Striving4Zen

One can take fish oil in the capsule or liquid form. The fish oil should be molecularly distilled. You can go to www.ifosprogram.com to look at fish oils that have been tested by an outsider (ifos program tests the quality of a number of different fish oils). It doesn't matter what time of day the fish oil is taken. I would advise, based on personal experience that people don't take the fish oil in the evening unless they plan on staying up for a while. One can take the oil right before bed and they should not have difficulty falling asleep, but taking it an hour or more before and they will probably notice a difference. As for what to take the fish oil with... I recommend an antioxidant because the fish oil can become oxidized. Mixing liquid fish oil with a good quality olive oil will give it a smoother taste for instance and will provide antioxidants.

Low-GI Foods: Less Than 55

Artichoke <15
Asparagus <15
Broccoli <15
Cauliflower <15
Celery <15
Cucumber <15
Eggplant <15
Green beans <15
Lettuce, all varieties <15
Low-fat yogurt, artificially sweetened <15
Peanuts <15
Peppers, all varieties <15
Snow peas <15
Spinach <15
Young summer squash <15
Zucchini <15
Tomatoes 15
Cherries 22
Peas, dried 22
Plum 24
Grapefruit 25
Pearled barley 25
Peach 28
Canned peaches, natural juice 30
Dried apricots 31
Soy milk 30
Baby lima beans, frozen 32
Fat-free milk 32
Fettuccine 32
Low-fat yogurt, sugar sweetened 33
Apple 36
Pear 36
Whole wheat spaghetti 37
Tomato soup 38
Carrots, cooked 39
Apple juice 41
Spaghetti 41
All-Bran 42
Canned chickpeas 42
Grapes 43
Orange 43
Canned lentil soup 44
Canned pinto beans 45
Macaroni 45
Pineapple juice 46
Banana bread 47
Long-grain rice 47
Parboiled rice 47
Bulgur 48
Canned baked beans 48
Grapefruit juice 48
Green peas 48
Oat bran bread 48
Old-fashioned oatmeal 49
Canned kidney beans 52
Kiwifruit 52
Orange juice, not from concentrate 52
Banana 53
Special K 54
Sweet potato 54

How the skin ages and wrinkles is a very complicated process that involves an almost limitless range of physiological occurrences. There isn't any one cause that can be addressed with a cosmetic to erase or minimize the inevitable, because the "aging" process itself is so complex and intricate. Skin, all by itself, ages in many identifiable ways. Adding one plant extract or a vitamin to the skin won't address what is needed to deal with the myriad issues for slowing down the aging process. A series of extrinsic factors (environmentally induced, such as sun damage, pollution, free-radical damage, smoking) and intrinsic factors (genetically induced, such as genetically predetermined cell cessation, chronological aging, hormone depletion, immune suppression) all culminate in what we define as aged skin. It isn't just oxygen depletion, free-radical damage, collagen destruction, reduced cell turnover, abnormal cell formation, decreased fat content, intercellular deficiency, genetically predetermined cell shutdown, hormone loss, and so on, that affect the way skin ages--it is a combination of all these things and more taking place.

