Do It Yourself Body Lotion

SAVE MONEY: DIY BODY LOTION

To combat dry skin and other dermatological problems, people often visit drugstores and buy one product after another, trying to find one that really works -- especially in the winter, when skin gets even drier. But did you know that the best “lotions” may already be in your home?

According to Aimee Masi, MA, a medical aesthetician (a licensed skin-care specialist) in the department of plastic surgery at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, when it comes to treating common conditions such as dry skin, sunburn, bug bites, rosacea, eczema and even wrinkles, using oils that you already have on hand, or making your own lotions from them, can provide great relief. Besides working very well, they often are far less expensive than lotions that you would buy in the store. The oils are available at supermarkets, health-food stores and drugstores. Below are Masi’s tips on how to use them to make your skin look and feel better…

For dry winter skin. Masi said that using a nickel-sized amount of evening primrose oil, pressed from the seeds of the evening primrose plant, is great for moisturizing the face in cold weather due to its gamma linoleic acid (a beneficial fatty acid) -- and you can use even more if you would like to cover your whole body. According to Masi, it doesn’t feel “heavy” like many lotions do, but it still prevents chapping from windburn and becomes invisible when the skin absorbs it.You can apply it in the morning or at night or both times, if needed. Masi does not recommend using evening primrose oil if you are pregnant because of a possible risk of early uterine contractions. However, data on this is controversial, so consult your doctor.

For sunburn and bug bites (including spider bites!). Any type of olive oil can work very well for relieving the discomfort of sunburns and bug bites because it reduces skin inflammation. That calms the skin, which makes it itch and hurt less and accelerates healing. Use only the amount of oil that you need to lightly cover the affected area, and gently massage it into the skin once a day. If the scent of olive oil reminds you a bit too much of dinner, Masi suggested making your own scented oil. Her favorite: Pour olive oil into a jar containing dried organic chamomile flower buds -- use enough to submerge the buds. The buds are available online and in many health-food stores. Then seal the jar and let it sit for a month in a dark, dry place. Before using the oil, strain out the flower buds, and you will be left with a chamomile-scented oil to use on your skin.

For rosacea. To reduce the severity of flare-ups that leave your cheeks and nose glowing red, you can try evening primrose oil (mentioned above) or hazelnut oil. You can’t cure rosacea (no one knows how to do that), but due to their astringent properties, both oils cleanse and repair damaged skin, prevent dehydration, reduce inflammation, redness and swelling and stimulate skin regrowth. Put a few drops directly onto the face before bed each night and gently massage them into your skin. If you’re wondering if you should mix the two oils, Masi advised not to -- instead, alternate the oils each day, she said. (And talk to your doctor before using evening primrose oil if you’re pregnant.)

To relieve eczema. Many people with eczema find that they can soothe the redness, itching and soreness with plain avocado oil. For the dry, flaky skin that eczema brings, avocado oil can be mixed with brown sugar and used as a gentle scrub. It not only helps moisturize and calm the irritation, but because brown sugar is coarse (but not too abrasive) and contains a form of natural glycolic acid, it exfoliates, so it also helps eliminate the flaking that is part of this condition. Any oil would moisturize, but avocado oil is particularly helpful for eczema patients because it is unusually thick, so it protects the skin better from dehydration. To use: Make a mixture by adding just enough avocado oil to granulated brown sugar to create a grainy paste. You can make a batch that will keep in the refrigerator or in a dark, dry, cool place for several months. Apply to the dry portions of your skin using a gentle, circular massage for a few minutes two to three times per week. Then rinse the skin with lukewarm water and pat dry with a towel. Important: Never scrub over open wounds -- avoid those areas until they are completely closed. And if the scrub is too irritating for your skin, then either use less brown sugar, use the scrub less often or less vigorously or stop using the scrub altogether.

To reduce fine wrinkles. Rubbing a nickel-sized amount of evening primrose oil on your face in the morning and/or evening may help because it is high in antioxidants, which help protect and repair damaged cells that lead to wrinkles -- so it may smooth out your skin. (Talk to your doctor before using it if pregnant.)

For almost all of these skin conditions, Masi said that the oils will provide immediate relief -- except when it comes to smoothing out wrinkles, which could require daily use for a month… so be patient!

Source: 

Aimee Masi, MA, licensed medical aesthetician, department of plastic surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois.

