3 Reasons Your Skin Wants Detoxification ~ Natural Skincare

3 Reasons Your Skin Wants Detoxification

Let’s talk a little bit about detoxification. Detoxification is the concept of getting toxic materials out of your body and out of your skin. But it is such a widely used term that means many different things for many different people. Clearly we have a lot of toxic substances from pesticides to food colorings, to various toxins that are in the air from other reasons.

From our de-gassing formaldehyde,formaldehyde-like products, from all of our synthetics in the house, the carpets, the sofas, the paints, the glues. These are one kind of toxins. There are toxins from things that are seeping into your water, if you happen to be in an area where the aquifer is being aggravated by things that have been used industrially or in farming. Such as arsenals for potato and tobacco farming.

So you have to know a little bit about what’s going in in your area to find out even where your toxins are; which is why I don’t think there is one detoxification process that suits all people.

So just getting away from various toxins by eating healthier diet is a very important first step Eating fresh things that haven’t been sprayed and haven’t been colored and messed up in other ways. That’s really important. The next thing is understanding what might be something that you may have been exposed to by the history of where you’ve lived and what you have eaten. And what has preceded you getting sick.

And then finally, there are a lot of toxins coming from the organisms in your digestive system that are getting out inappropriately in the bloodstream in your lymphatic. So that can be determined also to some extent by what you have eaten, whether you have gotten worst after antibiotics or birth control pills, or other medications which indeed also can be another source of toxins. Various medicines that you take on a chronic basis.

So figuring out which things had gone on and then counteracting those things after you’ve eliminated them can make a big difference in what I believe to be true detoxification. So I recommend that you work with somebody that understands what’s going on and who you bring to the table, a good history of what you’ve been exposed to and what is preceding you getting worst. So that your detoxification is really a sensible and proper one.


Can Juicing Clear Your Skin? Best Organic Skincare.

Can Juicing Clear Your Skin?

Let’s talk about vegetable juicing and healing of skin diseases. Now vegetable juicing can be tremendously useful in a short period of time in helping, not only skin diseases, but  a lot of other inflammatory disorder, and even cancer. One of the things when you have vegetable juices is that, you have a tremendous amount of certain substances that you get in only small amounts that in the usual diet.

So the first thing is lots of chlorophyll. The second thing is that vegetables have  a lot of minerals that are bound in a way that is very useful to the body and they have a lot of enzymes because you are breaking down that food very rapidly and then drinking it immediately afterwards.

So it can be tremendously beneficial in those ways. And all of that releases inside the cells which is a large amount of potassium as opposed to the large amount of sodium that we normally get in our diet when we break the cells a part of our food and then add salt. So you get a high potassium, and you also get a high degree of alkalinity.

So this alkalinizes the blood and you can test that by testing your urine or your saliva, and you’ll find out that if you have been on an alkaline diet, you usually can have much more saliva and urine. And that’s because you are alkalinizing your blood more. This is all more very favorable. The issue with this is that you have two other things to consider. Many of the places that make juices throw in apple and throw in beats, and throw in carrots. And if you use a lot of that, it tastes better and actually makes it palatable, but if you use too much, you are getting too much sugar.

Second thing is there is very little roughage, and some people need more roughage to act as a prebiotic to help grow normal bacteria. And the third thing is of course you are not getting much protein. And the fourth thing is, that you can’t maintain this diet in most normal lifestyles for a long time. So this is good as part of a shift, as part of a cleanse but it’s a hard diet to sustain. And it is a good way to make a change over and to get somebody healthy who has been a mess beforehand. But it has to be put into the context of a bigger program.


Are Toxins Making You Fat? Time for a natural cleanse or detoxification.

Are Toxins Making You Fat? Time for a natural cleanse or detoxification.

Could toxins be contributing to your weight gain and to your difficulty in losing weight? Well, I think they are very likely. Let’s just talk about a few different ways in which they can.

