Best place to look for Vitamin A!

Cancer?

There’s a very heated debate out there about Vitamin A and cancer prevention. Scientists believe that this nutrient is efficient in preventing cancer. Research on the other hand suggests quite the opposite. Get this: more cases of cancer among the Vitamin A takers than among the placebo patients. Should I conclude that Vitamin A is linked to cancer?

What else? Hip fractures!

Apparently women who have a large intake of Vitamin A break their hips a lot. This is because overdoses of vitamin A reduce bone density and makes bones more fragile. But whatever the explanation, that’s one hell of a generalization!

They try their best! Don’t blame the poor scientist for all the confusion! They’re doing their job, but they’re not quite there yet. But until they figure this stuff out, we can look at what we know for sure!

More than one type of Vitamin A? You bet!

• Preformed vitamin A: The one you get from animal sources
• Provitamin A carotenoid: The one you get from vegetables and fruit

What is Vitamin A good for?

• Skin  (clears skin, repairs tissue, guards against skin cancer)
  A rather high dose of Vitamin A is prescribed for acne treatment. And it works quite well!
• Vision (relieves dry-eye disorder and improves the eye’s adjustment to light)
• Immune system
• Heart diseases

What does Vitamin A deficiency look like?

• Night blindness
• Dry cornea
• Dry skin

Vitamin A overdose reactions:

• Nausea, Vomiting, Dizziness, Blurred Vision, Headache
• Orange hands
• Hair loss
• Birth defects
• Liver abnormalities
• Osteoporosis

Recommended dose:

Vitamin A supplementation should be limited to 5,000 IU (1,000 RE) for men and 2,500 IU (500 RE) for women.

Large doses of the vitamin can be toxic!

Where do I find Vitamin A?

• Liver
• Egg yolk
• Cheddar cheese
• Fortified milk
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Apricots
• Mango
• And many other colorful vegetables and fruit

We all want beautiful hair...

Dr. Simon Ourian, an American plastic surgeon, made the discovery by accident. The doctor injected Botox in the scalp of a cancer patient, in an attempt to rid him of headaches. Imagine his surprise when he found out that the injections helped regrow hair!

Theory has it that the Botox stretches blood vessels, thus permitting nutrients to flow in and rebuild the hairs. Apparently, results are noticeable even after the first series of injections, because the Botox start stimulating hair growth right away.

Dr. Ourian has been testing this theory for three years now, and he’s even improved the injections by adding vitamins. His research seems to be backing up his discovery, and as soon as he can present scientific proof, he will have a gold mine on his hands! But for now, his volunteers seem to be quite happy with the results!

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time picturing this. I keep having flashes of people with lumpy scalps or hairy cheeks…

Only as sweet as illogical...

And what about love? What other topic gave birth to more questions than love, love which is itself the biggest question of all… This is the only lack of logic we accept, replacing rationality with trust, ambition with lust and reasoning with passion.

We start out guarded and I’m no different. We rarely welcome love anymore, and those of us who do seem late to find it. We fiercely guard our iron hearts, ironically, when there’s nothing that can break them. We stand tall and confident, shoulders back, eyes focused, direction firmly set. Somehow, we never see it coming and all our gates are useless. The cunning predator, lurking in the shadow prances without warning striping us of our defenses. Sometimes, it’s so graceful that we don’t even realize we’ve been bitten until the first signs of infection appear: lack of logic.

Then, hearts bare, hands trembling, we find ourselves not just defenseless but vulnerable to a weakness we never knew we had. We fight it for a while, but we soon give in, we lose all motivation for self protection.

And if we’re lucky, the spell of love’s so great that we ignore the irrationality of it. Alone, we find we don’t add up to what we used to… the numbers are the same, but we’re no longer happy without the poetry of it. But then, a handful of us, the truly lucky ones, we mix our lives together. Some add up to nothing, but for others something amazing happens. Together, we add up to more than the sum of the parts. This is how we can live without logic for the sake of love… It doesn’t just change us to the point we can’t recognize our own thinking, it also gives a greater luster to our colors, it makes something out of nothing, it turn roughness into tenderness and vacant glances into seductive smiles.

