Stress and Lack of Sleep Add to Weight Gain
Did you know that stress is making you fat? The combination of chronic stress and high-fat, high-sugar diet causes more weight gain than an unhealthy diet would do on its own, according to the research. A brain chemical called neuropeptide-Y (NPY) stimulates appetite and contributes to weight gain. The combination of chronic stress and a high-calorie diet increases the amounts of this neuropeptide in abdominal fat which in turn promotes the growth of new fat cells all over the body. Scientists found that a low-calorie low-glycemic diet that would incorporate daily stress relieving techniques would help people lose weight more efficiently than a traditional calorie-restricted weight loss plan.
The reason behind the weight gain could be in female hormones. After a few days of sleep restriction, the hormones that control appetite cause people to become hungrier, so women who slept less might eat more. “But in fact they ate less,” Dr. Patel said. “That suggests that appetite and diet are not accounting for the weight gain in women who sleep less.” The research also didn’t find any differences in physical activity that could explain why women who slept less weighed more.
At the moment, the verdict is that sleeping less affects person’s basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn when you rest. Another contributor to weight regulation that has recently been discovered is called non-exercise associated thermogenesis, or NEAT, which refers to involuntary activity, such as fidgeting or standing instead of sitting. It may be that if you sleep less, you move around less, too, and therefore burn up fewer calories.
Are You Still Using Junk Beauty Products?
What is in your morning bathroom routine? Most likely, you take a shower with a zesty, invigorating shower gel; you shampoo and condition your hair; you wash and maybe scrub your face with a foaming fresh-smelling cleanser; if you are a man, you also shave. You splash your skin with a toner or an astringent, top it with a moisturizer with (hopefully) some sunscreen in it, followed by makeup (again, optional), some antiperspirant under your arms, and a spritz of a fragrance to seal the deal. Within fifteen minutes, you have exposed yourself to a whopping amount of chemicals—and you haven’t even left home yet!
After a quick count of ingredients contained in a typical cleanser, toner, moisturizer, eye cream, facial scrub, body wash, body lotion, and a sunscreen, I came up with more than two hundred different chemicals that we diligently apply to our skin daily. This is not counting hundreds of synthetic fragrance ingredients in your favorite eau de toilette! As you leave your home, you will inhale car emissions, pesticides, radon, volatile organic compounds, persistent organic pollutants, tobacco smoke, dust, and microscopic droplets of grease. You will eat food that contains artificial preservatives, flavors, and colors, and you will drink water that has subpar purity standards, adding to the already brewing cocktail of chemicals that enter your system nonstop.
In 2006, a consumer advocacy group, Environmental Working Group, with the support of the Breast Cancer Fund, Breast Cancer Action, and the National Environmental Trust, released a study of the listed ingredients for 7,500 bestselling beauty products. Here are some of the findings:
- The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Board, a panel that oversees cosmetic safety, has never analyzed about 90 percent of cosmetic ingredients for health impacts.
- More than seventy popular hair dye products contain ingredients derived from coal tar, a known carcinogen.
Nearly 55 percent of products contain “penetration enhancers” that increase the ability of chemicals to enter the bloodstream.
Our skin eats anything that we put on its surface. When you use beauty products loaded with chemical ingredients, you are feeding your skin “junk food.” I bet you already know that junk food, with all its flavor enhancers, preservatives, synthetic fillers and highly processed ingredients, is not good for our bodies. If you try eat healthfully, why use “junk beauty”?
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This article has been adapted from The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skincare, Haircare, Makeup and Fragrances by Julie Gabriel (Health Communications, 2009).
Sensitive Skin: Using Jojoba and Almond Oils
Sensitive skin is a major concern nowadays, probably because a lot of people have sensitive skin. People with lighter skin tones, as well as those who have dry skin frequently suffer from skin sensitivities. Fortunately, there are many natural treatments for sensitive skin, most of them based on natural oils such as jojoba and sweet almond.