First of all, we use a lot of different pesticides and preservatives in your food supply. And unless you are eating 100% pure foods that have been grown away from civilization, you probably have accumulated a lot of those.

Also from automobile exhaust, from various kinds of paints and chemicals that are used around the home and at work for spraying, for insecticides, and all sorts of industrial locations, even if you don’t spray at home.

All of these are sources of toxins that get into your environment, and into your body. And many of them are fat soluble. So that means they are stored in the compartment of your body. So when you start losing weight and fat cells break down and release the fat, what happens to the toxins that dissolve there?

Well, in the old days, fat reduction programs usually consisted of taking diet pills and drinking diet Tab. And smoking. And were accompanied by headaches and feeling bad. And why is that? It’s because you are concentrating those toxins and body has to deal with them and some of them are going to the brain and causing you to feel lousy.

Many of the weight loss programs today involve detoxification preparations that enhance the removal of fat toxins from the body. They support the livers and the kidneys, there are herbs that are used traditionally for that purpose for centuries, and those are incorporated in some of those diet systems.

Other sources of toxins include the bacteria that live in our large intestine, especially in abnormal bacteria that can back up into the small intestine, and get out through a leaky gut. Those kinds of toxins often cause some persons to have fatigue and not to feel good. And they may also be part of bloating and other disorders. So there are a number of totally different sources of toxins that are involved in the body.

Finally, there are heavy metals that are involved in our home environment including arsenic and cadmium and other metal toxins that have the ability to compete with the normal methods that are present in our enzyme systems which break down various substances and are part of our entire metabolic cycle. So if those enzymes get gummed up with toxic minerals, they just don’t work right. And then we begin to build up all the by-products that should have been converted and disposed of by our system. Still another way in which toxins can really mess up our system.

It is important to identify the issue so that we can use the proper means for removal. In any case, it’s really helpful to have somebody who knows what they are doing, both in taking your history, looking at you and  in doing testing in order to identify and help you get rid of the toxins that are in your body that are causing you to have difficulty losing weight and to not feel your normal self.


3 Skin Secrets of the Mediterranean Diet ~ Natural Skincare

3 Skin Secrets of the Mediterranean Diet

There are many different perspectives on diet that can enhance your health, and help your skin as well. One of them is the Mediterranean diet. Now let’s talk a little bit about what makes the Mediterranean diet so useful. Mediterranean diet is basically conceptually what people would eat if they were living around the Mediterranean base, in Greece, in Italy, in Spain, in Northern Africa, Morocco, those areas. So what does that include? First of all when you think about Mediterranean diet, you think about olive oil.

Now olive oil is a terrific oil to be part of your food. It’s a mono-saturated oil. It has a nice flavor. Some of that green color is anti-microbial property of the olive leaf and the olive. So it has some benefits in that direction and also it’s avoiding so many nasty things that we have in our current oils which are really not healthy. It’s avoiding the toxins. Because when you think about the Mediterranean diet, you are not thinking about somebody spraying the olive tree. You think about a more organic and natural olive.

The second thing is it avoids high temperature heating oils, and oils that are saturated fats or oils that are very highly unsaturated that would become rancid. So all those things are being avoided when you are thinking of that. It’s avoiding things that are really; who knows what they are, like Canola. There is no such thing as a canola bean! Canola is the name of a conglomerate type of product.

So getting to olive oil is the real basic step that makes you healthier. So Mediterranean diet involves fresh foods and vegetables, involves fresh fish and meat. And a diet that has limited amounts of carbohydrates in it. And that could be tremendously important, both for the good things it’s bringing with all those products and also for the terrible things it’s avoiding.


Is Detoxification Necessary for Healthy Skin?

“Is detoxification a very important process with patients of yours?”


“That does have an important role in a lot of ways but I must say that the word as to physicians is kind of a red flag they see detoxification is bizarre because they’re not really saying what are you de toxic about, but when you really look carefully at the medical literature you see that there are a lot of different kinds toxicity that exist me from heavy metal toxicity to inability of the livers P 450 system for preparing altering bio transforming in getting rid of different substances that we take in like medications and in other chemicals. Toxins are real it’s just a word that is highly reactive word to my colleagues.”


