Homemade Skin Remedies

Fashion and beauty blogger Carrie Riggin shows off the best home remedies for achieving a new look.
People’s bodies take a toll due to stressful lifestyles, lack of sleep and exercise and the high prevalence of processed and fast foods. This segment provides viewers natural, low/cost, homemade remedies to “reset” the mind and body for the New Year. And skin is the body's largest organ so we definitely want to take care of it!
But people don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on the popular anti-aging and moisturizing creams (most of which don’t work and have foreign ingredients that are toxic to the body). Some of the best, natural, and almost FREE beauty remedi es come from within your own kitchen! This segment is going to prove that you CAN look beautiful while on a budget. The secrets I’m about to share are some that I’ve sworn by and that industry experts swear by – these DIY beauty recipes are simply the best and easiest ways to get young, rejuvenated skin fast.
CONTENT
First, basic beauty begins with the glow of good health, which shines from within. So maintaining good nutrition and hydration, and managing things like allergies and hormone imbalances are essential for a radiant clear complexion.
What helps with all of the above? Antioxidants – whether you eat them or apply them – is the single key to young, glowing skin.
There is research showing antioxidants can improve cell function, increase collagen production, improve elasticity, create healthier, younger skin cells, prevent wrinkles, and reduce sun damage.
Antioxidants inhibit free-radical damage to the skin whether from the sun, pollution or other environmental factors (free radical damage causes wrinkles and premature aging): When it comes to wrinkles, free-radical damage causes collagen and other vital skin functions to break down. A great skin-care product, whether it comes in a liquid, gel, serum, lotion, or cream, should contain a potent assortment of stable antioxidants to interrupt free-radical damage and keep it from harming your skin.
Do’s: green tea, grape extract, or vitamin C; Don’t’s: Avoid stimulants such as coffee, alcohol and sugar. Never wash face with soap
NOTE: What is collagen? Collagen is known as the “glue that holds the body together,” a protein that surrounds cells; in the face collagen works to plump up the surface of the skin, making fine lines and minor wrinkles appear less noticeable
Get rid of puffy eyes:
The area around the eye becomes thinner and more delicate as we people age. Salty food, alcohol, and lack of sleep don’t help and are the main culprits of puffy eyes. Drinking lots of water and cutting down on booze and processed foods will go along way.
Best way to get rid of puffy eyes? i. Cucumbers: Reduce swelling, instantly tightening the skin. Due to the high water content (about 90%), cucumbers have a hydrating effect, which fills out the skin
Egg whites: Egg whites offer a temporary lift and tighten effect – great for right before big dates or special events. Smooth whipped egg whites thinly over the around-the-eye area, let dry and rinse.
iii. Temporary tightening: Apply tomato juice (preferably fresh-squeezed) for ten minutes
iv. Face too tight from too much sun: Apply plain yogurt to the skin and leave on for ten minutes.
Exfoliating:
Why is it important?
i. Exfoliation removes the dead cells from the layers of your skin to reveal the live cells beneath, providing a healthy glow.
ii. Dead cells block off the oxygen to the skin, making it dull, and unable to breathe. This also contributes to pores filling up and causing breakout.
Best way to exfoliate at home? Brown sugar, raw oatmeal, olive oil
Recipe:
i. 1 cup brown sugar
ii. 1 cup raw oatmeal
iii. 1 cup olive oil
iv. Mix all the ingredients together and then apply on dry skin, using your hands. Use your fingers and perform slow circles—this treatment is to be enjoyed and not rushed. (The real key is standing over a plastic bag or towel to catch the remains.) After scrubbing gently all over, step into the shower and rinse off. Your skin will be like butter.
Ingredients/Show-and-tell items: Mixture – apply to skin in circles
Face Mask:
Why it’s important? Face is the first thing people see and this is the quickest way to firm, rejuvenate and make skin radiate in now time.
Best face mask: There are many that you can stick to, but whichever face mask you pick, make sure it incorporates HONEY. Why:
i. Honey absorbs impurities from the pores on the skin, making it an ideal cleansing agent.
ii. Honey’s natural antioxidant and anti-microbial properties help to protect the skin from the damage of the sun's rays; honey supports the skin's ability to rejuvenate and refresh depleted skin, leaving it feeling silky soft and supple.
iii. Honey's ability to absorb and retain moisture make it an ideal ingredient in a lot of cosmetics as it helps keep skin hydrated and fresh
I like this one though: Honey, almond scrub. It is great for all skin types – you can’t overuse it – use it everyday if you want; you can make it in bulk and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. This recipe comes from the popular Naturally Skinsational book. [Will combine ingredients if we have time or I can have mix pre-made]
Recipe
i. 2 tablespoons honey
ii. Thinly ground organic raw almonds
iii. Half a lime
iv. Mint: ground up
v. Combine honey with finely ground raw organic almonds (provides an abrasive quality for exfoliating and softening the skins; also provides high amounts of vitamin E, copper, iron and Vitamin A; make sure to ground them up enough so they aren’t too rough on skin). Slice lime; juice half of lime into mixture (limes have acid that softens rough spots on skins and lightens dark areas; also one of the more powerful antioxidants). Mix in ground mint and stir. Apply to face and/or body. Refrigerate leftovers for next time.
Continue reading: http://www2.nbc17.com/lifestyles/2012/jan/20/homemade-skin-remedies-vi-39856/

