Health Benefits of Carrot Seed Essential Oil

The health benefits of carrot seed essential oil can be attributed to its properties as an antiseptic, disinfectant, detoxifying, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, carminative, depurative, diuretic, emenagogue, stimulant, cytophylactic, tonic, and vermifuge substance.
Carrot seed essential oil, as the name suggests, is extracted by steam distillation, primarily from the dried seeds of wild carrot, but also from the dried plant itself.  Its scientific name is Daucus Carota, and the wild carrot is common in Europe, though it is often known by another name in that region, which is “Queen Anne’s Lace”.
Apart from its components like Alpha Pinene, Beta Pinene, Gamma Terpinene, Limonene, Camphene, Sabinene, Myrcene, Beta Bisabolene, Carotol and Geranyl Acetate, carrot seed oil is rich in Carotene and Vitamin-A, both of which are very beneficial for the eyes and are effective antioxidants.
Let’s explore more of the impressive health benefits of this essential oil below.

Advertisement

Health Benefits of Carrot Seed Essential Oil

Antioxidant: Carrot seed essential oil can help you retain your youth and look refreshingly young even as your friends start balding and showing wrinkles on their faces. Actually, antioxidants in this essential oil repair a lot of the damages done to your tissues by oxidants (free radicals) and stop them from doing further harm. These antioxidants protect your skin from wrinkles, keep your hair from turning white, your joints from stiffening, your muscles from weakening and your eyesight from declining. Antioxidants can work other miracles too. They can protect you from macular degeneration, sexual weakness, weak digestion, some forms of cancer and other problems related to aging.
Antiseptic, Antiviral & Disinfectant: This powerful essential oil can cure infections, protect against their effects, and it has antiseptic properties, including its ability to prevent tetanus. When externally applied, carrot seed oil can cure infections on the skin and in open wounds. When ingested, it effectively helps to cure infections of the throat, mouth, colon, stomach, intestines and urinary system. It is extremely effective in curing sores, gangrene, psoriasis, ulcers, rashes, carbuncles and other such problems. It can even cure viral infections of the respiratory system, thus benefiting in the treatment of bronchitis. It is effective in fighting other viral infections as well, including the flu, mumps, coughs, colds, and measles.
Detoxifier: Carrot seed oil has the ability to detoxify the blood, tissues, muscles and internal organs like the liver and kidneys. It can neutralize excess bile secreted from the liver and can help cure infections in the liver in cases of jaundice. It eliminates toxins like uric acid from the blood, tissues, muscles and joints, thereby helping cure edema, arthritis, gout, and rheumatism.
Carcinogenic: Recent studies have shown carrot seed oil to be beneficial in curing some forms of cancer as well, especially those of the mouth, throat, stomach, prostrate, and kidneys. These anticarcinogenic properties can be attributed partly to its antioxidant properties, but also to various other medicinal properties of its natural components.

Carminative: Do you feel like you’re ballooning up from all of the gas that you’ve accumulated in your system?? Think that gas in there can lift you up and make you float away atany moment? If you’ve ever felt this way, then carrot seed oil can keep your feet firmly on the ground. It will help to expel the gases from the intestines. You will probably feel so relaxed and light that you will think that you can really fly!
Depurative: Carrot seed oil can purify all the organ systems inside our body, particularly the circulatory, digestive and the excretory systems. It removes toxins like uric acid, urea, insecticides, pesticides and other chemicals which enter the body through our food and water and help restore overall health.
Diuretic: Carrot Seed oil is diuretic in nature, meaning that it increases urination. It may seem that there is no apparent benefit of this property, but you will be surprised to see that urination alone can keep you safe from many ailments. Each time you urinate, some fat (almost 4% of the volume), many toxic substances like uric acid and bile, and microbes that cause infections in the urinary system and otherwise, are removed from the body with urine. Furthermore, it reduces blood pressure and cleans the kidneys. It is also helpful in clearing out renal calculi.
Emenagogue: When something is an emenagogue, it means that the process of menstruation is improved, making it less painful and more regular. This particularly helps when someone is suffering from irregular or obstructed menses.
Stimulant: We all know the meaning of stimulant, and carrot seed oil delivers in this way as well. It stimulates both circulation and metabolic function. It also stimulates the secretion of hormones, enzymes, gastric juices, bile and the peristaltic motion of the intestines, thus keeping all the organic systems active and efficient. It also stimulates brain functions and nerves, thus making you more alert and active.

