Natural Beauty from Nature Purity

Dear Reader,

I love Japanese cuisine and especially sushi and sashimi. However, I am really picky about the freshness and quality of  each dish. It all began when I was studying wild killer whales North of Vancouver 20 years ago. I was working with Dr Paul Spong in his Orcalab on a desert island in the Johnstone Straight in BC. Often, fishermen friends were bringing us fresh king salmon and the Japanese team members were preparing the most amazing sashimis I’ve ever had. But today, far from the Pacific Ocean and BC, I have found a delicious and ultra fresh Japanese food restaurant in NJ right by my husband’s Aikido dojo. For those of you who aren’t too far from NYC, I would recommend it: Sakura. There, they serve you lunch and diner with a very tasty green tea. THe cups themselves are funny, because they give you 10 ways to good health. These ways are so true and wise that I thought I ought to share them with you. So here they are:

Less alcohol, more tea
Less meat, more vegetables
Less salt, more vinegar
Less sugar, more fruits
Less words, more action
Less greed, more giving
Less worry, more sleep
Less driving, more walking
Less anger, more laughter

Follow these 10 ways and you will see amazing results in your life, health and beauty. They are easy to remember and doable with a tiny bit of motivation.

Enjoy!

Dear Reader,

Between 10 and 20 percent of kids have a type of eczema called Atopic Dermatitis (AD) which is characterized by areas of severe itching, redness and scaling. AD is one of the first signs of allergy in infancy. For about half of the kids,  AD disappears between 5 and 15 years of age. Meanwhile, it’s very painful and it can even prevent kids from sleeping (and guarantees an awful night for you too!). The conventional treatment includes hydrocortisone or antihistamine ointments, changes of lifestyle and sometimes the physician will also prescribe UV light therapy. This is only because physicians do not know about Shea butter and its powerful skin healing properties. But what if there was something simple and easy you could do to protect your kids form eczema?

Your kids’ health starts in the kitchen

This is what a new study from Korea has shown in the latest issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They observed the dietary intakes of 180 5 years old with AD and 242 5 years old without AD. They found out that kids with the highest dietary intakes of fat soluble vitamins like  A and E, plus biotin and iron had up to 67% less risk to be plagued with AD. So it makes protecting your kids from eczema very easy: give them the most diverse and healthy diet with fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts. Not only it’s good for preventing AD, but also for their overall health, growth and happiness!

Vitamins within and without

The authors of this new study proposed that it might be the antioxidant properties of the vitamins that protect the kids from AD. They mention the fact that environmental pollution and sunlight cause the oxidative damage of the skin, therefore triggering inflammation leading to allergies and eczema. Vitamins can be taken internally with foods and supplements, but they can also be applied directly on the skin. This is why Shea butter, Wild Musk Rose oil and Argan oil are so soothing and healing: they bring lots of powerful vitamins and anti-inflammatory essential fatty acids to the skin. This way, the skin is protected from the damages of pollution and sunlight AND from inflammation which could trigger eczema.

The anti-AD solution for kids

Moisturizing your kids after a bath or shower with Shea butter body lotion is a very good and wise idea. However, you have to make sure that there’s enough Shea butter in there and that it’s organic. A Shea butter that has been extracted with chemicals is totally useless. Nature Purity has a wonderful organic Shea butter body lotion: it’s good for the whole family and it’s a real treat during the cold season!

Have fun and take good care.

Dear Reader,

The really cold weather has been hitting hard this month and no doubt you’ve heard the news of storms raging here and there, blocking traffic and cutting power lines, leaving tens of  thousand of people in dire conditions. Winter is a tough season and the cold weather is not only making our life more difficult: it’s a threat for our skin.

The other worst enemy of your skin

Everyone knows that the sun is the biggest enemy of your skin, as far as damage and aging. It’s all over the news, TV, the Internet and doctors’ offices. But who knows that the cold season is the second worst enemy of your skin and can cost you lots of skin damages, fine lines, wrinkles and- worse, sagging? Forget about blizzard warnings, the other danger of the cold season comes from the drying conditions it brings in. This is because cold air, which holds less moisture than warm air, and low humidity and central heating, make the already dry air even drier both indoor and outdoor. As you get older, or if you have sensitive or dry skin, your skin becomes more vulnerable to the cold weather damages like rough, flaky or cracked skin. However, preventing lips cracks, flakiness, itchiness and aging is very easy and simple: OVERMOISTURIZE!

Keep it hydrated and nourished

Because most people think that their moisturizer is good for all seasons, they are not adapting to the cold weather and leave their skin vulnerable to its damages. The solution to remedy this problem is very simple: you need a richer and more powerful moisturizer. You could run to your local pharmacy and butter yourself up with Vaseline or Eucerin or even Aveeno products, but I wouldn’t recommend that: too many chemicals in there and bad ones on top of that!

Shea butter: say goodbye to dry!

