Sorry To Bust Your Bubble Darling, But That Double Scoop Of La Dolce Vita Gelato Is Aggravating Your ‪‎Acne

“Diet has a direct and strong link to acne despite what some physicians may tell you otherwise” is the shibboleth that I have been preaching since I got back to work after my summer break. Thanks to naughty food indulgences during the summer vacation, presently I am seeing gobs of acne patients in and out of my clinic. And along with writing acne-clearing prescriptions I have been urging teen and adult acne sufferers to watch what they eat. Taking my one-on-one diet counsels one step further plus to publically implicate food as a culprit in crimes against our complexion, I’d like to share with you some research that debunks the pseudo myth “Diet has no role in acne flares”.

The scientific community had been sitting on the fence in the past when it came to accepting the negative effects of junk food on acne-prone skin because of a few studies published back in the 60s, that cleared chocolate, peanuts, milk and cola for the acne prone population. Unfortunately those studies were poorly conducted with no proper controls and according to the newer standardizations of research they are no longer acceptable as valid references. From our personal experiences we all know that chocolate bars, soda and ice cream are not only unhealthy—but they act as weapons of mass destruction targeting our complexions. Now credible data is available that supports the fact that our diet has profound effect on our skin.  

Game Changing Inquest

Food theories of the 60s were first challenged in 2002 when a paper published in the Archives of Dermatology, showed that among indigenous cultures in Paraguay and Papua New Guinea; who ate their ancestral diets and consumed almost no processed foods or dairy products, acne was virtually unheard of. Further research also highlighted that when people from similar cultures adopted a Western diet, they developed acne. These studies sparked a new interest into investigating the diet and acne link and paved up the path for newer research digging deep into the effects of food on our skin.

High Glycemic Food Consumption = Acne Flare

In July of 2007, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed a measurable link between high-glycemic diets and acne. The study followed two groups of acne-plagued males ages 15 to 25, who were told they were participating in a study on carbohydrates and protein. The first group continued to eat their usual diet, which included plenty of sugar and processed grains (foods that have a high glycemic index). The other group was given whole grains, lean meat and fish, fruits and vegetables (foods with a low glycemic index). After 12 weeks, a team of dermatologists determined that the subjects in the latter group had 51 percent fewer pimples than when they started.

Foods with a high glycemic index cause blood sugar to rise, forcing the body to bring it down with a surge of insulin. And insulin can lead to acne, both by accelerating cell growth in the pores and stimulating oil-producing hormones called androgens.

Skin + Dairy = Acne

Dairy products have also been put under new scrutiny to investigate their role in acne flares. In 2005 researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health published a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology that showed an association between consumption of dairy products and acne. Using data from more than 47,000 women followed in the Harvard-administered Nurses’ Health Study II, researchers found that those who consumed more than three servings of milk per day were 22 percent more likely to have suffered from acne as teens. With skimmed milk, the numbers were even more pronounced. Those who drank two or more glasses per day were 44 percent more likely to have experienced acne bad enough to warrant a trip to the doctor.

Most dairy products aggravate acne because they contain an “insulin-like” growth factor; which exerts a pore clogging action by aggravating the cells lining the skin pores. Dairy consumption also produces a surge in insulin production by the pancreas, which in turn results in upsurge of cellular activity in skin leading to acne flare.

Diet has profound effects on acne, but there has been surprisingly little research done to establish the aggravating connection between diet and acne mainly because nutritional studies are notoriously difficult to run and very difficult to fund, as most pharmaceutical funding giants won’t stand behind them.

Bad Food Choices = Acne Pandemic

Researchers now hypothesize that our increasing consumption of sugar, processed grains and dairy products may be behind a worldwide rise in acne incidence in both teens and adults.

Seize The Moment: Low-Glycemic Diet = Clearer Younger Looking Skin

Fall depicts new beginnings, renewed spunk and a fresh start, come September life has resumed its daily rhythm—back to school and back to work routines have kicked in full swing. But before you jump back into your daily humdrum and habitual diets, take a moment and make a conscious decision to purge your life and daily eating habits of the complexion endangering elements. Avoid high-glycemic foods—indulge in whole grains, lean meat, fish, fruits and vegetables—this way you’d be signing up for a longer healthier life with younger & clearer looking skin.

Stand Up For Yourself - Literally

Back in June I read an article by Dr Mike Loosemore; a leading sport medicine consultant from University College of London, where he claimed that being on your feet for three hours, five days a week, is as effective as running ten marathons a year and can extend life by two years. No heavy duty exercise just plain and simple standing up on your feet - Now this is an amazing piece of information I thought. To get to the bottom of the truth and validate this shortcut to longer-healthier-life further scientific proof research was . My fascination for this easy-go-lucky way to enhance lifespan and health recently led me to another study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which clearly suggests that the easiest and best anti-ageing technique could be “standing up”.

Scientists Have Found Proof That Spending More Time On Two Feet Protects DNA

According to this study, too much sitting down shortens telomeres, the protective caps sitting at the end of chromosomes. Short telomeres have been linked to premature ageing, disease and early death. So spending less time on the sofa could potentially help people live longer by preventing their DNA from ageing.

The research from this new study concludes that people who were frequently on their feet had longer telomeres, which were keeping the genetic code safe from wear and tear. Telomeres stop chromosomes from fraying, clumping together and "scrambling" genetic code. Scientists liken their function to the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces, and say that lifespan is linked to their length.