High-Tech Weight Loss Tools

Text Messages

How they work: A service sends texts to remind you about healthy diet and exercise habits.

How they help: Think of the service as a virtual trainer/life coach who checks in on you and keeps you focused on your goals. In a 2009 study at the University of California, San Diego, people who received texts about healthy behaviors (for instance, “Control portions by dividing a large bag of snacks into smaller containers”) lost four pounds more than those who didn’t. Look for text services created by qualified experts, like medical doctors and registered dietitians.

Check out: Muschealth.com/weight, created by experts at the Medical University of South Carolina, delivers a daily diet tip. Myhealtheme.com gives diet and fitness advice from nutritionists and exercise physiologists.

Apps

How they work: Apps allow you to track calorie intake and log workouts on your smartphone.

How they help: Many studies have shown that keeping a food or workout journal can increase weight loss. But it can be a pain to whip out a notebook several times a day, then add up calories or miles logged on the track. Apps are portable and make the accounting feel like a game.

Check out: Lose It! tracks diet (there’s nutritional information for more than 50,000 foods), exercise, and weight loss. MapMyFitness tracks workouts and can even help you find running, walking, and biking routes in your area.

Wireless Body Monitors

How they work: Think of them as upgraded pedometers: They track steps, calories, and weight.

How they help: The numbers don’t lie. “People often under- or overestimate their caloric intake and expenditure,” says Steven N. Blair, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina, in Columbia. In a study that Blair and his colleagues conducted, published in 2011, people who used a wireless device lost twice as much weight as people who didn’t, possibly because they saw how their choices affected their weight daily.

Check out: The BodyMedia Fit Core Armband ($180, with three months of free website access, bodymedia.com) reports calorie burn with nearly 100 percent accuracy. The Fitbit Ultra clip-on tracker ($100, fitbit.com) syncs its data with your computer wirelessly.

Fitness Video Games

How they work: Pop an activity-oriented game (anything from dancing to ski jumping) into your Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360 and log in a workout without leaving your living room.

How they help: The variety of options makes this an ideal solution if you’re tired of just loping along on a treadmill. Although you typically won’t burn as many calories as you would doing the real thing, studies indicate that workout games help people stick with an exercise routine, and consistency is the name of the game when it comes to fitness-related health benefits. Games are also a good way to get the whole family involved in exercise.

