Everyday you wash, shave, shampoo, clip your nails, wash, and dry your hair. Personal grooming, for most people, is a series of well-entrenched habits. And in most cases it is over done. Would you be willing to change your routine if doing so made your skin look more attractive and created a better-looking you?
Most adults whom are over thirty commit one big mistake when it comes to washing: The do too much of it. They shower in the morning, another after the gym, maybe even one before bedtime. If you spend twelve minutes in the shower, that's too long. Cut your time in the shower to five minutes for your skin's sake.
Too much washing results not just in cleanliness but in removing too much oil from your skin, and itchy and irritated skin, particularly in the winter months.
If you are using a shower without a water filter and with the steam build up, you are subjecting yourself and your skin to excess chlorine.
Below are bathing tips that you can benefit from:
1. Avoid using a washcloth on delicate areas, especially the mucous membranes. Do use a soft sponge to massage your skin. Use a glycerine soap and sponge and move in one direction toward your heart.
2. Use medium-warm water in the shower, the cooler the better, but not too cold.
3. If you have normal to dry skin, use Dove Unscented or Basis for Sensitive Skin on your body and either a soap free cleanser or nothing at all on mucous membranes. Do use many of the commercial bar soap, since they are harsh on the skin.
4. If you tend to have oily skin, then use good gylcerine soap. I use this type of soap and it removes just enough oil without drying my skin.
5. Skip a shower as often as you can. This may not seem like appealing advice but the more time you have in between showers the better. Skip a shower for a whole day once or twice a week, especially in the winter. Allow your skin to produce and maintain its natural oils. Or if this does not appeal to you, make your shower extra short on some days.
6. Make sure you use shampoos that contain mostly natural ingredients. A lot of commercial products contain synthetic chemicals, petrochemicals, and various dyes and artificial coloring. All of these un-natural chemicals are extremely bad for you health. Learn which chemicals to avoid.
So that you can improve the health of your skin, takes some time to look over your shower habits, Decrease the time in your shower, use a water filter to remove toxins from the water, massage your skin, and use only natural products for your skin and hair.
About the Author : Rudy Silva is a natural nutritionist. If you want to learn more about which chemicals to avoid in skin care creams and how to take care of your skin go to: http://www.for--you.com/SkinCareTreatment
Friday, 3 July 2009
Learn How to Shower To Keep Your Skin Healthy
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Are Hair Regrowth Vitamins Right For You?
Hair Loss may be a difficult and stressful condition for anyone who happens to suffer from it. The worse thing about it is that hair loss can occur almost overnight, without symptoms or no reason. On the other hand, hair loss for some people is a gradual process. For many years, there was really nothing you could do when you started having hair loss, except to accept what was happening. With advanced on the market, you may be thinking that vitamins are the way to go. But before you go the vitamin route, you should make sure that your hair loss is really a nutrient issue. There are two things to consider when you are going to look at a vitamin regimen. What you need to ask yourself is the following. Is my hair loss due to genetics or stress. What you answer will tell a lot.
If you are a hair loss victim, you may to find out what hair restoration vitamins are on the market. The type of restoration hair vitamins you need will depend on the severity of the loss, and the various reasons for the hair loss you are experiencing. If you have hair loss which is due to genetic reasons, you may want to discuss various over-the-counter vitamins with your local pharmacist, and, if necessary, ask your doctor about prescription vitamins that can help you with this type of hair loss.
Depending on what you pharmacist says, you may need to work with a shampoo, or a hair ointment. There are some products over the counter that work well. Rogaine is one brand that is widely available for those experiencing hair loss. Vitamin B and Vitamin C supplements have also been linked with the improvement of hair retention.
On the other hand, if your hair loss caused by stress, it may be a chemical imbalance or potential allergic reaction. In this case, it is important to talk with your doctor. The nice thing is, if your doctor believes that you can eliminate the stress, then by simply eliminating the stress, you stop the hair losses. Often times, a traumatic experience can be linked to certain activities like rapid weight loss, pregnancy, child birth, or severe sickness. Any major shock to your body and system can cause stress related hair loss. Usually overtime, as you recover, your hair will return.