Advertisement

Tonic: Something that tones the body is a tonic, and carrot seed oil definitely falls in that category. It tones up tissues and muscles and increases their efficiency; it tones the liver, stomach and the entire digestive system, regulates the flow of digestive juices and brings the digestive system to normal order. It also tones the skin and prevents it from hanging loose or showing signs of aging.
Cytophylactic: Carrot seed essential oil stimulates the growth of new cells and tissues.
Vermifuge: Carrot Seed oil can kill, but not you, don’t worry. More specifically, it can eliminate the worms in your intestines. It may help children get rid of this annoying problem which is uncomfortable and can result in malnutrition and other harmful conditions.
Other Benefits: It is widely used in aromatherapy due to its mild and soothing earthy aroma which is very effective in relieving stress and anxiety and giving a refreshing feeling. It is good for the skin and protects it from developing wrinkles. Carrot seed oil also relieves muscle aches, cures anorexia, enhances the production of erythrocytes and improves eye sight.
Few Words of Caution: There are no known risks of the essential oil, but pregnant woman should avoid it, since the research has not been conducted to tell which attributes and stimulating qualities are passed to the fetus.
Blending: Although there are different blends for different purposes, carrot seed oil mixes well with Bergamot, Juniper, Lavender, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Avocado, Cedar Wood and Geranium oils.

FROM:
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/carrot-seed-essential-oil.html

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE RELEASE OF OUR NEW CARROT SEED CORRECTIVE SERUM!

MSM HAPPINESS GEL

FOR HAPPINESS ALL OVER!

 ~lessens muscle inflammations and pain, athletic soreness, back problems,bursitis, tendonitis, arthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome

~relieves skin problems, leathery cracked skin,  wrinkles, and skin itching  

~reduces scar tissue, moles, brown spots, black spots, skin tumors, cuts, and burns      

~moves nutrients and oxygen into cells and  waste toxins out     

   ~improves circulation

BUY NOW!

Check out this great article by Dr. Mercola:

MSM Health Benefits May Be Related to Its Sulfur Content

By Dr. Mercola

The clinical use of sulfur as an adjunct in our diet is becoming progressively more recognized as an important tool for optimizing health.

Certainly, diet is the primary tool for reducing your risk for chronic degenerative diseases. But the practical question becomes, how do you obtain the needed sulfur from food grown in depleted soils?

The nutrient MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is a naturally occurring sulfur compound found in all vertebrates, including humans. MSM is already well-known for its joint health benefits, but it may be important for a whole host of other reasons as well.

Rod Benjamin is the director of technical development for Bergstrom Nutrition, the largest producer of the highest quality MSM that is produced by distillation purification.

MSM is a metabolite of DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, an organosulfur compound), but DMSO is approved for use in veterinary medicine only, not in humans.

Are the Health Benefits of MSM Related to Sulfur?

I first became aware of DMSO decades ago, when I saw a 60-Minutes episode in which they revealed its therapeutic impact on race horses. It supported their soft tissues, helped with muscle soreness and soft-tissue injury. It also benefitted the horses’ lung function.

Dr. Stanley W. Jacob pioneered the use of DMSO and later MSM. Originally, he began looking at DMSO because it freezes at about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and Dr. Jacob had been deeply involved in looking at cryogenic preservation of tissues and organs for transplantation. As a result of being investigated for its cryogenic uses, DMSO ended up being one of the most researched drugs on the market today.

“DMSO is classified as a drug within the United States. You can buy it at a lot of veterinary supply stores and things like that, but it’s not to be used for humans,” Mr. Benjamin says.

MSM, which is a metabolite of DMSO, and approved for use in humans, primarily impacts your health by reducing inflammation. It’s widely used as a supplement for arthritic conditions. Like DMSO, MSM also appears to improve cell wall permeability, so it can be used to help deliver other active ingredients. Perhaps most important, MSM helps protect against oxidative damage.

Within the last two years, at least four human clinical trials have been conducted on MSM and its ability to help with exercise recovery, and muscle injuries like delayed onset muscle stiffness or soreness (DOMS) and large muscle injuries like that from a heart attack—all of which is related to oxidative stress and subsequent cellular damage.

“In one of the studies, they were looking at the VAS pain scores. That’s muscle soreness due to exercise. There was a significant reduction in the MSM-treated group versus placebo. That’s directly tied to the muscle soreness,” Mr. Benjamin says.

The Importance of Sulfur

Furthermore, according to Mr. Benjamin:

“Dr. Stanley Jacob said DMSO – and MSM together with that – in his opinion is much more of a therapeutic principle. It’s similar to exercise or proper nutrition. Instead of that singular focus that is so prevalent within the drug or pharmas per se, it’s much more of a therapeutic principle, which is overall body wellness [opposed to treating a specific symptom or ailment].”

This suggests that MSM may be providing some kind of missing link, and that link appears to be related to sulfur. MSM is 34 percent sulfur by weight, but as Mr. Benjamin discusses below, it is more than just a simple sulfur donor. It affects sulfur metabolism in the human body, although it’s still not entirely clear how.

