complexion that resembles a piece of old shoe leather and one that looks and feels like a rose petal."
For younger-looking skin, aim to eat about 20g - or two tablespoons - of good fats a day, including olive oil.
Avocados contain oleic acid, as well as the antioxidants vitamin C and E.
Try having some on toast with lycopene-rich tomatoes, accompanied by a cup of green tea, for a super skin-boosting meal.
For baby-soft skin, avoid dehydrating drinks too, like alcohol and caffeine.
"Try Campari and soda during summer, as this is less dehydrating than wine and champagne," says Sach. Of course, cool, filtered water is great too.
Debloat and depuff
Your capillaries are the pipelines for your skin cells, says Angyal.
"When they are weak, or not working efficiently, your skin cells don't receive all the oxygen and nutrients they need."
This leads to poor elimination and sallow, puffy, prematurely aged or dull skin.
Bioflavonoids in citrus fruits can help to protect your capillaries, as well as support collagen production. So, next time you're at a juice bar, mix pink grapefruit, orange or lemon into your fruit or vegie blend.
END
If you are following the 30 Day Detox Fat Burning Meal Plan, yesterday was your first detox day. Fruit in the morning, veggies in the afternoon and a regular dinner from the list of foods provided. Continue following the plan for the best results. Below is a recipe I make, but I eat it without the tortilla’s (I do eat them occasionally)
Feed Your Skin
By Helen Hawkes
Forget plastic surgery. All you have to do is eat your way to great-looking skin.
Can you look younger by stuffing your face? Absolutely! The healthier the foods you consume are, the better your skin looks. No vitamin C and you'll have no collagen.
Too little vitamin A or essential fats and you'll have dry, rough skin, and too little zinc is a recipe for greasy skin and stretch marks.
So forget plastic surgery. For glowing, gorgeous, youthful skin, it makes sense to eat your way to fewer wrinkles, pimples, age spots and other beauty plagues.
Resurfacing your skin
It's no accident that vitamin A is the number one vitamin used topically to improve the texture and appearance of ageing skin.
Vitamin A is a powerful agent for increasing cell turnover, so that skin looks more youthful.
This skin vitamin comes in two forms: retinol, the animal form found in meat, fish, eggs and dairy products; and beta-carotene, found in red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables.
Apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin are all good sources of beta-carotene.
Sydney-based naturopath Penelope Sach, author of Natural Woman (Penguin), advises: "Include a raw carrot juice daily for the natural vitamin A content, which helps to regenerate skin cells. "
Foods to tighten and tone
Thanks to New York Times bestselling author Dr Nicholas Perricone, we now know that good skin is a very fishy business.
Fish is not only a good source of the antioxidant co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10), but an outstanding source of high-quality protein that helps with cellular repair and essential fatty acids (EFAs), which are responsible for healthy cell membranes, he says.
EFAs hold water, so the stronger they are, the plumper and younger your skin looks.
Fish also contains a powerful antioxidant compound called dimethylaminoethanol or DMAE.
"This chemical stimulates nerve function and the muscles to contract and tighten under the skin," says Dr Perricone in The Perricone Prescription (HarperCollins).
"It is a magic bullet for great skin tone, keeping your face firm and contoured."
Sach says: "For radiant skin, eat cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel or tuna, three times a week."
Other good face firmers are walnuts and flaxseed oil, soya oil, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
Flaxseed oil may also be useful in the treatment of skin conditions such as eczema.
Natural wrinkle fighters
Perhaps your skin's biggest enemies are free radicals, produced by UV rays as well as pollution, stress and even breathing.
These nasties lead to skin inflammation, as well as the degradation of collagen, the support structure for your skin, according to Leslie Baumann, of the dermatology department at the University of Miami in Florida.
But nature has designed some pretty clever foods that, if eaten regularly, act as natural wrinkle fighters.
Start with apricots and tomatoes, rich in lycopene, nature's sunscreen.
For maximum anti-ageing, add a daily bowlful of berries, a glass of red wine or a freshly brewed pot of tea.
