Beauty from inside out

THE minute you begin to take better care of yourself – developing and sticking to a regimen, becoming more discerning about what you put on your skin and a more sophisticated consumer you will not only look better, but feel better, too.

After all, a good appearance is part of good health – it’s a wellness concept!
As more women work toward achieving beauty from the inside out and focus on the importance of a healthy diet and exercise, we have changed our dependence on products that work only on the outside.
A generation or two ago, the beauty industry sold powders and paints to create the illusion of beauty. A spackling of make-up was intended to conceal and transform whatever wreckage was hidden below. Now, in the age of health and fitness, women prefer to reveal, not to conceal, the results of a healthy lifestyle.
Make-up is sheerer, lighter, and more streamlined than ever. No one has time for elaborate beauty rituals anymore. Any regime that is too complicated is doomed. 
Beauty products are only a small part of the beauty equation. Granted, using the right stuff and developing an informed approach to it can transform you into a more confident, more beautiful version of yourself. But more important than any particular product is the mind-set behind its use. Simplicity, elegance, self-confidence, common sense, and good health are the cornerstones of beauty.
Your health is the very best “beauty aid” you will ever have. Looking good depends on taking good care of your body … from the inside out. Moreover, your body will respond best to intelligent, gentle, and consistent care.
There are 10 steps to beauty that I highly recommend although it is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to nutrition; rather, it focuses on points directly related to healthy skin, hair and nails. Keep these basics in mind as you learn to achieve a glow from inside out.
Get into a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. Five daily servings of each is the recommended requirement. There’s no substitute for the vitamins and minerals in food, and you’ll give your body what it needs only if you’ll conscientious about eating healthy, unprocessed, non-junk food (although I am guilty at times with this as I do get to munch on those yummy “comfort foods” but a little won’t hurt every now and then).
Fruits and vegetable provide necessary substance called phyto-chemicals, which you can get from nutritional supplements. They lower cholesterol, flush out carcinogens, boost the immune system and reduce the effects of aging.
Take a high-quality multiple vitamin every day … not as a substitute for food, but as a supplement. Vitamin A stimulates healthy cell growth, Vitamin C helps oxygen flow to the skin, and Vitamin E helps fight acne. B Vitamins help in the production of collagen cells in the skin and are essential for healthy hair. Vitamin B2 helps prevent oily skin and strengthen nails. Biotin helps prevent scaly skin and dermatitis and helps the body process protein, which what your skin, hair and nails are made of. Minerals in Vitamins are also important. Like for instance, Zinc promotes health skin and hair, selenium preserves the elasticity of your skin. Our body needs to process all these nutrients through digestion. A moisturiser loaded with Vitamin C and gingko biloba may sound healthy but it will not make up for the nutritional deficiency. You can’t feed your skin on the outside what is missing on the inside.
Fat – in moderation – is a well-kept but invaluable beauty secret. Fat helps our body utilise protein. This isn’t to say that you should load yourself up on cholesterol-raising saturated animal fats. You shouldn’t, but your body does need unsaturated fats – from vegetable oils like olive, corn, safflower, or canola every day. These “good fats” keep hair soft and skin supple. So don’t deprive yourself of the vinaigrette on your salad – a tablespoon of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, a dab of Dijon mustard is definitely good for you!
Drink at least eight glasses of water daily. The best way to keep skin hydrated is to moisturise it from inside out. Please do remember that coffee, tea, soda, caffeine – enhanced water does not count. In fact, they will dehydrate the body – so make sure you drink lots and lots of water.
Exercise. Daily exercise will get your blood flowing and stimulate the oxygen flow to feed the skin. The minimum amount of exercise that is aerobic exercise necessary to maintain good health is 20 minutes, three times a week. Avoid taking very shallow, quick breaths; try to breathe deeply and from the diaphragm.
