Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Snapshot - UVA vs. UVB Rays
UVA rays: These are less likely to cause sunburn than UVB rays, but they penetrate your skin more deeply. Watch out because UVA rays can go through windows, lightweight clothing, and even your car windshield. Prolonged exposure cracks and shrinks the collagen and elastin in your skin, which is why UVA rays are responsible for signs of aging including wrinkles, saggy and leathery skin, and suns spots. UVB rays: These are responsible for tanning your skin, but they also cause sunburn. UVB rays are the main culprit when it comes to skin cancer. These rays also go through windows, and it doesn't matter if it's cloudy — you're still at risk for exposure.
Thanks FitSugar!
Labels: aging, collagen, skin cancer, sun, sun damage, UVA/UVB
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Four Out of Five Sunscreens May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Does your sunscreen work?An investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreen products finds that 4 out of 5 contain chemicals that may pose health hazards or don't adequately protect skin from the sun's damaging rays. Some of the worst offenders are leading brands like Coppertone, Banana Boat, and Neutrogena.
More than a million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. every year, but FDA still hasn't finalized sunscreen standards first announced 30 years ago. Click here to tell FDA you're tired of waiting.
Meanwhile, companies are free to claim but not provide broad spectrum protection. Until FDA requires that all sunscreens be safe and effective, Environmental Working Group's comprehensive sunscreen guide—including a list of 143 products that offer very good sun protection—fills in the gaps.
Source & Source & SourceLabels: FDA, hazardous, skin cancer, sunscreen, sunshine
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Can Tomatoes Protect You From the Sun??
Tomato Party, originally uploaded by espion.
Is there such a thing as a "sunscreen" you can safely eat?
To find out, volunteers were exposed to ultraviolet light to measure how quickly their skin would burn. Then after eating about four tablespoons of tomato paste a day for three months, they were exposed to the same level of ultraviolet rays.
The tomato paste resulted in a 30 percent reduction in sun damage. The reason, Dr. Oz says, is lycopene—an antioxidant found in tomatoes, especially in the reddest ones—which replenishes skin cells.
"What lycopene does is it attaches to key cells in your skin. The sun is attacking your body and it's helping your body at the same time. The skin's major function is to let enough sun through so you can convert cholesterol to vitamin D, because you've got to have vitamin D. But at the same time, it needs to protect you against the sun destroying all of your folic acid. So how does it do that? It does that by having its own antioxidant system always there to protect you. And how do you replenish it? Things like lycopene."
In addition to protecting skin from sun's burning rays, lycopene can also prevent wrinkles by keeping your elastic skin tissues from losing their tenseness.
Thanks!
Labels: healthy diet, lycopene, skin cancer, skincare, sunscreen, sunshine, tomatoes, Vitamin D
Friday, January 18, 2008
Ayurveda
It is nothing more than a way of life,” explains Dr. Naina Marballi, founder of Ayurveda’s Beauty Care. “When you know about yourself, what your body type is and your mind type, then it’s easy to derive what you need from nature to prevent illness and maintain health. To keep yourself in balance.”
The “types” Marballi refers to are known as doshas, of which there are three (vata, pitta and kapha), and they’re derived from the five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth. A constitutional analysis will reveal your body/mind type, and you can stay healthy by adopting a lifestyle that best suits your constitution.
Those guidelines include everything from what and when to eat and when to wake up and go to sleep, to what sort of exercise is right and what kind of spa therapies are most beneficial. According to Chopra Center’s Thara Kodandaramachandra, a person such as myself, with a vata body (lots of air and space) and a pitta mind (fire), should focus on a diet that favors sweet, bitter and astringent tastes. I should awaken by 6am and go to bed by 9:30pm (eating lunch no later than 1pm), and participate in low-impact sports, such as swimming. And like all the specialists I visited, Kodandaramachandra prescribed a regimen of daily head-to-toe self-massages.