Sulfur is just now becoming more widely appreciated as a really critical nutrient, without which many other things don’t work properly, and most people are probably not getting enough sulfur from their diet anymore. For example, sulfur plays a critical role in detoxification, and also in inflammatory conditions. For detoxification, sulfur is part of one of the most important antioxidants that your body produces: glutathione. Without sulfur, glutathione cannot work.

The plethora of research that was done on DMSO and its therapeutic properties begs the question: How many of those therapeutic properties are due to the DMSO? Or are they due to its metabolite, MSM, once it’s been converted in vivo or within the body? (Approximately 15 percent of any DMSO dosage, on average, converts to MSM in the human body.) The answer to that question is still unknown. Sulfur is found in over 150 different compounds within the human body. There are sulfur components in virtually every type of cell, so it’s extremely important.

“Now, as far as MSM’s role within the body, it’s very complicated. And I will say that it’s not a hundred percent understood,” Mr. Benjamin says. “I’ve been working with this compound for 16 years to try and answer that question. We understand a part of the mechanism of action, but not all of it.

...In 1986, Richmond did a study, and it showed that it was taken up into serum proteins. That sulfur was actually incorporated in the serum proteins.

We also have done [something] like the pharmacokinetic study, which showed that radiolabeled sulfur was taken up into hair, skin, and nails. Keratin is a very high sulfur-containing compound, which is a building block for your nails and your hair. But it also showed up in almost all tissues, spleen, and liver. It went all over.

It’s complicated. We did a study where we said, 'Okay, let’s give it to healthy human volunteers.' We did actually three different dosages – one gram, two grams, and three grams. We measured urinary sulfur output by measuring sulfate, thinking that sulfate will be a waste sulfur product that would show up excreted in the urine. We did the different doses to see if it was in a dose-dependent manner that we’d be able to correlate back and, say, 'Yes, MSM is giving output of sulfur.

We found that they were indeed dose-related, but the interesting thing was it was inversely related. The more MSM you took, the less sulfate was excreted in your urine. What that says is it’s much more complicated than just a strict sulfur donor. It is a compartmentalization of sulfur and sulfur metabolism within the body. That suggests that MSM is actually allowing better metabolism, better incorporation of the sulfur throughout the body. It’s not just a simple sulfur donor...'”

MSM Improves Your Body’s Ability to Make its Own Antioxidants

As I mentioned earlier, sulfur plays an important role in the production of glutathione—one of the most important antioxidants that your body produces. Glutathione also serves important functions for detoxification. Without sulfur, glutathione cannot work. So, while not an antioxidant by itself, part of MSM’s action is to improve your body’s ability to make its own antioxidants.

It also provides support for all sorts of structural proteins, where sulfur is an important component. According to Dr. Benjamin:

“[G]lutathione has two different states within your body. There’s reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione. The ratio of those two signifies the overall oxidative status or the ability of your blood plasma to address oxidative stress. MSM improves that overall ratio. In other words, you have much more reduced glutathione that’s able to deal with these free radicals. That’s, I think, kind of the key of how MSM really – and DMSO also does the same thing – by controlling that oxidative stress or protecting from the oxidative damage can have these therapeutic [benefits].”

Sulfur-Rich Foods

Ideally, you’d be best off getting your sulfur needs filled from the foods you eat. However, this can be a bit of a challenge these days. There’s been a transition away from many traditional foods that have been the big sources of sulfur, like collagen or keratin, which we just don’t eat much nowadays.

You can perhaps get enough if you cook down bones from organically raised animals into bone broth and drink the broth regularly (or use for soups and stews). The connective tissues are sulfur-rich, and when you slow-cook the bones, you dissolve these nutrients out of the bone and into the water. According to Mr. Benjamin:

“MSM is in almost all raw foods. It’s in leafy green vegetables. Interestingly enough, there’s MSM in beer and coffee. Actually, it’s been identified as one of the main flavoring constituent in port wines... raw milk has the highest naturally occurring content of MSM.”

One caveat is cooking and pasteurization. While MSM is stable to extremes of pH and temperature, it volatilizes and turns to gas very easily. It’s also very water soluble. So when cooked at high temperatures, it simply wafts off in the steam. That’s why it’s easily removed during cooking and processing. Pasteurization cuts the MSM content by approximately 50 percent. So, in order to ensure you’re getting the most MSM from any food, it must be either raw or as minimally processed as possible.

Toxicity and Dosage Recommendations

Toxicity studies have shown that MSM is extremely safe and can be taken at very, very high doses. Even if you have a very rich diet full of raw vegetables and MSM-rich foods, you can still supplement and not hit that toxicity level. Clinical research studies have found that the effective amounts range from about 1.5 grams to 6 grams, although at higher doses, potential side effects include:

• Intestinal discomfort
• Swelling of the ankles
• Mild skin rashes

These are likely detoxifying effects that can typically be mitigated or minimized by cutting back on the initial dosage, and slowly working your way up. In that case, you might want to start out with half a gram (500 milligrams) for a couple of weeks and then slowly increase until you get up to the desired dose.