Check out: Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 ($50, xbox.com), for the Xbox 360 with Kinect, lets you engage in various activities, including cardio boxing and yoga. The Zumba Fitness 2 ($40, zumbafitnessgame.com for stores), for the Nintendo Wii, is an upbeat cardio-dance workout.

Interactive Websites and Social Networks

How they work: Log on to get fitness and nutrition plans, track your diet and exercise, and interact with others who share your goals via message boards and tweets.

How they help: Research shows that the accountability that comes with group participation can be instrumental in successful weight loss; teaming up with others keeps you engaged when motivation lags. In a 2010 study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the more often people used an interactive site after losing weight (on average, it was at least once a month for more than two years), the more successful they were at maintaining the weight loss. “There is growing evidence that surrounding yourself with healthy people, even virtually, helps you carry out your own healthy behaviors,” says Mark Carroll Pachucki, Ph.D., a social scientist and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/16/high-tech-weight-loss-tools/#ixzz1gi1buDVX

15 Lazy Moves That Ramp Up Health

Staying healthy can feel like so much, well, work (think: logging hours at the gym and whipping up nutritious meals from scratch). However, there are plenty of small moves that you can make in your everyday life that will have big health benefits. We've rounded up 15 practically zero-effort ways to fight disease, whittle your waist, lower stress, and more. Bonus: Many of these good-for-you moves feel good, too. So say sayonara to the old adage, "no pain, no gain" and try these tips today.

Lazy Move #1:  Protect Your Ticker By Snoozing

Need a good excuse to grab your comfiest set of pajamas and hit the sack? Skimping on shut-eye may do more than make you cranky or unproductive—it also boosts your risk of a heart attack. According to one Norwegian study, people who reported that they did not wake up feeling refreshed in the morning had a 27% higher risk of a heart attack, those who had trouble staying asleep almost every night in the last month had a 30% higher risk, and those who had trouble falling asleep almost every night in the last month had odds that jumped to 45%.

Some researchers speculate that insomnia might trigger your body to release more of the stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol have been linked with high blood pressure and diabetes, which are both risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Plus, when you're exhausted you may be more likely to make unhealthy choices that up your heart disease risk, such as skipping your workout or reaching for fatty or sugary snacks for a quick energy fix.

Lazy Move #2:  Ward Off Weight Gain with Protein

You may not have to stress so much about cutting calories: Whether you're packing on the pounds or simply want to maintain your current weight, adding more protein to your dish could be your slim-down secret weapon. Past research has found that protein keeps you feeling full longer than either carbs or fat, so you can eat less and still be satiated. A new study supports this idea: Researchers from the University of Sydney estimated that the extra calories eaten by participants in their study eating the lowest protein diets could add up to an extra 2.2 pounds of weight gain a month.

Protein is the building block of muscle, and more calories are required to maintain muscle than to preserve fat, which means muscle helps boost your metabolism. Bonus: Foods rich in protein are also filled with zinc and B vitamins, both of which strengthen your immune system to ward off colds and flu. If you're eating about 1,800 calories a day and want to get 15% of your calories from protein, you should aim for about 68 grams of protein.

Here are 3 easy protein switches that up your protein intake for the same number of calories or less. Remember, you want to eat more protein—not calories!—to keep your waistline slim.

Instead of...1/2 cup granola with 1 cup berries (7 grams protein, 250 calories)

Try...1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese with 1 cup berries (15 grams protein, 131 calories)

Instead of...1 1/4 cup mashed potatoes (5 grams protein, 296 calories)

Try...1 1/4 cup vegetarian baked beans (15 grams protein, 295 calories)

Instead of...6-inch pancake sans butter or syrup (5 grams protein, 175 calories)

Try...1 cup low-fat plain yogurt with ½ cup apricots (13 grams protein, 186 calories)

Lazy Move #3:  Pop Vitamin D to Live Longer

Have you had your dose of vitamin D today? A growing body of research shows that not getting enough of this nutrient can trigger a slew of health problems—and experts believe that most of us have a vitamin D deficiency. Though current guidelines call for 600 to 800 IU daily, many researchers now believe we may need up to 4,000 IU.