In a 2004 study by the veterinary science faculty at the University of Sydney, a potent free-radical scavenger called pycnogenol was found to reduce the amount of inflammatory sunburn in mice.
Pycnogenol can be found in grape seed, grape skin, cranberry, blackcurrant, green tea, black tea, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, black cherry, red wine and red cabbage.
Still want a stronger defense against free radicals and the surgeon's knife?
Here's a potent free radical-busting combination: vitamin C, vitamin E, glutathione and CoQ10.
A 2002 German study published in the Journal Of Pharmacological And Biophysiological Research found that, together, these antioxidants could reduce inflammation caused by UV rays.
You'll find vitamin E in vegetable oils, nuts and green leafy vegetables, and vitamin C in leafy citrus fruit, berries and green leafy vegetables.
Asparagus is high in glutathione and CoQ10 is found in seafood, spinach and nuts.
Other antioxidant-rich foods are prunes, plums, capsicum, beetroot, parsley, figs, raisins and legumes such as red kidney beans.
And don't forget herbs and spices, an often neglected way to boost antioxidants in the body.
"Herbs and spices contain several natural water-soluble phenolic acids and flavonoids that can protect the body against oxidative stress and inflammation," says Dr Michael Fenech, principal research scientist on the CSIRO's Genome Health and Nutrigenomics Project in Adelaide.
Add cinnamon to your cappuccino, drink tea made of fresh mint or ginger, roast lamb with herbs such as rosemary, sage and thyme, and indulge in turmeric-rich curries.
Try Gourmet Garden's herb tubes if you can't buy fresh.
Out, darn spot
There are two types of spots that detract from youthful skin: age spots and pimples.
And Australasian soils are notoriously short of a trace element called selenium.
This deficiency, along with sun exposure and sugar in the diet, is believed to be a factor in age spots, says Erica Angyal, an Australian nutritionist now based in Tokyo and author of Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian Books).
To stop spots, you should not only wear an SPF15+, but eat selenium-rich foods, including garlic, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts and sesame seeds.
A study published in 2003 in the British Journal Of Dermatology also showed that skin was less likely to suffer oxidative damage when selenium levels were high.
Eating garlic, which also contains vitamin C and sulfur, can help banish blemishes.
Zinc is another natural substance that is necessary for good skin. Rich sources of zinc are oysters, ginger root, lamb, pecan nuts and brazil nuts.
Softening up
Extra-virgin olive oil has a high concentration of a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid, one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory foods in existence, says Dr Perricone.
"Oleic acid is a member of the omega 9 family," he says. "It can make the difference between a complexion that resembles a piece of old shoe leather and one that looks and feels like a rose petal."
For younger-looking skin, aim to eat about 20g - or two tablespoons - of good fats a day, including olive oil.
Avocados contain oleic acid, as well as the antioxidants vitamin C and E.
Try having some on toast with lycopene-rich tomatoes, accompanied by a cup of green tea, for a super skin-boosting meal.
For baby-soft skin, avoid dehydrating drinks too, like alcohol and caffeine.
"Try Campari and soda during summer, as this is less dehydrating than wine and champagne," says Sach. Of course, cool, filtered water is great too.
Debloat and depuff
Your capillaries are the pipelines for your skin cells, says Angyal.
"When they are weak, or not working efficiently, your skin cells don't receive all the oxygen and nutrients they need."
This leads to poor elimination and sallow, puffy, prematurely aged or dull skin.
Bioflavonoids in citrus fruits can help to protect your capillaries, as well as support collagen production. So, next time you're at a juice bar, mix pink grapefruit, orange or lemon into your fruit or vegie blend.
END
If you are following the 30 Day Detox Fat Burning Meal Plan, yesterday was your first detox day. Fruit in the morning, veggies in the afternoon and a regular dinner from the list of foods provided. Continue following the plan for the best results. Below is a recipe I make, but I eat it without the tortilla’s (I do eat them occasionally)
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