Striving4Zen

With Beauty In Toxins Out Natural Beauty Collection, his new body care collection, Manhattan-based physician Dennis Gross is making a move few other clinical dermatologists do: heading into natural products.

“We felt that pursuing natural ingredients as antidotes to environmental aggressors made sense,” said Gross, who along with wife Carrie Gross, the firm’s president and CEO, runs the brand. “Our reality is that skin is bombarded daily with environmental pollutants and impurities of all types. We’d like to help reverse the damage done by these pollutants without adding more unnecessary chemicals to the mix.”

The line, which is vegan-friendly and free of parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, petroleum, mineral oil and paraffin, replaces harsher ingredients with those found in nature, said Dennis Gross. “There are a number of natural alternatives to these chemicals,” he said. “For instance, we’ve used blueberry seed for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, papaya as a gentle exfoliator and tea tree oil for its healing properties.”

The line includes five products. Antioxidant Enzyme Buff with Berry Seeds and Dead Sea Salt, $57 for 14.1 oz., uses cranberry seed for its polyphenols, blueberry seed for its anti-inflammatory properties and kelp for its iodine and amino acid content. Creamy Cleansing Polish with Jojoba Beads, $38 for 6.7 oz., is intended to exfoliate and moisturize skin with a cocktail of pomegranate, papaya, kelp and sweet almond oil, with tetrasodium EDTA as a chelating agent to prevent minerals from bonding to any of the other ingredients. Hydrating Body Emulsion with Aloe, $36 for 6.7 oz., uses sweet almond, jojoba seed, evening primrose, ylang-ylang and lavender oils with grape-seed extract and aloe leaf juice to moisturize, soften and soothe the skin.

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Labels: blueberries, Dr. Dennis Gross, MD Skincare, natural products, new product, paraben-free, polyphenols, skin care

There's an emerging star in the super-food world.

Plums are rolling down the food fashion runway sporting newly discovered high levels of healthy nutrients, say scientists at Texas AgriLife Research.

Plainly, "blueberries have some stiff competition," said Dr. Luis Cisneros, AgriLife Research food scientist."Stone fruits are super fruits with plums as emerging stars."

Far from fruit snobbery, the plum is being ushered in after Cisneros and Dr. David Byrne, AgriLife Research plant breeder, judged more than 100 varieties of plums, peaches and nectarines and found them to match or exceed the much-touted blueberries in antioxidants and phytonutrients associated with disease prevention.

The duo acknowledge that blueberries remain a good nutritional choice. But Byrne said their findings are plum good news, especially in tight economic times, because one relatively inexpensive plum contains about the same amount of antioxidants as a handful of more expensive blueberries.

Discovery of the plum's benefits - along with that of fellow stone fruits, the peach and the nectarine - came after the researchers measured at least five brands of blueberries on the market. Against those numbers, the team measured the content of more than 100 different types of plums, nectarines and peaches.

The first comparison was for antioxidants, molecules that sweep through a body looking for free radicals to knock out. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that lurk where diseases like cancer and heart disease are found.

"If the radicals aren't taken care of," Cisneros said, "they will cause the problems that lead to disease."

"Knowing that we had all these varieties with high levels of antioxidants, then the possibility of preventing these diseases would also be high with their consumption, so we went to the next step - how these compounds could actually inhibit chronic diseases," Cisneros said.

The team examined the full content of plums and peaches, then tested the effect of the compounds they found on breast cancer cells and cholesterol in the lab.

Byrne noted, for example, that one benefit the team found was that the phytonutrients in plums inhibited in vitro breast cancer growth without adversely affecting normal cell growth.

He said this type of research needs further study but is an indication that breeders ultimately will be able to produce new crop varieties with the best ratio of various phytochemicals to have an impact on disease prevention and inhibition. And these fruits will be available as fresh produce as well as in extracts for dietary supplements.

"Future work with stone fruits will focus on cardiovascular and cancer using animal models and identification of specific compounds that exert the properties," Cisneros added.

Bottom line from the researchers: "We suggest that consumers take seriously the recommendation to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables - or even more - every day and to make sure that plums are part of that," Byrne said.

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Labels: antioxidant, blueberries, fruits, fruits and veggies, healthy diet, phytonutrients, plums

1/2 cup (1/4 of the pint)	Calories	Fiber (g)	Vitamin A (mcg)	Vitamin C (mg)	Potassium (mg)	Folate (mcg)
Strawberries	23	1.4	9	42	110	17
Blueberries	41	1.7	39	7	56	4
Raspberries	32	4	20	16	93	13
Blackberries	31	3.8	154	15	117	18
Boysenberries	33	3.5	44	2	92	42
Raw Cranberries	22	2.2	28	6	40	0
Dried Cranberries (1/3) cup)	123	2.3	0	0	16	0

Labels: berries, blueberries, potassium, strawberries, Vitamins

A new University of California, Los Angeles, study ranked 10 beverages by their levels of disease-fighting antioxidants—and pomegranate juice came out on top.


Here, the healthiest beverage powerhouses:

1. Pomegranate juice
2. Red wine
3. Concord grape juice
4. Blueberry juice
5. Black cherry juice
6. Açaí juice
7. Cranberry juice
8. Orange juice
9. Tea
10. Apple juice

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Labels: beverages, blueberries, drinks, Pomegranate, red wine

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores.

I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: Helps control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Lowers blood pressure and loaded with vitamin C and other antioxidants.
   How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but packed with cancer-fighting antioxidants.
   How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
   How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
    How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year.

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Labels: beets, blueberries, cabbage, Dr. Bowden, health food, healthy diet, Jonny Bowden, pumpkins, swiss chard; greens, vegetables