Kiss My Face Organic Lip Balm

I am going to have to give a thumbsup to the new Kiss My Face Organic lip balm. The cranberry was on sale so I grabbed it, I also bought the full priced peach flavor. At first the cranberry version tasted like it had a hint of vomitous flavor to it...but then that went away. Maybe that is why it's on sale. LOL

Anyways, the peach organic lip balm is luscious tasting and VERY moisturizing. I can't say it is my be all end all favorite, but it is a great one to keep on hand or buy up when you see it on sale.

What is Beauty?

Think about it… What is shiny hair? What is glowing skin? What is that sparkle in your eye? All of those things are signs of good health.

True beauty is the healthy light inside of us radiating out.

How can we truly be beautiful if we don’t take care of our health?

According to my favorite teacher, Mary O’Malley, “health is an inside out job”.

Although Mary is referring to mental health, as that is what she specializes in, I believe this “inside out job” applies to our physical health as well.

“Beauty is an inside out job” could also be just as true of a statement, as beauty starts not just with our personalities, but with our health.

Yes, anyone can easily be a beautiful teenager and young adult, but true lasting beauty over time takes effort and investment in one’s self.

Nothing catches my eye like a very well preserved older adult. As a physician I evaluate tons of people, and thus have grown to really have a strong appreciation and understanding for what it means to be a truly healthy athletic, active, positive senior citizen.

When people aren’t healthy they simply just don’t look as good as they could. We all know this. I have seen many once beautiful friends from High School lose touch with their health, and also simultaneously lose touch with their external beauty.

Yes, we all wish we could eat a stack of pancakes for breakfast, McInflammation for lunch, and a large pepperoni pizza for dinner still, but the diet that we once enjoyed as teens is not going to serve us well as adults. Being the most beautiful and healthy version of yourself possible requires discipline. Good health requires discipline. You don’t have to make the changes all at once, and you certainly don’t have to follow every health tip I dispense here, you just need to do your best.

To stay motivated with your health, start thinking now about what your health and appearance will be like ten and twenty years from now. If you hope to maintain and preserve what you currently have going on then you will need to tighten up your health care routine. If you are hoping to reverse a chronic condition or desiring to be even more fabulous then you already are, then you will need to become that much more disciplined.

Discipline for most people does not come easy. Instead of thinking about discipline as all or nothing, try a Buddhist approach to healthy living…try the “middle path”. The middle path is one that is not attached to eating or not eating. The middle path allows us to eat ONE donut from time to time, not the whole box. The middle path does not “Blow It” and start chain smoking again after one cigarette. The middle path is the key to moderation.

If you are concerned about your appearance, then you should absolutely be concerned about your health. Before you further invest in your appearance EXTERNALLY, take the time to invest in your health INTERNALLY with pure clean water, organic whole foods, green tea, flax seeds, and all my other favorite things to help you “unleash your inner fabulosity”.

Antioxidants for Beauty

Consume foods rich in antioxidants. Anti-oxidants mean anti-aging.

Anti-oxidants destroy those bad molecules called “free radicals” that go around like little sharks chewing up healthy tissues. Cells that fall victim to these free radicals will die and be forced to regenerate.

Think of the anti-oxidants found in fruits and veggies as the good cops that go around policing these bad guys. The good cops are protecting our healthy cells, and the longer we can keep healthy cells from having to turn over, the less we age.

It is that plain and simple. The foods highest in antioxidants according to the ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) are: prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, kale, strawberries, spinach, raspberries, and so on.

Olive Oil for Beauty

Wow! Olive oil prevents DNA damage, how exciting.

Why should we care about this?

Because DNA damage caused by inflammation is essentially the biochemical mother of all disease.

In an article recently published in the August 2008 “Journal of American Nutrition”, researchers concluded that olive oil likely prevents cancer and aging by protecting DNA from damage.

The “phenolic compounds” in olive oil were studied and determined to inhibit the initial stages of cancer formation caused by “oxidative stress” (unstable molecules in our bodies that destroy healthy tissues resulting in inflammation and disease).

Damage to our DNA is exactly what causes both cancer AND aging, along with a myriad of other chronic conditions. The phenolic compounds in olive oil are shown to have a protective effect in vitro to our DNA. The more antioxidants we can include in our diet, the more we can PREVENT disease.

The good news about this “in vitro” or test tube study is that researchers believe that the amount of olive oil needed to prevent cancer is easily achievable in “in vivo” or real life doses!

Researchers concluded that, “Overall, these results suggest that [phenolic compounds] may efficiently prevent the initiation step of carcinogenesis in vivo, because the concentrations effective against the oxidative DNA damage could be easily reached with normal intake of olive oil.”

Hooray! What a wonderful, delicious cancer fighting treat for us to include in our diets. We already know that olive oil in the diet is important for preventing cardiovascular disease and inflammation, now we have yet another reason to make olive oil a major source of fat in our diet.

So how can you get more olive oil in your diet?

First of all, I always recommend buying extra virgin olive oil, the greener the better.

Next, keep in mind that olive oil is not good for baking as much as it is good for drizzling on already cooked foods such as breads, steamed veggies, salads, soups, and popcorn (yes it is delicious with organic sea salt and nutritional yeast).

To achieve the maximum anti-cancer and anti-aging benefits be sure to keep the temp below it’s smoking point of 350F. Best yet, avoid cooking it when at all possible.

Today’s Kitchen Table Fix: Put olive oil on your bread and veggies instead of butter. Always make your own salad dressing with olive oil and lemon or balsamic vinegar.

Reference: “Oxidative DNA Damage Is Prevented by Extracts of Olive Oil, Hydroxytyrosol, and Other Olive Phenolic Compounds in Human Blood Mononuclear Cells and HL60 Cells” J. Nutr. 138:1411-1416, August 2008.

Berries for Beauty

If you really want to be beautiful, and FEEL beautiful--you should eat more berries.

Berries are high in proanthocyanins the bioflavanoid pigments that protect our cardiovascular systems from destruction by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Berries are not only delicious; they are the fountain of youth as they prevent heart disease and protect us from inflammation!

From a botanical standpoint, berries naturally have to be full of antioxidants because otherwise they would not be able to protect themselves from the sun. The leaves of the plant use the sun to create energy, but the delicate berries of the plants would be destroyed by the sun if it weren’t for the dark antioxidant pigments that are protective of its harmful rays. Some nature fanatics say you can even use berries as a form of sunscreen (I would only do this in an emergency situation!)

Berries are truly the fountain of youth with an anti-aging program. The high anti-oxidant capacity will surely keep you looking your finest and most fabulous.

Shower Filters for Beauty

If you have dry skin or hair that tends to break off easily then you may want to read this and consider investing in a chlorine shower filter.

I cannot more highly recommend the use of shower water filters for reducing chlorine associated aging and accelerated damage to healthy cells.

Chlorine is a toxic gas that destroys the healthy cells in our bodies on contact.

Historically, chlorine gas was used as part of chemical warfare!

It is now used in our water to kill pathogens that may make us sick, however a side product of drinking “healthy water” is premature aging of our cells, especially that of our skin and lungs.

Why to use a shower water filter:

• Anti-aging
• Softer, more radiant skin that requires less moisturizers as chlorine is VERY drying
• Great for anyone with chronic skin conditions such as chronic itching, dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, and psoriasis
• Stronger healthier, shinier hair, with less need to touch up your hair coloring
• May reduce aging related hair loss
• Less dandruff
• Healthier lungs, a MUST for anyone with COPD, asthma, or other chronic respiratory ailments
• Reduce the amount of toxins your babies and children are exposed to