How to Choose Foods That Help Maintain Your Beauty

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Radiant skin, shiny hair, healthy skin and beautiful appearance suggests health and self-nurture, and gives you a sense of confidence when stepping out. And the beauty and skin care market doesn't hesitate to play on our insecurities in the looks department, selling its wide range of products with a promise of eternal beauty. Yet, nothing makes you as beautiful on the outside as feeding your inside with a healthy diet.
Being the largest organ of your body, your skin deserves to be nourished with the right nutrients to sustain optimal health. An increasing number of studies have shown the benefits of eating certain foods to enhance a healthy looking skin and overall well being. And the best of all this? Looking good need not cost a fortune, tastes great, doesn't require painstaking effort or involve too much time!

Steps

1. Rehydrate your skin and body and preserve your health with green tea. Even caffeinated green tea hydrates you,[1] which helps keep your skin hydrated too. It is loaded with antioxidants (catechins),[2] and these naturally protect your skin from the sun's damage (but you should still take appropriate protective sun precautions as well) and the antioxidants are a basic bodily defense against free radicals that age your skin and body.[3] Active ingredients that stimulate the metabolism can also be found in green tea; a good metabolism will in turn burn away the excess fats, helping to keep you slim and trim. And green tea can help preserve your mind and slow its aging process, which in turn can help you to feel more beautiful because you're not struggling to remember things or fretting about dementia.[4] Many different forms of green tea are available in the markets and a great selection of different types is available for you to choose from, included flavored and seasonal green teas.
2. Slow down the aging process with vitamin E. Vitamin E is an important anti-aging antioxidant and can help slow down skin aging.[5] It can be found in foods such as pumpkin seeds, dry roasted almonds, other nuts and seeds, and small amounts of quality vegetable oils.[6]
3. Keep in top form with omega-3. Omega-3-fatty acids help to keep your face smooth with their anti-inflammatory properties and your hair shiny and in good condition.[7][8] Omega-3 can be found in a range of foods such as: cold-water fish (tuna, salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, sardines), flaxseeds, and walnuts.[9]
   
   • Reduce inflammation and redness of the skin. Salmon and its oil contains skin beautifying omega-3-acids that hydrate and help to reduce the redness and inflammation of the skin. Salmon also contains selenium, which helps various skin problems and overall skin health.
   • As well as omega-3 fatty acids, other essential fatty acids should be included in your diet to strengthen your nails and skin and to reduce inflammation around the nails.[10] Such fatty acids can be found in evening primrose oil, borage oil, flaxseed oil, and fish oil.[11]
4. Enjoy omega-6 as another source of skin replenishment. Have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—just make sure the bread is whole wheat and the jelly is added sparingly. Peanut butter is a rich source of omega-6 fatty acids, which come in a close second to omega-3s when it comes to protecting skin from aging. Avocados are good source of omega-6, too.[12]
5. Rejuvenate your skin cells and keep your body in top form with tomatoes. Tomatoes are full of a red pigment known as lycopene, which appears to act as an antioxidant.[13] This antioxidant helps to neutralize free radicals before they can cause damage and this can benefit good skin health; it can also protect the skin from ultra-violet (UV) stress. Tomatoes also contain fiber and vitamin A, which can assist the development of skin cells, while a vitamin A deficiency can lead to dry skin.[14] Tomatoes are also full of fiber, which also helps keep your body in great shape. Cooked tomatoes can provide access to more nutrients than having them raw but either way, cooked or raw, these fruits will do you a world of good.
6. Strive for skin that is more elastic. Oranges contain vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that mops up free radicals, such as those caused by overexposure to the sun, or those coming from the carbon monoxide released by moving vehicles etc. Free radical damage leads to premature aging of the skin and vitamin C is a great way to give your skin and body a boost. As well as oranges, other citrus fruits are a great source of vitamin C or vegetables such as bell peppers.
   