What is really important is that it is always seek the advice of your doctor before you begin any program or taking any type of hair restorative vitamins.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Stress and Weight Gain
Stress at home, stress on the job, stress in your relationships. Regardless of the source, stress can have a negative impact on your health and well-being. One of the many physical problems stress can cause is weight gain. In an October, 1998 issue of the International Journal of Obesity, researchers published a study that revealed that high stress is a "predictor for major weight gain." In a January, 2006 article in the same publication, researchers found that stress can cause both weight loss and weight gain in men, depending on their initial body mass index.
Many people will find themselves reaching for unhealthy foods when they're stressed. The stereotype of curling up with a quart of ice cream at the end of a bad day isn't far from the truth. People often seek emotional comfort from foods when they can't find it elsewhere.
In addition to craving snack foods or sweets, some people experience an increase in appetite as a reaction to stress. Doctors have learned that although the initial reaction to stress, driven by adrenaline, can decrease appetite, the lingering effects of another stress hormone, cortisol, can increase appetite. A 2001 study in Psychoneuroendocrinology indicates that women may be particularly susceptible to this type of stress eating.
Our bodies are designed to react to stress in a fight or flight manner. Our bodies produce adrenaline to help us deal with the immediate stress. After that initial burst of energy, our bodies produce cortisol to increase appetite and replenish our food stores. The problem arises in that we seldom output enough energy in the fight or flight stage to warrant the extra calories we take in during the replenishment stage. The end result is weight gain.
While stress can make you overeat, it can also cause you to neglect your health in other ways. Many times people fail to take time to exercise, get enough sleep, or eat right when they're under stress. All of these can contribute to weight gain. The weight gain, and the health issues it causes, can then become another source of stress in its own right. For these reasons, it's imperative to reduce stress and avoid the problems that it brings.
Diabetes Mellitus - Definition, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Diabetes is a chronic condition.
Diabetes can be caused by too little insulin (a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar), resistance to insulin, or both. DM exhibits wide geographic variation in incidence and prevalence diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder caused by an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin, an anabolic hormone. Diabetes mellitus is defined as fasting blood glucose of 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or more.
There are two basic forms of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Formerly known as insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM), childhood diabetes or also known as juvenile diabetes, is characterized by loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas leading to a deficiency of insulin. It should be noted that there is no known preventative measure that can be taken against type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes appears most often in middle-aged.
Diabetes causes many changes in the body. Neuropathy (damage to the nerves) affects sensation to the feet, so that pain is not felt. Diabetes affects approximately 17 million people (about 8% of the population) in the United States. In addition, an estimated additional 12 million people in the United States have diabetes and don't even know it. Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer. Males are at greater risk in regions of high incidence, particularly older males, whose incidence rates often show seasonal variation. People with diabetes often develop bacterial and fungal infections, typically of the skin. When the levels of sugar in the blood are high, white blood cells cannot effectively fight infections. Diabetes is a major risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease, which includes heart attack.
Serious medical illness and surgery produce a state of increased insulin resistance. Controlling your blood sugar is essential to feeling healthy and avoiding long-term complications of diabetes. Diet, exercise and weight reduction should be the cornerstone of management. The treatment of markedly symptomatic patients with newly discovered type 2 diabetes and glucose levels lower than 400 mg/dL is controversial. Medications used to treat diabetes include insulin. Medications such as thiazides, used to control high blood pressure, and niacin, used for high cholesterol, also may increase blood sugar. Everyone needs regular aerobic exercise, and people with diabetes are no exception. The good news is that the same exercises that are good for your heart and lungs also help lower your blood sugar levels. Drugs and foods known to affect the CYP3A4 system need to be used cautiously in patients treated with atorvastatin, lovastatin, or simvastatin because these agents are largely metabolized through that system.
Treatment for Diabetes Mellitus
* Serious medical illness and surgery produce a state of increased insulin resistance.
* Controlling your blood sugar is essential to feeling healthy and avoiding long-term complications of diabetes.
* Diet, exercise and weight reduction should be the cornerstone of management.
* Medications used to treat diabetes include insulin. Medications such as thiazides, used to control high blood pressure, and niacin, used for high cholesterol, also may increase blood sugar.
* Drugs and foods known to affect the CYP3A4 system need to be used cautiously in patients treated with atorvastatin, lovastatin, or simvastatin because these agents are largely metabolized through that system.
Source: http://www.healthguidance.org/authors/506/Juliet-Cohen