MSM is approved for use in fortified food and beverage and gram quantities may be consumed when consuming raw diet and approved MSM fortified foods. The amount from the fortified foods that have been approved would be between 1.9 to 3.8 grams per day. For comparison, intake of MSM from natural sources such as fruits and vegetables would be in the milligram per day range of about 2.3 to 5.6 mg/day.

How to Select a High–Quality MSM Supplement

As with most other supplements and food, quality is a major issue when it comes to selecting an MSM supplement. Fortunately, with MSM it’s fairly easy to determine. There are two methods of purification of MSM:

1. Distillation
2. Crystallization

For MSM, distillation is by far superior. But crystallization is less expensive, and a lot less energy-intensive. According to Mr. Benjamin, only two companies that produce MSM use distillation. Mr. Benjamin explains why you should consider a product that has been purified using distillation.

“A lot of the problems with [crystallization] is you’re essentially crystallizing it out of a parent solvent or liquid. If there are any impurities, which could be salts of heavy metals, you could have aromatic hydrocarbons in that… It’s actually the parent solvent. It’s usually water. It is dependent upon water quality. ”

Is MSM for You?

As you know, I am very cautious about recommending supplements, as I believe you’re best off getting your nutrients from healthful, whole organic foods. But, I’m also realistic, and I understand a perfect diet is hard to come by these days, so some supplements I believe can be quite beneficial. MSM would fall into this category. It would make sense that, if you’re suffering from a decrease in normal dietary sulfur, supplementing with something that’s relatively safe and inexpensive would make a lot of sense.

As I’ve said, sulfur is an emerging stealth player in nutrition and for a variety of mechanisms, including the detox and anti-inflammatory pathways. Remember, if you don’t have enough sulfur in your diet, you’re not going to be able to naturally produce glutathione, which is absolutely essential for removing heavy metals and many of the toxins you’re exposed to. People who might want to consider using some supplemental sulfur sources such as MSM include those who have:

• Chronic inflammatory conditions
• Aches and pains / sore muscles and achy joints
• Premature aging symptoms
• Toxicity

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/03/msm-benefits.aspx 

Go Back to School with Great Skin

20% OFF

 your Retail Purchase of

$50 or more

code: SCH20    exp: 8.31.13

www.liviaskincare.com

OVERSTOCK SALE!

PORE MINIMIZING SOUFFLE 

ONLY $25

This heavenly treatment with nourish and tighten those areas you wish were glassy smooth. Fabulous for fine lines, sagging skin and wrinkles too!

(normally $40)

ULTRALIFT EYE TREATMENT

ONLY $35

Increase skin thickness, refines and resurfaces the appearance of wrinkles, even skin tone and texture, and restore elasticity and firmness to the delicate eye area. May be used on entire face for delicate skin. Light tingling may be experienced.

(normally $48)

CLICK HERE  TO PURCHASE

www.liviaskincare.com

Happy Father's Day

Code: FATH15   Expires: 6.17.13

www.liviaskincare.com

Livia Pure Skin Care is getting a "Facelift"

The new packaging will assist in shelf-life and protection of the product from sunlight, as well as to stay true to our Eco-friendly Vision!

www.liviaskincare.com 

Are you getting all your vitamins?

CODE: MOTH20

EXP: 5.12.13

www.liviaskincare.com

HAPPY EARTH DAY! HERE'S 25% OFF!

www.liviaskincare.com

 

Code: EARTH25

Today only 

Coconut Oil is Amazing!

I found the blog on coconut oil and wanted to share it with you.  There are just so many things you can do with it.

You should also check out our BLUE LAVA CLEANSER that has coconut oil in it.  It is AMAZING!

101 Uses for Coconut Oil

WELLNESS MAMA83 COMMENTS AND 17 REACTIONS

I’ve said before that I am with coconut oil like the dad in “My Big Fat Green Wedding” is with windex… I use it for everything. Right now, I have a five gallon bucket of it sitting next to my desk because we use so much and I don’t have anywhere else to keep it…

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of coconut oil, the Virgin Coconut Oil Book is a great resource and you’ll receive a free copy if you order anything fromthis company and it is your first time ordering (no need to order the book, it will add to cart automatically if you use this link and it is your first order).