The Nitty Gritty

The idea behind this study was to test and prove the idea behind a study, published in the British Medical Journal previously, which revealed that although people who did more exercise tended to be healthier, the most important factor was how much time they spent sitting down.

Researchers looked at 49 overweight sedentary adults in their late sixties and measured the length of the telomeres in their blood cells.

Half of them had been part of an exercise program that lasted six months, while the other half had not. Physical activity levels were assessed using a diary and pedometer to measure the amount of footsteps taken each day.

The amount of time spent sitting down was worked out through a questionnaire.

Scientists found that the less time a person spent sitting, the longer their telomeres, and the greater their chance of living longer.

Intriguingly research also shows that taking part in more exercise did not seem to have an impact on telomere length.

Scientific Consensus

There is growing concern among medical community that not only low physical activity but probably also sitting and sedentary behavior is an important and new health hazard of our time. The scientific evidence and research has led to the hypothesis that a reduction in sitting hours is of greater importance than an increase in exercise time for elderly risk individuals.

Take Home Message

Guess how many hours a day you spend sitting? - Fewer than eight, more than 10? A recent survey found that many of us spend up to 12 hours a day sitting on our bottoms looking at computers or watching television. If you throw in the seven hours we spend sleeping then that adds up to a remarkable 19 hours a day being sedentary. Apart from this study if you dig deeper into the standing up for a longer life concept, you’d find there is now enormous evidence that supports the logic that simply standing makes huge differences to your health.

Stand Up

It’s time you stood up for yourself - Be proactive make small adjustments - like standing while talking on the phone, going over to talk to a colleague rather than sending an email, or simply taking the stairs.

Fall Beauty Resolution — Cut A Dash With Your Perfect Skin

We live in a world full of beauty. For some girls it stares you directly in the face and other times it is not so easy to find. To each and everyone one of us beauty means something else, but experts agree flawless skin counts for at least fifty percent of our aesthetic image and the other fifty percent lies in the proportion of facial features & body contours. Now if you can control how your skin looks then you are practically in charge of 50% of your beauty. Let’s get to work and carve beauty out of your skin.

Know Thy Skin Type: All skin is not created equal, flawlessly beautiful skin can be a gift form God or it can be achieved with the help of practicing the science of good skincare. It’s vital to know what is your skin type before you can begin to take care of it.

Oily Skin: The hallmark of oily skin is open pores with greasy feel especially around the T-Zone. With hormonal imbalance acne, black heads and white heads result leaving behind pigmentation, scars and permanent skin damage. The trick to managing oily skin is using products especially formulated for oily skin as products made for other skin types can lead to clogging of pore and sebaceous gland irritation leading to acne along with uneven and blotchy skin. As a general rule buy gels, serums and oil-free products. Combination skin calls for a mix of products applied to each area — or you can opt to layer lighter-weight products over the drier areas. For breakouts and clogged pores, you can’t get results from a well-formulated, leave-on BHA (salicylic acid) exfoliant or a retinoic acid based product.

Dry Skin: Prone to ashy dry complexion and flaking dry skin always feels tight and uncomfortable without proper moisturization. Here wrinkles are the major problem to tackle instead of open pores. The trick to managing dry skin is double time moisturization and use of products that don’t dehydrate or strip the skin.

Sensitive Skin: Susceptible to irritation, redness and discomfort people with sensitive skin have to be very careful with what products they chose to take care of their skin. Mostly people with sensitive skin have other types of allergies too e.g. food, metal, different chemicals etc. The trick to managing sensitive skin is avoiding products loaded with harsh chemicals and active repair of the skin barrier function by using specialized moisturizers.

Pigmented Skin: Genetics have thrown you a curve ball if you easily develop patches of hyperpigmentation on your skin. Sun, hormones and friction are some of the common trigger factors that push pigmented skin into over drive resulting in melasma and discoloration issues. The trick to managing pigmented skin is active use of sunscreen and keeping the complexion balanced by natural plant based skin-lightening agents like vitamin C, arbutin, etc.

Normal Skin: You are lucky, beauty Gods were smiling as you were being conceived. Your skin is balanced and requires bare minimum care but that does not mean you neglect it. If you want to keep you skin beautiful and young you need to take care for the future. Product selection wise with normal skin there's a little more leeway, and you can choose the product textures you like most. The trick to managing normal skin is using plenty of antioxidants and diligent use of sunscreen to prevent future skin aging.

Use Skincare Judiciously & Like Clockwork: If your skin is not looking good there is a reason behind it, and the most obvious one is: you are not using your skincare products according to your skin type. For example, if you have combination skin and you’re using a product containing irritating ingredients such as alcohol, you may actually be exacerbating the oily areas. Because irritation stimulates nerve endings in skin, a subsequent hormonal surge leads to more oil and, potentially, breakouts. On the other hand, if you have dry skin and load up on moisturizers but don’t periodically use a good leave-on exfoliant, a buildup of dead, dry skin cells may result. And that really rich moisturizer you're using will seem to stop working. Basically, what you need is a routine that fits your skin type and manages your concerns. Read up, educate your self about your skin, see a dermatologist and understand your skin — sticking to a judicious skincare plan is vital to maintaining beautiful skin.

UV Protection: Daily sunscreen use is the single most important thing you can do to get and maintain near-perfect and certainly younger-looking skin.

To be able to find the confidence in your beauty is something that is within you. Important message here is you need to believe, put your best foot forward and never doubt.