The Natural Makeover Diet :: Food and Nutrition

The Natural Makeover Diet
by author Joey Shulman, DC, RNCP

Our faces don’t lie. You can determine the state of a woman’s health simply by looking at her skin, hair, and nails. Try as we might, no amount or makeup will work to change those suitcases under our eyes or the alligator skin on our hands.

If we are sick or run down on the inside, it always shows up on the outside in a myriad of ways such as bags under the eyes, dry skin, brittle nails, premature wrinkling, excess weight, or difficulty losing weight.

Unfortunately, the norm today is to cover up the signs of poor health instead of addressing them. Women of all ages are turning to external quick fixes such as makeup, tanning beds, and even risky surgical procedures in the name of beauty.

The key to looking our best is to deal with our inside health first. Once we start taking care of our internal health, natural beauty shines through. For women searching to enhance their looks, the process of “finding their natural pretty” with nutritious food, proper exercise, the right minerals, vitamins, and fats, is the most effective and long-lasting makeover available. The following steps will kick-start your natural makeover.

Fantastic Fish Oils

The omega-3 fats found in fish and fish oils have been shown to have “anti-wrinkle” benefits. Low-mercury fish include sole, halibut, sardines, canned light tuna (which has much less mercury in comparison to white tuna) and wild salmon. For best skin and hair results, supplement with two to three grams of a high-quality fish oil supplement daily.

Lively Lycopene

A chemical responsible for the rich, red colour of tomatoes, lycopene has antioxidant effects that enhance the look and feel of your skin. In addition, it provides protection against a variety of cancers such as prostate, rectum, and colon cancer. Lycopene is best absorbed in the presence of fat, so adding a small amount of olive oil to your tomato or tomato-based products will strengthen its powerful disease-fighting effects.

Beautiful Blueberries

Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Center have found that blueberries rank number one in antioxidant activity when compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help neutralize harmful free radicals that can lead to cancer and aging of the skin.

Fabulous Fats

Additional fats necessary for internal health and external beauty include the monounsaturated fat, extra virgin olive oil, for cooking and avocados, which can be used as a dip or cut up in salads. Essential omega-3 fats to incorporate in the diet include omega-3 eggs (one egg contains 400 mg of omega-3 compared to 63 mg in a regular egg), nuts such as almonds and walnuts, seeds, flax, and flaxseed oil.

Dousing Inflammation

Foods that cause inflammation (pro-inflammatory) will accelerate the aging process making healthy-looking skin and internal health more difficult to achieve. Pro-inflammatory foods include trans fatty acids (found in partially hydrogenated products such as margarine, chips, packaged foods), red meat, white sugar, caffeine, full-fat cheeses and refined flours.
It is not vain to want to look our best. But to achieve that natural glow, we must first take care of the “inside factor of health.” In addition to these natural beauty steps, regular exercise, a daily intake of distilled water (six to eight glasses per day), stress management techniques, and loading up on a variety of organic fruits, vegetables, meats, and whole grains will help you achieve a radiant complexion, soft hair, strong nails, and a fit and lean body.

PDF Table of Revenue Spent on Plastic Surgery

Joey Shulman, DC, RNCP, is author of Winning the Food Fight (Wiley 2003) and The Natural Makeover Diet (in stores Jan. 2006). For more information, visit www.drjoey.com.

Source: alive #281, March 2006

Stories Skin Can Tell
Some of us might blame our bathroom lighting for the dark circles under our eyes and our pale faces. But eczema, psoriasis, blemishes, blackheads, acne and scarring can't be so easily dismissed.

Papaya Skin Care
And you thought this beautiful tropical fruit was just for eating! Perk up your skin and eliminate the day's worries with papaya. It's beneficial for skin care and repair.

The Spa Tree
Is your holiday gift list challenging? Why not treat everyone on your list to a little home spa decadence. Pick one or more of the products on the tree to give to your loved and dear ones-and wait for the "oooos and ahaaas" of appreciation.