Sensitive skin is easily irritable and very susceptible to various aggressive factors, such as ultraviolet radiations, cold, wind, detergents, make-up removal products and other cosmetics. The sensitive skin is a hyperactive type of skin which overreacts to stimuli which would have been tolerated normally. When sensitive skin gets into contact with such a stimulus, it causes a strong sensation of discomfort. Sensitive skin has low tolerance or no tolerance at all to usual cosmetics or hygiene products. Therefore, special care has to be provided using products which treat and prevent possible negative reactions such as: burning sensations, blemishes and irritation.
Both almond oil and jojoba oil have molecular composition that is very similar to those of the natural skin oils. Therefore, both oils can be used to soothe and nourish all skin types, and since these oils are free from additives or preservatives, they work very well for sensitive skin.
Natural oils can be used on their own, in combination with other essential oils, or in mixtures based on the two of them. If mixed, the two oils increase each other’s therapeutic effect and they usually come in combinations of 75% almond oil and 25% jojoba oil. When added to the almond oil, jojoba oil has an antioxidant effect and helps regulating the sebum production in the skin.
When mixed, they can be used in skin treatments and skin care, make-up removal (even for waterproof products) and even massage oils and aromatherapy oils for relaxation. Both oils are easily absorbed into the skin, leaving a silky texture.
Almond oil has skin moisturizing properties. The oil also calms skin inflammations, dermatitis, irritations, itches and other skin conditions. Almond oil is used in massage oils because of its relaxing properties and can also be used around the eyes and the mouth to help prevent or soften wrinkles.
Almond oil has a very relaxing aroma as well. If you happen to be allergic to peanuts, take into consideration that you might also have allergies to almonds. It is best to consult your doctor before using almond oil.
Jojoba oil is actually a wax in liquid form, not an oil. It is the substance which resembles the most the natural skin sebum. Therefore, it works great in balancing sebum production at the level of the skin and is very good for acne and oily skin.
Jojoba oil has high antioxidant properties, so it won’t need any chemical preservatives. It can be used externally on all skin types, even for young children. Jojoba oil can treat psoriasis, eczema and dry scalp.
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This article has been adapted from this helpful resource: Skincare Guide
How to Read the Ingredients List for Potential Threats
Quickly scanning the ingredient list for offending substances is probably the most important skill you have to master. Being able to quickly decipher the ingredients list instead of listening to a salesperson’s chatter will save you money, time, and frustration.
Most often, the worse the formulation is, the harder the box is to read. To discourage curious customers from prying into cosmetic secrets, they print ingredient lists in all-cap dense letters with very small spaces between lines, so the whole area looks like one grayish square filled with chemical jabber. Often the lavish design masks the most noxious ingredients. Some of them may be hiding under natural-sounding names or abbreviations. Cocamide DEA may sound natural, but in fact it is coconut oil diethanolamine, and we already know that diethanolamine, along with triethanolamine, may be contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals.
When properly written, the labels can provide you with a lot of useful information. In theUnited States and Canada, any chemical above 1 percent by weight in the formula is required to be listed in order of concentration. The general rule of thumb is, the higher amount of an ingredient the product contains, the higher position it will occupy in the ingredients list. So pay attention to which ingredient is listed first.
Good cleansers and toners start with water, followed by glycerin at the beginning of the list; toners may begin with water, witch hazel, or alcohol right in the first line. For example, a mediocre toner would list a propylene glycol second in the list of ingredients; a good one will contain floral water, witch hazel, or glycerin. A heavy moisturizer will list mineral oil or petrolatum as its second ingredient, right after water. Such moisturizers will contain many pore-clogging ingredients and therefore will not be suitable for acne sufferers. However, a moisturizer that lists mineral oil somewhere in the middle of the fine print would be less likely to cause breakouts, but nevertheless is less suitable for oily skin than a moisturizer with no mineral oil at all, such as a lotion based on olive oil.