Don’t drink too much coffee, tea or alcohol. Enjoy your vices in moderation, but don’t overdo it. All three of these liquids are diuretics that dehydrate the body and sap it of Vitamin B, which help keeps nails hard, hair thick, and skin luminous. A deficiency of Vitamin B can result in dry, thin skin.
Don’t smoke. If you won’t quit for health reasons, maybe vanity will motivate you. Its been scientifically proven that smoking wreaks havoc on your skin, and nicotine stained teeth are hardly attractive. Smoking and drinking depletes the body of Vitamin B and damages the capillary walls, which deprives the skin of oxygen.
Smoking also stunts the growth of collagen, and loss of collagen can lead to wrinkle.
Use sun protection every day. All year round, rain or shine, and follow your skin care regimen. Conscientious use of sunscreen will prevent up to 90 per cent of the skin damage caused by ultraviolet rays.
Get your fair share of shut-eye. The term “beauty sleep” is no joke, and everyone needs it. Lack of sleep can dehydrate the skin and cause flaky patches, pale or ashy skin, brittle nails, and hair loss – not to mention puffiness around the eye area.
Laughter relaxes. Enjoy life. As the poet, William Blake wrote: “Exuberance is beauty.” Words to live by!
Finally, I have here a guide for each and everyone of you to read and be guided accordingly as to what type of Vitamins does what for you ... and of course its best food source if you do not want to get it from natural foods. It will tell you what it does internally for you the best food source to get this vitamin what it does topically how it’s labelled.
Vitamin A – necessary of normal growth, development and renewal of skin cells; keeps skin tissue, red blood cells, and immune system healthy; antioxidant. Found in egg yolks and other dairy products, fish oil, margarine and liver. Evens out skin tone, diminishes fine lines, enhances epidermal turnover, makes skin more elastic, used in prescription drugs to treat acne and psoriasis and may stimulate renewal of skin cells. Retinol, retinal acetate, retinyl proprionate, retinyl palmitate, also known as Retin-A or Renova.
Vitamin B – necessary for protein metabolism, building red blood cells, immune functions, and hormone synthesis. Poultry, fish, whole grains, dried beans, bananas, meat, dairy product, and leafy green vegetables. Regulates oil secretion and prevents extreme oiliness, decreases tendency toward blemishes, prevent scaly skin and dermatitis and may also aid in collagen formation. Biotin, niacin, and PABA.
Vitamin C – necessary for collagen production, not synthesised by body and needs to be provided by food and neutralises free radicals. Citrus fruits, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, fortifies cereals, berries, melon, peppers and potatoes. Helps heal tissue scar, cuts, and bruises, protects against UVA/ UVB rays and may stimulate collagen production. L-ascorbic acid, magnesium ascorbyl, ascorbyl palmitate, and phosphate.
Vitamin D – necessary for development of skin cells and promotes calcium absorption. Egg yolks, salmon, liver, herring, and fortified milk. Moisturisers and conditions skin, may encourage normal tissue development, used in over-the-counter medications to treat eczema, dry skin, and diaper rash and used in prescription drugs to treat psoriasis. Labelled as ergocalciferol.
Vitamin E – necessary for growth of healthy tissue and an extremely stable antioxidant. Wheat germ, nuts, vegetable oil, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains. Conditions and moisturisers skin, inhibits free radical damage, helps heal burns, inflammation, cuts, and irritation. May minimise formation of scars, protects against UV damage, improves skin tone, and enhances moisture retention. Tocopheryl linoleate, tocopheryl acetate, alpha tocopheryl, and alpha tocopherol.
Vitamin F – an essential fatty acid that is a building block of the surface skin. Flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, black currants, safflower oil, borage seed oil, and linolenic acid. Helps maintain barrier function of the skin and treatment for acne and it does moisturise the skin. Lineolic acid is how it is labelled.
Vitamin K – helps promote blood clotting and you find it in green leafy vegetables. It reduces bleeding, may help relieve dark circles under eyes, treats actinic purpura in aged skin, and may help broken capillaries fade. It is labelled as it is – Vitamin K.