Bad Foods vs. Good Foods: Find the Balance

Below you will find some good reasons to cut back on empty foods, along with some alternative options that are healthy and packed with nutrients. Remember that foods are endless, so if one replacement doesn't suit you, don't get discouraged. Once you make one good choice about your diet, you'll make another, and another, and another. It's that easy!

Bad Carbohydrates: carbohydrates that are bad are comprised of refined, simple sugars. These include wheat products, anything with sugar, and processed flours. Examples of bad carbohydrates include pastries, cookies, sweets, and some cereals (such as cornflakes or rice crispies). Because most of these flours and sugars are refined, they are stripped of most nutrients. As a result, food manufacturers incorporate supplemental vitamins and minerals that are not readily absorbed as naturally occurring nutrients are in the body.

Good Carbohydrates: carbohydrates are present almost everywhere. Fortunately, with the enormous variety of carbohydrates that exist, we can still make healthy choices while satisfying our cravings. To curb your carbohydrate cravings, go for fruits and vegetables, whole wheat or grain breads, and cereals and brown rice.

Bad Vegetables: veggies are not only delicious; they are easy on the digestive system and packed with tissue enhancing nutrients. Nevertheless, many people forget that in the process of cooking our vegetables, vitamins and minerals and weakened. If vegetables are boiled for a long period of time, all nutrients can be lost in the boiling liquid, making vegetables just as empty as fast foods.

Good Vegetables: To make the most of your vegetable intake, try to consume as many veggies as possible in their raw state. Instead of making white grain pasta with broccoli, try a cold pasta salad with whole-wheat noodles, asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, and quinoa for a fully balanced meal. Dress with a natural, pure oil such as olive oil and incorporate some acid (lemon, lime juice, or vinegar) to ease digestion and supply vitamin C.

Natural Cures for Acne

Baking Soda
What it Does: baking soda is found in any supermarket and most drugstores. It is a powerful cleaner, antiseptic, and also - amazingly - used for baking cakes, muffins, and other goodies. When used on the skin, baking soda acts not only as a bacterial-inhibitor, but as an exfoliant. It gently sloughs away dead skin cells, which accumulate within and around follicles that later cause a plug.

Application: to apply baking soda as an exfoliant, mix about a tablespoon with a small amount of water to make a spreadable paste. Apply to your face gently, without pressing, in circular
motion. Baking soda is composed of millions of granules - the ones responsible for the scrubbing effects of its use.

Because of this, make sure to very gently massage the paste onto your skin for just 10-20 seconds to avoid ruptures and extreme dehydration. Rinse off with warm water and pat skin dry.

Tea Tree Oil
What it Does: tea tree oil is yet another one of nature's powerful antiseptics. It kills acne-causing bacteria and inhibits their propagation. Tea tree oil can be hard to find in some places, so if you're having trouble, try a health food store or smaller scale pharmacies. They are sure to carry it.

Application: tea tree oil can be used both as a spot treatment and an all-face application. For spot treatments, the oil is to be applied undiluted on the affected area using a q-tip. For whole face use, dilute the oil with another beneficial oil such as jojoba oil. The mixed solution in this case ought to be mainly jojoba oil, as tea tree oil is not only extremely powerful, its smell is strong and pungent like that of eucalyptus.

Controlling Dry Skin

Dry skin is a prominent aspect of acne and acne treatments. Whether you are breaking out because of your skin being dry or you are flaking in response to a treatment, controlling the moisture in your skin should be a priority.

Dry skin is characterized by having discolorations and uneven tone. Fine lines are accentuated and wrinkles become more visible when the skin lacks moisture. With dry skin, the elasticity of the skin is restricted and increases our proneness to follicle ruptures and lesions.

In response to a dry skin type, some people break out as their oil glands attempt to compensate by secreting higher quantities of sebum.

Acne treatments work by inhibiting oil glands in the skin and controlling the amount of sebum that is secreted into the follicle. Because of this, and especially during the first stages of a treatment where we are first responding to the medications applied, dry skin can be a major hit to how we perceive the treatment's effectiveness.

But fear not. Even though dry skin is unavoidable when treating acne, it generally subsides after the first month or two of treatment, when retained dead skin cells have been shed.

In the meantime, you can minimize dryness and soothe your skin in several ways:

(a) Drink plenty of water:
Like exercise, drinking enough water is essential to having a healthy lifestyle. Also, when suffering from acne, drinking water becomes particularly important. Drink at least two liters of water per day to flush away toxins, ease nutrient transport/absorption, and moisturize your skin. Since water is a transporting medium, drinking enough water will also accelerate tissue healing and body resilience.

(b) Use light-bodied but powerful moisturizers:
If you are using a lightweight face moisturizer, you can try switching to "all day moisture" humectants or to light, non-comedogenic face creams for dry skin. As an alternative, you can add a few drops of jojoba oil into your face lotion to reinforce its moisturizing power.

(c) Don't over wash your skin:
Over washing will lead to dry skin no matter what. Gently wash your face a maximum of two times a day for 10-20 seconds. Use a non-soap, non-comedogenic gentle foaming wash to prevent irritability and pore plugs.