Beauty

Cellulite Solutions

"Cottage cheese thighs" and "orange peel skin" are common among people of all body shapes and sizes. To smooth your skin for the upcoming summer months, try these tips:

• Drink at least eight to 10 glasses of water daily. Add fresh lemon juice for further detoxification.
  
• Drink at least three cups a day of detoxifying herbal teas of dandelion, ginger, burdock and red clover. This can make up part of your daily water intake.
  
• Eat at least one salad daily, with plenty of vegetables added for fibre.
  
• Exercise regularly. Working up a sweat not only burns fat, but it releases toxins through the skin and lymphatic system.
  
• Give your body a daily dry brush (see "Give Your Skin the Brush Off!" in this issue).

Refined Starches Behind Pimple Problem

Processed, refined cereals and white bread could well be the culprits behind that stubborn plague of pimples. Loren Cordain, an evolutionary biologist at Colorado State University, says eating refined starches triggers a flood of sugar in the bloodstream, leading to high levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and an excess of male hormones. This causes excess sebum production, which acne bacteria thrive on.

Acne plagues people of all ages in industrialized countries--though it's virtually unknown among the people of Papua New Guinea and the Amazon. "The only foods available to these populations are minimally processed foods," says Cordain. "They don't know refined sugars or refined grains." Acne is actually the least of our worries. Refined starches--including processed, packaged foods--have been linked to cancer and type II diabetes.

Duct Tape Banishes Warts

Got a nasty wart? Patch it up with duct tape, the handyman's best friend. The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reports this handy silver tape was "significantly more effective" than the standard treatment of cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen) in banishing the warts of 51 patients at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Of two test groups, only 60 per cent of cryotherapy patients experienced complete resolution of their warts compared to 85 per cent of those treated with duct tape.

For similar results, apply duct tape and leave on for six days, replacing it if it falls off. On the seventh day, soak the wart in water, then file it off with an emery board or pumice stone. After 12 hours, apply a new piece of duct tape and repeat the cycle for two months or until wart is gone. Most duct-taped warts in the study disappeared within one month.