| Myths and Facts About Vitamin D and Sun Exposure
In recent weeks, many news reports have focused on the potential health benefits of vitamin D. This news coverage has led to the incorrect perception that you have to intentionally seek the sun or an artificial source of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in order to get the health benefits that vitamin D may provide. "Any individual or organization advocating intentional sun exposure as the preferred means of obtaining vitamin D is doing a tremendous disservice to the public," said Barbara A. Gilchrest, M.D., professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine. "Vitamin D is critical to healthy bones, and some research now suggests that maintaining higher levels than traditionally believed to be sufficient may offer additional health benefits.
Take Care of That Sensitive Skin
Do you take good care of your skin? If you are like most people, probably not. The skin that you inherited from your parents will be greatly influenced by other factors as you age. Aging of the skin is a process that happens over years and varies greatly depending on your sun exposure, your environment, health habits and your general lifestyle.
The sun and its ultraviolet rays have the greatest impact on how the skin ages. As we age, the collagen and elastin fibers of the skin naturally weaken. This happens at a much faster rate if the skin is frequently over exposed to ultraviolet rays without protection. There are two different forms of UV rays; the UVA rays and the UVB rays. UVA rays, otherwise known as the aging rays, contribute to 90-95 percent of the suns ultraviolet rays that reach the earths surface.
Summer Superfruits
If you're hoping to lose weight, save your skin from the damaging effects of the sun or alleviate the symptoms of hayfever, eating berries is the answer. Strawberries and raspberries are the "superfruits of the century" according to Patrick Holford, the leading nutritionist, founder of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and author of this year's best-selling Holford Diet. While the Government recommends eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, not all fruits are equal. Strawberries and raspberries contain ten essential nutrients. Not only is this more than are found in other foods, five of the nutrients are not found in any multi-vitamin pill. According to Patrick Holford, who on behalf of British Summer Fruits analysed all fruits, strawberries, followed by raspberries, came out top.
Six top treatments
MANVEET KAUR recommends six lip treatment products that will ensure luscious lips.
OKAY, so its not the worlds biggest health crisis but having a set of dry, cracked smackers is not only painful and uncomfortable, it is also unsightly. On top of that, its hard to stop yourself from chewing on the dead skin of your lips and making it look even worse. The most common causes of cracked lips are allergic reaction to cosmetics, skin infections, extreme weather conditions like excess sun and wind exposure, lip biting and sucking and riboflavin (vitamin B-2) deficiencies. Our lips are extra sensitive to the environment because the skin on our lips is actually mucous membrane which is very thin and allows moisture to evaporate from lips faster than from skin, causing lips to dry out easily.
|