Look Good While Fighting Cancer
Cancer occurs when the immune system is down and normal protective measures are insufficient. Cells within the body are defective or damaged. Most cases of cancer are preventable.

Cancer-Fighting Recipes
When I came to Canada in 1959 I was practically a greenhorn concerning vegetarianism. Then I married Siegfried! One of the wedding gifts I received from him was a vegetarian cookbook. I struggled with the concept.

Banish Bumpy Thighs
Around this time of year many women are pulling their bathing suits out of winter storage and standing in front of the mirror to examine their thighs for the dreaded cellulit.

See Ya Later Alligator
Beautiful soft skin starts with good nutrition. That means a healthy diet of whole, (not processed) foods and lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and beans.

Simple Steps to Beautiful Skin
Healthy skin glows from within! It's a product of proper nutrition--a whole food diet with a strong emphasis on raw fruit and vegetables. But don't stop at diet! A three-step routine of cleansing, toning and moisturizing twice a day also plays a vital role.

Return to Your Roots
Is your body genetically programmed to thrive on foods which were prevalent in the diet of your ancestors? If your forbears lived in northern Europe, should you build your diet around fish and dairy? If you're of Asian desc.

Beauty Treatments in a Travel Pouch
Keep it simple. That's the key to skin care when travelling. Bear in mind that when travelling, your skin may be exposed to heat, sun, salt water and humidity. All have an impact on your skin and hair, even over a short period of time.

Can My Diet Survive the Shortbread Season?
It's that time of year when all those parties and social gatherings dot the calendar. Everywhere we turn, sweet temptation rears its ugly hea.

Want the Buzz on Bee-Autiful Skin Care?
Isn't Mother Nature grand? Consider, for instance, the miracle of the common North American honeybee (Apis mellifera). This productive creature accomplishes more in its brief lifespan of a few months than you and I are likely to accomplish in the same number of years.

Nutrients for Nourished Skin
If you eat well to feel good, you'll be happy to learn that the benefits of a balanced diet are also visible in the mirror! Skin requires a variety of vitamins and nutrients to keep it healthy, glowing and youthfu.

Edible Summer Beauty
Who can resist the rainbow array of summer fruits at the market? Rich pink watermelon and raspberries, shiny bright oranges, polished yellow lemons, plump green grapes and sapphire blueberries--in this time of artificially taste-enhanced foods, it .

Basic Beauty Essentials
Hair, Skin, Nails and More It's a big day tomorrow--a job interview, a date, a friend's wedding, your wedding--and you're relaxing for the evening.

Skin
Your skin is amazing. It protects your body against injury and infections, helps maintain your body temperature, prevents dehydration and even acts as a storehouse for nutrients and water.

Give Your Skin the Brush Off!
Beautiful skin reflects our overall health and general well-being--and rightly so. The skin is the largest organ of the human body, renewing some of its cells every 24 hours.

Our Food Is Killing Us!
Dieticians and nutritionists tend to evaluate the food and drink we consume by the calories they contain and whether they will make us lose weight or make us fat. They develop formulas with the right proportion of carbohydrates, protein and fats for keeping our bodies healthy and good-looking.

Universal Skin Care
Most people are born with good, healthy skin, so why-for the majority of us-is skin care confusing and frustrating? It's easy to become confused by the concept of "skin types.

The Young and the Wrinkleless
Proper skin care should start at an early age.

Five Skin-Care Myths and Miracles
Sunscreens give a false sense of security. Designed to block sunrays for short periods of time to prevent burning, they cannot extend the duration of your exposure to the sun. Protecting the skin from burns inflicted by the sun takes more than just sunscreen.

Beautiful Beginnings
In the months ahead, resolve to give some thought to your skin and your beauty routin.

Homeopathy and Skin Problems
My daughter comes bounding in, friend in tow, and I'm called on to help remedy an insufferable skin ras.