Today, I’m sharing my top 101 (yes 101!!) uses for coconut oil:

Uses for Coconut Oil

1. In cooking as a great oil with a high smoke point. Great for baking, stir-frys or as a dairy free replacement to butter.
2. Taken supplementally for daily energy.
3. As a coffee creamer when emulsified into coffee (The only way I’ll drink coffee)
4. On the skin as a basic lotion
5. In homemade lotion bars for soft, smooth skin
6. In homemade deodorant or deodorant bars
7. As an eye-makeup remover
8. As a cloth diaper safe diaper cream (just rub on baby’s bottom)
9. In making your own Remineralizing Toothpaste
10. To lighten age spots when rubbed directly on the skin
11. To prevent stretch marks during pregnancy
12. To support healthy thyroid function
13. In homemade Mayo without the high PUFA vegetable oils
14. To help increase sun tolerance and avoid burning
15. As a naturally SPF 4 sunscreen
16. In homemade lotion recipes
17. To get rid of cradle cap on baby- just massage in to head, leave on for a few minutes and gently rinse with a warm wash cloth
18. Topically to kill yeast or yeast infections
19. As a delicious tropical massage oil
20. It’s high Lauric acid and MCFA content helps boost metaboism
21. A tiny dab rubbed on your hands and then through hair will help get rid of friz
22. As an intensive nighttime facial moisturizer
23. Mixed with equal parts sugar for a smoothing body scrub (use in the shower)
24. Rubbed on lips as a natural chap stick
25. Topically, can help skin heal faster after injury or infection
26. Directly on the perineum to help heal after birth
27. As an incredibly intensive natural conditioner- Rub into dry hair, put a shower cap on and leave for several hours.
28. On feet to fight athlete’s foot or tor fungus
29. In place of Lanolin cream on nursing nipples to sooth irritation (also great for baby!)
30. Can help sooth psoriasis or eczema
31. There is some evidence that regular ingestion of coconut oil can help prevent or reverse Alzheimers
32.  With apple cider vinegar as a natural treatment for lice that actually works
33. In natural Homemade Sunscreen
34. In healthy brain boosting snack for kids like Coconut Clusters
35. In a filling and energy boosting Brain Powder Smoothie
36. Rub coconut oil on the inside of your nose to help alleviate allergy symptoms
37. Nursing moms can take 3-4 tablespoons a day (and Vitamin D) to increase milk supply and nutrients
38. There is some evidence that coconut oil helps digestion and may even kill intestinal parasites or yeast
39. Mix a tablespoon with a tablespoon of chia seeds for an all-day energy boost (do NOT take this at night!)
40. Can help improve insulin levels
41. Oil pulling with coconut oil and a drop of oregano oil helps improve gum health
42. Can help improve cholesterol ratios
43. Blend a tablespoon into hot tea to help speed recovery from cold or flu
44. In Homemade Natural Bug-Off Lotion Bars
45. As a replacement for vegetable oils in any recipe
46. Better for high-temperature cooking than olive or vegetable oils
47. Can help reduce appearance of varicose veins
48. After initial heat is gone, can help speed healing of sunburn
49. Is an immediate source of energy when eaten and isn’t stored as fat
50. As a natural personal lubricant that won’t disturb vaginal flora
51. As a naturally antibacterial skin cream
52. In natural homemade diaper cream
53. As a natural shave cream and after shave lotion
54. When used consistently on skin it can help get rid of cellulite
55. To season cast iron skillets
56. It’s anti-inflammatory properties can help lessen arthritis
57. Can reduce the itch of mosquito bites
58. Can help resolve acne when used regularly
59. Can be rubbed into scalp daily to stimulate hair growth
60. I’ve used in kids ears to help speed ear infection healing
61. On split ends to de-frizz
62. A small amount can be rubbed into real leather to soften and condition (shiny leather only… test a small area first)
63. By itself as a great tanning oil
64. Mixed with salt to remove dry skin on feet
65. Can help speed weight loss when consumed daily
66. Can help improve sleep when taken daily
67. Can be used to speed healing of fungal infections when taken internally and used externally
68. A tablespoon melted into a cup of warm tea can help sooth a sore throat
69. To help sooth the itch of chicken pox or poison ivy
70. It has been shown to increase absorption of calcium and magnesium
71. Internally as part of the protocol to help remineralize teeth
72.  Some evidence shows that the beneficial fats in coconut oil can help with depression and anxiety
73. By itself as a natural deodorant
74. By itself or with baking soda as a naturally whitening toothpaste
75. For pets struggling with skin issues when used externally
76. Some evidence suggests that the beneficial fats in coconut oil are helpful for those with Autism
77. In homemade vapor rub
78. As a safe cooking oil for deep frying
79. A tablespoon taken before each meal can help improve digestion
80. Can be taken in warm ginger tea to sooth heartburn or nausea
81. As a completely natural baby lotion
82. On hands after doing dishes to avoid dry skin
83. Mixed with catnip, rosemary or mint essential oils as a natural bug repellent
84. Can be used on mom’s nipple and baby’s mouth to help treat thrush
85. Many use it as an anti-aging facial moisturizer
86. Use to make coconut cream concentrate for a brain boosting snack
87. Can be used internally and externally to speed recovery from UTIs
88. When taken regularly, it can help fight candida
89. When taken regularly, it can boost hormone production
90. Can relieve the pain of hemorrhoids when used topically
91. Can boost circulation and help those who often feel cold
92. On cuticles to help nails grow
93. Rub into elbows daily to help alleviate dry, flaky elbows
94. Add to smoothies to give them a nutritional boost
95. Internally during pregnancy to help provide baby necessary fats for development (especially when taken with Fermented Cod Liver Oil)
96. In any recipes where vegetable oils are used
97. Whipped with shea butter for a soothing body balm
98.  One reader swears by using coconut oil to treat yeast infection. She suggests soaking a tampon in it and inserting the tampon for a few hours.
99. Naturally clears up cold sores
100. Ingesting coconut oil daily can help with allergy symptoms
101. Ingesting coconut oil daily can increase mental alertness