Most often, preservatives, fragrances, and colors are listed at the end of the list. However, I have seen formulations that listed triethanolamine and paraben preservatives right in the first line, which means that this particular product contained a lot of very questionable substances. But even if there’s less than 1 percent of an ingredient contained in the bottle or jar, it doesn’t mean that it cannot get any job done. Peptides, enzymes, vitamins, and alpha hydroxy acids are all used in smaller than 1 percent concentrations.
When you think about it, even 1 percent is quite a bit of a chemical. If you imagine 1 percent of a 100 ml bottle, that’s 1 ml of a substance, about the size of a tester fragrance vial. Imagine how a guy in a white lab coat takes an ampoule of something that causes cancer in rats and pours it into your antioxidant body lotion, or worse yet, baby bath. The situation is cartoonish, but you get the idea. Does it look pretty or healthy? It certainly doesn’t look good to me.
So resist the urge to scan just the first few lines and keep reading. Start from the end of the list – this way, you can spot harmful substances sooner.
Sometimes ingredients lists are not easy to locate—or they are not there at all. In that case, contact the company directly by phone or e-mail. Most companies respond to customer queries about their ingredients, so don’t be afraid to contact them if you are unsure about a chemical or it’s not listed in any online database.
There are thousands of safe synthetic ingredients that can be used in skin care products. If you want to learn more about each particular ingredient, you can go online to Wikipedia or check the safety of a suspicious chemical at the Environmental Working Group website (www.ewg.org) where they have a very comprehensive searchable database of most existing chemicals used in personal care products.
When you learn the trick of scanning the ingredients list for toxic chemicals and ingredients that can damage your skin, you will never purchase a beauty product just because it looks pretty or elegant, thus falling prey to tricky advertisers and talented product designers. Once you’ve learned to read the ingredients label and identify marketing scams, you’ll be able to avoid wasting money, and be able to take perfectly good care of your skin and hair.
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This article has been adapted from The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel (HCI, 2009).
Recipe: CARROT AND COCONUT Cleansing Cream
Originally, I wanted to create a rich cleansing cream, but the recipe got tastier and tastier, so I ended up with something delicious enough to put on top of a muffin.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons semolina
2 tablespoons fine brown sugar
1 cup organic orange water
1/2 ounce coconut oil
1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
10 drops natural vanilla extract
5 drops carrot seed oil (optional)
1,000 IU vitamin E
METHOD
Carefully heat the orange water in a stainless steel saucepan until hot but not boiling and set aside. Using a double-boiler method (see chapter 2) melt coconut oil and glycerin until liquid. Pour the hot orange water into the melted oils, beating with a fork until fluffy and uniform. When the mixture cools down to being pleasantly warm to touch add sugar and semolina. When the mixture is almost cool, adding vanilla extract, carrot seed oils and vitamin E. Blend thoroughly, transfer into a jar, and resist the urge to eat.
APPLICATION
Massage 1/2 teaspoon gently into dry skin using circular motions. Rinse off with warm water and repeat if necessary.
Using Natural Oils to Care for Your Face and Hair
Natural oil is the only cosmetic ingredient that can help you achieve glowing skin, gorgeously glossy hair, strong nails, and smooth body in only one step. Most oils can be used on face, body, hair, hands, and feet. Oils have been used for skincare, hair care, and massage for centuries, and new oils from exotic locations are easily available today for you to use in your natural beauty creations.
The greenest way to obtain good quality oil from seeds, nuts, and fruits is cold pressing during which plants are crushed and pressed. Another, more sophisticated and costly method is supercritical CO2 extraction which produces more concentrated and pure extracts than cold pressing. This method is used to extract oils from delicate, rare plants.
Among the less preferred methods of oil extraction are solvent extraction which involves use of environmentally unfriendly petrochemical solvents and hot pressing during which many vitamins and antioxidants are rendered useless after being exposed to high temperatures.
