Saturday, October 22, 2011

Exotic Ingredients of Cosmeceuticals

Today the customers are no less thirsty than the crow in the story. Perhaps they are even thirstier when it is about their skin care. They can drop thousands more stones in the jar to lift the information from the very bottom of the jar. However, internet made things easier for them. To promote the constructive practice of being well informed before using the products of skin care, hereby some ingredients of cosmeceuticals are put under the light so that the other end of the tunnel become visible by a bit more.

'Exotic ingredients' is the term that refers to a group of natural cosmeceutical ingredients that is being hunted by the researchers and the researchers are in search of their sources from Asia to Amazon.

Acerola fruit is enriched in vitamin C content and renders significant lightening affect to the skin. Brazil is known for Acerola fruit source. It also contains bioflavonoids, carotenoids and other antioxidants.

Buriti oil is an extractant of Moriche palm tree and also available in the Brazilian Amazon. Since people without brown skins are in the threat, of ultraviolet ray, posed by global warming, this red-orange oil will become more and more popular among them as the days go by. It is due to the fact that it possesses a naturally occurring SPF factor that filters and absorbs ultraviolet rays, and thereby it helps to prevent ultraviolet induced skin diseases. It contains beta-carotene by a large margin that protects the skin against the damaging effects of sunlight by neutralizing free radicals.

Camu camu, grows along the Amazon River, is believed to have the highest source of natural vitamin C. To realize the increment of Vitamin C, found in camu camu, in compare to other natural sources, we can chose orange (one of the common sources of vitamin C) to compare with Camu camu. Empirically, Camu camu contains approximately 30 times more vitamin C than that in an orange. It is known for its stable and effectiveness in topical use. It is proved to be effective in fighting anti-aging and wrinkles. It boosts collagen and skin elasticity.

Carambola grows extensively in Southeast Asia, South America, Hawaii, Southern Florida and Australia. It became popular in skin care product developing field for serving as a source of antioxidants like epicatechin.

Cupuacu, is an Amazonian rainforest tree, contains phytonutrients, polyphenols, phytosterols, etc. Due to being an exceptional moisturizer, Skin care companies planning this exotic to use in amelioration of aging and dry skin.

Maracuja seed oil contains about 70 percent linoleic acid that supports skin barrier function to control transepidermal loss of water. It helps to reduce the appearance of fine wrinkles and lines. It has achieved a high profile as a free radical scavengers and antioxidants. It is prescribed to those who want calm, relax and moisturize the skin. The seeds of the passion fruit are the source of Maracuja seed oil.

Apart from the natural exotics mentioned above many other exotics are currently in use to improve the function of cosmeceuticals such as Yerba mate, Urucum seed oil, tamanu oil and so on. Many researches have been undertaken by many cosmeceuticals companies to invent new exotic to ensure your skin care just as you want. Wish them good luck so that we can live young forever.

The Author is a freelancer who finds the inspiration of his work from the nature and its children.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Misbah_Naamer

6 Eating Habits To Youthful and Healthy Skin For Woman

Usually, it happens faster than you think it will. After a long day of...life, you can't help but discovering lines on your face.

"Am I old?"

Well they say what's outside reflects what's inside. Lack of various vitamins and minerals can tip off your hormone balance, or leave your, once healthy skin, weak and lifeless.

So, before you spend another fortune on chemical skin care products, look back into your grocery store and find some affortable, natural skin care answers.

Unlike what most people think, these healthy food are not yucky at all. Many of them are my personal favorates. How bad can they be.

1. Fruits and Vegetables Good for Skin

Fruits contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibers. Vitamins and minerals are healing power of your body. The best choice is always fresh fruits and vegetables. But if you don't have any, frozen foods are always better than canned foods.

Avocadoes - This fruit is abundant in essential oils and b-complex vitamins which nourish your skin inside out. Niacin, or vitamin b3, is very important for skin health, and avocado is rich in Niacin. Niacin helps soothes irritated skin and calm down red blotchy spots.
Avocado is rich in oil. It can be used to soothe and smooth dry skin. Eat the avocado fruit first, then rub it all over the body.

