Womens Health: Articles: Reviews: Supplements

BEAUTY STARTS FROM WITHIN

If you are trying to look after your body while carrying out a stressful and action packed life, it is worth remembering that beauty is more than skin deep.

What is Beauty?
Beauty starts from the inside out
12 Guidelines for optimal health & beauty

BEAUTY STARTS FROM WITHIN

What is Beauty?

Beauty, as it relates to human beings, is much more than a physical characteristic. Our appearance is often a reflection of how well we are caring for ourselves at a physical and emotional level. Have you noticed that when you feel healthy, you glow and feel generally good about yourself and have more self confidence?

While we can nourish skin and hair through the use of cosmetic products, feeding the body properly from within is essential for proper physical well-being and for healthy skin, hair and nails. Failing to eat a balanced diet, take enough exercise or drink enough fluids quickly shows up in the appearance of our skin, the lustre of our hair and the strength of our nails: a poor diet low in essential nutrients can also affect your moods, mental performance, energy and libido. It is for this reason that anyone who wishes to care for their bodies and appearance should start with taking a close look at their diet: sorting out these aspects of your life will also pay dividends in your general appearance and sense of well-being.

Beauty starts from the inside out

There is unquestionably extremely good evidence for the importance of the diet as a means of ensuring optimal biological health. Whilst your whole diet and lifestyle is important (see 12 Guidelines for optimal health and beauty below) here we focus on some key nutritional components and supplements that can help you reach your beauty goals while staying healthy.

Dietary Sulphur

Dietary sulphur is vital for healthy keratin formation; a key component of skin, hair and nails. Sulphur is also a key structural part of many other proteins and amino acids which are needed for general health and well-being. Organically bound sulphur is also vital for natural collagen production: collagen is a key component of skin and connective tissues, and helps to give skin its elastic properties and retain moisture.

In our diets we get most sulphur from consuming fruit and vegetables where it is present in high concentrations as MSM or methyl sulphonyl methane. MSM is extremely water soluble, and so much of the MSM content of vegetables will be lost and leach out when vegetables or fruits are boiled or cooked in water. This is one reason why it is important to make sure your diet includes plenty of uncooked fruit and vegetables, and that you use steaming rather than boiling as a cooking method wherever possible. If you wish, MSM food supplements are available and can help you to increase your dietary organically bound sulphur intakes.

Essential Fatty Acids

We have to eat essential fatty acids in our diets for health, as our bodies cannot make them. Omega 3 and omega 6 are particularly important to keep your skin healthy, as well as being very important for your brain and mental function. We are still uncovering the roles of Omega 9, but we do know it is important to help your body metabolise and burn stored fats.

Omega 3 is mostly found in fish, but there are a few vegetable sources such as olives and some other seeds. Omega 6 is found in nuts and seed oils as well as meat.

If you don’t get enough of these nutrients and in the right balance your skin can become dry and flaky, as well as having wider health effects. In particular, omega 3 is essential to keep your heart healthy and to help your brain to work properly. If you choose to take a supplement for its effects on your skin, look for one that contains a balance of essential fatty acids.

Vitamins

Almost all vitamins are destroyed to some extent during cooking and heating, and these substances are vital for health and well-being as our bodies cannot make them: we must eat enough of these nutrients in our diets to stay healthy. Many different foods contain vitamins, but not all vitamins are contained in all foods – and it is for this reason that it is important to keep your diet balanced with a wide range of food types from many different sources.

B vitamins are almost all water soluble and are vital for a whole range of body and metabolic functions, including energy generation, cell division and repair. If you are not getting enough of these vitamins in the diet, the skin around the mouth and nose can become dry or develop sores as well as affecting your energy levels.

Vitamin D is also essential for good health generally (especially for keeping healthy bones later in life) but also to keep your skin healthy. We get some vitamin D from our diets, but most is made in our skin when we are exposed to the sun. While it is not a good idea to get sun burnt, the latest evidence is that we all need to get a good hour of sunshine exposure every day to stay healthy and happy! A lack of sunshine can make you feel low and depressed, and can also make your skin less healthy: so you need to get the balance right and get outside in the fresh air as much as possible. Most dietary Vitamin D is found in fish. Taking a supplement can also help to make sure you are getting optimal levels of this nutrient.