Could pollution be affecting your skin?

Depositphotos_11488311_xsI often see our individual skin as a reflection of the condition of the skin on the face of our planet, so a recent article supporting that concept really caught my attention. The article explores the possibility that a form of hyperpigmentation called Melasma and facial hyperpigmentation might be related to pollution. Melasma, sometimes called the mask of pregnancy, is a form of pigmentation of the face that is often seen with female hormones are pregnancy. It is clearly aggravated by sun exposure.

In addition, there seem to be genetic factors that lead to the tendency for this and other forms of pigmentation of the face. What is new and explored in this recent article, Is the possibility that increased pollution is contributing to this hyperpigmentation.

What is not new is the observation that pollution has been increasing on the planet, and especially in more populated and industrialized areas. Pollution involves increased particulate matter and chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These nano-sized tiny particles can get into the skin, and through a series of steps, cause excessive oxidative damage  leading to aging changes including hyperpigmentation.

Dr. Roberts demonstrated here that areas with the highest pollution, including India Southeast Asia, china, and the United States, also had increased melisma. This article focuses more on correlation then absolute proof, and discusses the other factors mentioned above that appear to contribute to Melasma.

Increased pollution in inherently industrialized areas is also being correlated with many serious health conditions. It is both sad and darkly amusing, that putting a dirty face on our planet with pollution maybe contributing to the appearance of a dirty face and women living in that pollution. Maybe it’s time to think seriously about cleaning it up. 

To your health,

Alan M Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine


Researchers stunned at the success of an “alternative” treatment.


6a00e55255b462883401a3fd227021970b-300wiConventional physicians have a default expectation about alternative medical therapies: that they’re bogus and don’t work.
 

This often runs contrary to my observations, and what I hear from patients and fellow physicians.

For years, I have heard about the benefits of chelation therapy in cardiovascular disease. This method of reducing heart attacks and other cardiac issues was categorically frowned upon as fraud by the more conventional physicians. 

So, it interesting to read that analysis of the results of a recent study on the effects of chelation, called the TACT study, showed that chelation has positive benefits in protecting heart disease patients from further damage, compared to those who got control treatment only. Click here to read the study.

This makes me think of all the people who cannot get alternative treatments because no-one has invested in proving their benefits. Like for chelation, many other alternative treatments are not considered scientific until the proper science is done. Perhaps it’s time to do more research.

Alan M Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine


Maximizing your energy, slowing aging, losing weight, and preventing diabetes.

6a00e55255b462883401a511af6c64970c-200wiI just spent a weekend day at a seminar on mitochondria. Mito… what?  You may remember vaguely from biology, those little oval energy generators inside cells. So what do they have to do with the skin and the environment, and why bother to read about them?

The answer is that are the key producers of the energy currency of the cells, known as ATP, and they have a number of roles in signaling and affecting the fate and function of other organs of the body.  Good energy, control of obesity, avoidance of diabetes, all require good mitochondrial function.

Mitochondrial function decreases with aging, and DNA mutations, that we have limited control over. But we do have some control over our exposure to persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and other environmental toxins and medications that harm the mitochondria and reduce their function. Toxins include the ever-present BPA, and plasticizers in vinyl. Caloric excess, alcohol, and fructose are also toxins to mitochondria. Drugs that poison mitochondria include aspirin, acetaminophen, Metformin, and Statins.

We can increase the activity of mitochondria by fasting, moderate exercise, cold exposure. Green tea, tumeric, resveratrol from grapes, and quercetin from capers, onions and apples are all natural food substances that support the mitochondria. Magnesium, Co Q 10, and alpha lipoic acid are supplements that help mitochondria.

So if you are interested in maximizing your energy, slowing aging, losing weight, and preventing or controlling diabetes, some do’s and don’ts are listed here as a starting point. You have an opportunity to take control of the chief energy source in your cells.