Blend half of an avocado with yogurt and berries for a wonderful morning smoothy.

Mangoes - Vitamin A repairs your skin cells, and mango has 80% of your daily requirements for vitamin A. If you have dry, flaky skin complexion, then have a mango! Vitamin A is also antioxidant that fight free radical damages that can prematurely age your skin.

Perfect fruit for both your skin and your figure.

Acerola Cherries - Your average cherry doesn't supply a significant amount of vitamin C, but don't tell that to this particular cherry. One single Acerola cherry supplies 100% of your daily allowance for vitamin C, which is great news for your skin. As an antioxidant, vitamin C fights skin damage and wrinkles. It also plays a central role in the production of collagen, the structural protein in your skin.

Baked Potato - Unlike the greasy French Fries, a fresh baked potato provides 75% of your daily requirement for copper. This mineral works hand-in-hand with vitamin C and zinc to produce the elastic fibers that support skin structure. Too little copper in your diet can reduce your skin's ability to heal and cause it to become rigid and lifeless.

Mushroom - This fungi is rich in riboflavin, a B vitamin that's vital to your skin. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is involved in tissue maintenance and repair, but actually goes beyond basic skin care to improve skin blemish caused by rosacea. This vitamin is so important for skin repair that the body will use up large amounts after sustaining a burn or wound, or undergoing surgery.

2. Identify the Antioxidants

Oxidation is a nature process of your body. But oxidation reaction can involve production of free radicals which form dangerous chain reaction, which might lead to cancer, heart disease and more. Plants and animals contain complex system of multiple types of antioxidants. Common antioxidants are Vitamins A, C, E, and beta carotene. These special chemicals assist in skin repair and the strengthening of blood vessels.

Ya know? Some of these foods does not taste too bad.

Vitamin A - Orange, carrot, pumpkin, and fish

Vitamin C - Orange (most fruits), celery, broccoli, berries, potato, sweet potato

Vitamin E - nuts, seeds, pears, veg oil, fish oil

Selenium - seafood, cereal, muscle meats

3. Have fun with soybeans

The soybean is regarded as a valuable food remedy in eczema and other skin affections. It renders unnecessary the use of animal protein, that is, meat, eggs and milk and thus reduces the inflammatory activities in the skin and is free from the tendency to produce sensitivity or allergic reactions which so frequently attend the users of all animal proteins.

Aside from that, soybean is a rich source of estrogen, which help to balance female hormone and emotion. If you are like me, unbalance hormone and emotion can cause irritation and pimples on your lovely face.

4. Can't Do Without Unsaturated Fat

Fat! How scary!

Do all you can to stay away from saturated fat. But believe or not, unsaturated fat is pretty essential to your health. Lack of unsaturated fat in your body can cause dry skin, cracking skin, lost of hair color, increase in dandruff, emotional, fragile nails, dry eyes, lack of energy, high blood pressure, breast pain...so on and so on.

It's nothing less than disaster.

Unsaturated fat is needed to balance hormone, separate nerve cells and maintain healthy blood vessels.

Now, you can feel less guilty about eating a lot of things. Cheer up.

5. Consume Plenty of Water

The body is almost two thirds water. On average, the body loses 2.5 liters of water each day.

Blood is 92% water. Bones are 22% water.

Muscles are 75% water.

Brain is 75% water. Even moderate dehydration can cause headaches and dizziness.

Adequate intake of pure water promotes the body's natural healing process. It is needed by the body to prevent toxins and chemical substances from accumulating and harming cells and to carry neurotransmissions from one nerve cell to another effectively.

Keeping your skin hydrated externally, as well as internally, is also beneficial in anti-aging and keeping the skin healthy. This is particularly important to those with dry or maturing skin.

Hydrating skin externally is especially important in air conditioned rooms, dry, arid climates and in airplanes. Pressurized cabins in airplanes dehydrate the skin.