ONE DAY ONLY! HAPPY SPRING EQUINOX

Did you know?
There are two equinoxes every year - in March and September - when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal. Seasons are opposite on either side of the equator, so the equinox in March is also known as the "spring equinox" in the northern hemisphere. However, in the southern hemisphere, it's known as the "autumnal (fall) equinox".

TIME to Equalize your skin too!

 

ONE DAY ONLY! 30% OFF YOUR RETAIL PURCHASE OF $50 OR MORE!

CODE: SPR30

www.liviaskincare.com

The Secret to Long Life? HA Hyaluronic Acid

This is very interesting.  Hyaluronic Acid is amazing!  Check out our Hyaluronic Acid Serum.
https://www.liviaskincare.com/organic-skin-care-serums/Hyaluronic-Acid-Serum

You Are Allowed

Can Your Diet Cause Pain?

Can Your Diet Cause Pain?

Inflammation | Integrated Wellness 

Many are delighted to learn that their love of dark chocolate can actually help produce an anti-inflammatory response in their body!

Inflammation of any part of your body is your immune system’s response to an infection, injury or irritation. Localized swelling, redness and pain are the usual warning signs and symptoms of inflammation. Now we’re learning that foods we eat can contribute to a similar inflammatory response!
While we usually think of inflammation as something outside the body, inflammation inside the body can cause strokes, heart disease and a variety of other ailments. Nicholas Perricone, MD, author of a number of anti-aging books, proposes that inflammation may well be the force behind premature aging. He and other researchers believe that widespread inflammation is largely the result of our diet and may be the main factor in the rise of a number of degenerative diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s.
If your diet consists mostly of foods cooked at high temperatures (most “fast food” falls into this category) and foods that are high in sugar and hydrogenated or refined oils (potato chips, margarine and baked goods), you are more likely to be experiencing inflammation.

What types of foods should you eat to combat inflammation? Dr. Perricone and others recommend:

• Fruits, such as apples, berries, fresh pineapple, lemons, limes
• Vegetables, such as onions, tomatoes, greens (spinach, broccoli, kale), bell peppers, garlic
• Spices, such as cinnamon, ginger, basil, mint, parsley, rosemary
• Nuts and seeds, such as sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds
• Fish, such as halibut, salmon, sardines, oysters
• Olive oil
• Beverages, such as green tea, black tea, red wine and lots of water!
• Dark chocolate

Fortunately, we can control inflammation in our body by watching the foods we eat. Try to introduce at least one anti-inflammatory food into every meal. Many quickly notice relief from some of the symptoms that have been bothering them. Plus, as an added bonus, they’re better able to maintain a healthier weight!

St. Patricks Day Sale

Don't miss out on St. Patrick's Day Savings!!! 

enter code PAT20

expires 3.17.13

liviaskincare.com

March Product of the month

Grapefruit & Green Tea Moisture

with alpha hydroxy acids for oily, combination, sensitive & blemished skin —16 SPF

Balance your skins pH, oil production, clear up & speed healing of blemishes and deliver must-have nutrients & moisture.

ONLY $42

https://www.liviaskincare.com/index.php?route=product%2Fspecial

Product of the Month!

Product of the Month!
Rosehip and Jasmine Enzyme Treatment

This active enzyme treatment removes dead skin, uncovering newly nourished skin, while rich, penetrating oils deeply moisturize. Leaves skin saturated, dewy & beautiful!

ONLY $40
https://www.liviaskincare.com/index.php?route=product%2Fspecial

Free Gift for Facebook Fans!

Like us on Facebook and see how you can receive a
FREE gift that's just for our fans!

"Like" Us

Valentine's Day

Winter Skin Prep: 

What You Need to Know

By Erin Skarda

As brisk fall fades to a balmy winter, now is the perfect time to consider shifting your skincare routine to stand up to the elements. TIME talked to Dr. Lisa R. Ginn, MD FAAD, owner of Skin@LRG in Chevy Chase, Md., about how to prepare for the colder months while setting up a routine that will leave you with a flawless facial palette year-round.

Why do the winter months have such a negative effect on our skin, especially our sensitive faces?