Autism: Trying Most Things, But Not Everything

6a00e55255b462883401901b97af0f970b-200wiI recently read a column in the New York Times by Jane Brody titled “Trying Anything and Everything for Autism.” In it, parents of an autistic child find success with alternative treatments, but are unsure whether the treatment relates to the child’s improvement. The article quotes a physician from England who suggests that alternative treatment for autism like avoiding dairy is like returning to the Dark Ages.

What emerges from Jane Brody’s column minimizes the two important positive responses that the boy, Casey showed to the alternative treatments of dairy-free diet and hyperbaric oxygen. The difficulties of avoiding certain foods are emphasized, but compared to the Behavioral Approach, which is promoted but requires working with a child for 30-40 hours per week, dietary restriction should be relatively simple.
Nothing is mentioned about the science related to casomorphin from milk affecting brain function, nor anti-gliadin antibody levels indicating wheat sensitivity.
Other non-conventional treatments are also based on scientific data. Genetic defects found in some autistic children in a biochemical pathway called “methylation,” respond to correction with a combination of B-vitamins and other
supplements. Yeast overgrowth in the intestines irritates the lining and allows undigested food molecules to leak into the circulation and irritate the immune system.  This can be corrected by diet changes and supplements. Since specialized immune cells are involved in the nervous system, it is not hard to imagine that improper dietary stimulation of the immune system could interrupt proper brain development.  Far from the Dark Ages, we can begin to understand multifactorial Autism by connecting scientific basis to anecdotal evidence.

My medical colleagues who specialize in autism treatment use the above science-based and other forms of analysis and therapy.  It would be a shame if parents, physicians, and researchers don’t vigorously pursue these connections that may lead to effective treatment.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

 


Eat More Pomegranate for Beautiful Natural Skin Care

6a00e55255b4628834017eea950060970d-200wiPomegranates are back on the shelves, and hopefully, back in our hearts! I have just spotted Pomegranates on the shelves of my local produce stores at rock bottom prices, meaning they are in season nearby. They contain valuable anti-oxidants that are well known to protect the heart.

What’s news is that they also have been shown to have protective effects on the skin. Dr. Hassan Mukhtar, who I met over 10 years ago when he presented his findings on the anti-oxidant protective effects of green tea extract, EGCG,recently published studies on the protective effects of pomegranate extract against Ultraviolet (UV) radiation damage. His group’s studies, published in 2005 showed that pomegranate extract inhibited UV damage in cultured human skin cells by inhibiting the changes in two molecular pathways associated with cancer (known as NF-kappaB and MAPK).

More recent studies showed that feeding Pomegranate extract to mice protected against a wide variety of biological markers related to UV light induced development of cancer. This information is important because it substantiates the mechanism by which pomegranate protects against skin cancer induced by UV light. Some of those mechanisms of UV damage also contribute to aging of the skin. So data is emerging suggesting that food derived anti-oxidants such as pomegranate may protect against both skin aging and cancer.

You can pick up pomegranates at your local produce store and enjoy them as a snack or desert. I eat them with an old dark sweat shirt or apron on, and not my favorite light colored clothing, as the red juice from the seeds has a tendency to squirt and stain when you cut them open. It may take you a few tries to get used to the slightly tart taste.

The seeds are the size of corn kernels, and have hard seeds inside. The white pulp around them is slightly bitter, but is also loaded with anti-oxidants, so I eat some of that along with the delicious red juice in the seeds. I make sure that the seeds have the rich purple color, and toss away those that have turned brown, in some sections of the fruit.

Pomegranates have been revered for thousands of years in the Middle East. If you travel to those lands, you will notice the familiar round shape with a wide, protruding stem in paintings and jewelry. Perhaps they were revered because of benefits seen in those who ate them over generations. It’s exciting to know studies simply confirm that you now can protect both your skin and your heart by enjoying this tasty fruit.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology & Natural Skin Care

New York