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Healthy Skin and How to Obtain it
by maija jespersen
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The array of skin care products available for purchase is truly overwhelming.  Fortunating for us (and our wallets!) there is a lot more to healthy skin than what is on the shelf.  Cleansing and moisturizing your skin is important, but any skin care routine will work best if it’s on the solid foundation.  That foundation has four aspects:  aerobic exercise, nutrition, hydration, and rest. 

Aerobic exercise is like cleaning your skin from the inside out.  When your heart gets going, the capillaries feeding your skin open up, bringing in more nutrition and oxygen to your skin cells and carrying away cellular waste.  Then, your pores open up so you can sweat.  As the sweat travels to the outside of your skin, it helps un-clog dirt and grime from your pores.  So, aerobic exercise is like a mini-facial plus a nutrition mask, all in one!  Everything from basketball to carrying boxes up to the attic counts, as long as it raises your heart rate enough to make your skin sweat.  












However, it’s a lot harder for the skin to clean itself if there’s a big layer of animal fat sitting under it.  You know that layer of fat under a chicken’s skin?  We have that too.  The more fat is under our skin, the likelier the pores are to become clogged.  That is why whole grains and vegetables will give you fewer blemishes than a diet heavy in meat, dairy and fried foods. 

Some fat is essential to a balance diet, though, and vegetable fats like olive oil and avocado are easier on the skin.  People who are extremely active or who deal with very cold temperatures (which require burning a lot of fat,) like Tibetans, can eat a mostly-meat diet and stay healthy and blemish-free.  The rest of us, though, need to moderate our intake of animal fats, or make sure we get enough exercise to burn off what we’re eating.

Hydration is the third necessity for great skin:  if your body doesn’t have enough water, it’s harder for the kidneys to filter waste from the blood.  Toxins remain circulating in the blood stream for longer, and reduced nutrition to the skin becomes evident in poor color and loss of elasticity.  To hydrate your skin, try to drink good quality beverages when you are thirsty, like water or juice.  When drinking diuretics like coffee, soda, or beer, realize that you are actually removing liquids (and vitamins) from your body, and remember to drink extra water. 

And finally, rest.  While you are asleep, the body repairs itself from the stresses of the day.  Relaxation and sleep are the final touches for healthy, glowing skin. 

Now it’s time to pick out cosmetics.  Look for natural ingredients like nettle, and rosemary, which are traditional skin tonics.  A clay mask once a week will draw out stubborn blemishes.  And remember to look for the “no animal testing” label.