When I think of winterizing skin, I tell patients that the winter is the time to  nourish and repair some of the effects from sun exposure and heat we’ve had in the preceding months. Anytime the skin is dry, it’s going to become more sensitive and easier to be irritated. The winter tends to be harsher in most climates, so if you have any underlying dermatitis or eczema, that will tend to flair in the winter. But even if you have perfectly healthy skin and you don’t take the appropriate steps to insulate it, you can have problems with dryness and irritation.

What are the major steps to preparing your skin for the colder months?

I tell patient that there are a couple of basic steps you really need to follow: exfoliate, hydrate, repair and protect. The problem is we all know about skin protection in the summer, but when it comes to winter, we often fall off on certain things. For cleansers, nothing needs to change during the winter, but a few rules do apply. Cream cleansers are milder and better for really dry skin. If you have normal or oily skin, a gel cleanser works well. After cleansing, these are the three steps that you should follow, not just during the winter, but year-round:

1. Exfoliate. In the winter your skin is constantly turning over, and that dead layer of skin needs to come off in a gentle fashion. That’s exfoliation. You can do it with scrub and cleanser or with chemical exfoliate, like glycolic acid or lactic acid, which are enzymes you find in products that gently melt away that layer of dead skin. In the winter, I tend to like lactic acid because it comes from milk and actually binds water, so as you’re exfoliating, you’re not drying out your skin. A tip I tell patients is, if you have dry skin and you put moisturizer on and it feels like it’s sitting on top of your skin, you’re not exfoliating enough.

2. Moisturize. You want to seal in as much moisture as possible in the winter. The old-school moisturizers were kind of greasy and heavy and laid on top of the skin. We now have moisturizers that actually pull water from the environment and provide a nice blanket of moisture. My favorite ingredient to look for in a serum or cream is hyaluronic acid. It’s not actually an acid; it’s a molecule that works like a sponge on top of the face to pull water in. It will give your skin a nice drink of water all day long without leaving you feeling greasy. Even if you have oily skin, it’s good because the more water you get into your skin, the less oily it will be.

An interesting fact: when you see moisturizers that contains collagen, that’s very misleading. Collagen is down fairly deep in your skin. No product you can get over the counter will get deep enough to provide your skin with actual collagen. Collagen and hyaluronic acid are both humectants, which means they attract water. Collagen products are more expensive than those that contain hyaluronic acid, and they don’t work as well. So I recommend that my patients find a serum or cream that lists hyaluronic acid as one of the first active ingredients.

3. Repair and protect: In the summer, dark spots get darker and redness gets worse. The winter, when you’re not in the sun, is a great time to repair damage from sun exposure. If you have dark spots, one of my favorite ingredients to look for is arbutin kojic acid, which will go after the cells in the skin that are making too much color and tone them down without affecting skin tone. If you tend to have redness, I like products that contain vitamin k or niacin. These are all things you don’t need a prescription for. And just because it’s not summertime doesn’t mean you get a break from sunscreen. Even on a hazy day, you’d be amazed at how much sun you can get.

During the winter months, should we be trading in our usual products for something more effective?

You don’t have to worry about replacing all your products from one season to the next. The steps remain the same year-round, but you can make some tweaks when going into winter. If someone is using a glycolic product in the summer, I’ll switch him or her to a product that has lactic acid in the winter. If someone is using a hyaluronic serum in the summer, in the winter I might use the same serum, but add a moisturizer. When it comes to repairing and protecting, I’ll be a little more aggressive with skin lighteners in the winter, because people aren’t usually get as much sun in the winter, so it’s a good time to repair the damage. As for cleansers, they can typically stay the same year-round.

Do women and men in certain climates need to treat their skin differently during the winter months?

The steps are the same, but yes, you should adjust your products depending on the climate. If you live in a humid state, your skin is not apt to be as dry, so you can usually get away with a simple moisturizer. If you live in a drier climate, you should use not only a product with hyaluronic acid, but also a moisturizer that is a little richer that will help to seal in the moisture in your skin, since you can’t get it from the environment. For dry climates, I recommend using a serum, which can have 80-90% active ingredients, and a moisturizer that includes shea butter or glycerin to seal moisture in.

Another big winter skin issue is chapped lips or skin. What are some ways to treat this?

Chapped lips are one of the most common complaints I receive during the winter months. When you brush teeth, you can use the toothbrush to take a little bit of abrasion to the lips to flake off the dead skin. Then I like using a lip balm like Aquaphor, because you can put it on multiple times a day. And when it comes to lip color, I would stick with a long-wear gloss, which adds moisture, instead of a regular lipstick, which can dry out the skin.

Types of Teas and Their Health Benefits

From green tea to hibiscus, from white tea to chamomile, teas are chock full of flavonoids and other healthy goodies.

