From Dull to SKINtastic!

'March is Nutrition Month'

Let’s face it our diet affects everything in our body. Food fills you up, gives you pleasure and plays a vital role in how you look, feel and age. You’re a walking product of everything you’ve chosen to consume. Doesn’t it make sense to nourish your body with the best possible ingredients???

Your skin is yours FOREVER… The best advice I’ve ever gotten: “Take care of your skin NOW! It’s the one thing you can’t fix later on. It’s the one thing that will make you look youthful or make you look old.”

True, True and Very True!

The Basics:
Beta-Carotene rich fruits and vegetables are essential for healthy skin, scalp and mucous membrane. These include tomatoes, squash and carrots. For a complete list click here.  

Introduce Omega-3 and Omega-6 Essential Fatty Acids into your diet. It’s the single most important factor in preventing dry skin. They promote longevity by decreasing cholesterol, improving insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammation and facilitating weight loss. These include salmon, mackerel, flax seeds, olive oil, dark leafy greens, avocado, soybeans, tofu, miso, nuts and seeds.

Orange seafood, such as salmon and lobster, contain astaxanthin a potent antioxidant that protects skin from environmental damage, age spots and wrinkles.

Nuts and seeds are rich in vitamin E, which protects the skin from UV sun damage.

Foods rich in vitamin C promote anti-aging, skin-firming collagen and antioxidants. For a list of vitamin C rich foods click here.  

Unrefined whole grains help repair aging and damaged skin, hair and nails. Their high fibre content will help fill you up with fewer calories. For a list of whole grains click here.

Water is important to the well-being of your skin. Water keeps skin hydrated and keeps cell walls strong. You should drink 8 glass (8oz = 1 glass) of water per day!

Some of us don’t absorb all the vitamins and nutrients we need from our food. Take a multi-vitamin to get the essential nutrients your body needs.

Anti-Aging Super Foods:
Tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, berries, grapes, garlic, onions, citrus fruits, green tea, soybeans, tofu, miso, salmon, mackerel, herring, turmeric, cinnamon and cumin.

Reduce Puffy Eyes:
Asparagus and parsley reduce bloating. Bananas and citrus fruits are potassium rich, which help maintain a good balance of fluids. Cayenne and pepper help with circulation and lymphatic drainage around the eyes.

Acne:
Beta-carotene also converts to oil reducing vitamin A that helps protect skin from acne. Leafy green vegetables contain B vitamins that minimize swelling, which reduces pimples. 

Dull Skin:
Green and orange vegetables increase vitamin A levels, which makes skin cells shed faster for a radiant, glowing complexion. Soybeans and yams contain plant estrogens, which help brighten skin.

No-No's:
Refined, white, carbohydrates
High sugar intake
Exposure to the sun without the use of sunscreen!
Smoking
Too much alcohol consumption
Make sure you clean your face regularly and exfoliate to allow your skin to breath

For Skin Cleansing Advice and Products CHECK OUT:
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the MASK

Nutritionista's Recipe Corner:

Spicy Carrot Soup

2 teaspoon Sunflower Oil

6 Carrots, chopped  
1 Apple, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Curry Powder
2 cups Vegetable Broth
1 cup Almond Milk



Heat the oil in the pot and cook the curry powder for one minute.
Add the carrots, onion and apple to the pot, stir well and cover.
Leave pot covered over low heat for about 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, move the ingredients from the pot into a food processor and add the two cups of vegetable broth and the one cup of almond milk. Process until smooth. Move back into pot, heat and enjoy!

 Stay Healthy!

To your health and well-being!

“Your body is the harp of your soul. And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.”

Khalil Gibran, Lebanese American artist, poet and writer

I finally made it to the Science Centre and saw the Body Worlds exhibit. I must say it’s an exhibit worth visiting. Through the displays, pictures and videos our extraordinary make up is shown. Not only does it serve as a collection of facts and details about the human body, but it also addresses the idea of the heart as the centre of emotion and passion for humans.

Dec. 2009, BlogTo

This exhibit is a reminder of the importance of taking care of the body.

Here are a few ideas and suggestions that will nourish your body and help you look and feel great!

1) Limit your intake of meat: It’s been estimated that a third of all cancer patients developed disease as a result of insufficient whole plant fibre in their diets. You don’t need to give up meat just limit it.


2) Stop eating dead food: Its dead how do you expect to get any nutrients out of it?!?!? Choose fresh, whole foods. Avoid canned and preserved items they have little to no nutritional value.


3) Whole grains: When considering foods such as rice, pasta and bread always choose brown over white. Modern research has found that refined white products lack in nutrients, whereas whole grains are effective in lowering high blood sugar, rich in nutrients, contain B vitamins and antioxidants.


4) Sea vegetables: These have been found to prolong life, prevent disease and impart beauty and health. Seaweed contains more calcium than milk, more iron than beef, more protein than eggs and is rich in micronutrients. These vegetables include nori, kelp and dulce.


5) Essential Fatty Acids: Omega –3 is found in cold water fish, fish oils, walnuts and flaxseeds (ground and oil form). Omega-6 is found in borage oil, hemp, evening primrose oil and sunflower and pumpkin seeds. EFA’s help lower cholesterol, keep cells functioning properly, keep aging brains healthy, combat inflammation, revitalize skin and strengthen nails and hair.


6) Stop eating when your 80% full: Eat slowly and pay attention to your portion size. Stop when you’re satisfied not when you’re stuffed. Keep in mind – You shouldn’t have to unbutton or unzip anything!


7) Protein at every meal: Protein provides essential building blocks for the daily repair of nearly every single cell in your body. Good sources include skinless white meat such as fish, chicken and turkey, fat-free milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, egg whites, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds and tofu and soy.


8) Keep hydrated: Make sure to drink 8 glasses (8 oz = 1 glass) of water every day. It’s essential for your body to keep hydrated to stay strong and fight disease and illness. Also, compare your skin when your hydrated to when your not. Hydrated looks a lot healthier!

“And in the end, it’s not the years of your life that counts. It’s the life in your years.”

Abraham Lincoln

Stay Healthy!