   • Choose bioflavonoid-rich food for the stimulation of collagen production.[15][16] Collagen helps the skin look younger and plumper, and keeps your gums tough for good teeth health.[17] As well as oranges, foods high in bioflavonoids include broccoli, cantaloupe, and black tea.[18][19]
7. Stay hydrated and keep your skin smooth. Drink lots of water and regulate consumption of dehydrating beverages that contain caffeine and alcohol. Aim to drink half your body weight of water in ounces every day.[20]
   
   • Alcohol may seem innocuous enough when you're looking to unwind but its effects on your skin are anything but. Alcohol dries out skin, and leaves it irritated and sallow-toned. It reduces the sparkle from your eyes, leaving them duller and with too much alcohol consumption over time, the white areas of your eyes can appear yellow and tired.
8. Reduce your sugar consumption. Also known as "white death", sugar isn't really what our bodies have in mind when it comes to good nutrition. Sugar plays an unfortunate role in causing skin to sag and wrinkle; it does this by attaching itself to the collagen and elastin in the skin, causing it to become brittle and to break.[21] Another beauty slam from sugar is the creation of dark, under-eye circles.[22]
   
   • Want a beautiful smile? Avoid eating too much sugar! Keep your pearly whites in perfect shape by keeping sugar to a minimum; sugar encourages the cavity-causing bacteria to hang around your teeth and drill away causing decay. And be very careful of juice; it is just a very concentrated source of sugar and some juices have even been shown to cause more damage than cola![23] However, drinking or rinsing with black tea is good for your teeth, as the polyphenols in black tea seem to reduce plaque build-up.[24]
   • Balanced blood sugar keeps you healthy and looking great.
9. Reduce skin inflammation with cucumbers. Cucumbers are often used as the base in both commercial and home-prepared beauty products such as face masks, gels, and toners. Cucumbers have soothing and cooling properties as well, and their high water content provides a great source of hydration for skin that leaves skin looking softer and plumped.[25]
   
   • Papaya can also reduce skin inflammation, as well as slough off dead tissue, and improve scar formation, when applied to the skin; it also has a gentle exfoliating effect when added to skin beauty products.[26]
10. Reduce your sources of stress with good nutrition. A stressed lifestyle can impact how you look, causing you to appear rundown, tired, and unrefreshed. As well as tackling sources of stress and getting adequate sleep, you can increase your stress resistance by increasing your vitamin C intake[27], cutting out junk food, sugary treats, and fatty fast food; instead, eat a nutritious diet.
11. Boost your immune system. Foods like fresh fruit and half cooked vegetables (steamed, etc.) boosts your immune system. In turn, this creates a healthy body and aids overall healing. Foods high in vitamin C are essential to help the immune system grow stronger.
    
    • Blueberries, goji berries, and other berries are also loaded with vitamin C and immune-boosting antioxidants that stimulate collagen production that keeps skin smooth and supple.
    • Be sure to get adequate vitamin K and zinc. These nutrients help your skin to repair itself,[28] and zinc is known for its ability to prevent acne and improve the immune system. Oysters are one high source of zinc.
12. Eat a rainbow-hued diet. No dietary supplement or nutrient alone can provide you with beautifying benefits. To get the benefits in their entirety, you need to consume a rainbow-hued diet that picks up on the many fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and other healthy foods in a variety of ways.[29] The benefits are a variety of great tastes, an interesting diet, and a beautiful you.

Video

Tips

• A dull patchy complexion is a sign that you're not getting enough omega-3-fatty acids in your diet. Make sure to eat some “good” fats every day. Too little fat leads to dry, flaky skin.
• Dull hair and brittle nails is a sign to increase your protein intake.
• Metabolic Typing custom~indicates your proper protein/fat/carb intake, which is different for every ethnic group.[30] This will explain why most 'diets' work only selectively.
• Off-the-shelf products and vitamins commercially prepared in chemical products often lose the potency and desired effect. Go natural as much as possible and always prefer getting your nutrients from your diet rather than from human-made supplements.[31]
• A biotin supplement may improve the look and feel of your hair.[32]
• Some studies have shown that dairy products can bring about acne.[33] Consider reducing your intake if this is an issue for you.
• Lemon juice has antibacterial properties that can help to clear up skin spots and to brighten dull or oily skin.[34]
• Reduce, or better still quit, smoking. Smoking causes the body and skin to age faster and leaves you looking much older before your time.
• Salt causes tissue to swell and the subsequent deflating results in skin that is less elastic.
• Avoid too much caffeine. Caffeine can be beneficial to your skin, but too much can prevent the uptake of vitamins and minerals from your food. Caffeine is a also a natural diuretic. A diuretic causes you to pass urine more frequently and as a result may cause dehydration. Your skin needs fluids to look good.
• Good food can taste good try to make a meal but made with the food described above so you can eat healthy and enjoy your meal

Warnings

• For people suffering from arthritis, remember that tomatoes are part of the nightshade family and can exacerbate arthritic symptoms.

