Unbalanced pH

Many physicians believe that acid-producing diet may hasten aging by preventing cells from protecting themselves. As Dr. Jeanette Graf, the author of Stop Aging, Start Living (Crown) describes in an article published last month, unbalanced pH may induce dull skin tone, bumps and wrinkles on your skin. High acidity intake may also lead to internal problems, such as thinner bones and low muscle mass. Dr. Graf states that only one quarter of your diet should be acid-producing foods, such as meat, most dairy, processed food or refined sugar. The rest should be alkaline-forming, such as fruits, nuts or vegetables.

Highly alkalinizing foods are asparagus, strawberries, sweet potatoes, kiwi and celery -- I've definitely noticed a great change in the tone and firmness of my skin after adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to my diet. I also have very few blemishes now. An immediate change shouldn't be expected -- as with many great things, your skin or health won't improve overnight. Though I've always stuck on a nutritious diet, I made drastic changes to it four months ago after realizing that I wasn't eating enough to get the results I wanted! It is important to remember to eat healthy food -- in a weight obsessed world, we tend to eliminate, eliminate, eliminate and forget to consume what the body seriously needs. As for example, I eat acid-forming yoghurt for the digestive benefits -- you can't achieve a balanced diet by completely disregarding any food group.

More information is available at the website of Experience Life Magazine.

P.S.

It might sound like a contradiction to my last post, but don't over dry the oily areas of your facial skin. When the skin is over dried with harsh astringent or active ingredients, your body will feel that it is necessary to create more sebum in order to compensate for the dryness created by the products used. This might be one of the reasons why you repeatedly get blemishes in the same area of your face.

Anxiety Attacks

Have you noticed small bumpiness under your skin? The cause might be as simple as product overload. Eventhough I understand how too much moisturizing product can aggravate my skin, I still catch myself wanting to put an extra dab – especially in the areas showing signs of aging. It is purely emotional – you feel more is better, richer the merrier. Unfourtunately heavy product application does not ward away wrinkles or sagging of the skin. It will mostlikely only clog your pores and cause bumpiness, whiteheads or blackheads. Unless you have dry skin, you will probably only need a good serum, not cream or oil on your facial skin. I for one only use a light antioxidant serum on my cheeks and forehead. I avoid using even the serum on my nose and chin as those areas tend to become oily (The humectant in the astringent is more than adequate). I only apply a mixture of Tamanu and Olive oil on the delicate eye area. How much we want to cling to the images given to us by luxury cosmetic brands – that by using their products, we will end up looking like the retouched photos of teenage models in their campaigns, we have to let go and see the unique conditions of our skins.