6. Avoid Caffeine and Alcohol

Alcohol and caffeine dehydrate skin, wreaking havoc on its structure. An acceptable alternative to water is green tea, which is low in caffeine (but enough for a pick-me-up).

Green tea, as you probably already know, is loaded with antioxidants that destroy free radicals, which cause aging.

If You are fan of skin care remedy and home DIY recipes, check our library of recipes with all natural skin care ingredients at Sun Sweet Skin. We have sepcial section for Anti Aging Skin Care Recipes too.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yi_Xie

What is a Superfood?

A superfood is a whole food that is very rich in nutrients and health promoting properties. In order to be considered a superfood, it should have a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, co factors and so on... There are a lot of so called superfoods out there, but which ones are truly super? Let's take a look.

Here's some of todays most popular superfoods: spirulina, chlorella, maca, noni, mangosteen, goji berry, acai, camu camu, wheat grass, barley grass and acerola cherry just to name a few. All of these superfoods are very rich in nutrients and do have wonderful health promoting properties. But, which ones truly are the best?

From a purely nutritional stand, spirulina and chlorella are the best over all superfoods. Spirulina has more concentrated vegetable nutrition than any other whole food known. Chlorella is second in nutrients only to spirulina. Both have the widest and most complete assortment of nutrients and health promoting properties of any food known to man. The others superfoods are also healthy, but in more specific areas.

Goji, acai and mangosteen are excellent for antioxidant boosting. Antioxidants are excellent for fighting aging, because they netralize free radicals which are partly responsible for speeding up the aging process by disrupting DNA. So, pick one of these superfoods to boost your antioxidant levels. You can also boost your antioxidants levels by eating more fruit, particularly berries.

Acerola cherry, noni and camu camu are very rich in Vitamin C and bioflavonoids which are known to boost the immune system. By boosting the immune system, your body produces white blood cells to help fight off infections, viruses and disease. These fruits contain some of the richest whole food sources of vitamin c on earth. It is much better to get vitamin c from these fruits than ascorbic acid which is not a complete food and can be toxic in large amounts.

By far the weakest superfoods that are touted by companies are wheat grass and barley grass. They do not have anywhere near the nutritional makeup of spirulina or chlorella, nor do they have any of the specific properties of the other superfoods mentioned above. The grasses certainly are healthy, but I don't consider them particularly super. Despite the many claims that are made for these grasses, the nutritional profile for them is not very impressive. You would be far better off eating a dark leafy green like kale which is incredibly high in many more nutrients. In that light, I do recommend eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables instead of relying solely on supplements and superfoods for your health.

But, supplementation can also help. If you are looking for a superfood supplement, I have done a comparison of almost all them out there. After doing a great deal of research, the best superfood supplement I've found is called VITAFORCE. It not only contains many of the best superfoods, but is the only one I have come across that actually gives you all the vitamins and minerals you need for the day. I have tried most of the others and they make a lot of claims, but their nutritional labels are not complete. Vitaforce is complete and I can recommend it whole heartedly. Best of health.

Scott Malin is rapidly becoming a widely respected writer on the subject of nutrition and detoxification. You can find excellent advice about how to successfully detox in a safe and healthy way at: http://www.organichealthandbeauty.com/New-Detox-Diet_ep_227-1.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Malin

Can Good Nutrition Benefit Your Sex Life

There are 3 main factors that affect the health of a person's libido. They are Stress, Exercise, and Nutrition. A person's sexual health is a reflection of their general health. Aside from exercise and activities to reduce stress, there are many common and not so common nutritional foods available to enhance the libido. Let's take a look at a few of them.

In the most general sense, any nutrition that is good for overall health is also good for the labido. This means drinking plenty of water, getting enough vitamins and antioxidants, fiber, protein, complex carbs, and unsaturated fats from natural sources.

Some of the more specific foods that enhance the libido as well as contributing to overall health are Celery, Avocados, Raw Oysters, Figs, and Chocolate. Of course there are many more, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

Celery is a great source of many vitamins and minerals such as B6, vitamin A and C, dietary fiber, Pantothenic Acid, and Phosphorus (a very important mineral for the libido).

