Pharmacymix.com, Skin Care Pharmacy and Blog Specializing in Anthelios and Mexoryl Sunscreens

Detox Your Way To Beautiful Skin

Over the holiday season, it’s not uncommon for our eating habits to change, sometimes in rather dramatic ways. Whether you hanker after eggnog with a touch of rum, bon bons galore, triple servings of stuffing or my personal favorite - cave aged Gruyere cheese, chances are that you’ll find some way to indulge. While it’s a good idea (at least I think so) to splurge occasionally, the holiday season allows us to get carried away. Office parties, open houses and celebrations with family and friends can make resisting just too hard.

While most of us are all too familiar with the effects of these foods on our waistlines, diets high in sugar, preservatives, fats and high glycemic carbohydrates affect our emotional and physical wellbeing including the appearance of our skin. Many individuals begin the New Year with a clean slate by going to the gym and clearing the cupboards of tempting holiday treats. And a good few embark upon a cleansing or detox regimen to get back on track again. Today, we’ll explore how a detox can help your body and help your skin regain the radiance before you were tempted.

Curbing Bad Consumption Habits

Eating the wrong types of foods can throw your system off balance. Excess sugar increases a natural metabolic process called glycation, in which sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins to form harmful new molecules called advanced glycation end products (AGEs - how appropriate! - for short ). AGEs can damage collagen and elastin, the fibers that keep skin firm and resilient leading to wrinkles and sagging. If that weren’t enough, AGEs can also make skin more vulnerable to sun damage.

Foods and meals high in salt can have a drying effect on the skin. What’s more, a diet that includes too much salt can eventually lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. Limiting, or even eliminating, salt from your diet is a critical step in detoxifying your body. Too much alcohol can also dry skin causing it to have a lackluster appearance. It also reduces the level of vitamin A in your body, which leads to slower turnover of dead skin cells. Dairy products can be particularly problematic in susceptible individuals and their consumption has been associated with acne, psoriasis, and eczema.

Realigning Your Diet

In addition to eliminating sugar, salt, alcohol, and dairy products from your diet, a detox or cleansing diet will emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and plenty of water. The aim is to consume antioxidants, fiber and a range of nutrients to help support your body and limit the damage generated by free radicals. A diet filled with these elements also encourages the digestive process and helps to eliminate waste materials and toxins.

When detoxifying your body, make sure that you’re including regular exfoliation and moisturization in your daily skin care routine. Exfoliation helps remove the dead cells from the surface of your skin while using a high-quality moisturizer can provide hydration.

In addition to following a healthy diet, you may want to consider the following packaged detox solutions to help your skin and your body on its way to optimal health:

Thorne Mediclear Nutritional Support & Detox - A formulation designed to provide your body with essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants throughout your detoxification program. As toxins are removed from your body, this product offers an assortment of nourishing ingredients.

Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox - The Wild Rose kit is a comprehensive cleansing program. During a 12-day process, it removes unhealthy toxins while stimulating your metabolism, digestion, and elimination functions. It includes a specially designed meal plan and 4 herbal formulas. An optional cookbook helps with meal planning.

Alcohol And Skin

After a season of possibly overeating and overdrinking, you may not want to know that in addition to exposing yourself to ill health, that excessive alcohol consumption can also damage your skin. Often, signs of premature aging are evident. And, the effects are most obvious when observing the skin of those who have been drinking habitually for several years.Yet, even individuals who consider themselves light drinkers, can run the risk of exposing their skin and their general health, to a host of potential issues.

While there aren’t any establish international guidelines for the maximum amount of alcohol an individual can safely consume, many countries do issue their own guidelines. In general, most Western countries state that men may consume between 2 to 3 drinks per day and women 1-2 drinks per day without ill effect. There are exceptions including individuals experiencing health issues, the elderly and pregnant women.

In this post, we’ll examine the effects that alcohol can have on your skin. We’ll also look at how it affects your body’s internal environment and its impact on your skin at a cellular level.

Alcohol And Vitamin A

Vitamin A is a substance found within the body that is directly responsible for some important tasks related to skin. First, it promotes skin cell turnover, which helps to push new cells to the surface. As a result, the skin enjoys a healthier appearance. Second, vitamin A has antioxidant properties that can help to reduce damage caused by free radicals. Because free radicals can cause the breakdown of collagen fibers and elastin, limiting their spread throughout the body preserves the structure and flexibility of the skin.

Alcohol intake can also reduce the level of vitamin A within the body. As implied above, this leads to two problems: lower skin cell turnover and a decreased ability to fight free radicals. The former causes the skin to begin appearing sallow as dead cells accumulate on the surface. The latter allows free radicals to spread, thereby accelerating the deterioration of collagen and elastin. That eventually leads to the emergence of fine lines and wrinkles.

