Foods With Good Fats That Nourish Skin and Hair

If you want to have beautiful glowing skin and fast-growing, thick lustrous locks then be sure to make these particular foods part of your diet.

1. Salmon

Salmon nourishes the skin and the hair because it contains Omega-3 fatty acids. It is rich in one particular Omega-3 fatty acid known as DHA that is found mostly in fish and seaweed.

DHA is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to thin the blood. This in turn aids circulation, which in turn, helps speed up the body’s ability to not only bring nutrients to the surface of the scalp and skin so that they can be nourished but also its ability to clarify the system of toxins.

The fact that salmon is also an anti-inflammatory also discourages your skin from breaking out and your hair follicles from becoming vulnerable to the kinds of immune responses that can cause hair thinning and hair loss.

Wild salmon contains the highest amounts of DHA. It is quite easy to incorporate salmon in your diet by eating tinned fish, fresh salmon that is grilled or baked or by eating it raw rolled in sushi or as sashimi.  Sushi is especially recommended as the seaweed wraps also have high quantities of DHA acids.

2.  Sardines

Like salmon, sardines contain a remarkably high amount of Omega-3 fatty acids and especially DHA acids that can help give your skin elasticity and a soft glow.

Sardines are especially nourishing because they contain a lot of calcium and phosphorous rich bones.  Calcium and phosphorous improve the tensile strength of the hair strand, which means that if you pull the hair it does not break.  These two minerals also skin tissue connectivity making it less likely to wrinkle. 

Pile sardines on whole grain toast to maximize their nutrient potential as the B vitamins in whole grain bread are synergistic with oils in the sardines.

3.   Snapper

Snapper is a tropical fish that is natural source of selenium.  Selenium is the mineral that can helps the skin repair itself sunburn and skin breakouts and that also can help give it a youthful glow. Snapper is also very high in the DHA that keeps skin and hair youthful looking.

The ideal skin and hair enhancing meal would be red snapper, drizzled with olive oil and then baked with almonds sprinkled on top. The almonds provide extra calcium and the olive oil enhances the Omega-3 content of the meal.

4.   Olives and Olive Oil

Olives (and by extension olive oils) are another excellent source of omega-3 acids and oleic acid.  Oleic acid is a good fatty acid that is naturally clarifying and that helps keep your skin smooth and blemish free.

Olives can also be easily added to bread recipes, salads or just eaten raw.

They contain vitamins E and K. Although small black olives contain vitamins A, E, calcium, iron, and copper, they are quite high in sodium. Look for olives with lower sodium that are preserved in vinegar or extra virgin olive oil.

6.  Avocadoes

Avocados contain many B vitamins, vitamins, C, E, and K, magnesium, copper, manganese, and potassium. In fact, avocados contain more potassium than a banana. The synergistic action of these vitamins can help prevent hair loss and improve because they improve circulation.

Avocadoes contain soluble fat can also help your body absorb vitamins more efficiently. The antioxidants in avocadoes help repair damaged cells and prevent further damage to stressed-out skin and hair.

Avocadoes can be eaten raw, added to salads and blended in smoothies. You can also make a skin-and hair-enhancing guacamole from olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes and avocado.  The garlic and onions are anti-inflammatorily and contain the skin healing mineral selenium. The tomatoes contain lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant for the skin and the scalp.

7.  Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower Seeds lower seeds are good for hair because they are high in protein, biotin, potassium, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and vitamin E. They also supply and abundance of omega-6 fatty acids. Biotin, in particular, plays a role in improving the tensile strength of the hair. They pack a powerhouse of nutrition and are fat-free.

Sunflower seeds can be eaten raw as a snack, sprinkled on salads or mixed into bread or cookie dough.

The good fats in these foods help clean your arteries, increase circulation and assist with cell regeneration so that your skin always appears to be glowing with health and your hair strands always have tensile strength and shine.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41)440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Micheal Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

Lifestyle Habits To Keep Bad LDL Cholesterol in Check

It is possible for a thin person to have a stroke or a heart attack if they have high levels of LDL cholesterol. Living a happy and active lifestyle must include habits that support the consumption of good HDL cholesterol and lowers the damage to your body caused by bad LDL cholesterol. It is the LDL cholesterol that sticks to your arteries and it is the HDL cholesterol that helps clean it up from the artery wall.

Here are some ways that you can raise your cholesterol levels  -

Butt out that cigarette. Tobacco use is a major risk to your health and studies show that it smoking lowers HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It may not seem necessary to warn people concerned with leading an active and happy lifestyle but many people still smoke cigarettes in order to help them lose weight.  It is best to take a healthier approach.

Eat grapefruit for breakfast. Both the white and the red varieties of grapefruit help lower our total cholesterol levels by 8% if you find the discipline to eat a whole one every day.

Eat more oat bran. There was a study done at University of Connecticut study that found that men with high cholesterol who ate oat bran cookies daily for 8 weeks lowered their levels of LDL cholesterol by more than 20 percent. If you are trying to stay on a raw diet, remember that you can eat steel-cut oat flakes that have been soaked in coconut or almond milk overnight in the refrigerator.

Drink green tea. Studies conducted at Vanderbilt University found that drinking the equivalent of seven cups of green tea a day can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Even drinking just two cups a day could have a beneficial effect.

Drink red wine. Drinking one glass of red wine a day helps lower dangerous levels of LDL cholesterol. There is a constituent of red wine called resveratrol that helps prevent damage to blood vessels and improves heart function.  However, take it easy when you drink, as drinking alcohol in excess is not good for the liver.

Drink unsweetened cranberry juice. Just as effective as wine is red cranberry juice. A study at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania showed that drinking the raw juice raised good HDL cholesterol levels by ten percent.

Get enough niacin (B3). This is an essential vitamin that the body needs to process fat in the body. Meat, fish and liver are the best sources of the vitamin, but vegan sources can be found in peanuts, mushrooms, green peas, sunflower seeds and avocado.

Eat more grains and beans. Researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto found that eating beans every day could lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by almost 30%.

Eat more nuts, Researchers found that that ate 1 ounce of nuts daily decreased their risk of heart disease by 30 percent.

These are very simple and minor adjustments that you can make to your lifestyle in order to prevent heart attacks and strokes provoked by high cholesterol levels.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41)440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Micheal Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.