Is Your Food Betraying You?

Have your ever heard from a medical professional “People don’t need supplements. Your food contains everything you need.”?

The persistence of this (I would call it uneducated) point of view is surprising.

In this post, I will talk about all the things that come to my mind when I hear “Your food contains everything you need”.

I will not be focusing on the problem of chemical pollution which is in full display when we think about the foods we eat these days.

Fruits and vegetables bring to our table residues of herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides. Meat and poultry add to our meals antibiotics and hormones. By now, many people understand this very well.

But that’s not all that is sad about our food.

There is another, much less known, group of factors that contributes to deterioration of the food supply quality.

The last century has witnessed a gradual transition from traditional farming to high-yield commercial methods. This transition has achieved its well-intended goals – food is now produced in much bigger quantities for decreased cost. Unfortunately it has also brought a side effect nobody really expected – the nutritious value of all categories of food has dropped dramatically.

Fertilizing with natural organic materials has been replaced by using industrially produced mixes limited only to nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. This has resulted in depleting the soil and hence the plants growing in it of precious trace minerals, which are crucial for our health.

The practice of leaving fields fallow for one season in every three or four to allow natural fertility regeneration has been abandoned by farmers seeking to maximize the use of their land. This has further aggravated mineral imbalances in the soil.

The use of herbicide, pesticide, and fungicide chemicals on the fields gradually sterilizes the soil, killing its internal ecosystem of friendly bacteria and fungi which help plants assimilate soil components. This destroys the ability of plants to be able to utilize even those elements which are still available.

For the purposes of easier transportation fruits and vegetables are often harvested before reaching their ripe stage which interferes with the synthesis of beneficial phytonutrients. The same is true for growing crops under glass or plastic sheeting which has increased significantly in recent years.

Improvements in storage techniques have allowed perishable crops to be preserved for increasingly long periods without noticeable deterioration in their appearance. However, prolonged storage results in bigger loss of vitamins and antioxidants.

To make matters worse, a lot of foods are refined and processed before arriving to the shelves of a grocery store. This further diminishes their already depleted nutritional content.

These and other changes in food manufacturing practices have altered the intrinsic nature of the food we eat – it no longer contains the rich assortment of nutrients it once did. What is even more distressing – we still think it does (and some medical professionals help to upkeep this illusion). This gives us a misleading, and therefore dangerous, feeling of safety.

The recommendation to eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables per day are based on studies of countries where such eating habits are common – mainly around the Mediterranean – and their link to a long life expectancy. But that region’s traditional diets were based on fruits and vegetables grown, stored and processed in ways very different from those of fruits and vegetables that get to our table now. That means that five portions may not be enough to give your body what it needs.

Several years ago researchers at UCLA began to investigate why some women were showing high rates of anemia despite the regular consumption of spinach – a food high in iron. A sample of spinach from a particular area grown in 1953 has been compared to a current sample from the same area. The results were shocking – you would need to eat about 43 bowls of the modern spinach to obtainthe amount of iron contained in only one bowl of the spinach from 1953.

More studies show similar results for multiple nutrients in various fruits and vegetables. Would you be able to eat 40 portions of fruit and vegetables daily? Do you even eat the recommended five portions each and every day? Not only have fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains been affected by extensive food manufacturing practices. Other food groups have changed too.

Commercially produced meat has become fattier and contains less healthy polyunsaturated fat and more saturated fat in comparison with meat of traditionally raised farm animals.

Farmed fish are likely to have a poorer ratio of omega 3 fatty acids to omega 6 fatty acids compared with wild fish.

You would be scared to hear all the details of how cow’s milk is produced today and surprised to see how several processes it goes through before appearing in stores deplete its nutritional value.

Every function of our body ultimately depends on the micro and macronutrients we receive from our food. If the food is failing to provide us with adequate amounts of even one of many essential nutrients, then sooner or later we start to fall apart.

Can you protect yourself from this invisible health threat?

Yes, to a significant degree.

First, by making more informed food choices to maximize the chances of getting more quality nutrition from the foods you eat.