Beautiful Skin-Injection-Free
Many fashion trends come and go over the years but have you heard of the latest trend-cocktail botox parties? People go to a party and pay hundreds of dollars to have botulinum toxin injected into their faces.

You Are How You Eat
Food eaten without relish and appetite may remain for hours in the stomach undigested. There's no end to nutritional advice about what we should eat. We can barely make it from one meal to the next without information about food choices from our televisions, radios, books, newspapers, and magazines.

The Science of Mood Foods
Why is it that the majority of diets seem to go down in a hail of cookies and ice cream? The answer usually lies in our inherited biochemistry. Back in the good old days (a few thousand years ago), food was not as plentiful as it is today.

The French Paradox Explained
Many jealous North Americans have wondered how the French can consume foods that are known contributors to weight gain - white bread, cheese, rich sauces, and red wine - yet never seem to gain a pound. Scientists have coined it the French paradox.

Food Combinations for a Healthy heart
Viscous fibre from oats and barley, plant sterols from fruits and vegetables, soy protein, and nuts such as almonds and walnuts: these four types of foods have been shown to improve heart health by increasing high-density lipoprotein.

Monitoring After-Meal Blood Sugar
One of the most important goals in helping people manage blood sugar, lose weight, and control appetite is preventing excessive after-meal elevations in blood sugar levels.

Complexion Perfection
Wouldn't it be great if solving skin dilemmas was as simple as slapping on a fancy face cream or visiting a swanky spa? Too often people resort to expensive, superficial skin treatments without considering the underlying cause of their beauty concerns..

Fast Food
Time-starved or just plain starved, many of us are reliant on searching for a convenient and healthy "meal replacement to complement our fast-paced lifestyles.

Natural Beauty
Do you ever wonder how celebrities get their skin so smooth, flawless, and wrinkle-free? Do you wonder what beauty treatments might help you achieve that same youthful glow? Well, truth be told, no beauty treatment can be truly successful without a good bas.

Wheatless Wonders
As a nutritionist, I am often asked about gluten-free diets by those with difficulty digesting certain grain foods. Gluten is a protein made up of many different proteins. Two main groups of these are gliadin and glutenin.

Reduce Cellulite Naturally
I have always been jealous of my friend, who is naturally petite, eats all she wants, and never seems to gain a pound. But despite how skinny she is, she still complains of cellulite.

Mesotherapy
When dimples start appearing in the wrong set of cheeks, a new alternative therapy called mesotherapy might be the perfect answer. Mesotherapy is the newest cellulite solution in cosmetic and aesthetic medical circles. But what's it all about?

Cultivating Beauty
We're surrounded by the pinks, yellows, and fragrant purples of summertime - and much of this comes courtesy of a green thumb. Unfortunately, that thumb might eventually sport a painful and unsightly callus or two.

Essential Oils
Since ancient times, people have used the quintessence of plants to optimize their health, and they have done so with the help of essential oils, which are concentrated aromatic liquids extracted from various species of plants, flowers, leaves, grasses, fruits, roots, and trees.

Help Yourself Soothe Your Soles
Your pretty painted toenails match your new spring sandals, but the rear view of your foot doesn't look so appealing. Footwear can be serious fun for many women, but dry cracked heels may spoil the joy. Those discoloured and dry heels can be unsightly, uncomfortable, and even painful.

When the Body Talks

Expose Your Natural Beauty with Exfoliants
Dermatologists and cosmeticians agree (and they rarely agree) that exfoliation should be part of a beauty regimen for your skin. Exfoliation removes old dead skin cells from Irface of the skin.

All Aglow
From sunburn to psoriasis, acne to eczema, inflammation is often the common thread in most skin conditions. As nutritional medicine advances, it is becoming increasingly clear that a diet that includes omega-3 fatty acids from fish can influence inflammation and promote healthy skin.

