Skin

Show it some love!

When you have something that works so well, it is easy to take it for granted. 

The fact is, your skin is the largest organ of your body, accounting for roughly 10 percent of your body mass. It holds other organs and liquids in, helps to regulate body temperature and acts as a filter, doing its best to keep out harmful things. It synthesizes Vitamin D. It’s extremely elastic but also sensitive, giving us tactile perception of the world.  We can heap a lot of abuse on it but it rarely fails us.

What are some nice things you can do for your skin?

1. Protect it from the sun!

The sun is responsible for 90% of wrinkles, dark spots, damage to collagen and elastin. freckles, dilated blood vessels and an overall look of aging. These facts may not be appreciated at 20, but are starkly real at 45.

Sun exposure also increases the chances of skin cancer, as many of the sun worshipers and bikini donners of the 60’s and 70’s became acutely aware.

Most people are not aware that sunscreens have a shelf life and become ineffective after a few years.  If not exposed to air and heat, a sunscreen may last 3 years.  But once you open it and take it to the beach, air, heat and bacteria go to work.  To be safe, use it up within a year and buy a new one.  Throw out any sunscreen that is older than one year. And be sure to apply sunscreen liberally and re-apply often.

Use a sunscreen with at least an SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 15. But realize SPF numbers only refer to protection from UVB rays – those that cause redness and burning.  The UVA rays are the ones that damage collagen and elastin and cause premature aging.  Mineral-based sun blocks reflect the sun’s rays and provide UVB and UVA protection.  Also be sure to choose a sunscreen that does double-duty as a skin nutrient.

Don’t rely on sunscreen alone to protect your skin from the sun’s damaging rays. Wear protective clothing and minimize your exposure during the most sun-intense times of the day.

2. Feed your skin.

Eat a sensible diet that is nutrient dense and gives your skin the ammunition it needs to fight off the daily barrage of free-radical producing pollutants and toxins and which gives it the resources it needs to rejuvenate. For more information, see our Health Starts Here program: http://tiny.cc/df9lj

Stay hydrated with water, coconut water, or any electrolyte-enhanced drink that isn’t also loaded with sugar.

3. Don’t put anything on the body that you wouldn’t want in the body.

The thing about the skin is, it has to allow passage of liquid and gasses. To keep us healthy it has to be able to sweat and breathe, but that means it also absorbs many things it comes in contact with. (If you want to know how that works, visit the CDC website: http://tiny.cc/pqgm9) 

Take care what you allow in contact with your skin.  Women used to lighten their skin with arsenic or lead-based creams, much to the detriment of their health, and even today there are still potentially toxic ingredients used in cosmetics. Here’s a little video that outlines the fact: http://tiny.cc/yre2z

It is easy to avoid the toxins.  Gentle plant-based skin care = good, petroleum-based skin care = bad. Aluminum in deodorants = bad. Lead in lipstick = bad. Carcinogens = bad. Having a retailer care about and carefully assess the ingredients of the skincare products they sell = good.

At Whole Foods Market we maintain our own high standards for body care and will not carry products that violate these standards: http://tiny.cc/ti1e0

In summary, take care of your skin as well as your skin takes care of you!