Second, by adding specially formulated potent whole food products (superfoods) as well as supplements to your daily menu to ensure that your essential nutritional needs are met, even if your meals sometimes are not perfect.

This opens a huge topic of superfoods and supplements, which is outside of the scope of this post, so I will leave it for another time.

Why sleeping can make you look older and how to make sure that your nighttime is really a “beauty sleep”

We’ve all heard about the importance of a good night’s sleep for beauty. Adequate sleep not only rejuvenates your skin but also allows your body to repair and regenerate, promoting a healthier and more youthful appearance.

The usual advice for improving sleep quality includes:

  • aiming for a consistent sleep schedule,
  • getting the recommended 7-9 hours of rest each night,
  • establishing a relaxing bedtime routine,
  • avoiding stimulation and blue light exposure before bed,
  • keeping your bedroom dark and cool, and
  • creating an overall comfortable sleep environment.

All these elements can enhance the quality of your sleep. Yet, when it comes to preserving beauty, one aspect is often overlooked – the position in which you sleep. Surprisingly, this is a factor that can play a big role in how gracefully we age.

Many of us are unwittingly contributing to the formation of fine lines and wrinkles by the way we rest our heads. Sleeping with your face pressed against the pillow can lead to creases and folds, leaving marks on your skin over time.

The easiest solution? Embrace the back-sleeping position. It not only minimizes facial contact with the pillow, reducing the risk of wrinkle formation, but also supports better spinal alignment – a double win for overall health.

What if you are a side sleeper and switching to sleeping on your back is not coming easy? In this case, you may buy a special pillow that is designed to keep your face protected from being squished when you sleep on your side.

There are a few brands of such pillows on the market. Here is one example:

Start with paying attention to your current sleeping position. Does it result in skin folds or your face or neck? If so, it’s time to change it.

Find a sleeping position + pillow combination that keeps your neck and face free from unnecessary pressure and creases. This will prevent new wrinkles and folds from forming during your sleep and might even diminish those already formed earlier because you will stop reinforcing them.

Don’t stop on just analysing your sleep position. What other positions or repetitive movements may be etching new wrinkles and folds into your skin?

Ask your family or a friend to point out situations where you are wrinkling your face unnecessarily when you talk. Put a mirror on your work desk and spy on yourself. Check if you, unknowingly, hold some tension or specific facial expression when you work.

Keeping your face relaxed most of the time will help delay wrinkle formation and will keep you looking young for longer.

Which supplement will give you the fastest natural face lift

When it comes to nutrition – food or supplements – that can rejuvenate skin, nothing works better than collagen.

Collagen builds the foundation of a smooth and radiant complexion. It composes 70 to 80 % of our skin. When we are young, collagen fibers in our skin are nice and tight. This makes our skin look youthful.

Starting somewhere in our mid-twenties, we start losing about 1% of the collagen thickness in our skin every year. Who would think that aging starts so early!

As we age, the network of collagen fibers in the deep layers of our skin becomes fragmented and weakened, resulting in wrinkles, fine lines, sagging, and thinner skin.

Collagen loss increases to 2% a year for women who go into menopause. By the age of 80, collagen production in the skin may have decreased by 75% when compared with the collagen production in young adults.

Good news is that studies have shown that the age-related loss of collagen can be reversed by collagen supplements!

Collagen supplements have been around for a long time. There is a large body of evidence supporting their safe use and multiple benefits for both internal health and external appearance.

The study summarized below was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial – one of many studies that illustrate the power of collagen supplementation.

It was done with one of my favorite collagen products, Isagenix Collagen Elixir. It is a liquid marine collagen supplement designed specifically for improving skin appearance. The study was published in the Journal of Food Science and Nutrition.

Researchers documented the following impressive changes in study participants’ skin at the end of the 4-week study.

Increase in collagen density

The study found that Collagen Elixir significantly increased facial collagen density in the participants after four weeks of daily consumption.

Improvement in elasticity and moisture

Daily consumption of Collagen Elixir resulted in a significant increase in both elasticity and moisture in facial skin among study participants.

