What Is Beauty?
What is Beauty?
This may be a simple question but apparently, the answer eludes many. I recently attended the World Congress meeting on Anti-Aging. This was the first time I attended this conference and had high hopes going in. I thought this conference would give me some additional insight on how to boost natural beauty through diet and lifestyle. I was looking for cutting edge research on nutrition and epigenetics and how these play a role in how we look and feel. In other words, true beauty inside and out. What I got was something very different.
Thank goodness for free speech. Here we go!
The first morning during registration it became apparent to me that something was amiss. As I waited in line I noticed faces that weren't quite right and no one was happy or smiling. This scene was not one of natural health and beauty. I later learned that this conference focused on aesthetics, plastic surgery, injections and what I call “fake” beauty.
The first lecture I attended was about cutting edge plastic surgery. The presenter showed before and after photos of his patients and proceeded to comment on how pretty (or handsome) they looked after the surgery. How cruel. True beauty was lost on this man, and obviously lost on most attendees, as these were some of the most unhealthy looking and unfriendly people I have ever encountered. There was not a smile or kind word to be found. It seems that all the plastic surgery did not make them healthy or happy.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for looking younger but true beauty comes from something more than surgical augmentation. True beauty comes from a healthy body, a smile and pleasant demeanor, a helping hand, a soft caring voice and an acceptance of oneself and others. Throw in some good quality skin care products that boost natural skin health and you got something worthwhile.
Want to boost natural beauty? Here are a few suggestions:
- Smile! There is nothing in the world that will make you look more beautiful.
- Get plenty of exercise and quality sleep.
- Dump the sugar. Sugar glycates proteins and ages us inside and out.
- Heal the gut. Your gut influences healthy skin far more than you might realize.
Eat a diet that supports skin health. This includes lots of vegetables, healthful fats, good quality protein, nuts, seeds, berries and clean water. Eat liver from grass fed animals twice a week for Vitamin A, copper, zinc and B-vitamins, all which are necessary for skin health. Most importantly, get enough collagen from foods, broths or supplementation.
- Detox your liver. Eat foods and take supplements to enhance liver detoxification. A toxic liver will give you dull, problematic skin.
- Boost circulation with exercise, skin brushing, sweating, topical creams with horse chestnut, supplement with pycnagenol and gotu kola.
- Take only the best quality supplements for the skin: Fat soluble vitamins, astaxanthin (the most power antioxidant for the skin), MSM (for sulfur and cell membrane integrity), whole food Vitamin C, resveratrol, Omega fatty acids and possibly a whole food multi-vitamin.
- Use only chemical free all natural skincare products. I like calendula oil and frankincense essential oil.
Well, there you have it. Eat, drink and smile. You are beautiful.
