Why bother? Do we really need to find good sources of vitamins nutrition supplements? Well, yes and one big reason and probably the root of the problem is because our soil is depleted of minerals. Here in the United States we suffer from an 85% depletion of minerals in our soil. The reasons for this are many and something I’ll save for another post but without the trace minerals our bodies cannot function efficiently. And there is some evidence that mineral deficiency contributes to diseases like cancer and diabetes among many others.

Would you believe that there are about 17 minerals that are required to keep you healthy? And most of us don’t even know what they are, like selenium, what the heck is that? It’s vital to good health and acts as an antioxidant and helps to protect against some types of cancer, strokes and heart disease by boosting your immune system.

Without minerals vitamins are useless because minerals are required for you to assimilate vitamins and all minerals must come from an outside source. Our biological systems cannot produce them, so that’s the connection between soil depletion and the need for supplements. Because we get minerals from the food we eat. Plants get minerals from the soil it’s grown in and animals eat those plants and the minerals are missing from the source.

So I’m convinced that I need to take vitamins nutrition supplements, next I intend to discover which the best supplements are.

List of the 17 recommended minerals.

Calcium Chloride

Cobalt

Copper

Fluorine

Iodine

Iron

Magnesium

Manganese

Molybdenum

Nickel

Phosphorus

Potassium

Selenium

Sodium

Sulfur

Zinc

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Is it possible to travel and keep a diet and exercise plan in check?  I say it is totally possible and necessary if travel is a normal part of your schedule.  I know quite a few people that travel M-F and spend less than 48 hours at home every weekend.  If this is your life and you haven’t quite figured out how to fit it in yet, take the time to setup a program that works for you.  There are many resources at your fingertips that you can use to help you figure out how to get started with a fitness program and stay on track with your diet.  If you are on the other end of the spectrum and your vacations are few and far between…AND you have a regular fitness and diet program, allow yourself to take a break.   

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The skin around the eyes is fragile, and readily shows the signs of age, fatigue and stress. The tissue is thinner, water evaporation is rapid and the collagen and elastin fibers are less numerous.

Signs of Eye Aging:
Early (age 20-40)—Degradation of Elastin
Elastin is produced by the body throughout the period of growth, the production of elastin reducing after maturity (22 years). It is therefore the first protein to degenerate. As a result the skin around the eyes can become lined and wrinkled from in your early 20’s, elastin loss is seen as horizontal lines and is commonly found under the eyes and loose skin across the eye lid.

Advanced (age 40+)—Loss of Collagen
Collagen is responsible for the structural integrity of tissue and skin density, we produce collagen throughout our life, but collagen production decreases in quantity after the age of forty. Both collagen and elastin are surrounded and supported by fluid called glycosaminoglycans (GAG’s). This fluid is responsible for keeping both collagen and elastin in good condition. Collagen loss manifests itself in the form of fine vertical lines, with common areas of loss being the corner of the eye and eye lids.

Let’s look at some of the most common challenges:

• Puffiness: The noticeable puffiness in the eye area is due to the fineness of the tissue and just under the skin there is a slack tissue which contains no fat and becomes easily distended. This is why the eyelids swell up quickly.
• Under Eye Bags: Never use oils around the eye area. Avoid excessive amounts of alcohol, and get plenty of sleep. Do not rub the eyes excessively. Drink plenty of water to help flush your body of toxins.
• Dark Circles: One of the biggest complaints we hear as estheticians is the dreaded “dark circles”. The causes could be many, but again more likely to be hereditary or of ethnic origin However, tiredness and stress are additional factors. In some instances the only alternative to reducing the appearance of dark circles is to camouflage them, however protecting the delicate skin with eye creams is still important prior to applying any concealer.
• Crows Feet: Crows feet are lines resulting from extrinsic aging. Caused by sun, wind, cold and overall lack of care. A prevention program should start in your late teens to early 20’s with eye creams, sensible eye care and a sun protection. Wear good quality sun glasses that are large to cover the entire eye area and surrounding skin (think Jackie Onassis sunglasses) and be sure they have broad-range UVA/UVB protection. A great topical choice for added protection is Murad’s Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15.

I just read this in the August edition of Allure.

Women can perform well in math – until they are reminded of the stereotype that men are better at it. At Dartmouth College, researchers led by psychologist Anne C. Krendl studied 28 college women who strongly agreed that it was important to them to be good at math. All had their brains scanned while they completed a variety of tasks, including two sets of difficult math problems. Before the second test, the investigators noted to some of the women that “research has shown gender differences in math ability and performance.” The subjects who had been reminded of this performed significantly worse the second time, whereas the others did significantly better. Also, the unprompted group showed activity in parts of the brain that are associated with math learning, but those reminded of the stereotype experienced activation of a brain area that processes negative social information, essentially distracting them from their task. Simply being aware of this effect can help women overcome it, Krendl says.

So, we really are what we think.

With a desire to live according to Dr. Murad’s philosophy, twelve brave Murad employees have come together to form the Murad Transformers soccer team. We have embraced this challenge and have been practicing twice a week for the past month, boosting our endurance levels, developing game strategies and most importantly—having FUN!

The season began July 30th—a team with a lot of heart took the field, a sideline of co-workers and their families cheered us on and I played with the knowledge that I had accidentally signed us up for the advanced league…not only were we signed up for the advanced league, we were playing last season’s champions!

While our team experienced a brutal defeat (9-1) that night, we held our heads high. We knew we played hard and put forth a valiant effort, and without knowing my little secret, our team was still eager to return next week and try again. We are a team that isn’t afraid of a good challenge.

I have since told the team of the mix up and everyone had a good laugh. Win or Lose, our active lifestyle and friendship will boost our physical and emotion well-being, as well as the health of our skin. In the end, we’re all Winners.

Get your wellness on!

I know some of you are still around as I’ve been commening on your blogs! I just wanted to let you know I redesigned the main page. Since we aren’t accepting new signups the old one REALLY didn’t make much sense. Now we will be able to easily see who’s been updaing their blog here so we can stay in touch.

This also curbs the exposer to the SPAM. WHich, by the way, I zapped a crap load today and found one of the holes where there they were getting in

I know some of you aren’t found of the new community and I totally understand why. Please know I had no intention on making those of you that wanted to stat feel abandoned. The new community is just built on a framework that offers different/more features with less actually programing work from me. I hope you understand and just so you know, I’m not going anywhere! If you feel like there is something that needs my attention or something you want chaged on this community, please let me know.

SO on to this head count! Who’s reading this? ;~P