For long time oil has been a skin foe rather than ally. We would avoid anything that resembled oil believing that anything that has oil in it would clog pores and cause pimples. We would prefer so-called “oil-free” chemical brews or mineral oils which for some mysterious reason seemed to be harmless. However, when you get used to natural oils, you will be surprised to notice that most oils penetrate easier than lotions and leave no greasy residue. Some oils are better suited to oily skin, some are great for body care, and others are indispensable for hair and nail care. Here’s a quick guide to choosing the most suitable oils for your beauty needs:
FOR BODY CARE: olive, canola, grape seed, rice bran, evening primrose, wheat germ oils
These super-nutritious oils are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that strengthen the lipid barrier in the skin and prevent moisture loss. In chapter 4 you will learn how to prepare a simple herbal body infusion to moisturize your body head to toe. All oils are rich in natural vitamin E which acts as an antioxidant and helps smooth out scars and stretch marks.
FOR MASSAGE: grape seed, olive, sesame, peanut, sunflower, canola oils
These oils glide easily over the skin and create a warming effect because they do not evaporate off the skin surface like lotions do thus creating a “greenhouse” effect. Just a few drops of oil is enough to warm up or relax the muscles and tone up the skin. In chapter 3 you will learn how to create a lifting facial massage oil, and after reading chapter 4 you will be able to make an anti-cellulite massage oil for problem areas.
FOR HAIR NOURISHMENT: coconut, sweet almond, jojoba, avocado, argan oils
Cold-pressed nut oils are rich in vitamins A, D, E, B group, as well as lecithin and palmitic acid. They can be used for weekly warm hair packs and daily care for dry, frizzy locks. For more recipes, turn to chapter 5.
FOR HAIR GROWTH: linseed (flaxseed), burdock, sesame oils
These vitamin-rich oils will not make your hair greasy but instead will help establish healthy sebum production in the scalp and nourish hair follicles. Stronger follicles begin providing the hair shaft with more nutrients, so the hair becomes stronger and shinier. For best results, these oils must be warmed up before use. In chapter 5 you will learn more recipes how to prepare warm hair treatments for dry, damaged hair.
FOR FACE MOISTURIZING: peach kernel, apricot kernel, jojoba, grape seed, pomegranate seed, black currant seed, acai, thistle oils
These lightweight oils penetrate quickly without oily residue. If you have dry skin you can use lightweight facial oil blends or pure oils twice daily, in the morning under the sun protecting product and in the evening alone.
You can also use facial oils for massage and to enrich your existing moisturizers. Most facial oils can be used around eyes but not too close to the lash line. Exception to this rule is castor oil which may help improve lash and eyebrow growth. Simple recipes in chapter 3 will explain how to prepare antiseptic oil blends for oily skin with acne and energizing oil blends for dry, tired skin.
No matter which oil you choose for your cosmetic products, please keep in mind that vegetable oils must be stored in dark cool places. Thin, liquid oils such as jojoba, thistle, evening primrose, and rosehip must be refrigerated to prolong their shelf life. Fatty, heavy oils can be stored for up to four years, while lightweight liquid oils will keep fresh for two years.
Simple Double-Boiling Technique to Make Your Own Face Creams
To make creams, balms, salves, and soaps, you will need to heat and even boil a lot of natural waxes and butters. Some waxes and butters can be heated directly over the low or medium heat but this process may destroy some of the valuable phytochemicals and vitamins in the oils. Double-boiling to direct boiling is the same as steaming vegetables is to deep-frying. Boiling water rarely becomes hotter than 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius). Not only double-boiling preserves most of the important microelements in the ingredient, it also allows for more controlled mixing and blending as you heat the butter, wax, or oil.
This technique is commonly referred to as a double boiler, Bain Marie, Bain de Marie and even au Bain Marie.
A double boiler is simply a pot placed on top of another pot with boiling water in it, over a heat source. You can buy the pots already assembled or you can find two fitting pots in your kitchen. The pots should be cast iron, glass, or enameled steel. Never use aluminum or Teflon-coated pots and pans as they will leach carcinogenic compounds in your skincare.
Simple double-boiling technique:
1. Arrange two saucepans or a large saucepan and a Pyrex bowl (even a steel coffee pot would do), so that one fits loosely into another.
2. Fill the large pan with water so that the level of the water is approximately 3 inches below the rim of the smaller pan.