Avocados are low in cholesterol and sodium, high in fiber, and an abundance of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and amino acids. The potassium also helps to regulate a womans thyroid.

Raw Oyster is known to increase dopamine levels which increases testosterone and boosts sexuality. Oysters also contain zinc and phosphorus, both of which are two primary minerals that enhance libido. Many more vitamins and proteins are found in this food as well as dietary fiber.

Figs are high in amino acid and will not only increase libido but also help with stamina.

Chocolate, or more specifically, dark chocolate that is over 60% cocoa. Chocolate is a good source of antioxidants and contains chemicals that help the libido and create a sense of euphoria. A couple of pieces a day should be enough.

Other not-so-common foods that are also known as super foods are Acai berries, Acerola Cherries, and Goji berries. Acai berries from Brazil are known for their anti-aging nutrients. They contain twice the anti-oxidants of blueberries, which are very potent as well.

Also from Brazil, Acerola Cherries have an abundance of vitamin C and around 150 super nutrients. Goji Berries from Asia has been used by the Chinese for centuries for its health benefits. Did you know that they contain 500 times more vitamin C than oranges? That is on a weight to weight comparison. This wonder food is like a whole food store in one product.

If you want to really improve your overall health and libido, you can do so with a simple visit to your grocery store or organic market (preferable). Fortunately, many foods that a person needs are very common and can be purchased locally. For the more uncommon foods, you can still find those on the internet and order them from their suppliers. A lifestyle which reduces stress, gets regular exercise, and eats the right foods will help a person restore the right balance to their lives and will naturally lead to a healthier libido.

As a mother of three I certainly know what its like to have no libido. Find out more about how I improved my sex life at http://www.wheresthatlibido.com

Or visit my blog at http://www.wheresthatlibido.com/blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sheryl_Polomka

Vitamins and Minerals For Fertility

Various vitamins, minerals and herbs affect the fertility rate, as there is no magical pill or vitamin F for fertility. So, with the help of some of the essential vitamins and minerals on a daily basis, one can increase the fertility rate and have a powerful reproductive system. Here are some of the lists of various vitamins and minerals:

Vitamin C: It has been observed by the study conducted by the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston, which insufficient amounts of vitamin C in a human being's diet lead to infertility. Vitamin C is helpful for both men and women. For women Vitamin C improves the hormone levels, increases the fertility, keeps the immune system healthy and helps the iron to be absorbed. According to the study published in Fertility and Sterility, it has been stated that, Vitamin C improves the hormone level and increases the fertility among the women with luteal phase defect. So, the dosage for woman is 750-1000mg and woman should intake more food articles and acerola cherry or whole food supplements only.

And, for men Vitamin C is helpful in keeping the sperm from clumping and improves the movement. For men, the dosage should be 1,000 mg per day of acerola cherry, and also red bell peppers, oranges and strawberries are great source of Vitamin C.

Vitamin E: Vitamin E is very essential for the reproductive system of both the sexes. This potent antioxidant plays an important role in male sperm production. And, the low level of Vitamin E even declines the formation of key sex hormones and enzymes, which is responsible for the production of the sperms in men. So, for men the intake of Vitamin E helps to produce sperms and sex hormones and protects the sperm from mutation. And, among the women it is essential for the endocrine system and absorption of other essential fats which helps in making the good hormones.

The best sources for vitamin E are watercress, dark leafy vegetables, sunflower oil, wheat germ and liver. And, the dosage should be 400IUdaily from the whole food multivitamin.

Vitamin A: Vitamin A is useful for the utilization of proteins, minerals, and other vitamins. Vitamin A is mostly found in fed butter, egg yolks, liver, sea foods and Cod liver oil. And, the daily dosage dose for this is 5000 to 10000IU.