Minerals

There are a wide range of minerals that we need in our diets for our bodies to work properly. If you manage a healthy balanced and varied diet, then on the whole you will get enough minerals to stay healthy, but you may find it hard to eat enough for optimal health every day.

What is more, if you are dieting to get in shape, the chances are that you may become deficient in a several key minerals that will affect your health and well being. All of the minerals are important, but in particular calcium and magnesium will have a direct effect on your feelings of energy and the condition of your hair, skin and nails.

Magnesium: essential for energy levels, and nervous function. If you are dieting and cutting back on your food intake, you could become deficient. Lots of people in the UK (and especially women) are not eating enough of this mineral even from their normal diet, and this can make people feel low and stressed. Magnesium is the ‘spark plug’ of cells – without it the cells cannot burn carbohydrates to generate energy to power your metabolism.

Calcium: If you are watching your weight and cutting back on dairy foods it is easy to become deficient in this mineral, which will make nails weak and brittle. Calcium is also a vital mineral for your heart, your bones and to help your body release stored fats. Therefore, if your dieting or cutting back on your dairy intake, make sure you either find a calcium fortified food or take a supplement!

12 Guidelines for optimal health & beauty

Here are 12 key guidelines that have been shown, based on scientific evidence, to be beneficial for general health and well-being. Six of these relate to diet or nutrition, while six relate to other factors.

Diet

Fruit and vegetable consumption. Consume at least three portions of fresh fruit and four portions of vegetables per day (preferably organically produced), every day. Focus on ensuring that the choices of fruit and vegetable are diverse.

Carbohydrate consumption. Choose carbohydrates with a low/moderate glycaemic index i.e. focus on complex rather than simple carbohydrates (simple carbs are the type that are found in refined foods and complex ones are the type found in vegetables and starchy foods). Avoid simple carbohydrates such as refined cereals and sugar. Use a GI (glycaemic index) or GL (glycaemic load) table to inform choices – many foods are now including this information on their labels.

Fat consumption. Fats should be derived mainly from vegetables (e.g. monounsaturated oils such as cold-pressed virgin olive oil) and fish (e.g. cold water fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids).

Protein consumption. Proteins, if derived from meats, should be sourced from lean, preferably organic, meats. Alternatively there are numerous vegetarian sources e.g. legume vegetables, mushrooms, soya, etc.

Micronutrient supplementation. It is extremely difficult for most people to source optimum dosages of micronutrients from the diet alone. The most important supplements include a) a high quality vitamin and mineral supplement, b) an additional source of concentrated phytonutrients which has strong antioxidant effects, c) a high quality Omega-3 essential fatty acids source.

Consume organic or wild foods. Clearly this will depend on cost and availability, but choosing organic foods can help to ensure a low level of pesticide and other contamination. Fat containing foods (e.g. dairy, meats, fish, eggs), salad/root vegetables and fruits are often the most important in this regard.

Hydration

Water volume. The average adult should consume on approximately 2 litres/day, or more when exercising.

Water consumption frequency. Consume little and often, and do not exceed 500 ml/hour. Avoid consumption of water during meals if possible, to prevent dilution of enzymes and stomach acids required for proper digestion.

Water quality. Consume high quality water such as spring waters, or high quality filtered waters (e.g. reverse osmosis). Highly purified water can be ‘re-mineralised’ with known mineral sources and may also be ‘energised’.

Exercise

Exercise frequency and duration. 30-60 minutes of exercise, 3-5 times per week is recommended.

Exercise intensity. Of the above, 20 minutes/3 times per week should be of high intensity, according to age, fitness level, health condition.

Stress

Attitude and relaxation. There is an increasing body of evidence showing that cultivation of a positive attitude is one of the most important methods for overcoming stress. This can be assisted by setting and achieving goals. Relaxation (forms of which can be physically active or inactive) should be built in to daily/weekly routines.