Skin Care 101
Judging by the ads we see on television, you might think you need a Master's degree in chemistry to choose quality skin care products. While earning the degree is a fabulous accomplishment, proper skin care isn't that complicated.

Vitality: Quest for a Healthy Diet in the Wake of the Low Carb Craze
It was the ever witty Mark Twain who said, "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

Healthy Skin
A multitude of skin problems, including eczema, acne, dermatitis (inflammatory conditions of the skin), hives (raised blotchy welts) and rashes have been linked to deficiencies in vitamins and minerals.

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet
What do type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, obesity, cancer, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson's, and rheumatoid arthritis all have in common? Ground-breaking research indicates that they may all begin with an inflammatory process.

Living Beauty
The notion that "beauty is only skin deep may no longer hold true. In the new "Living Beauty, nutrition consultant and Canadian health advocate Lisa Petty points out a surprising number of ways that our external appearance can provide insight to the state of our inner health. Simply put: with health, comes beauty.

Protein Up Your Detox
Most North Americans begin their daily ritual with a shower. We place significant importance on the products we use to brush our teeth, wash our hair, and cleanse our bodies. Yet many of us do not practise the same stringent guidelines when it comes to what we ingest and how we cleanse our bodies from the inside.

Acid or Alkaline?
Your body's alkaline and acid balance (pH levels) can play a role in your overall state of health. For optimum health and well-being, leading health experts agree we should have a pH level as close to 7 (neutral) as possible.

Cannabis Cosmetics
Hempseed (Cannabis sativa L.) is one of the healthiest, nontoxic, and abundant sources of oil. Beauty products made from organic, cold-pressed hempseed oil are great for skin, scalp, nails, and hair because they are an excellent source of the essential fatty acids (EFAs) omega-3 and omega-6.

The Natural Makeover Diet
Naturopathic doctor Joey Shulman is a high-profile authority on nutrition and fitness. The deceptively simple appearance of her new book, however, almost caused it to become lost in the pile of material that makes up this reviewer's desk.

Maintaining that Manly Mug
Men have come a long way since the days of shaving with a cutthroat razor and bar soap. Today when the average male selects his personal care products, he knows what he is expecting from them. Here is a look at some natural personal care products including moisturizers, shave cremes, aftershave lotions, and sunscreens.

Five Steps from Fine to Fabulous
We all have the power to influence our health and well-being through the choices we make every day.

Yeast
A recent conversation with Edith, an old friend, reminded me that even an ordinarily vivacious and energetic health professional can occasionally have trouble with weight and depression.

Beauty Without Injections
In their search for quick fixes to defy the signs of aging, many people turn to facial injections. The injected substances can include anything from a protein produced by the same bacteria that causes botulism, to fat, collagen, and even silicone to fill in wrinkles.

Topical Antioxidants
Skin performs many important physiological functions and is extremely susceptible to free-radical damage. To function optimally and stay healthy, your skin needs nourishing with antioxidants from the inside and outside. For our overall health, we need supplements in addition to a healthy diet. But for the health of our skin, internal nourishment is not enough: topical antioxidants are essential.

The Metabolic Syndrome Program
Most of us don't yet know much about metabolic syndrome (MSX), but in the few short minutes it will take to read this page, we may realize that someone we know could be suffering from this group of conditions.

Balancing Act
Living a natural lifestyle is challenging, and raising children with the same beliefs is even harder. Living a natural lifestyle is a commitment-a commitment to your family, to the environment, and most of all, to yourself.

The Brain Diet
People in the medical and natural health fields, along with the rest of us, are long overdue for a body of work that targets medicine's final frontier-the brain. Alan C. Logan uses recent, relevant research to show the definitive link between our mental state and what we eat.

The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan
Of the varied health books that cross my desk each month, this one falls solidly into the category of practical tools. The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan is just that-a guide to help those readers who have already identified cellular inflammation as a causal factor in their degenerative health.