By Julie Edgar

WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Regarded for thousands of years in the East as a key to good health, happiness, and wisdom, tea has caught the attention of researchers in the West, who are discovering the many health benefits of different types of teas. Studies have found that some teas may help with cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; encourage weight loss; lower cholesterol; and bring about mental alertness. Tea also appears to have antimicrobial qualities. “There doesn't seem to be a downside to tea,” says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Katherine Tallmadge, MA, RD, LD. “I think it’s a great alternative to coffee drinking. First, tea has less caffeine. It’s pretty well established that the compounds in tea – their flavonoids – are good for the heart and may reduce cancer.” Although a lot of questions remain about how long tea needs to be steeped for the most benefit, and how much you need to drink, nutritionists agree any tea is good tea. Still, they prefer brewed teas over bottled to avoid the extra calories and sweeteners. Here's a primer to get you started.

Health Benefits of Tea: Green, Black, and White Tea

Tea is a name given to a lot of brews, but purists consider only green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea the real thing. They are all derived from theCamellia sinensis plant, a shrub native to China and India, and contain unique antioxidants called flavonoids. The most potent of these, known as ECGC, may help against free radicals that can contribute to cancer, heart disease, and clogged arteries.

All these teas also have caffeine and theanine, which affect the brain and seem to heighten mental alertness.

The more processed the tea leaves, usually the less polyphenol content. Polyphenols include flavonoids. Oolong and black teas are oxidized or fermented, so they have lower concentrations of polyphenols than green tea; but their antioxidizing power is still high.

Here's what some studies have found about the potential health benefits of tea:

·         Green tea: Made with steamed tea leaves, it has a high concentration of EGCG and has been widely studied. Green tea’s antioxidants may interfere with the growth of bladder, breast, lung, stomach, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers; prevent clogging of the arteries, burn fat, counteract oxidative stress on the brain, reduce risk of neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, reduce risk of stroke, and improve cholesterol levels.

·         Black tea: Made with fermented tea leaves, black tea has the highest caffeine content and forms the basis for flavored teas like chai, along with some instant teas. Studies have shown that black tea may protect lungs from damage caused by exposure to cigarette smoke. It also may reduce the risk of stroke.

·         White tea: Uncured and unfermented. One study showed that white tea has the most potent anticancer properties compared to more processed teas.

·         Oolong tea: In an animal study, those given antioxidants from oolong tea were found to have lower bad cholesterol levels. One variety of oolong, Wuyi, is heavily marketed as a weight loss supplement, but science hasn’t backed the claims.

·         Pu-erh tea: Made from fermented and aged leaves. Considered a black tea, its leaves are pressed into cakes. One animal study showed that animals given pu-erh had less weight gain and reduced LDL cholesterol.

Health Benefits of Tea: Herbal Teas

Made from herbs, fruits, seeds, or roots steeped in hot water, herbal teas have lower concentrations of antioxidants than green, white, black, and oolong teas. Their chemical compositions vary widely depending on the plant used. Varieties include ginger, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, hibiscus, jasmine, rosehip, mint, rooibos (red tea), chamomile, and echinacea. Limited research has been done on the health benefits of herbal teas, but claims that they help to shed pounds, stave off colds, and bring on restful sleep are largely unsupported.

Here are some findings:

·        - Chamomile tea: Its antioxidants may help prevent complications from diabetes, like loss of vision and nerve and kidney damage, and stunt the growth of cancer cells.

·         -Echinacea: Often touted as a way to fight the common cold, the research on echinacea has been inconclusive.

·        - Hibiscus: A small study found that drinking three cups of hibiscus tea daily lowered blood pressure in people with modestly elevated levels.

·        - Rooibos (red tea): A South African herb that is fermented. Although it has flavonoids with cancer-fighting properties, medical studies have been limited.

Health Benefits of Tea: Instant teas

Instant tea may contain very little amounts of actual tea and plenty of sugars or artificial sweeteners. For health’s sake, check out the ingredients on the label.

Can Tea Be Bad for Your Health?

Most teas are benign, but the FDA has issued warnings about so-called dieter’s teas that contain senna, aloe, buckthorn, and other plant-derived laxatives. The agency also warns consumers to be wary of herb-containing supplements that claim to kill pain and fight cancer. None of the claims is backed by science and some of the herbs have led to bowel problems, liver and kidney damage, and even death. The FDA cautions against taking supplements that include:

·         -Comfrey

·        - Ephedra

·         -Willow bark

·         -Germander

·        - Lobelia

·        - Chaparral

These cautions aside, nutritionists say to drink up and enjoy the health benefits of tea.

“You want to incorporate healthy beverages in your diet on a more regular basis to benefit from these health-promoting properties," says Diane L. McKay, PhD, a Tufts University scientist who studies antioxidants. "It’s not just about the foods; it’s about what you drink, as well, that can contribute to your health."