Other Effects

Excess consumption of alcohol can also have a dehydrating effect. When a person has had several drinks, their body will often divert oxygen and blood to the liver and other organs. As this happens, the skin loses important blood circulation. Another impact of alcohol is the result of widening blood vessels. If you have ever observed a person who has consumed several drinks, you may have noticed a flushing across their face. This is due to widening blood vessels and broken capillaries throughout the skin. It may also worsen the symptoms of rosacea.

Reducing Consumption

An occasional drink isn’t likely to have severe, long-lasting effects on your skin’s appearance. And, alcohol isn’t all bad. Studies suggest that it may reduce your risk of heart disease and possibly reduce your risk of diabetes. The antioxidants found in red wine may also help to increase good cholesterol levels. Alcohol’s impact is most prevalent when consumption habits are more extensive. By limiting your intake of alcohol, you can help preserve your body’s supply of vitamin A. That will limit the damage caused by free radicals and help accelerate skin cell turnover.

By all means, enjoy a glass of wine with friends, watch the sun set with a cocktail or celebrate a special occasion with a glass of champagne. Consume in moderation and your skin and your health will thank you.

New Year Skin Care Resolutions For 2009

Great looking skin involves a combination of intrinsic (those things you can’t change) and extrinsic factors (those that you have some control over). While you have little control over how your genetic make-up affects your skin, there are many things that you can do to help combat ‘bad’ genes.

Ring in 2009 with the following skin care resolutions to ensure healthy, glowing skin for this year and beyond:

Resolution 1 - Never go to sleep without cleansing your face. Cleansing gets rid of make-up and dirt that accumulates over the day. Choose a gentle, non-soaped based cleanser that won’t strip away natural oils. Consider Reversa 3 in 1 Cleansing Gel

Resolution 2 - Eat a diet high in fresh fruits, vegetables and essential fatty acids. These foods provide antioxidants, minerals and nutrients that support the basis for healthy skin. As additional insurance, consider a well formulated multi-vitamin/mineral formula to take daily. Consider Daily Essentials.

Resolution 3 - Wear a broad spectrum UVA/UVB blocking sunscreen with a minimum of SPF 30 protection year round, every day. The sun contributes to between 80 - 90% of skin aging and sunscreen is your best defense. Consider Anthelios sunscreens.

Resolution 4 - Get some shut eye. Adequate sleep helps our bodies to rest and regenerate keeping stress hormones (which can ultimately damage skin) under control.

Resolution 5 - Exercise. As the body’s largest organ, skin benefits from exercise as much as the rest of your body. In addition to boosting circulation and optimizing delivering of nutrients, exercise can help to increase the clearance of toxins including helping to unclog pores.

Inflammation and Skin Aging

Inflammation is an important way for our bodies to react to infection and foreign pathogens.  While it is the first line of defense against microorganisms that can potentially cause long-lasting health issues, the same process that our immune system uses to protect our bodies from infection can also lead to visible signs of aging. Making matters worse, we become more susceptible to chronic inflammation as we grow older, which can exacerbate wrinkles, fine lines, and lead to a host of more serious health conditions.

Today, we’ll explore how chronic inflammation is associated with a number of skin conditions. I’ll describe how it affects the skin, and offer strategies for managing it and reducing your exposure.

Natural Response To Pathogens

When foreign pathogens are identified by the immune system, a number of physiological events occur in the effort to eliminate those pathogens. Free radicals are generated, blood flow increases, and healthy tissue begins deteriorating. While these inflammatory events are designed to help neutralize or inhibit the microorganisms, they can also lead to the break down of collagen and the structure of your skin.

In normal cases, once the need for an inflammatory response is no longer required, the physiological events are terminated. However, in some cases, the termination process fails. When this happens, chronic inflammation can result.

In cases of chronic inflammation, the immune system may even begin perceiving the body’s tissues as foreign and thereby, posing a threat. As a result, it can produce concurrent efforts to destroy the tissue while trying to rebuild it. This can lead to a number of skin conditions, such as dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, and acne. Recently, researchers have found evidence that an enzyme called IDO, which is normally produced to keep inflammation in check, actually protects malignant skin cells.

Managing And Reducing The Effects

If you cope with chronic inflammation, your skin care regimen should include formulations with anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. Skin that is prone to dryness, cracking, blisters or redness can be repaired while antioxidants can help prevent free radical damage. Through topical application of these ingredients, you can improve the visible signs of aging. The following ingredients can help to relieve inflammation:

Green Tea - Green tea possesses potent anti inflammatory and antioxidant activity and can be found in Credentials Face Firming Complex

Rosacure - Rosacure contains MSM and silymarin, two compounds used for their anti inflammatory action to combat facial redness

Matrixyl - a peptide that has been shown to help boost collagen production, Matrixyl also contains anti inflammatory properties. Consider Neostrata Wrinkle Repair.