Avoid Holiday Overindulgence
Highly viscous soluble dietary fibres (plant-derived polysaccharides) help people achieve and maintain their ideal body weight. It slows stomach emptying, produces a sensation of being full, and exerts powerful effects reducing the level of compounds that stimulate appetite, while at the same time increasing the level of compounds that block appetite.

21 Days to Crack the Code
Your 10,000 taste buds are replaced every 21 days, but after the age of 40 they are not replaced as efficiently, leaving a person with only about 5,000 taste buds and, unfortunately, a narrower preference for food choices. As a result, flavour enhancers in processed foods are not perceived as easily and we need to be extra vigilant.

Don't Crack Under Pressure
While hiding under layers of clothing might take the bite out of winter, the dry air that comes with cold weather and the heat of the furnace can cause a different pain-in the form of dehydrated, itchy skin. Luckily, you can beat Jack Frost at his game.

Healthy Glow Food Sources
Vitamin A--fish liver oil, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables

Vitamin B complex--bran, blackstrap molasses, brown rice, b.

What's Your HQ?

"...a necessary first step on your journey to improved health, vitality and longevit.

Cellulite Solutions

Refined Starches Behind Pimple Problem

Duct Tape Banishes Warts

MMA Alert!

Nature's Own Skin-care Technology

Cut Long Hair for a Cause

DBP and birth defects

Natural sunscreens

Derma E®
You're looking for healthy beauty products. Would you choose an expensive fancy jar containing seven-syllable ingredients promising overnight beauty, or would you rather trust a natural product that incorporates antioxidants, vitamins, and herbal remedies to produce therapeutic results?

Refresh Your Flesh

Skin Detoxifying Juice

Face Cleansing Juice

Hold on...to Your Hair!

Make Moisturizers Your Best Friends

Slough It Off
Mother Nature knew her stuff when she designed cell replacement. Skin cells created in the dermis layer push up to replace old cells on the skin's surface, causing the dead cells to flake off or exfoliate. This is nature's way of replenishing the skin.

Au Naturel?
There's nothing more refreshing than the nighttime ritual of removing the grime, stale makeup, and leftover traces of the day from your face and body. Your bid to freshen up, however, could leave you with more than dirt on your skin if your cleansing products aren't natural.

Cold Sores
Ouch! You've got a tingling, itching, or burning sensation around your lips that can mean only one thing: your skin is about to erupt in an unsightly cold sore. Here's what to do.

Untangling the Yo-Yo
In our age of quick fixes and instant solutions, crash weight-loss plans and fad diets seem almost mandatory. Who wants to wait weeks to see results when magazine covers promise that we can melt fat overnight, and drop 10 pounds in seven days?

A Close Shave
Over his lifetime, the average man spends 9,000 hours shaving. Shaving creme and aftershave were designed to make the process easier and more pleasurable, but conventional products may be doing more harm than good.

Looking to Eat Healthier?
We know what foods are healthy: our challenge isn't about finding the best health-promoting foods but rather how we can conveniently incorporate them into our diets.

Eat More-Weigh Less
Even thinking about dieting makes most people hungry, but eating more food can actually help you lose unwanted pounds. The key is choosing the right foods.

The Perfect Spaaah!
There are thousands of spas across Canada. Every year millions of people flock to these havens for a little pampering. But how do you go about choosing the one best suited for your needs? With some guidance, the choices won't be overwhelming.

Unwrap Your Beauty
All that glistens this time of year isn't necessarily found under the tree or on a holiday table. Even with your busy schedule, your skin can also sparkle if you try these three easy beauty tips.

Face Winter Head On
We do a lot of things to prepare for the winter months-install storm windows, mount the car's snow tires, dig out the snow shovel. Why not extend that same care to your skin?

Your New Beau-Tea Secret
Green tea is best known as a healthy drink, a wise alternative to coffee, and a superb choice for the daily dieter. You know it as a "power tea.