Iron: Deficiency in iron often leads to infertility in women. As iron helps build the blood formation which in turn helps in increasing the fertility rate by balancing the ovulation. According to a recent survey conducted on women, those who were having ovulation problems, 40% of them became fertile after taking iron. So, it can be taken in the form of whole food supplement.

L-Arginine: L-Arginine is an amino acid which helps in promoting the synthesis of Nitric Oxide. Nitric Acid is really important for the blood circulation and increases the blood flowing of the uterus, ovaries and genitals, and also Nitric acid is naturally produced by the human body. It effects the sexual stimulation, creates a healthy environment in the uterus for implantation, increases the cervical mucus and extends the fertility for women over 40.

Folic Acid: folic Acid is really essential before becoming pregnant and through pregnancy, as along with this several other nutrients like B12 and B complex are essential. Its recommended dosage is 400 mcg daily.

Neetalia Jones has written numerous articles on skincare Tips, herbal remedies for flawless skin, and ayurvedic treatment of various diseases, parenting, health and lifestyle. She is well known for writing for health industry.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neetalia_Jones

What Are Organic Vitamins and Why Should You Care?

It is important to know that 95% of supplements on the market are synthetic, i.e. they are created in a lab. The other 5% are organic whole food supplements and are simply food in concentrated form.

There is a subtle but crucial difference between synthetic supplements, organic vitamins and whole food supplements. Supplements and/or vitamins, neither synthetic no organic, were intended to be taken in isolation.

A great example of a whole food supplement is acerola cherry powder. The acerola cherry is a rich source of Vitamin C. Basically, the cherries are dried and crushed to create a powder which is mixed into water or juice. As far as your body is concerned you are eating handful of cherries which are full of Vitamin C!

Most of us know that the orange is a great food source of Vitamin C. The reason is that every other substance in the orange works synergistically with the Vitamin C in the body for maximum absorption. A plain Vitamin C tablet usually does not contain these other 'co-factors' which allow your body to reap maximum benefit.

Generally, if we are eating a well rounded diet of veggies, fruits, grains, legumes, dairy, eggs, and meats and avoiding white sugar, processed products and denatured foods then we should be getting all of the vitamins we need.

The reality is that most of us are not doing this and even if we were we would probably not be getting what we need. Why not?

First of all, each person has different vitamin requirements based on their genetics, diet, lifestyle and environmental stress load. Believe it or not genetics can play a role in how much say, Vitamin A, you require. Even if you have a wonderful diet full of whole unprocessed foods...

much of the soil on our farmlands has been so depleted that what looks like spinach in 2008 probably bears little resemblance nutritionally to spinach from 1950.

The caveat to this, of course, is produce that is grown organically

In this modern era of focus on diet and nutrition...whole foods, organics and supplements have become buzz words. It is all at once easy to get hopelessly confused or to completely ignore the overload of information on the subject of vitamins both in food and in supplement form.

It becomes counterproductive to over think your nutritional and vitamin intake, but it is also unwise to ignore it. While we can live without enough of a certain vitamin for a while, in the long term a vitamin deficiency is a precursor to all sorts of health problems.

For example, Vitamin D deficiency is being linked to cancer, heart disease, susceptibility to colds and flus and a host of other problems. Most people who eat a typical American diet tend to be deficient somewhere.

Another factor that depletes our vitamin stores is stress, a.k.a. a lack of sleep, busy hectic lifestyle, lack of exercise and toxins in our homes and environment. So what about taking vitamins and supplements and even more important, why should you take an organic vitamin?

A high-quality, organic, vitamin supplement made from food can be a wonderful way to ensure that your body is getting what it needs. Granted supplements are not a substitute for a quality diet rich in whole foods, they can be a wise addition to any diet. A good quality organic vitamin or supplement has the power to help your body heal through an illness or simply to act as an insurance policy of sorts to prevent future illness.

We have created a comprehensive resource for organic health and wellness to help you find the ind of quality nutrition your body needs. You can find information about organic vitamins, organic skincare and overall wellness at [http://organicvitaminsorganiclife.com/].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jess_Ray