Reduction in the appearance of wrinkles

After four weeks, 70% of participants experienced a measurable reduction in wrinkles.

Reduction in hyperpigmentation

Consuming Collagen Elixir led to a reduction in measures of hyperpigmentation, including a reduction in both visible and UV spots compared to the participant’s baseline measurements.

Improved skin tone

Other benefits included improvements in skin tone, with a significant increase in skin brightness after four weeks of supplementation with Collagen Elixir.

Widespread skin health benefits

Overall, consuming Collagen Elixir resulted in widespread skin health benefits, with 100% of subjects having increased collagen levels, 90% with increased moisture, 97% with greater elasticity, and 70% of subjects exhibiting fewer wrinkles after just four weeks of supplementation.

To see how the Collagen Elixir’s skin benefits listed (and not listed) above translate into various changes in appearance, you can check out many before and after pictures at collagenbeautyeleixir.com. Here are a few of these pictures, just to give you an idea what is possible.

Today, you no longer have to wonder if collagen supplements work. Instead, you can focus on selecting a high-quality product with an ingredient profile that fits your goals.

It’s not enough to know that collagen supplements can reverse the signs of aging. What has been proven for collagen in general or for certain collagen products that researchers used in their studies, may not apply for a specific collagen product you use.

Collagen supplements vary greatly when it comes to:

  • type(s) of collagen included,
  • amount of collagen in one dose,
  • additional components that enhance the effects of the product,
  • quality, stability, and bioavailability of the ingredients.

For example, Collagen Elixir contains 5 g (clinically supported dose) of marine collagen (type 1 collagen that is prevalent in the skin). The Collagen Elixir formula is enhanced by added vitamin C, zinc, and biotin, and contains skin-supporting botanicals, such as aloe vera, acerola berries, goji berries, and chamomile extracts. The proprietary manufacturing process ensures bioavailability of collagen peptides and minimal environmental impact.

There are currently many great collagen products available on the market. Your local health store will, for sure, have a shelf with a few of them.

When selecting your collagen supplement, do your research, and make sure that your product comes from a reputable company known for their high-quality products.

If you want to try Collagen Elixir, you can learn more about it and place your order online at collagenbeautyelixir.com.

How to make a green smoothie that will bring a youthful glow to your face

The term “micronutrients” refers to vitamins and mineral needed by the body in very small amounts. Their impact on the body’s health and vitality, however, can be very significant and deficiencies can cause an array of problems.

Your skin reflects your overall health and, when it comes to maintaining a youthful skin appearance, a balanced diet plays a crucial role. Nutrient deficiencies can significantly impact your skin appearance and lead to various skin issues, including premature ageing, dryness, itchiness, rashes, and hyperpigmentation.

Making sure that your daily diet includes a variety of micronutrients will go a long way in supporting your skin’s youthful radiance.

Unfortunately, in a world dominated by processed foods and hectic schedules, ensuring an ample supply of these essential nutrients can become a challenge.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick, a popular nutrition guru and biomedical scientist, has been researching the effects of micronutrient deficiencies on human metabolism, longevity, and overall health for years.

To help people improve their well-being, she created her famous green smoothies abundant with micronutrients.

Her recipe on the next page is brimming with vitamins and minerals that your skin will be grateful to receive.

For the best results use organic fruits and vegetables and blend them in a high-quality blender (I use Vitamix).

The amounts given in the recipe make approximately 64 oz – it’s enough to share or to keep in the fridge for the next day.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s Ultimate Micronutrient Smoothie

  • 8 large kale leaves
  • 2 rainbow chard leaves with stems
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 large carrot
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 8 pieces of parsley
  • 1 apple
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 to 2 cups blueberries
  • 1 avocado
  • 1/4 cup of hydrolyzed collagen powder
  • 2 cups water

To prepare the smoothie:

🟢 Chop all the ingredients (except the lemon) into manageable pieces and add them to the blender along with the collagen powder.

🟢 Quarter the lemon and squeeze its juice into the blender; discard the rind. Another option is to peel the lemon and cut it in quarters before blending.

