Going All-Natural

I recently purchased a book called "The Self Health Revolution" by J. Michael Zenn at my local Whole Foods store. What a great book!

This book summarizes what's wrong with our food and why so many Americans today are overweight, suffering from diabetes and heart problems.

I highly recommend that everyone check this book out. It's short, easy to read (the author uses a lot of humor!) and is packed with information about how to live a healthy life.

I've made a few changes to my lifestyle after reading this book - and one of them has resulted in rapid results. For the past year and a half, I have been struggling with terrible skin problems. I've had worse acne as a young adult than I ever did as a teenager!

In my search for clear skin, I've done everything short of seeing a dermatologist (which I've put off because I am convinced would only result in the Doctor prescribing either Acutane (a very bad drug which has terrible side effects) or the Pill (which I object to on moral grounds)). I've tried every over-the-counter product out there; I've purchased all the 'kits' - ones on TV, ones at the drugstore, etc.

Nothing worked. Most of the products left my skin red, burning, or flaky (they made my skin so dry it peeled!)

I even tried the oil cleansing method. My skin DID get a little better with this method (and thankfully, there was no peeling!) but it ultimately did not alleviate the problem.

So after I purchased this book, I was shocked when I started reading about what kinds of ingredients are in our personal care products, including skincare.

Given that our skin is very porous, everything we put on it is absorbed into our system. (Think: That's why the medical profession uses patches to dispense medication into our system...). What I discovered from reading this book is that some common ingredients in our skin care and personal care items (shampoo, conditioner, etc) are toxic, including:

Propylene Glycol
Butylene Glycol
Polyethlyne Glycol
Ethylene Glycol -

Here's the kicker: two of the three ingredients in ANTIFREEZE are GLYCOL-BASED.

So using products with these ingredients are somewhat akin to putting ANTI-FREEZE on your skin - which remember, is a highly porous surface which absorbs anything you put on it, delivering these chemicals into your system.

Even worse, the "glycol family' are not the only harmful ingredients which show up in these types of products. Additional toxic ingredients include:

* Mineral oil, Paraffin and Petrolatum (Petroleum products)
* Parabens (have been linked to cancer and have hormone disrupting qualities).
* Phenol carbolic acid (can cause circulatory collapse, paralysis, convulsions, coma and even death).
* Acrylamide (linked to tumors in lab research)
* Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate - (found in car washes, engine degreasers, garage floor cleaners...and in over 90% of personal care products)

And the list goes on.

Needless to say, I was appalled when I read this. I immediately went out and bought some organic alternatives to the face washes, shampoos, and lotions that I had been using.

While looking at some alternative products, I came across a kit called "Organics to Clear Skin" by Juice Beauty. I was interested. As I mentioned before, I have struggled for the past year and a half with skin problems.

Although the kit was a bit pricey (although still around average for what you would pay for a comparable acne treatment kit in a drugstore), I decided to purchase it.

I've only been using it for a week - but the results have been AMAZING! After three days, my skin was already noticeably healthier, softer, and clearer. A week into the treatment, my skin looks even better! Old scars and pimples are healing. No new pimples have developed (*crosses fingers and hopes this trend continues*)

The cleansing gel is made out of fruit and is light and fresh. It doesn't have a perfumey smell- but the smell isn't bad either. It's natural, I guess. The blemish clearing serum smells great, and the moisturizing lotion - even better. Again, all natural smelling.

After using these products, I have NO itchiness, no redness, no peeling, etc. which I had with practically every other product I had tried. My skin looks great! I'm excited to continue and see what happens over time.

All of this has made me think about what I put in my body on a daily basis. Now, I want to make sure that I am eating foods as close to their natural state as possible, and without adding anything harmful. I want to be healthy from the inside out.

Call me a food-snob or a health-nut, but I think I'm going to be buying organic from now on.