Shea butter is one of Nature’s wonders, but it is a special one. Shea butter is extracted from the nuts of the Shea tree (Butyrospermum parkii), which grows in the savannah of Western Africa. What makes Shea butter an extraordinary skin care and an amazing body healer is its richness in precious constituents, which include unsaturated fats with a large proportion of “unsaponifiables” components, essential fatty acids, phytosterols, vitamin E and D, provitamin A and allantoin. All these are natural and make Shea butter a superfood for your skin. You can use it on your face, lips, body, hands, feet: just about everywhere! It can be used pure, raw and organic or mixed with other moisturizing ingredients in facial creams and body lotions.

Lip anti-aging care

Because your lips are the most sensitive part of your face, they are also prone to aging and wrinkles. Instead of reaching for your usual lip gloss or lipstick, it is a good idea to use pure Shea butter on your lips to protect them from aging and cracking. It’s natural, it’s pure and it’s richly moisturizing and healing.

Keep yourself warm and enjoy the snow!

Dear Reader,

Vitamin C has been acclaimed as a multitask powerful antioxidant and vitamin. Its study earned Dr Linus Pauling a Nobel price. Vitamin C is required for the synthesis of collagen, an important structural component of skin, blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and bone. Vitamin C also plays an important role in the synthesis of mood-balancing brain molecules as well as cholesterol and fat metabolism. But more than that, according to a recent scientific study, Vitamin C can help wound healing and DNA repair in the skin. In plain words, it means that Vitamin C is crucial to help the healing of wounds AND lighter skin damages such as those triggered by sun, weather and pollution which eventually lead to aging. Not only that, but this precious little vitamin is also here to help your DNA repair itself properly when it has been damaged by free radicals, pollution, sun exposure or radiation; thereby preventing cancerous mutations to create a skin cancer! Who could ask for more?

Your new anti-aging ally
Yes, you should think about Vitamin C, not only when you have a cold or flu, but also as your anti-aging ally. However, don’t rush to do a Vitamin C mask yet because there’s a slight problem. Vitamin C is water soluble and does not dissolve in oil. This is a major issue as your skin is naturally oily and will not let Vitamin C penetrate. The solution is trivial: take it internally! Either take good quality Vitamin C supplement or just hike up your intake of Vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables.

Where to find Vitamin C naturally?
- Papaya
- Red bell peppers
- Lemon
- Parsley
- Black currant
- Broccoli
- Brussel sprouts
- Strawberries
- Oranges
- Grapefruits
- Cantaloupe
- Kiwi
- Cauliflower
- Kale

To make sure that these Vitamin C rich foods do not lose their content, eat them fresh and raw or just lightly steamed or woked.

Some common drugs deplete your body of Vitamin C
Certain types of drugs that can diminish the body’s supply of vitamin C like oral contraceptives (birth control pills), NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin), corticosteroids (like cortisone), sulfa drugs (often used as antibiotics or in cancer treatment), and barbiturates. Smoking depletes your body of Vitamin C the exact same way. So make sure that you take enough to compensate for the loss if you take any of these medications.

No cream, even the ultra expensive La Prairie facial moisturizer at $660/oz, can replace the power of a healthy diet full of vitamins and antioxidants in anti-aging skin care. Think about it: act holistically, it’s better and far more efficient.

Stay warm and drink Lemon tea!

Dear Reader,

The new year resolution #1 is the popular “I want to lose weight”. In a society where more than half of the population is overweight, and threatened with terrible and potentially fatal diseases like diabetes, heart failure and stroke, losing weight isn’t only a matter of looking good and sexy, but a matter of health and survival. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people will die from diseases associated with diabetes and obesity by 2015. Today, the total American population is estimated to be 308 millions. This means that by 2015 the equivalent of the entire American population is going to die from diseases associated with diabetes and obesity. When people think about losing weight, they turn to the latest (and of course, very promising) diet magic recipe, and to physical exercise. Everyone knows the recipe to lose weight, it’s all over the news, the bookstores, the internet, the radio etc… It’s just everywhere, so why aren’t people able either to lose weight or to keep at their normal weight after the diet program is over? Are people that lazy? Or is it something else?…

The solution to avoid becoming (or remaining) Homo Obesicus

While some people are hopelessly lazy, I do not think that it’s the majority of the population. We are not a society of 100% couch potatoes. There is something else that is preventing people from losing weight and/or keeping at their ideal weight. This something else happens to have been revealed in a scientific article this month. We, at Nature Purity, have been advocating this crucial part of health and beauty routine for many years, like in our Why organic? and Cosmetics and obesity and other articles in our Holistic Self-care section, because we know that health and beauty are totally connected. So what is this crucial piece of information that the great majority of people have been missing and overlooking? P.O.L.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Pollution makes you fat

Yes, you read it right: pollution makes you fat, and not in a small and insignificant way. A recent study by groups of scientists in Europe shows that persistent organic pollutants (POPs, like pesticides, herbicides, PCBs, BPA and dioxin), at levels found in food, cause insulin resistance (the 1st step in diabetes) associated with obesity and liver disease in animals. Here is the detail of what they did (the scientists, not the rats): they fed rats for 4 weeks with either crude (group 1) or refined (group 2) fish oil from Atlantic salmon carcasses. The crude fish oil contained the levels of POPs that people are typically exposed to after eating the fish. The refined fish oil did not contain any POPs and was fed to the control rat group. While the group 2 was perfectly fine, the group 1 (exposed to POPs) put on belly fat and developed insulin resistance (diabetes). They had higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. A further analysis of the fat tissue and liver of the sick rats showed that they stored POPs (especially PCBs and pesticides) in these tissue and organs.