🟢Blend on high or your blender’s smoothie setting until the ingredients are completely broken down.

Eleuthero – energy, longevity, vitality and more

Eleuthero, sometimes also called Siberian ginseng, is a distant relative of Asian ginseng. Though it belongs to a different plant species, Eleuthero displays many properties common with true ginseng.

Records of Chinese medicine describe the usage of Eleuthero for at least two thousand years for the purposes of increasing energy, longevity and vitality, improving general health, restoring weak memory, relieving stiffness and tension in the soft tissues and joints, as well as increasing resistance to respiratory infections.

Today Eleuthero is one of the most well researched adaptogens. Numerous experimental and clinical studies confirm its adaptogenic properties including ability to increase non-specific body resistance to stress, fatigue, disease, and harmful chemicals.

Clinical data supports the use of Eleuthero as a restorative tonic for enhancing mental and physical performance in cases of exhaustion and tiredness, weakness, and during recovery following an attack of disease, a surgical intervention or an injury.

A review of clinical trials involving over 2,100 healthy individuals found that Eleuthero root extract improved resistance to adverse physical conditions such as heat, noise, increased work load, and exercise. Eleuthero root also increased mental alertness and work output as well as improved both the quality of work performed under stressful conditions and athletic performance.

Eleuthero has been shown to normalize adrenal and thyroid function – the two critical self regulation mechanisms in our body. It also balanced blood pressure and blood sugar levels in both animal and experimental studies.

While analyzing Eleuthero composition researchers have identified six compounds with antioxidant properties, four compounds exhibiting anticancer actions and two compounds producing immune-enhancing effects.

Adding an Eleuthero preparation to blood samples from healthy donors resulted in 30-45% increase in phagocytosis – our body’s protective reaction involving capturing of waste material, harmful microorganisms and other foreign inclusions by white blood cells.

Another study demonstrated that a liquid Eleuthero root extract exhibits strong antiviral activity. It inhibited the reproduction of human rhinovirus (one of the major causes of the common cold), human respiratory syncytial virus (cause of respiratory illness), and influenza A (flu) virus in infected cell cultures.

Eleuthero has even been shown to improve short-term memory and overall mental performance in healthy individuals. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study done on middle-aged people found that Eleuthero significantly improved their selective memory, feelings of well-being, and activity levels.

Eleuthero’s anti-fatigue effect as well as its beneficial influence on endurance and the capacity to work (both mentally and physically) might be explained by its ability to increase the capability of the body’s cells to utilize phosphorus-containing energy molecules and to dispose of various byproducts of metabolism.

Furthermore, Eleuthero root extract has been shown to increase the resistance of rats to the toxic effects of harmful chemicals.

Eleuthero is included as one of the components of the Isagenix’s restorative and rejuvenating tonic Ionix Supreme together with other potent adaptogens, such as Shilajit.

The real reason your body might be slowly losing its youthful shape with age, and what you can do to reverse this process

As the sands of time trickle down, many of us find ourselves grappling with changes in our body shape.

Since we are focusing on reversing changes that come with age here, we will not be discussing the general subject of obesity or being overweight. These conditions can be experienced at any age, and there is an abundant amount of information and support available for those who want to see numbers on the scale decreasing.

Instead, we will explain the age-related process that is much less understood and goes beyond the numbers on the scale. It both worsens the situation for those who have carried extra pounds for a while and confuses those who have never had to worry about their weight or body shape in their younger years.

It’s a common scenario: despite living what we consider a healthy lifestyle, we notice a shift in the way our clothes fit, the emergence of new fat folds, and an overall loss of the once-youthful body contours. Sometimes we also see extra pounds on the scale. Sometimes the weight does not change at all.

So, what’s happening beneath the surface? Understanding the answer to this question can give you a secret key to staying in great shape as years go by.

The primary culprit behind this phenomenon is age-related changes in body composition, i.e. percentage of fat vs percentage of muscle.

