How Holiday Overeating Can Damage Your Skin

This time of year gives us so much to remember: family memories, decked-out décor, and eggnog-induced hilarity. But when it comes to those heavy, fatty, and sugary meals, it’s not just our brains that remember...our skin does, too.

When we flood our cells with excess sugar, metabolic byproducts called advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) can form. An AGE called glucosepane is believed to contribute to toughened, hardened collagen, which causes skin to be less flexible and supple as we age.

The best protection against excess glucosepane is to regularly consume small amounts of foods with a low glycemic index, like whole grains, leafy greens, and other fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. However, when Grandma is hovering over you, begging you to take seconds (or thirds) of her famous cornbread, it’s hard to say no. Here are a few ways to minimize the damage.

1. Slow-Cook Your Meals
Slow-cooked meals are prepared at lower temperatures than those from a stove or microwave.  Lower temps result in less sugar released, so your body doesn’t produce as many AGEs during digestion.

What’s more, in a 2006 study by the American Botanical Council, vegetables were found to retain 80% of their raw antioxidant capacity when steamed, but just 30% when boiled, on average. So less cooking = more antioxidant protection and fewer AGEs—and a younger-looking you!

2. Avoid Sugary Glazes
Corn or maple syrup glazes contain high levels of sugar, which in turn increases blood sugar levels. Logically, the more blood sugar you have, the more sugar molecules you have forming AGEs.

3. Avoid White Bread and Pasta
According to an article by the Harvard School of Public Health, foods with a high glycemic index (like white bread) cause rapid spikes in blood sugar, while foods with a low glycemic index (like whole oats) are digested more slowly, causing a lower and gentler change in blood sugar.

4. Increase Antioxidant Levels with Colorful Veggies
Antioxidants combat free radical formation and even help to correct some already-produced damage to the skin. In the previously mentioned 2006 study, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) scores of twenty-seven vegetables were compared, and artichokes, beetroot, cabbage, broccoli, red chicory, red chili, and yellow pepper had the highest scores, thus the highest antioxidant potential.

5. Pile on the Herbs and Spices
Out of fifteen featured herbs and six spices tested, garden sage, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, cumin, lemon balm, and fresh ginger were found to have the highest ORAC scores. What’s more, salad dressings containing as little as 1.5 percent lemon balm or marjoram were found to increase antioxidant capacity by 150 percent and 200 percent, respectively. What a way to make a super-healthy dish even more beneficial!

6. Drink Green Tea
Green tea has been found to provide many beneficial effects for the skin, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and photoprotective properties. Although a study in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics green tea’s real anti-AGE superpower is in the heart, drinking green tea has still been proven in numerous independent scientific studies to be highly beneficial for your skin.

7. Drink Red Wine—But Just a Little
There is proof that red wine, grapes, plums, peanuts, and other plant products containing resveratrol may promote the activity of sirtuins, agents that are currently suspected to prolong the life of collagen-producing cells. However, the amount of resveratrol necessary to provide anti-aging effects hasn’t been pinpointed, and too much alcohol causes inflammation and dilates capillaries, so stick to one glass per day.

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22179/121119-holiday-overeating-damage-skin#ixzz1h7kkXKB4

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Could Red Wine & Green Tea Slow Prostate Cancer?

This discovery could really begin to lead to major natural advances in the treatment of prostate cancer. While naturalistic researchers have touted the use of red wine and green tea for years as a way to slow the growth or stop altogether prostate cancer scientists now understand completely why polyphenols in red wine and green tea block cancer growth. This timely discovery, was published online in The FASEB Journal, and breaks down exactly how antioxidants in red wine and green tea combine and in effect are able to then disrupt an important cell signaling pathway that prostate cancer cells need to multiply. Why this find is so significant is that it could surely lead to the development of drugs that could stop or slow cancer growth. It could also be used as a catalyst for bettering treatments that are currently available.

The extent of this discovery goes beyond the confines of prostate cancer too. This same prohibiting effect could help aid in the slowing of colon cancer, breast cancer and gastric cancers”. It should be noted that even if further studies show that red wine and green teas is not as effective as scientist first hope, it is a great step in the right direction for an end cure.

Researchers are astounded by the power of these antioxidants and are stating that this knowledge was more than anyone could have ever dreamt 25 years ago. Of course, this is coming from the scientific community. As for those that believe in the power of natural preventative measures, these beliefs and answers have been around for more than 25 years.

It would be a wonderful thing if the those that believe in natural cures and preventatives could work alongside the medical community. This truly could bring about the amazing results we need.

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The French Paradox and the Health Benefits of Red Wine

By Muna wa Wanjiru

November 17, 1991. What was so special about this day then? Well, it was the day that the TV documentary program, “60 minutes” aired its program called “The French Paradox”.

This was the day that the world first learned of the health benefits of red wine. And to say that the program was watched is an understatement.

Within weeks of the program airing, sales of red wine jumped through the roof, and national sales for the following year rose a staggering 39%.

America had discovered what the French had known all along, that red wine in moderation everyday can help in the fight against heart disease. And this was the French paradox. The sedentary life styles of most of the French people coupled with their high fat diets, should ideally have led them to suffer from heart attacks and indeed France should have had a higher heart attack rate.

But the truth was that this just wasn’t the case. And the most likely culprit for such a low incidence rate of heart attacks was most likely the daily – moderate – consumption of red wines. Since at least one glass of wine is taken with just about every meal, there is a very real chance that the French paradox is true.

Don’t rush out and buy the nearest bottle of red wine though. Too much of anything is bad for you and the same holds true for red wines. Moderation is the key here, and unfortunately probably one of the most difficult things to practice when hanging around wine.

Moderation however, also tends to depend on where you’re living. In the America for instance, moderation for a woman is hailed as one glass for women, and one to two glasses for men. And maybe less if you’re planning on driving. In Europe and the United Kingdom however, moderation has a different meaning, with between two to three glasses of wine for a woman, and three to four glasses for a man.

The reasons for the French paradox to work, go along the lines that it can help blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It’s also been known to fight heart disease and certain types of cancer. Not everyone accepts that red wine in moderation every day has health benefits, and if you’re in doubt you should certainly consult your doctor, but other than that it surely can’t hurt too much, right?

Red wines have a number of different antioxidants in them that help towards preventing disease and protecting you against adverse ill-health conditions. So maybe just like an apple a day will keep the doctor away, a glass of red wine a day will also help protect you.

About the Author:

Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on the french paradox, visit his site at The French Paradox

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/the-french-paradox-and-the-health-benefits-of-red-wine-302769.html

photo credit: polifemus

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