Monday, October 4, 2010

How to detox with simple massage technique.

ADOPTING A wellness regimen starts with one’s state of mind plus some basic info guide.

Metabolism

The more you eat, the more food-sourced energy is stored in the body waiting to be burned. The more you exercise, the faster the stored fat/sugar is burned. Therefore, no exercise > weight gain. Exercise > weight loss.

Heathy food

Kelp, a special kind of seaweed provides the body with sufficient quantities of iodine. This keeps the metabolic rate balanced. Iodine is a metabolic balancer effective for detox.

Multivitamins ensure supply of essential nutrients which keep the cells in top condition.

L-Carnitine, a potential life extender provides the heart and skeletal cells with energy. For heart health, it is a must. By converting stored body fat into energy, it is heralded as the ultimate diet pill for it speeds up metabolism. But it may cause the body to have fishy odor due to the breakdown of carnitine in the stomach by natural bacteria. Dosage—two 500 mg daily more than 1 g.

Green tea, a naturally high caffeine source, boosts the immune system and the body’s fat-burning capacity.

Detox at home

Touch therapy is effective especially when done daily. Self-massage with special techniques can stimulate the lymphatic system to do its job efficiently—expelling toxins.

Face and neck—Press your finger pads firmly on your face. Make a circular motion upwards from chin to forehead. Continue the strokes down the neck and chest.

Shoulder and arm—Using your hand, make long, firm strokes towards the shoulder. This pushes the blood toward the top of the arm.

Hand and wrist—Place the thumb of left hand on the knuckle of right thumb. Firmly stroke it toward the wrist. Do the same on your left hand.

Stomach and chest—Place hands flatly on your stomach while massaging in large circles the entire torso. Right hand goes counter clockwise, left hand clockwise.

Lower back and spine— Stand with legs at shoulder width distance. Put hands on the hips with fingers in front and thumbs on the back. Press firmly into the spine and lower back.

Thigh and buttocks—Sit down, legs supported by edge of the bed or chair. With your flat hands, work in firm circles over the buttocks and thigh areas. Stop when skin becomes pinkish. Always maintain firm pressure.

Green is best

The deeper the food’s green color, the higher the chlorophyll content. If vegetables are not your thing, mix pure liquid chlorophyll in a glass of water to cleanse your blood. Call Synergy’s Kata at 0918-9335404 (US-based health company).

Beauty regimen

In a tub of warm water, mix three long stems of fresh lemon grass (tanglad), ¼ c of basil leaves. Soak yourself for seven minutes. This will detox your skin, leaving it revitalized.

Affirm today: “Nothing and no one can disturb my inner peace.”

Love and light!

Reference: Detox Yourself by Jane Scrivner

Drinking a pint of beer daily helps stabilize the immune system


THERE ARE many approaches to wellness. Here are some of them.

For vegans

Do you know that vegans (who don’t eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products) become deficient in Vitamin B12 within five years of strict diet? Deficiency in B12 causes pernicious anemia and cell deterioration. Symptoms include: burning tongue, depression, fatigue, stomach pains. Natural sources: liver, nuts, meat. Supplements: B12 capsules, 6 mcg

Skin rescuer

Sun worshippers, take note. If applied within eight hours of sun exposure, Vitamin E can prevent skin damage. Because it also increases your sensitivity to ultraviolet rays, it should be used after and not before exposure. An oral supplement speeds up skin healing because of its anti-inflammatory effect. Natural sources: spinach, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Supplements: 400 IU (d-alpha tocopherol)

Easy breathing

There are two major components of asthma: noisy, wheezing feeling and quiet inflammation. Health counseling includes isolation from animal hair, removal of carpets, avoidance of cigarettes/ smoky places, abstinence from chocolates, peanuts, chicken and shellfish. Magnesium has relaxing properties that help the heart. Its prostacyclins reduce inflammation and stabilize the immune system. Natural sources: 1 pint of beer daily (would you believe?) Supplements: 400 mg magnesium daily or intravenously for severe asthma attacks. This relaxes the muscles around blood vessels and lungs.

SWAT team

There is a combination of vitamins and minerals that can form a SWAT team to defend your cells from free radical damage caused by bacteria and viruses called ACES (Vitamin A in natural form or betacarotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and mineral selenium). This elite team will prevent your body from being held hostage by disease-carrying invaders. Damage from free radicals is a major factor in all diseases. To boost resistance and stamina, an antioxidant supplement is recommended bydoctors. While there is a question about dosage, the recommended consumption is 500 mg Vitamin C, 25,000 iu beta carotene, 400 iu Vitamin E, 50 mg selenium.

Virus defense

A single virus cell can multiply rapidly up to 100,000 if you don’t keep your hands clean. Imagine door knobs, elevator buttons, toilets and telephones in public places that are breeding grounds for virus. Even shaking hands can be risky—just as every sneeze and coughs are cold transporters. So be careful when you scratch your nose or touch your face, you could be in danger of succumbing to fall-shaped organisms called rhinoviruses. They are so small that 15,000 could cram themselves in the space between the two words in this column. What to do: Load up on Vitamin C up to 3,000mg daily. Because it’s water-soluble, there’s no danger of toxicity. Drink plenty of fluids. Moist mucus lining on the throat can trap viruses more easily. Spice up your foods with chili and curry that ensure a regular flow of mucus and decongestion.