Things You'll Need

• Foods described above
• Journal if you'd like to track your nutritional progress

Related wikiHows

• How to Maintain Health of the Eye
• How to Reduce Food Addictions
• How to Appreciate Inner Beauty
• How to Get More Vitamin D
• How to Make a Vitamin Boosting Smoothie
• How to Read Nutrition Facts on Food Labels
• How to Improve Your Fitness With Proper Sports Nutrition

Sources and Citations

• Adapted from: Lifestyle Edition, Ballito, Fairbreeze, p. 11, 27 August 2010, Local Press, South Africa, 2010.
• Partial source of information, Howcast, How to eat your way to better skin, http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin. Shared with permission.

1. ↑ http://www.englishteastore.com/howisteagofo.html
2. ↑ Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J Heiss, The Story of Tea, p. 353, (2007), ISBN 978-1-58008-745-2
3. ↑ Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J Heiss, The Story of Tea, p. 353, (2007), ISBN 978-1-58008-745-2
4. ↑ http://www.englishteastore.com/howisteagofo.html
5. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 4, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
6. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 4, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
7. ↑ Winnie Yu, What to eat for what ails you, p. 159, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59233-236-6
8. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
9. ↑ Winnie Yu, What to eat for what ails you, p. 159, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59233-236-6
10. ↑ http://www.drlera.com/health_beauty/nails/nails_problems.htm
11. ↑ http://www.drlera.com/health_beauty/nails/nails_problems.htm
12. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
13. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 629, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
14. ↑ http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/126004-overview
15. ↑ http://www.livestrong.com/article/152898-benefits-of-a-quercetin-bioflavonoid-complex/
16. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 212, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
17. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 212, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
18. ↑ http://www.livestrong.com/article/152898-benefits-of-a-quercetin-bioflavonoid-complex/
19. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 212, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
20. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
21. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
22. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
23. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 212, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
24. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 213, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
25. ↑ James Wong, Grow your own drugs, p.169, (2009) ISBN 978-1-60652-119-9
26. ↑ James Wong, Grow your own drugs, p.166, (2009) ISBN 978-1-60652-119-9
27. ↑ http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-More-Vitamin-C
28. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
29. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 631, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
30. ↑ http://www.metabolictyping.com/
31. ↑ Selene Yeager, The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, p. 4, (2007), ISBN 978-1-59486-753-8
32. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
33. ↑ http://www.howcast.com/videos/6025-How-To-Eat-Your-Way-To-Better-Skin
34. ↑ James Wong, Grow your own drugs, p.165, (2009) ISBN 978-1-60652-119-9

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How to Develop Healthy Eating Habits

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

We all realize that we have to eat to live, but too little of the right kinds of food can lead to poor health. Here are some tips to help develop more healthy eating habits:

Steps

1. Schedule three meals a day into your routine. It's important to be nourished adequately throughout the day to prevent fatigue and to perform at an optimal level.
2. Eat a healthy breakfast. Include grains and fruits. Try a high-fiber cereal with low fat milk and sliced bananas.
3. Eating small frequent meals can be less taxing on your digestive system.
4. Snack between meals to curb your appetite and provide a little energy. Try a piece of fruit or a few crackers with peanut butter.
5. Do not let yourself become so hungry as to overeat at mealtime. Overeating burdens your digestive system.
6. Drinking water or having a small bowl of soup before meals may keep you from overeating at your meal.
7. Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly to aid in your digestion. Take time to savor your food.
8. Obtain protein from a less complicated source, such as nuts, legumes, grains and sprouts.
9. Choose low fat dairy products, lean white meats or wild fish if animal products are desired.
10. Combine vegetables and grains with a small amount of protein for a synergistic effect.
11. Choose a variety of whole grain products to include millet, barley and buckwheat.
12. Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables that are deep in color, such as the dark orange of a carrot or the deep green of spinach. They contain more nutrients.
13. Choose organic products to eliminate chemical exposure. Chemicals are harmful to overall health.
14. Avoid processed food as it contains ingredients that have been changed from their natural state. These unnatural foods are difficult for your body to assimilate.
15. Choose sea salt as it is equivalent in nature to the salt within your body. It is very cleansing. Refined salt causes fluid retention and increased blood pressure.
16. Eliminate sugars or choose an unrefined sugar, such as turbinado or honey.
17. Drink plenty of clean water to aid in flushing toxins and the waste products of natural cell metabolism.
18. Gradually wean from large portions to achieve a healthy weight.
19. Eat less in the evening if you are no longer exercising throughout the remainder of the day.
20. Use moderation when developing new eating habits. The important thing is to develop a plan that you'll find easy to accomplish and easy to maintain.
21. Keep a positive attitude focusing on long term results.
22. Eat at least one nutritious meal per day with your family to encourage their good eating habits.