The aging process is characterized by an increase in body total fat mass and a decrease in lean mass and bone density, that are independent from fluctuations in weight and body mass index (BMI). The loss of muscle mass starts relatively early – in the third decade of life.

These changes happen gradually but surely with all of us as we age. If you do not do anything to counteract this insidious process, your muscle will slowly deteriorate and, in most cases, be replaced by fat – more and more with each passing year.

Because muscles are approximately 15% denser than fat, a pound of muscle takes up less space in your body than a pound of fat.

The picture below illustrates this difference. It shows 1 pound of fat and 1 pound of muscle next to each other.

Clearly, 10 pounds of muscle on a person would look very different than 10 pounds of fat. The fat would take more space! As a result, the body would become larger and more amorphous looking, even though the number on the scale may not change much.

Whether you will add more fat in later years or not will depend on your nutrition. A small percentage of people in Western countries do not gain fat with age, but they still lose muscle if they don’t do anything to preserve it. This will result in a skinny but still old-looking body.

Is it possible to keep your youthful silhouette well into your later years? Absolutely! But it will take work and discipline. You will need to adopt new ways to think about eating, exercising, and measuring your progress.

We will not go into all the details of building a younger body here, but we will point out all the important elements. Once you understand that improving your body composition is one of the main keys to a more youthful looking body and what it involves, you will be able to find additional information.

Measure your progress correctly

Watching your weight or BMI can be misleading. You will have to watch your fat percentage which reflects your overall body composition.

The easiest way to measure your fat percentage at home is to get a smart scale that uses electric impedance to measure body composition. There are many of them on the market. I use Omron Body Composition Monitor.

The fat percentage number you will see on such a scale may differ slightly from your actual body fat percentage, because this technology is not precise. Don’t worry about it. You still will be able to see the trend when you start working towards improving your body composition.

If you want to have a more precise measurement, find a place where you can do a DEXA body scan – the gold standard in body composition measurements. It usually costs under $100.

Another easy method for tracking your progress is taking your body measurements with a measuring tape or just paying attention to how your clothes fit.

Focus your exercise program on muscle building

Cardio exercises – running, walking, etc. have a lot of benefits and are great for improving your stamina and making your heart and lungs stronger. When it comes to improving your body composition, gaining healthy muscle mass, and strengthening your bones, cardio is not very effective. These goals are better achieved by focusing on resistance training.

Different forms of resistance training include using free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, and your own body weight. It’s a great idea to do at least a few sessions with an experienced personal trainer to learn how to do it properly.

Prioritize protein

Protein provides building blocks for muscle tissue. It is needed for muscle repair, growth, and maintenance. You will have to consume an adequate amount of protein to support muscle protein synthesis and build lean muscle mass. Aim for somewhere between 1.2 and 1.6 grams per kg of your body weigh. If you are significantly overweight, make it per kg of your target body weight.

It is easy to check how much protein different foods have. Just google the name of the food followed by “nutrition data”. To understand the actual amount of protein that your food contains, you may need to weigh it on a simple kitchen scale, like this one.

Watch your calorie intake

Your kitchen scale combined with one of the many free calorie tracking phone apps (such as, for example, MyFitnessPal) will help you to track your calorie intake. You don’t have to do it forever. After 2-3 month you will develop a sense of what you like and need to eat to stay within your calorie range.

Use this BMR calculator to estimate your daily calorie needs based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level. Stay at 10-20% lower than this number if you need to lose an excess of fat.

You may notice that it is hard to fit in enough protein and stay within your calorie limit. High quality meal replacement and protein shakes may help. I love these meal replacement shakes for their delicious taste and great nutritional profile.

Consider starting a 30-Day Reset

The Isagenix 30-Day Reset is a great, cost-effective, and clinically proven nutritional system that can support your body transformation. I have been using this system myself for many years. I also help others to tailor the standard 30 Day Reset System to specific wellness goals and challenges. Feel free to book a free Zoom or phone consultation with me to learn how the 30-Day Reset can help you achieve your wellness goals.

Meal Replacement Shakes – a Healthy Choice or Chemical Cocktails?