The very latest research supports the case that the "sunshine vitamin" is a powerful health booster. In fact, people who get enough vitamin D have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in Diabetes Care.  Experts speculate that the nutrient's anti-inflammatory powers might be one way that it offers protection against the disease.

Getting enough D may also improve asthma. Earlier research found that having low levels may make asthma symptoms worse, and a new study finds that lacking in D could make breathing harder by increasing airway smooth muscle mass in children with treatment-resistant asthma, according to the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The "sunshine vitamin" may also help ward off cancer. A whopping 77% of cancer patients have low levels of vitamin D, and the lowest levels are linked to more advanced cancers, suggests a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology. More research is being done on how vitamin D might help prevent or even treat cancer.

Lazy Move #4:  Up Your Antioxidants with a New Super Fruit

The largest edible fruit native to North America, the pawpaw will grow pretty much anywhere, although it does best in the Northeast and the Midwest, says Ken Asmus, owner of Oikos Tree Crops, a Kalamazoo, Michigan–based nursery that sells pawpaw tree seedlings. Their fruit ripens around the end of August and lasts until mid-October, but Asmus says the fruit on his trees in Michigan are just starting to ripen, owing to a cool spring.

Some nutritionists and foodies think pawpaws could be the next superfood. They have 20 to 70 times as much iron, 10 times as much calcium, and 4 to 20 times as much magnesium as bananas, apples, and oranges, Asmus has found. And research from Ohio State has found that they have antioxidant levels that rival cranberries and cherries. An added health bonus: Being a native tree, pawpaws are resistant to most pests and diseases, making them very easy to grow organically, without the insecticides or fungicides used in most fruit orchards.

Just don't look for them at the grocery store; you're more likely to find a pawpaw at your local farmer's market—if you aren't already growing them in your backyard.

Lazy Move #5:  Rock Out to Exercise Longer

Music fuels your workout—whether you're lifting weights, practicing yoga, or going for a power walk. And it's not just in your head. Researchers at Brunel University in London found that runners who listened to upbeat, energizing rock or pop music (like Queen, Madonna, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers) exercised up to 15% longer--and felt great while doing it.

Lazy Move #6:  Boost Brain Power with Chocolate

Are you a chocoholic? Turns out your little addiction may save your life. A recent study found that those consuming the highest levels of chocolate had a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared to those with lower chocolate intakes.

Though experts are quick to clarify that we should stick to moderate consumption of high-calorie chocolates, it's hard to deny the cold, hard facts that chocolate can be a healthy addition to our diets. Another study finds that chocolate may also boost brainpower.

Flavonols, compounds in chocolate with antioxidant-like properties, are thought to improve circulation, including blood flow to the brain. Study participants were asked to count backward in groups of three from a number between 800 and 999. After drinking hot cocoa filled with flavonols, the participants were able to do calculations more quickly and accurately and were less likely to feel tired or mentally drained.

Lazy Move #7:  Soothe Arthritis Pain Naturally

Pain, tenderness, and stiffness in your joints can keep you from doing the things you love. That may be the reality for people who suffer from osteoarthritis (OA). OA is the most common type of arthritis, occurs in women more often than men, and happens when the cartilage in your joints wears down as you age.

Some natural remedies have been shown to be effective anti-inflammatories. Taking 500 mg twice daily of the combined herbal supplements curcumin and boswellia was better for relieving pain and lowering joint line tenderness scores than taking 100 mg twice daily of the prescription drug celecoxib, finds a clinical study presented at the Osteoarthritis Research Symposium Internationale (OARSI) in San Diego. According to the study, 93% of the herbal group reported improvement in or elimination of pain compared with just 79% of the prescription drug group. You can get the herbal combination in a supplement called Healthy Knees and Joints from the Terry Naturally product line, or at your local health food store.