Video

Tips

• Research several different kinds of diets focusing on the health and longevity of other cultures.
• If you are eating sensibly, but unable to maintain your health, see a physician for further testing.
• A personal trainer can determine a more appropriate diet and exercise plan based upon your body type and future goals.
• Take your time losing weight. Work to maintain your weight loss as well as your health.
• A steady exercise program can speed weight loss, but be sure it is reasonable to maintain.
• It may be healthier to be overweight than to have constant fluctuations in weight.
• Treat yourself to an occasional descretion, such as a piece of chocolate.
• Restaurants are known to carry refined salt and processed foods.
• The FDA recommends 0-2 servings of meat per day.
• Eat a gram of protein for every pound you weigh to maintain your weight.

Related wikiHows

• How to Choose a Pre Workout Meal
• How to Stay Fit at Home
• How to Get Around Doing Basic Sit Ups
• How to Eat Healthy for Life
• How to Establish a Diet Plan
• How to Lose Weight Safely
• How to Eat out and Lose Weight
• How to Eat Healthy
• How to Eat Slowly to Avoid Overeating

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Develop Healthy Eating Habits. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Breast Lumps and Pain

Breast Lumps and Pain Overview

Breast changes are common. From the time a girl begins to develop breasts and begins menstruating and throughout life, women may experience various kinds of breast pain and other breast changes. Some of these changes normally occur during the menstrual cycle, during pregnancy, and with aging. Breast lumps, tenderness, and other changes may occur. Most breast lumps and other changes are not cancer.
Your breast is composed of several glands and ducts that lead to the nipple and the surrounding colored area called the areola. The milk-carrying ducts extend from the nipple into the underlying breast tissue like the spokes of a wheel. Under the areola are lactiferous ducts. These fill with milk during lactation after a woman has a baby. When a girl reaches puberty, changing levels of hormones cause the ducts to grow and cause fat deposits in the breast tissue to increase. The glands that produce milk (mammary glands) that are connected to the surface of the breast by the lactiferous ducts may extend to the armpit area (axilla).
There are no muscles in the breasts, but muscles lie under each breast and cover the ribs. These normal structures inside the breasts can sometimes make them feel lumpy. Such lumpiness may be especially noticeable in women who are thin or who have small breasts.

• Lumps within breast tissue are usually found unexpectedly or during a routine monthly breast self-exam. Most lumps are not cancer but represent changes within the breast tissue. As your breasts develop, changes occur. These changes are influenced by normal hormonal variations.

• Breast pain is a common breast problem mostly in younger women who are still having their periods, and happens less often in older women. Although pain is a concern, breast pain is rarely the only symptom of breast cancer. Most breast cancers involve a mass or lump.

• Cyclic mastalgia: About two-thirds of women with breast pain have a problem called cyclic mastalgia. This pain typically is worse before your menstrual cycle and usually is relieved at the time your period begins. The pain may also happen in varying degrees throughout the cycle. Because of its relationship to the menstrual cycle, it is believed to be caused by hormonal changes. This type of breast pain usually happens in younger women, although the condition has been reported in postmenopausal women who take hormone replacement therapy.

• Noncyclic mastalgia: Breast pain that is not associated with the menstrual cycle is called noncyclic mastalgia. It occurs less often than the cyclic form. It typically occurs in women older than 40 years and is not related to the menstrual cycle. It is sometimes linked to a fibrous mass (called a fibroadenoma) or a cyst.

• Breast pain or tenderness may also occur in a teenage boy. The condition, called gynecomastia, is enlargement of the male breast which may occur as a normal part of development, often during puberty.

• Breast infection: The breast is made up of hundreds of tiny milk-producing sacs called alveoli. They are arranged in grapelike clusters throughout the breast. Once breastfeeding begins, milk is produced in the alveoli and secreted into tube-shaped milk ducts that empty through the nipple. Mastitis is an infection of the tissue of the breast that occurs most frequently during the time of breastfeeding. This infection causes pain, swelling, redness, and increased temperature of the breast. It can occur when bacteria, often from the baby's mouth, enter a milk duct through a crack in the nipple. This causes an infection and painful inflammation of the breast.

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Breast Pain

What is fibrocystic breast disease?