I’ve met people who feel that protein shakes and meal replacement shakes are not a healthy food choice because they are not “natural”.

The truth is – high quality protein and meal replacement shakes can provide nutritional value and health benefits unattainable through traditional healthy food.

Talk to anyone who looks healthy, vibrant and fit after 45 – chances are they will tell you that they use some form of protein shake or meal replacement on a daily basis.

We can envy the unpolluted food supply of our ancestors. Our ancestors, on the other hand, would have had good reason to envy nutritionally dense “scientifically designed” meals made available to us through advances in nutritional science and modern food processing techniques.

Imagine a hundred or more micro and macro nutrients – protein, healthy carbohydrates, essential oils, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, and more – all in an easily absorbable form – put together in a tasty low calorie shake that takes a minute to prepare and a minute to consume. Something like food for astronauts on a long space flight – the perfect combination of potent nutrients going right into your cells. This gives you an idea of what you get from the best meal replacement shakes.

Meal replacement shakes are often confused with protein shakes. Though good protein shakes may contain many beneficial nutrients in addition to protein their main purpose is to provide additional protein but not to replace a complete meal.

Integrating high quality meal replacement shakes into your daily eating routine has several important advantages.

Your daily meal replacement shake:

  • Serves as “nutritional insurance”:  even if you did not manage to eat perfectly at your other meals, you can still have peace of mind knowing that your body received a significant portion of good nutrition.
  • Provides additional health benefits through various extra ingredients such as probiotics, digestive enzymes, antioxidants, plant superfoods, etc. (these ingredients vary for different products).
  • Helps with healthy weight management by both decreasing your calorie intake and providing additional protein to support lean muscle mass and fat loss.
  • Saves a lot of time and effort! It feels good to know that you are able to provide your body with a nutritionally complete tasty meal with extra health benefits and without caloric overload in just a couple of minutes.

A good daily healthy eating strategy is combining one or two meal replacement shakes with respectively two or one wholesome meals and a couple of healthy snacks.

Do not just buy any protein shake or meal replacement shake you find on the store shelf even if it is a health store. Do your research first.

Look at ingredients and make sure they are all natural without any artificial additives. Choose products that provide multiple benefits. Make sure that the manufacturing company has a good reputation.

You also want to know what kind of protein is used (I like whey for its anti-aging benefits), where it comes from (better from organic sources) and how it has been processed (cold processing for whey protein is very important).

My personal favourite meal replacement is whey based  Isagenix IsaLean Shake in Dutch Chocolate.  I have been having it for breakfast for over a decade. I also like whey based Isagenix Whole Blend Shake in French Vanilla with added fresh berries.

Each of those two shakes is a complete meal replacement with an exceptional nutritional profile that contains multiple nutrients essential for the healthy functioning of almost all body processes. Each portion contains 24 grams of the highest grade cold processed whey protein from the milk of caws raised on the pristine pastures of New Zealand, never injected with hormones and steroids and fed on grass never treated with pesticides and herbicides.

For those who like to mix their own shakes using a protein powder, Isagenix offers a pure form of the same unique New Zealand whey protein as another product – IsaPro Whey Protein.

If your are putting together a weight loss or muscle building program for yourself don’t forget to include meal replacement shakes in your nutritional plan – they will help you to achieve your desired results faster and with less effort.

Why the way you walk can add or remove years from your appearance and how to walk like a young person at any age

Your walking style goes beyond just getting from point A to point B. It’s a silent language that communicates volumes and plays a big role in how others perceive your age.

Though we subconsciously guess people’s age or general state of health based on the way they walk, we often forget to think about what our walk tells others about us.

Start with observing yourself. Check your posture in the mirror from the front and from the side. Then check your walk in the mirror or maybe ask someone to take a video of you. Noticing your reflection in the glass surfaces that you are passing by is a good test because it often catches you unprepared.

Just simply bringing your awareness to the way you walk may allow you to notice the elements that increase your perceived age and, with practice, to switch to a more youthful movement style.

If it does not come easily to you, here are a few checkpoints to consider.

Start with your posture.