Lazy Move #8: Fight a Cold with Red Wine

Need something to toast to? The resveratrol and polyphenols in red wine work the same way that beneficial bacteria in yogurt do: When cold and flu viruses enter you system, they start to multiply, and these compounds prevent that from happening. To get the most bang for your buck, grab a bottle of California pinot noir. Tests have found it to have some of the highest levels of resveratrol. Don't drink? Eat some grape leaves or peanuts, the red inner husks of which are also high in resveratrol.

http://health.msn.com/healthy-living/15-lazy-moves-that-ramp-up-health

The Skinny On Fat Versus Fillers

Patients coming in for surgery to make them look younger often will ask about fat injections.
There has been a lot of attention in the press about fat injections as a way to fill the grooves and troughs around the face. The areas most commonly affected by aging are around the mouth and lips. There are the nasolabial creases, the pair of which looks like parentheses, extending from the side of the nose down to the corners of the mouth. Then, there are the marionette lines, also somewhat parenthetic and parallel, running from the corners of the lower lip to the chin.
Another area that frequently tends to shrink and flatten out is the cheek bone area, particularly toward the nose under the eye. Finally, the area that shows hollowness with increasing age is below the cheek bone in the mid-cheek area.
What are the options? Today, we have more than ever. First, there is fat grafting. It begins with liposuction from the abdomen or the buttocks. It is filtered, prepared, and then injected into the areas that show shrinkage.  In excellent and in experienced and highly specialized hands, fat injections can be successful. The alternative is to fill with man-made fillers. This would include Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse, Artefill and Sculptra.
Now, Radiesse and Juvederm are very similar – each is composed of hyaluronic acid – a natural occurring substance in human bone cartilage and skin. The product is bio-engineered in the laboratory and is considered pure and free of any possible rejection phenomenon. Complications from these injections are very, very rare. One unique property of Juvederm and Restylane, being hyaluronic acid, is that in case of overinjection, they can be dissolved using an enzyme called hyaluronidase.
While Restylane and Juvederm have a relatively short life within the tissues, typically 4-6 months or a bit longer, some of the other products are engineered to last longer. I have seen nice results from Sculptra injections done five years prior.
So, what about this competition between fat injections and what I will group together as the “non-fat injections”? The non-fat injections, which are laboratory made, allow a major advantage in that when the injections take place, one can see the result. Now, Sculptra is somewhat of an exception because it takes several months for the body to make new collagen and capitalize on the presence of Sculptra. The other products render an immediate, visible improvement. That is a huge advantage because the patient gets to make a decision when he/she is happy with the amount of filling. Further, one can fill a moderate amount and see how it looks in a few weeks, and go back and “top off.”  There is no need to puncture the body to obtain this as there is with fat injections.
I happen to like the concept of “testing the waters” with the non-permanent hyaluronic products, Restylane and Juvederm, almost as a ”demo”. Their immediate effect and shortened longevity also allows the patient to quickly decide if they are happy with the results. If they do not see the demonstrable improvement, and do not feel that it is a reasonable investment of their time and money, they can refrain from any further injections. There is economy of dollars there.
Now, let’s look at fat injections. I want to cite the recent discussion that took place on the pages of an excellent cosmetic surgery magazine for surgeons, Cosmetic Surgery Times. The publication interviewed two veteran cosmetic surgeons who faced off on fat injections. In the fat injection corner was J. William Little, MD, and in the “non-fat” injection corner was Val Lambros, MD.
I do not know Dr. Little personally, but he enjoys an excellent reputation nationally and internationally. I do know Dr. Lambros, and I have always admired the work that he has done, including his very unique tracking of individual facial aging using medically-consistent photographs. He has been a very good student of the subject of where the face ages, how it ages, and how, to the eye, the signs of aging can be reversed.
 Dr. Lambros made a very strong case for the unpredictability of fat injections. Frankly, I sit in that camp, also. I have always seen the unpredictability as the major disadvantage of fat injections. It does not mean that you cannot have a spectacular result, but it would take a very experienced practitioner, and somewhat of a “good day.”  Remember, not all practitioners are experienced enough to have a long track of patient observations, and Dr. Lambros referred to that.  I have selected certain quotes from his commentary because I think they are very on point.
“Injected fat can grow. This will be the longest long-term problem with fat.”  Dr. Lambros goes on to mention that, indeed, “the injected fat cannot be removed.  Then, you have the issue of symmetry. The surgeon may inject equal amounts into both cheeks, but maybe some of the fat will take on one side, and more will take on the other.  Another point made was that, in fact, due to a variety of anatomic factors, the fat takes better in younger people.  But, it is the older people that need the fat more because the hollowing of the face is a function of aging.”
Further, Dr. Lambros agreed with my observation that it takes quite a bit of experience and, what he calls, “finesse” and “esthetic sensibilities.”  While these are laudable and important characteristics in the cosmetic surgeon, we have to admit that not all will have this. If so, that is a negative.
Young surgeons are always taken with technology. In fact, it is a little more exciting to harvest the fat, treat it, and inject it.  It is more mechanical, more surgical than the mere injection of a syringe filled with a non-fat filler, such as Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse, Sculptra or Artefill.