To make a long story short, people’s bodies produce fat to store pollutants because the human (or animal) body is not equipped to detoxifies the amount of pollutants it is exposed to today.

Detox is more crucial than you thought

As you can imagine, if you want to lose weight, even if you follow the perfect diet and exercise enough, you will not be able either to reach your ideal weight or to keep at that weight, unless you do proper detoxification. You need to help your body get rid of the pollutants and toxic chemicals that have accumulated inside. The best way to achieve a good detox is by using green clay and herbal extracts. Nature Purity is going to offer new herbal solutions for detox, beauty and wellness very soon. So watch for the launch of these organic herbal products!

By the way, disregarding the information I’ve just shared with you equals to putting your head in the sand.

Please take good care of yourself

Enjoy the day and get ready for the big detox party in the Spring!

Dear Reader,

I know America loves sodas and Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola are icons of the American culture. After all, we all have our vices. However, it may be time to reconsider this love story, for the sake of your health and beauty. Here is the little dirty story of sodas, regular or diet… Cheers!

Soda fountains or mucky juice?

A recent study by scientists from the department of biology in Virginia Western Community College has recently identified fecal matter bacteria and other pathogenic microbes in soda fountains, both from self-service or personnel-dispensed machines. Almost half of the sugar sodas, diet sodas and even water from the soda fountains were contaminated with bacteria that should not be there and are not allowed by the EPA. To make things worse, most of the bacteria strains found were resistant to one or more of the 11 different antibiotic used during the test.

Where does the muck come from?

It is true that these soda fountains are the perfect niche for these filthy microbes because it’s got the moisture and the sugar. But where are they coming from? Bacteriologists experts suggest that this disgusting contamination  may have to do with the way people touch the dispensing nozzle. Since bacteria can multiply every 10-15 minutes, it doesn’t take long to create a problem if someone with dirty hands has touched the machine. It doesn’t take much to have dirty hands: just go to the bathroom and don’t wash your hands. Yew!

Sodas are made with polluted water

There are a few scandals going on with Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola in India and other parts of the world. First, people discovered that their sodas contained pesticides (and if it’s true in India, what makes you think that the US version is better?). Second, Coca Cola was found to release heavily toxic sludge (with toxic heavy metals) from its bottling plants in India and even offering this toxic sludge as free fertilizer for the local farmers. Third, Coca Cola has seen its license to operate its bottling plants in India revoked as there was a growing concern among the population that the 52 plants were pumping so much ground water that they were creating a drought. Even if you just decide to go for brand water, the Coca Cola Dasani water was revealed to be simple tap water in the UK.

Sugar or diet, the poisonous side of sodas

In many blogs and articles, I have recommended to suppress or at least greatly limit drinking sodas for the sake of beauty and health. The main concern was the amount of refined sugar or toxic zero calorie sugar alternative in each glass. If everyone by now knows that sugar is bad for you because of its effect on insulin, obesity and diabetes. But few people know that it’s bad for your skin too as it triggers aging. However, diet sugar substitutes are even worse as they are even more toxic than refined sugar for your health and beauty because of its damaging effects on the liver and brain. And more is being revealed as more toxicology studies are being done on the diet sugars.

Do you have episodes of upset stomach? Blame your addiction to sodas!

Millions of Americans have episodes of upset stomach, does this include you? Sometimes it’s the foods that can make you sick. But maybe sometimes it’s not a digestion problem, but rather a low form of food (or rather soda) poisoning from your last sip of soda? The problem is that if your immune system is low, then these bad bacteria may colonize your  digestive tract and create a disbalance right there. Whether you are aware of it or not, the radiance and youthfulness of your skin, the beauty of your hair all stem from your digestive system. That is why I recommend to do clay detox regularly to help you body get rid of the body burden you’ve accumulated AND the poisonous bacteria, yeasts and viruses in your digestive system that you have collected from various sources including this nice looking soda fountain at the service station or fast food you’ve used recently. Clay is a wonderful natural remedy for wide spectrum detox, including bad bugs!

Next: the threat of antibiotic resistant bugs

You may think that it’s very simple to solve this contamination problem as we just have to use antibiotics. In a future blog and article I will address the issue of antibiotic resistant bugs and you will see that your idea is not the best one on the long run, far from that.

I hope you now see that sodas are not the best beverage option for you. Unless you don’t mind drinking mucky juices and adding a few wrinkles on your face every time you do it.

Enjoy!