Position your shoulders:

Start with relaxing your shoulders. Move them to the front, then up, then back, and relax. Move your shoulder blades down and towards each other – imagine that you want them to touch their lower edges.

It helps to visualize a helium balloon (choose your favorite color) tied to the middle of your sternum (the bone in the front and center of your chest). Imagine this balloon flying up and pulling your sternum up and a bit forward.

Position your pelvis:

Check your pelvis motion range by moving it forward as much as you can and then back as much as you can. Your ideal pelvis position when you walk (or sit) will be in the middle of this range.

Slightly tighten the muscles in the lower part of your belly (under the belly button) to keep the belly in.

Position your head:

Keep your head high and chin parallel to the ground or slightly tilted down when you walk. The proper shoulder position will help with this.

Now your posture is set, and you are ready to walk!

Imagine a single line on the floor or ground in front of you and keep your steps on this line or close to it. Older people tend to keep a wide distance between their feet for balance and make small steps. Placing your foot in front of the other and walking with a longer stride will give your walk a youthful flair.

Make sure you don’t shuffle. Add a bit of extra spring and alertness to your walk – similar to what models do during a fashion show.

If you find that it is hard to follow these instructions regarding the posture and the walking movement, your muscles might need some strengthening. After all, older people walk the way they do primarily because of a loss of coordination and muscle strength.

Regular workouts or other physical activity will condition your muscles, and this will automatically translate into a more youthful walk.

What one famous plastic surgeon tells his patients to do before considering a facelift

Most plastic surgeons focus only on their craft – performing plastic surgeries to the best of their ability. There was a time when Dr Youn, a well-known American plastic surgeon, did just that too.

This changed after one of his patients unexpectedly died following a simple surgery, despite not having any underlying health conditions. The shock from this event made Dr Youn reassess his focus.

From that time on, he decided to focus on a holistic approach to beauty and aging. He delved into researching what people can do to look younger naturally, before considering any invasive procedures.

His goal shifted to keeping people out of the operating room for as long as possible. Ideally, forever.

His new motto became “Autojuvenate Before You Operate”.

In his book “Younger for Life”, Dr Youn lists five key mechanisms behind accelerated skin aging.

They are:

  • nutritional depletion,
  • chronic inflammation,
  • collagen deterioration,
  • free-radical damage, and
  • the buildup of cellular waste.

Each one of these five factors can be addressed with lifestyle changes. You can read the book if you want to learn about all of them.

Here we will explain one nutritional habit that Dr, Youn calls “Skin enemy #1” because it can age your skin through two different mechanisms – chronic inflammation and collagen deterioration.

The picture above was posted on Dr. Youn’s Facebook page. He accompanied it with the comment:

“It’s not a secret anymore. Sugar = wrinkles!”

The problem is when you eat sugar or refined carbs (such as white bread, white rice, and pasta), your blood sugar spikes. This causes your insulin to spike as well. Chronic insulin spikes can result in chronic inflammation.

Chronic inflammation damages your skin and impedes your body’s natural processes, making you look and feel older. It degrades the quality of your skin, impairs its natural healing ability, and breaks down collagen.

Eating too much sugar and refined carbs also leads to the process of glycation. Sugar molecules can bond to the collagen fibers as well as elastin fibers in our skin and disturb their structure. The result of these reaction is the accumulation of “advanced glycation end products”, also, coincidentally, known as AGEs.

AGEs are damaging for our skin because our once tight collagen and elastin fibers become permanently kinked, leading to thinning skin, wrinkles, and sagging.

If you want to maintain a youthful appearance, consider cutting back on sugary and refined carbohydrate rich foods.

A little shower routine with a big rejuvenating effect

The age-old practice of face massage can give your face a youthful, healthy glow by stimulating blood and lymph flow in the face, thereby increasing nutrient and oxygen delivery to the skin and boosting its detoxification processes.

Facial massage can also help relax tight facial muscles alleviating any negative effects (wrinkles or asymmetricities) created by muscle tension.