Read more: http://blogs.webmd.com/cosmetic-surgery/2011/10/the-skinny-on-fat-versus-fillers.html

Middle-Aged Women Happier With Moderate Exercise

Middle-aged women encouraged to exercise at moderate intensity were much happier and more likely to continue working out than peers who exercised more intensely, according to a study.

Researchers led by Steriani Elavsky of Penn State University in Pennsylvania recruited 255 women between 40 and 60 years old to do either moderate or vigorous exercise, then followed the volunteers to monitor their reactions.

Overall, women who did moderate exercise were about twice as likely to feel energized and confident they could do more exercise in the future, and more of them also showed decreased feelings of sadness and anxiety than the vigorous-exercise group.

"Exercise makes you feel better but it is going to be more pleasant when performed at moderate intensity as compared to vigorous, especially when you have been previously inactive or may be overweight," Elavsky told Reuters Health.

They were activities "that would allow you to talk in short sentences while you are doing them, but would not allow you to sing," she added.

Middle-aged women are among the least active and their level of physical activity declines with age. Understanding whether exercise of different intensities has different effects on mood and whether these predict overall physical activity in midlife women is an important question to address, Elavsky added.

Elavsky and colleagues at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey studied the 255 women, who were not on hormone therapy and who kept a daily diary of activities and feelings for two weeks. She presented their findings at the North American Menopause Society meeting in Washington D.C.

At the beginning of the study, the women completed two bouts of moderate or vigorous exercise. The vigorous workout involved exercising on a treadmill to the point where they could no longer tolerate the intensity, and moderate exercise involved a 30-minute session, also on a treadmill, at a pace the women selected for themselves but could be considered moderate.

All women also wore an accelerometer, a small device the size of a match box, to track their energy expenditure and their time spent in activities of different intensities.

The study found that moderate intensity exercise caused more women to report later that they were in a better mood and to have greater feelings of energy, psychological wellbeing and "self-efficacy."

Moderate physical activity was also much better in these terms for obese and out of shape women, Elavsky said.

Vigorous exercisers showed smaller benefits to mood, and those who were overweight or had symptoms of illness reported "significant decreases in calmness" after the exercise bouts.

Examples of moderate intensity exercise include brisk walking, ballroom and line dancing, biking on level ground or with few hills, canoeing, general gardening including raking, trimming shrubs, sports such as baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis (doubles) and water aerobics.

Elavsky added she hopes her study will reaffirm to women that exercise can be a powerful way to enhance their wellbeing, and that they don't have to go all out with their level of exertion.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/30/middle-aged-women-happier-with-moderate-exercise/#ixzz1bQQVRQgF