Massage is an integral part of ayurveda. As Dr. Marballi explains: “Your skin is not only your largest organ, but it is the export/import source for your body. It guards against the outside environment—whether that’s pollution or noise—and it’s a reflection of what’s happening inside, of everything from your digestive system to your emotions. Puffy eyes, for example, can signal kidneys not performing well.” She continues: “And hormonal imbalance leads to breaking out around the chin and jawline.”
Understanding and treating these basic issues is a point of departure between ayurveda and traditional spa therapies. Get all the facials you want, but if your hormones are imbalanced your acne will continue. Still, you can benefit from ayurvedic treatments without subscribing to the lifestyle. Just expect some differences.
Source
The “types” Marballi refers to are known as doshas, of which there are three (vata, pitta and kapha), and they’re derived from the five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth. A constitutional analysis will reveal your body/mind type, and you can stay healthy by adopting a lifestyle that best suits your constitution.
Those guidelines include everything from what and when to eat and when to wake up and go to sleep, to what sort of exercise is right and what kind of spa therapies are most beneficial. According to Chopra Center’s Thara Kodandaramachandra, a person such as myself, with a vata body (lots of air and space) and a pitta mind (fire), should focus on a diet that favors sweet, bitter and astringent tastes. I should awaken by 6am and go to bed by 9:30pm (eating lunch no later than 1pm), and participate in low-impact sports, such as swimming. And like all the specialists I visited, Kodandaramachandra prescribed a regimen of daily head-to-toe self-massages.
Massage is an integral part of ayurveda. As Dr. Marballi explains: “Your skin is not only your largest organ, but it is the export/import source for your body. It guards against the outside environment—whether that’s pollution or noise—and it’s a reflection of what’s happening inside, of everything from your digestive system to your emotions. Puffy eyes, for example, can signal kidneys not performing well.” She continues: “And hormonal imbalance leads to breaking out around the chin and jawline.”
Understanding and treating these basic issues is a point of departure between ayurveda and traditional spa therapies. Get all the facials you want, but if your hormones are imbalanced your acne will continue. Still, you can benefit from ayurvedic treatments without subscribing to the lifestyle. Just expect some differences.
Source
Labels: ayurveda, Chopra Center, doshas, Holistic Health, massage, skin cancer
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Broccoli - Good for You and Your Skin!
Rubbing an extract made from broccoli sprouts on your skin may help you to prevent skin cancer, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.
Broccoli, and the sprouts in particular, contain a chemical called sulphoraphane, which activates cancer-fighting enzymes inside your cells. The researchers spread broccoli sprout extract on the skin of six people, then exposed them to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The areas of skin covered by the extract had 37 percent less redness and sunburn than skin not covered -- both indications of skin damage that could lead to cancer.Sunscreen, meanwhile, did not offer any protection against the UV rays, the researchers said.
Whereas sunscreen works by deflecting UV rays, and therefore must be reapplied often to work, broccoli sprout extract works by penetrating skin cells and stimulating their natural cancer-fighting mechanism. Since sulphoraphane extract from broccoli sprouts appears to fight cancer in your skin, the researchers believe it may be effective against cancer in other organs as well.
Broccoli, and the sprouts in particular, contain a chemical called sulphoraphane, which activates cancer-fighting enzymes inside your cells. The researchers spread broccoli sprout extract on the skin of six people, then exposed them to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The areas of skin covered by the extract had 37 percent less redness and sunburn than skin not covered -- both indications of skin damage that could lead to cancer.Sunscreen, meanwhile, did not offer any protection against the UV rays, the researchers said.
Whereas sunscreen works by deflecting UV rays, and therefore must be reapplied often to work, broccoli sprout extract works by penetrating skin cells and stimulating their natural cancer-fighting mechanism. Since sulphoraphane extract from broccoli sprouts appears to fight cancer in your skin, the researchers believe it may be effective against cancer in other organs as well.
Labels: broccoli, natural therapy, skin cancer, sprouts, vegetables