3. Place the wax or the butter into the smaller bowl.
4. As the water in the large bowl boils over medium heat, handle the large bowl with great care so that the water doesn’t get into the melting ingredients.
5. Remove the double boiler from the heat source once the wax has turned into a liquid.
Other method of melting your waxes or butters is microwaving. While I do not recommend cooking your food in a microwave, it is a viable shortcut to quickly melt an ingredient for cosmetic use. Just make sure to microwave in a glass container, never in plastic, and to stand really far back from the device while it’s working. Stir the liquid well to dissolve any hot spots.
Tip: to prevent grains from forming in your balms and butters, after heating and melting, cover your product and place it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes.
Are You Vegan? Avoid Hidden Pig Fat in Your Face Creams!
Most emulsifiers used in cosmetic products today are derived from animal fat. Apart from clearly animal-sourced beeswax and gelatin, even so-called natural emulsifiers may contain animal by-products. Current legislation does not require listing the source of an emulsifier, just their chemical names, and these give no clue whether the emulsifier is derived from pig fat or not. So you can imagine how much pig fat goes into so-called natural and conventional beauty products! If you see the word “stearate” in your ingredient list, there’s a good chance that the emulsifier was made from animal tallow, unless clearly labeled as vegetarian or derived from vegetables.There is another culprit. Many failsafe emulsifiers available on raw ingredient market today are marked as vegetarian or vegan, but they are not entirely natural. In fact, most popular emulsifiers are loaded with petrochemicals which makes then unsuitable for green beauty products. For example, emulsifying wax NF may be vegan but it is made of cetearyl alcohol, polysorbate 60 (a petrochemical), PEG-150 stearate (another petrochemical), and steareth-20 (yet another petrochemical). There’s absolutely no reason to use this blend of synthetic chemicals in your natural beauty products!
Another emulsifier to avoid is borax (sodium borate.) A recent research shows it may be carcinogenic, and evidence based research confirms that it is very irritating and allergenic. It also dries out delicate, mature skin, and is not recommended for use on children.
Making your own facial creams, lotions, and cream cleansers is the best way to avoid animal by-products and petrochemicals in your beauty creations. The best vegetable emulsifiers are derived from coconut or palm oils without use of petrochemicals. Some of the safe emulsifiers are soy lecithin, sucrose laurate, cetearyl glucoside, and sorbitan olivate.
The following emulsifiers must be clearly marked as vegetarian, vegan, or plant-derived:
glyceryl monostearate/stearate (may be derived from animal tallow)
sorbitan stearate (may be derived from animal tallow)
cetyl alcohol (may be derived from spermaceti)
Healthy Foods For Vegetarian Food Eaters
There is a lot of tasty vegetarian food meals available for everyone. They involve useful snacks, desserts and which is more important they exclude meat products. Start your day with healthy and tasty breakfast that will provide your body with necessary satisfying vitamins and will make you energetic for the rest of the day. A green omelet is not only tasty, but it is an excellent option for vegetarians. So, begin collecting different colorful vegetables to be added to your omelet dish. The wider variety of colors you will manage to gather, the more nutritional components you will get, because colorful vegetables include a big amount of antioxidants and healthy elements.
You can put in field mushrooms, pepper (red, yellow, green), tomatoes and spinach. Chop the vegetables and add some eggs in a dish. Cook vegetables on sunflower oil.
Vegetarian snacks are easy to be cooked. You can munch nuts, fruits, chips, cheese, granola bars and put salsa sauce to your dishes. For dinner you can prepare something fresh that will not take lots of time for preparing. Some tasty options will involve carrot sticks, cucumber slices, sprouts and other greens. Vegetarians who eat cheese can also add feta cheese to pita.
A vegetarian dinner can be as easy as any other meal. You can use leftover vegetables which you have used for preparing dinner, chop them and cook on sunflower oil. In a pan, cook brown rice or other whole grain meals that you like. When the vegetables have been smothered, add tofu and crusty everything in the pan. You can prepare special sauce. Blend lime juice, chili bits, jinjili oil and vinegar. Collect vegetables, rice and spice up everything with sauce. If you want some desert, back pear and add some pecans.