In Western countries, a large percentage of women experience benign but often painful cysts and lumps in their breasts. Their breasts feel lumpy, "ropy", or "granular", as if full of little nodules. Some women can even feel the presence of larger cysts.
These cysts occur when a breast duct becomes blocked, and then fills up with fluid like a balloon filled with water. The area surrounding the blocked duct then has a tendency to form scar tissue, and that is the fibrous component of the fibrocystic disease.
This generalized breast lumpiness is known by several names, including fibrocystic breast condition, fibrous breasts, fibrocystic breast disease, fibrocystic changes and benign breast disease. There even exist several types of fibrocystic breast condition.

Unfortunately, many women and even doctors think that fibrocystic breast disease is a "normal" condition for women. However, large, palpable cysts have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, not to mention the pain the women experience, so women need to be concerned about pain and cysts in their breasts and not let it go on thinking it is "normal".

An easy experiment to reduce pain: take your bra off!

Fortunately there is an easy solution that works for many women in reducing breast pain and fibrocystic lumps: many women have found that by wearing undergarments less restrictive than bras (camisoles, tank tops, etc.) they can dramatically reduce or eliminate fibrocystic cysts and pain.  Medical anthropologists Sydney Singer and Soma Grismaijer, and also Dr. Gregory Heigh, have found that around 90% of fibrocystic patients improve when they quit wearing bras. Singer and Grismajer are authors of a study of over 4000 women that found that women who do not wear bras have a much lower risk of breast cancer ("Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras" Avery Press, 1995).
In this link you can read some case histories of how women who got help from fibrocystic cysts and pain by taking off their bra.

Iodine

There exist studies that link low iodine levels to fibrocystic breast disease. There is evidence that the low breast cancer rates in Japan are due to their high iodine intake (form seafood). It is not only our thyroid that needs and has iodine; our breasts have some too (or are supposed to). Increasing your iodine intake is definitely something worthwhile as it can help breast pain and fibrocystic breast changes.

What about diet?

Besides making sure you have enough iodine in your diet, you can also consider eating a high-fiber diet that emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. Omega-3 fats and vitamin E can also be helpful.
One study studied a high dose vitamin A in women who did not get help for their breast pain from eliminating caffeine, and 80% of them had a dramatic reduction in the pain level. It is safer to get vitamin A from consuming betacarotene, since high doses of vitamin A can be toxic. Vegetables that are bright red, orange, yellow, or dark green contain high amounts of betacarotene.

The British study bra-freedom as a treatment

In year 2000, two breast surgeons started a study including 100 women at two breast clinics (all of whom had breast pain) and found that over half of the premenopausal women with pain found relief when they quit wearing bras for three months. For some the pain relief was very dramatic, changing their lifes. When they resumed bra wearing for the last three months of the study, the pain returned. Besides the pain data, the doctors also showed video thermography footage that dramatically demonstrated the heat build-up from bra wearing, and they discussed the possible connections with cancer causation.
They also made a documentary film that was shown on nationwide television in Britain.  You can read a partial trascript of the documentary concerning bra wearing and breast pain.

Natural progesterone treatment

Doctor John Lee has treated many patients with fibrocystic breasts with natural progesterone. He argues that the cause for the pain and cysts and lumps is an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone - either too much estrogen or too little progesterone, or both - and that environmental estrogens cause this, or at least make the situation worse.
This condition is called estrogen dominance. It may be worth your while to try natural progesterone therapy alongside with avoiding foreign estrogen-like chemicals to treat breast pain and fibrocystic breasts.

Breastfeeding lowers risk

And, if you can, breastfeed! One study found that lack of breastfeeding was a risk factor for having post-menopausal breast pain and fibrocystic changes. Breastfeeding definitely lowers the risk of breast cancer: it reduces the time your body is exposed to high estrogen levels as occur during the mestrual cycle (and probably through some other mechanisms as well).

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Eliminate Belly Fat

Eliminate Belly Fat

The dangers of belly fat are reason enough to have a flat stomach.

The average American is carrying around about 30 billion fat cells. Abdominal fat bears the blame for many health problems because it resides within striking distance of your heart, liver, and other organs--pressing on them, feeding them poisons, and messing with their daily function.

A Canadian study of more than 8,000 people found that over 13 years, the people with the weakest abdominal muscles had a death rate more than twice as high as those with the strongest midsections. Such research upholds the notion that flat stomachs do more than turn heads at the beach. In fact, your abdominal muscles control more of your body than you may even realize--and have just as much substance as show.
A defined midsection, in many ways, has defined fitness. But it also defines something else: A flat stomach is the hallmark of people in control of their bodies and, as such, in control of their health.