Eat this Fruit to Lower your Cholesterol!

The health tip today in my office is "Say no to Drugs, but what kind?" It talks about how prescription drugs have negative side-effects just like illegal drugs. We have all needed prescriptions at times but we want to be on the least amount possible due to the side effects and because the toxic chemicals in them can damage our nervous system leading to subluxations and more poor health.

If you could eat a fruit that could lower your cholesterol instead of a prescription medication would you be interested? Would you want to know the name of the fruit? Do you think it's some exotic or expensive fruit? Take a look below and find out! :) 

Keeping you Healthy,

Dr. Kiefat 

Sure, statin drugs such as Lipitor and Zocor can be effective in bringing down elevated cholesterol—and, therefore, your risk for heart disease—but these benefits come at a price.
Side effects of these powerful drugs can include raised blood sugar, memory loss and muscle damage.
Seeking a safer, natural solution to at least supplement (if not fully replace) statins, scientists recently looked at the impact of two fruits on cholesterol.
And the results were quite promising—especially for one of the fruits.

TASTES GOOD…LESS CHOLESTEROL

In the study, researchers asked participants to eat a half cup of dried apples or a half cup of dried plums (prunes) each day for a year. The study did not include people who had regularly consumed dried apples or prunes in the past or anyone who was taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. Participants were asked to eat whatever else they typically ate and to exercise the same amount that they normally would. Roughly the same percentage of people in each group—about 82%—complied with all the instructions and completed the study. And the results below are based only on those who complied and completed the study.
Cholesterol levels were checked at the beginning of the study and after three months, six months and 12 months. Results…

• After three months: Those who ate dried apples reduced their total cholesterol by 9% and their LDL “bad” cholesterol by 16%...while those who ate prunes reduced their total cholesterol by only 2.6% and their LDL by just 5%.
• After six months: Those who ate dried apples reduced their numbers even more—their total cholesterol dropped by 13% and their LDL by 24%, compared with levels at the beginning of the study. But the prune group’s levels didn’t change between the three-month mark and the six-month mark.
• After 12 months: The dried-apple group’s results were the same as they were at the six-month mark. The prune group saw a little more improvement at this point—their total cholesterol was 3.5% lower and LDL was 8% lower, compared with levels at the beginning of the study.

In other words, overall, it seems that both dried apples and prunes brought down cholesterol, but dried apples had a stronger effect. Though participants in this study were all women, the researchers believe that the results are likely to apply to men as well.
Though head-to-head fruit versus statin studies haven’t been done, neither fruit is likely to lower cholesterol quite as much as a statin would (depending on the dose, a statin tends to lower LDL by roughly 40% to 60%). But given that they’re natural foods that provide excellent nutrition and no harmful side effects, I think this news is quite encouraging.

THE PECTIN PUNCH

I was curious to find out why these fruits (especially the apples) may have been beneficial. Both dried fruits offer heart-healthy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection and are rich in pectin—a dietary fiber that reduces cholesterol, said Bahram H. Arjmandi, PhD, RD, lead investigator of the study. Dried apples helped more, probably, because apples (both dried and fresh) contain an especially high amount of pectin.
In case you’re wondering, dried apples (rather than regular, fresh apples) were studied for the sake of consistency. Since there are significant variations in the chemical composition of fresh fruits, studying dried apples was a more standardized way to measure their effects. But fresh apples, said Dr. Arjmandi, are apt to provide the same cholesterol-lowering benefits as dried apples. To eat an amount of fresh apples that is equal to what the study subjects ate through dried apples (one-half cup), you would need to eat two medium-sized fresh apples per day. To try: Slice fresh apples and dip them in peanut butter…blend some into your lunchtime smoothie…or sprinkle cinnamon on them and eat them as a sweet after-dinner treat.
On the other hand, dried apples are easier to transport and store and they keep much longer—so it’s easy to keep them around for snacking. You can also use dried apples as a garnish and add them to cereal, yogurt, soup or pasta dishes. (Try it!)
If you do so and you also take a statin, said Dr. Arjmandi, continue seeing your doctor to track your cholesterol, because it may turn out that you can reduce your statin dose—and that would be sweet.
Source: Bahram H. Arjmandi, PhD, RD, Margaret A. Sitton Professor, chair, department of nutrition, food, and exercise sciences, director, Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging, The Florida State University, Tallahassee. The results of his study were published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.