Health + Wellness — Skin

Sun exposure is responsible for most of the visible aging of your skin—far more than all other factors combined. Yes, UV rays from the sun are the primary cause of wrinkles, pigmentation, sun spots, reduced skin elasticity, the degradation of skin texture, and many other signs of skin aging. In fact, many scientific estimates have shown that up to 80-90% of how young or old you look for your age is due to how much sun exposure you’ve sustained. And this has been shown repeatedly, in different parts of the world, over many years and in many different clinical studies....

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding sunlight and the production of Vitamin D. People commonly think that if the sun is up and they are outside in the sun, they are going to produce Vitamin D. This is not the case! There are many reasons why you won’t make Vitamin D in the sun—even during the middle of the day. But most significantly, the sun cannot stimulate your production of Vitamin D if the sun isn’t high enough in the sky. UVB Rays And Vitamin D The reason is that UVB rays—and only UVB rays—catalyze the production of Vitamin D....

The sun emits radiation—in the form of electromagnetic rays—which reaches you here on earth. While the visible part of this spectrum lights up your world, other parts of the spectrum including ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet A (UVA) have varying effects. UVB rays cause you to tan and burn, and also stimulate the production of Vitamin D. UVA rays are longer in wavelength than UVB and penetrate deeper into your skin; while not burning you or tanning you, UVA may just be responsible for a greater share of the blame in the aging of your skin than UVB. Since there...

Polypodium leucotomos (PL) is a tropical fern plant native to Central America and parts of South America. It grows in the rain forest and has a long history of use as an herbal medicine ingested for a variety of ailments by the indigenous people of Honduras. The Mayans even drank it as a tea. Historically, ferns have been used for medicinal purposes since ancient Europe. Commercial extracts of Polypodium leucotomos have been available since at least the 1970s. Polypodium leucotomos is actually the common name for the herb known as Phlebodium aureum. Other names for PL include: calaguala (in Mexico...

Here’s how to achieve the amazing glow that you know your skin should have: 1. Eat Lots Of Colorful Veggies Antioxidants and nutrients such as lutein, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lycopene, beta carotene, lutein, zinc, selenium, Vitamin A, and many others are excellent for your complexion. Spinach, broccoli, kale, carrots, tomatoes, red bell peppers (more vitamins than yellow, orange, or green), onions, and other colorful foods like squash, sweet potatoes, and yams are great choices. 2. Eat Fish Fresh, fatty, colorful fish like salmon is best. The astaxanthin in salmon has been shown to help impart a healthy glow to skin. 3....