Despite the well-known benefits, getting regular facial massages may feel like something time-consuming and expensive, but it does not have to be.

To save both time and money, learn a simple face massage sequence yourself and incorporate it into something you are already doing.

Taking a shower can be the perfect time to spend a few minutes massaging your face. The warm and steamy environment will enhance your experience and help you get better results.

The massage sequence given below was created by esteemed UK facialist Abigail James. It is designed to achieve lifting and rejuvenating effects and takes about 5 minutes to complete.

It is important to lubricate your skin before starting the massage to ensure your fingers and knuckles glide smoothly across your face.

Any plant-based oil can be used as a lubricant. Jojoba, almond, avocado, and sesame are all great choices. Keeping a small bottle of your favorite oil in the shower can make the process more convenient and serve as a reminder.

🟢 Start with cleaning your face with your preferred cleanser.

🟢 Put a small amount of the oil – somewhere between ½ and 1 teaspoon – in your palms, then spread it all over your face, down your neck, and around your decollete.

🟢 Stimulate the lymphatic flow with wide strokes of your palm covering the side and some of the front of your neck. Move your palm several times from the area under your ear down to the shoulder and back up on each side. Apply more pressure on the way down.

🟢 Do a bit of pumping with both hands in the area above the collar bone to encourage lymph drainage.

🟢 Place your thumbs under your chin so your chin is in between your thumbs and index fingers. Then push your hands out from the center of your jaw contour all the way to your ears several times. Keep your index fingers straight and let them slide over and massage your cheeks from your nose to your ears as you do this movement.

🟢 Follow the same path from you chin to your ears, but this time pinch along the jaw line with your hands held in relaxed fists. Use the knuckles of all the fingers on the top and your thumbs on the bottom, under the jawbone. This movement should feel like kneading.

🟢 Massage your cheeks with your fingers in big circular motions, increasing the pressure during the upward part of the circles.

🟢 Make small circles all around your mouth.

🟢 Make upward movements with your palms from you chin to just under your eyes along the central parts of your cheeks next to your nose, where the nasolabial lines tend to form.

🟢 Push your knuckles from your jaw upwards over your cheeks. Prop your cheeks up with your fists, hold for a few seconds, then move your knuckles toward your ears. Do it a few times.

🟢 Quickly and repeatedly, slide both your palms, one after another, up your cheek on one side starting from under the jaw and ending at the eye level. Make your palms follow each other in quick succession. Cover all of the cheek area, then repeat on the other side.

🟢 Slide firmly upwards along the midline of your face: from under the corners of your mouth, along the nasolabial area, then along the sides of your nose, continue upwards through the area between your brows, and to the top of your forehead. Finish by moving to the sides and sliding down to where you started. Repeat several times.

🟢 Drain the area under the eyes by sliding you palms from the sides of your nose horizontally and a bit upwards to your temples.

🟢 Lift the brows with your fingers, hold for a couple of seconds, then circle down around the outer eye corner.

🟢 Switch between the last two moves a few times.

🟢 With the fingers of both hands opposing each other, do vertical criss-cross movement close to the outer corners of your eyes, in the area where small wrinkles (crow feet) tend to form.

🟢 Go up and down vertically (in a zig zag motion) across your forehead, then do the same horizontally. Include the area between your brows.

🟢 Work through the hairline massaging it in very small circular movements.

🟢 Applying firm pressure, push up with upward strokes from your brows to the hairline.

🟢 Applying firm pressure, push up with upward strokes from the jaw line to the area under your eyes and up the temples.

🟢 Slide firmly from the centre of your face to your temples – repeat on different levels of the face – the forehead, the cheeks, and the jawline.

🟢 Slide your palms from the jawline down the neck, ending above the clavicles.

🟢 Finish with pumping with both hands in the area above the collar bones to encourage lymph drainage.

Make sure that you don’t use too much oil, so it would not end up on your shower floor and make it slippery – you don’t want to fall.

If you face feels too oily when you get out of the shower, gently wipe it with a warm wet towel and then rinse with cold water for some extra glow boost.

Do this massage at least twice a week for the best results.