Under the Spell
In the rush of daily life, the ritual of the spa flourishes. A distinctive trend toward using local natural resources makes falling under the spell of the spa even more magical. These four enchanting spa treatments will soothe, cleanse, rejuvenate, and beautify you.

Enhancing Metabolism with Fibre
When people decide to follow a healthy eating plan, they almost always consider their protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake with very little thought, if any, to dietary fibre.

Keep These Eight Off Your Plate
My first food-additive health scare left an indelible mark. I was working at a golf course while going to college. After one event, the party's hostess offered cake to the staff.

Expose Yourself
After hiding in wool and dark colours all winter, it's almost time to break out the pastels, slide into shorts, and pop on a T-shirt.

Deeper Beauty
If you're like most women, you have a cabinet full of squeeze bottles and pump-tops whose contents attempt to mimic an ocean breeze or a vast field of lavender. Are all those different kinds of lotions really necessary, or will one type fit all your needs?

Do-It-Yourself Spa
While nothing beats spending a day at the spa, sometimes it involves a little too much spending-straining the pocketbook and leaving you more stressed than when you arrived. Instead, try these affordable homemade spa treatments.

Rethink Your Skin Care Routine
Just like your body and the foods you put in it, your skin absorbs up to 64 percent of what you put on it. Putting your largest organ on a nutritious, organic, and natural skin care diet helps to prevent the absorption of toxins through your skin.

Bathing Beauly
Lather up with these aromatherapeutic and healing bath time benefits.

Jojoba
The cosmetic properties of jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba) are amazing. Jojoba can bring body and shine to dull, lifeless hair. It's also great for skin care, offering simple, speedy, and surprising results.

Spotlight on Diabetes
Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in Canada and affects approximately 5 percent of the population. According to Statistics Canada, rates are significantly higher in the eastern provinces.

Soluble Fibre
To your body, all carbohydrates equal sugar, so you may wonder, "If food turns into sugar in our bodies anyway, why are refined sugar and white flour so bad?

The Spectrum
Dean Ornish is a high-profile name where alternative medicine is concerned. A 30-year veteran of North America's controversial diet wars, Ornish is consistently lauded by the scientific community for his work in reversing heart disease and other illnesses through dietary and lifestyle changes.

Diet for Clear & Glowing Skin
In recent years it has become clear that lifestyle factors are playing an underappreciated role in the day-to-day maintenance of healthy skin, as well as the long-term prevention of the visible signs of aging.

Hungry for Comfort
We all love comfort foods; those flavours that can take us back to simpler times when stress was something that only happened to others. Comfort food cravings are hard to resist, especially after working through a hard day or making it through a difficult situation.

The Obesity Epidemic
Excessive body fat accumulates when we take in more calories than we expend. But the expanding North American waistline is caused by a complex relationship between environment and genes. This month Research Watch explores the causes of the obesity epidemic.

Losing Weight
The New Year kicks off with parties presenting irresistible desserts, delicious eggnog, and those tasty little appetizers that are so hard to refuse! With the alcohol flowing and office or family gatherings happening all around you, temptation is at an all-time high.

Dear Diary
It all started with Harper's Bazaar. I'm not a regular reader, but whenever I pick up a copy I'm always amused by the "Eating Diaries, wherein three slender and well-dressed women recount their daily food intake and exercise regimes.

Deal Out Cancer
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, about 40 percent of women and nearly 45 percent of men in this country will face a personal battle with this fearful disease.

Twinkle toes
Winter is a thing of the past and the promise of rising temperatures makes me want to throw off my socks and bare it all. I can't wait to feel the breeze caressing my soft feet and the warm sun kissing my shiny toes.

Give Dry Skin the Brush Off
Dry brushing helps the body detoxify by removing excess dead cells that hinder our natural ability to eliminate waste through the skin.

Carb Balancing Act
Making headlines today is something called the GI diet—a carb balancing act recommended by the Canadian Diabetes Association and the World Health Organization.