Bathroom ritual

Mix in a basin cool water, one drop of peppermint oil (if none, use ¼ c fresh mint leaves). Use this as face and body splash. Feel invigorated.

Affirm today: “My will is unbreakable, my strength is unlimited.”

Love and light!

E-mail the author at coryquirino@hotmail.com.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Beauty line is fruit-juice based

By Ronna Capili

GALLERY

1 2 3 4


Not everything marked ‘organic’ is so. Juice Beauty’s Alaina Thompson spills insider secrets
WITH THE GREEN lifestyle’s increased popularity, it’s quite a surprise that there is only one law that regulates organic beauty products, the California Organic Product Act, which requires at least 70 percent organic content.

Despite the growing trend, which has made going green or being environmental the latest trend in lifestyle changes, Juice Beauty’s Global Marketing and Sales Manager Alaina Thompson reveals, organic beauty products are not tightly regulated.

“When someone calls a product ‘organic,’ most people believe it, and you would like to think that you could believe it; but unfortunately, it’s not always that authentic,” says Thompson.

Juice Beauty, an organic beauty solutions brand available at Beauty Bar, was founded in 2004 by Karen Behnke, who was looking for healthy personal care products when she first became pregnant at 40.

A wellness business entrepreneur of 25 years, Behnke was always advocating healthy diet and lifestyle and only realized during her pregnancy that she overlooked beauty products. She was shocked at what she had been applying on her face for years.

With director of Product Development, Melissa Jochim, who’s had 20 years of experience with organic formulations, Juice Beauty pioneered the juice-based beauty products. Most products usewater as main ingredient, but Juice Beauty, as the name suggests, harnesses the natural yet potent power of juices to bring out beautiful, healthy skin.
For anti-aging concerns, for example, Juice Beauty uses green apple’s antioxidant properties for a skincare line that includes a cleanser, peel, hydration mask, moisturizer and serum. Other juices like lemon, grape, raspberry, are used and combined for other products to achieve the desired skin results.

85-percent organic

Though the California Organic Product Act only requires 70 percent organic content, Juice Beauty’s products range from an 85-98 percent organic content. Thompson defines organic— “There’s no toxins, pesticides and no chemicals in all the ingredients used.”

There are also no parabens, petroleum and synthetic fragrances. “All the colors and fragrances come from the fruit juices,” she says, and all ingredients are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

To preserve the beauty formulas, Juice Beauty uses only food grade preservatives, such as sodium sorbate and grape alcohol, and has created packaging to help in the process.

Each product has a two-year shelf life, just like any other beauty buy available today.

Does organic skincare really work? Third-party clinical validation in France has shown that the Green Apple Skincare collection, which uses age-defying ingredients such as alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, DMAE, peptides, fat soluble Vitamin C and essential fatty acids has shown an 85-percent reduction in free radical skin cell damage, meaning less wrinkles and sun spots.

The Green Apple Antioxidant Moisturizer, Thompson says, “has shown 68-percent reduction in free radical skin cell damage, which is the sign of aging, and that’s only after wearing it for a three-hour time period.”

Kate Hudson

Thompson, who has been with the company for three years, says she was also shocked at all the chemicals she’d been applying on her face before making the big switch. “I threw them all away!” she says.

One of Juice Beauty’s biggest celebrity fans, Kate Hudson, made a similar move after discovering the Green Apple Peel. She asked Behnke to help her sort through her cosmetics, then switched to Juice Beauty.

Thompson suggests that one tries a new skincare regimen for a month before switching to it completely. “If you want to really see a difference, you need to stick to it for at least 30 days, unless you’re experiencing an allergic reaction, for your skin to purge. Because sometimes that might have to happen; your skin might be clearing of all these toxins of other products,” she says.

Thompson suggests starting with the Juice Beauty Cleansing Gel (“great for the warm weather and oily skin”), with antioxidant-rich cherry and lemon juices, to deep clean skin. “Since it doesn’t have artificial sudsers, it won’t give you that foam. You just need one pump, rub it in all over, and you can use a towel or your hands with warm water to wash it off. But that will get your skin nice and clean. And maybe the Oil Free Moisturizer, with white grape and organic juices, would be great for this weather.”

“I think it’s a good idea to switch completely, because if you’re using this [Cleansing Gel] with your old moisturizer, you might not know what your skin is changing from, your old moisturizer or your new cleanser. You don’t need to try 10 different things at once, maybe just a cleanser, moisturizer and treatment product for your needs,” Thompson says.

Everyone’s going green

Since they are pioneers in the organic beauty business, Thompson claims their head-start in experience and research makes them a cut above the new brands.

She says much of the company’s time is spent educating sellers and consumers.

Thompson also recommends the clear skin system for Filipinas, starting with the Cleansing Gel containing cherry and lemon juice, Blemish Clearing Serum, having willow bark and coenzyme Q10, and the Green Apple Sensitive Peel once a week. “It’s the instant result product!” she says. Just leave on for 10 minutes and rinse right after, then finish with the Oil Free Moisturizer.

Soon Juice Beauty will have a whole range of juice-based makeup products.

“We at Juice Beauty see [organic beauty solution] as more than just the coolest thing to do now. We are really passionate about helping women and men have healthy products that are safe for their bodies,” Thompson says.
Copyright 2010 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.