2. Fibre and Protein Components
Clean pistachios, almonds and walnuts. They have vital components that are very healthy. Fibre and protein contained in them will aid to fight heart-related diseases.
In comparison to salted peanuts, they do not include cholesterol and soused fats. They can be cooked as cereal meals with milk.
3. Magnesium and Calcium Components
Green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli are excellent sources of calcium and magnesium that help to avoid heart attacks.
Vegetarian food recipes promote healthy digestion and give your body energy. If you consume meat-free meals, you will avoid feeling tired and sleepy. By avoiding that feeling of exhaustion, you can consume less coffee and other energy increasing drinks.
Health Benefits of Vegetarian Foods
Various studies have proved that a diet which eliminates meat lower risk of suffering from various health related diseases. Meat consumption has been proved to become a reason for cancer.
Constant consumption of vegetables, on the other side, minimizes risk for developing such diseases as hypertension, cancer, and osteoporosis. Vegetarian diet provides your body with essential nutritional components such as fiber, carbs, minerals and vitamins, antioxidants.
If you are a vegetarian, then you know how difficult it is sometimes to get vegetarian food. However, the web network offers lots of vegetarian food recipes but, and this is very convenient, there is a possibility to take advantage of such an option as order vegetarian food online.
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Vegetarian Eating: Why Choosing Plant Food
Being a vegetarian means leading a lifestyle that involves exclusion of meat and byproducts. There are various kinds of vegetarians and these are called as vegans, lacto-vegetarians, ovo-lacto vegetarians, ovo-vegetarians. The last are people who consume eggs and do not eat dairy products. Lacto-vegetarians consume dairy foods such as cheese, milk and do not consume eggs. Ovo-lactovegetarians use the best of both words, involving eggs and dairy foods. Vegetarians follow their diets strictly.
Why these people avoid eating animal meat? The first reason is that animal meat includes various harmful substances and fats which can be unfavorable to you. It is especially true for processed meat, which contains chemicals and preservatives that become carcinogenic when consumed in large amounts. Moreover, when it comes to preparing meat dishes, dangerous compounds are created as well. Smoking meats or cooking by grill can also cause formation of these dangerous compounds that you will consume in big amounts. Despite high level of protein that meat products contain, too much eating of meat can be harmful for your health. This can cause diseases of cardiovascular system. Cholesterol and other fatty substances can clutter the arterial walls and blood vessels, ending with hypertension and cardiovascular complications.
So, why plant food is more useful in comparison to meat products? Fruits and vegetables contain useful fiber and useful amino acids necessary to your body. Though their protein content is lower, the content of dietary fibers compensate this deficiency. Dietary fibers have different healthy effects on the human body, such as helping in regulation of blood sugar levels and eliminating the total and low density lipoprotein levels. These dietary fibers can also eliminate the risk of developing cancer by balancing the pH level.
For weight loss goals, these dietary fibers can increase metabolic rate by increasing the passage of food through the digestive system. These products can also make one feel satisfied even after consuming small portions of food. Thus, plant food is more useful when compared to a diet including meat.
There is a saying that nothing beats the natural. These products are natural and are even relatively cheaper in comparison to meat products. A vegetarian diet endorses a healthier lifestyle and decreases the risk, defends from diseases, supplying the body with useful nutrients that you eat. To make sure that you take enough nutrient components such as amino acids, it is better to combine or mix various plant sources which contain these useful elements. Use such foods as peanut butter with tofu and bread to consume the most from useful food. You should treat your health with the utmost attention and value it a lot. So, stick to a vegetarian food as one of the best ways of being healthy and keeping a good slim body.
If you are a vegetarian, then you know how difficult it is sometimes to get vegetarian food. Though, the Internet offers many healthy vegetarian food recipes but, and this is very comfortable, one can take advantage of such an option as vegetarian food online shopping.
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