Looking at the issue objectively can help us better understand what is happening to our skin and what can and can't be done for it. Gaining insight into why wrinkle products make the claims they do and why it is most unlikely that they can actually live up to those claims will ultimately benefit our skin and our budgets, too. For example, while we know that collagen and elastin, the support structures of the skin, break down and flatten as a result of repeated sun exposure, they also become less pliant and more hardened with age, so the skin becomes less elastic. Some products claim to only build collagen or only improve elastin. That is much like building a house with only cross beams and no support beams. One without the other is useless because the house won't stay erect without both of them. It would take an entire book to evaluate every element of the skin affected by intrinsic and extrinsic age factors, but it is important to get a basic sense of what is taking place to better understand why most antiaging or antiwrinkle creams can't possibly live up to their claims. For example, one notable characteristic of older skin versus younger skin is that younger skin has more fat cells in the dermis than older skin. That is one reason older skin looks more transparent and thinner than younger skin and why someone 30 pounds or more overweight tends to have fewer wrinkles. Furthermore, for some unknown reason, the skin keeps growing and expanding as we age, despite the fact that the supporting fat tissues of the lower layers of skin are decreasing. That is why the skin begins to sag: Too much skin is being produced, but there aren't enough bones (remember, bone also deteriorates with age) and fat to shore it up. Simultaneously, the facial muscles lose their shape and firmness, giving the face a drooping appearance. Certain components of the skin also become depleted with age. The water-retaining and texture-enhancing elements in the intercellular structure such as ceramides, hyaluronic acids, polysaccharides, glycerin, and many others are exhausted and not replenished. The skin's support structures, collagen and elastin, deteriorate or are damaged. Older skin is also more subject to allergic reactions, sensitivities, and irritation than younger skin due to a weakening immune system. On a deeper molecular level, the DNA and RNA genetic messages to the skin cell for reproduction slows down and the cells stop reproducing as abundantly or in the same way as they did when we were younger. This preprogrammed change makes cells become abnormally shaped, which further changes the texture of the skin and prevents the cells from retaining water. This is why older skin tends to be drier than younger skin. This change in the skin's DNA and RNA seems to happen for a variety of reasons: it is genetically predetermined, a result of sun damage, and a result of an inflammatory response from free-radical damage built up in the skin cells over a period of time (Source: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, April 2001, pages 327–335). You have probably connected the dots and noticed that many of these factors of aging are targeted by corresponding cosmetic ingredients that claim to counteract the effect of their naturally occurring depletion. Collagen, elastin, ceramide, hyaluronic acid, polysaccharide, DNA, RNA, and other skin components are popular additions to wrinkle creams. (DNA and RNA are the biggest jokes in this group of ingredients because not only don't you want to mess around with the cell's genetic coding, you can't. If you could, you would have the cure for cancer!) Putting collagen and elastin in a skin-care product may sound convincing, but they can't bond to the collagen and elastin in your skin, although they can work as moisturizing ingredients. Ingredients like ceramides and hyaluronic acids do work to help support the intercellular structure of the skin, but there is no research demonstrating that they prevent its continuing depletion. Good old glycerin is also abundant in the layers between the skin cells, and it's just as reliable in helping the skin to feel better, but the cosmetics industry doesn't talk much about glycerin because it is too commonplace to sound distinctive.

Unfortunately, the cosmetics industry loves to use phrases such as "replaces what skin has lost" that lead you to believe these kinds of ingredients can affect skin structure in some permanent way. They can't. The point of all of this is that growing old cannot be reversed, much less with a skin-care routine or a handful of specific skin ingredients. What we can do is look for products that contain ingredients capable of helping skin to defend itself against environmental stress (with sunlight being the biggest culprit), reduce inflammation, encourage cell turnover to renew skin texture, and temporarily replenish what skin naturally loses as we grow older.

• adequate, but not excessive calories,
• 10 or more servings of vegetables a day, including cruciferous and allium vegetables; vegetable juice could meet part of this goal,
• 4 or more servings of fruits a day,
• high in fiber,
• no refined sugar,
• no refined flour,
• low in total fat, but containing necessary essential fatty acids,
• no red meat,
• a balanced ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 fats and would include DHA,
• flax seed as a source of phytoestrogens,
• supplemented with ~200 μg/day selenium,
• supplemented with 1,000 μg/day methylcobalamin (B-12),
• very rich in folic acid (from dark green vegetables),
• adequate sunshine to get vitamin D, or use 1,000 IU/day supplement,
• very rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables, including α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, vitamin C (from foods), vitamin E (from foods),
• very rich in chlorophyll,
• supplemented with beneficial probiotics,
• supplemented with oral enzymes

Labels: health food, Holistic Health, nutrition

Buyer's Trends:
Rich color versus last fall, which was quite somber. I loved the accents of red and the new hunter green. There was newness in layering, the skinny pants, leggings, knit dressing and the winter short.
I see a couple of different camps emerging, street chic and great dresses and more day options. The jumper is a really strong trend but there are plenty of long-sleeved dresses too. I love the fact that the skinny jean pants and leggings have emerged. It's going to be a great season to buy a leather jacket.
The play on proportions, long and lean, versus voluminous shapes and bubbles. There's a return to very tailored men's wear dressing. What makes it wonderful are all of the incredibly romantic blouses out there. Leggings are a big trend of the season. We're seeing them under skirts of all lengths and even under eveningwear.
Leggings, sweater coats, jumper dresses, jersey dresses, flyaway coats and jackets and lots of plaid and herringbone.
The waist is important. We're starting to see an emergence of the maxi. There were a lot of architectural elements, balloon bell sleeves and lots of folding. It almost reminds me of Frank Gehry. This is going to be the year of the blouse. Muses for the fall season included Maggie Gyllenhaal in the movie "Secretary," Lauren Bacall from the Forties, but without the exaggerated shoulders, and Ali MacGraw at Michael Kors.