Through all of it, if we can find the logic to live in insanity, we surrender to feeling and give ourselves to one another. We find simple solutions to complicated problems: love strips us of our safety nets but we protect each other, love takes away our feeling of content, but we better each other, love leaves us lacking yet we complete each other. It steals our echo, but we talk to together, it makes us numb, but we breathe emotion into each other. We choose love because we find ways to live with it, and here lays the problem….

To survive with it, we need each other. We need to depend on one another and trust like we’ve never trusted before. Love leaves us defenseless, holds us in check, gives us no options our hearts can bear than to save each other in the hopes that we’ll be saved in return.

Such a cruel killer love is… What other predator attacks you so fiercely, leaving you to depend on another one like you. We live in a world where we’re not safe to trust, where we fight for all we have and love throws us into this alternate reality where survival is based on trust. We’re doomed to change our natures, forced to live in two worlds and adapt to both of them, because both are just as dangerous.

No wonder we avoid love… No wonder we fear it, we dread it, we almost hate it, yet we can never regret it. It’s almost impossible to live with, it’s always lethal, it always kills a part of you turning you into another. It taunts you and tortures you, spins crazily around you, engulfs you, spits you out and hunts you perpetually. And yet it’s a sweet torture that you surrender to. You somehow surrender and fight it at the same time. It’s a drug you can’t live without.

Once you get a taste you’re either hooked or dissolute with feeling, destruct to remember its bitter kiss always. You’ll always know there’s nothing that compares to it, but you can’t have a taste of it without getting hooked again.
We’d kill love if we could. We’d give it up in a heartbeat for what it does to us. But we can’t.. We can’t because it made us care, it made us love… Out of love for each other we can’t pass out on love… See the irony of it? We willingly hurt ourselves and each other to make each other happier. As always, no logic…

Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is to trust another with my soul. It’s also the stupidest, most irresponsible thing I can ever do. Lovers have no sense of preservation… But I still have a long way to go and it’s already the most amazing, beautiful thing I’ve ever done. Logic screams ‘no’, but if feels compellingly right! I’ve never felt a stronger desire, motivation, urge or need for something. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a thirst for love, but for the object of my love.

So baby, it’s us against this crazy killer, and we need to keep each other safe. We’ll hurt ourselves along the way, but we’ll have one heck of a ride! I’ll save you baby, and I trust you’ll save me. Together, we’ll triumph over this awfully delightful addiction called love.

So keep your advice, keep your wisdom and you’re smart logical answers! The explanation of love is not needing an explanation. For once, there is no answer. If you can’t fight it, just surrender and trust!

Indeed, fruit and vegetables have fewer calories if they come in “the green version”! Apples, grapes, asparagus… Every vegetable or fruit you can imagine! If it comes in green it’s healthier than its non-green version!

In nature, the color green says: “Eat me! I have more vitamin C and less sugar! I’m all fiber, baby!” So ingenious of Nature, don’t you think? She couldn’t have made it any clearer!

So if you’re trying to cut back on the calories while consuming nutritious healthy food, go for the green! Next time you go shopping, you’ll know what to look for!

Green Apple - 36 calories per 100 grams

Red Apple- 52 calories per 100 grams

Green Olives- 145 calories per 100 grams

Black Olives- 233 calories per 100 grams

Green Grapes- 33 calories per 100 grams

Red Grapes- 37 calories per 100 grams

Green Pepper- 20 calories per 100 grams

Yellow Pepper- 27 calories per 100 grams

Red Pepper- 28 calories per 100 grams

So… are you pro-green?

Tempting?

It seems that women can now opt for Botox injections. But why should you choose Breastox over Implants?

First, with Breastox, you get results in 30 minutes! No healing time, no recovery period, no scars! You don’t have to undergo surgery and wonder for 3 weeks how your breasts are going to turn out!

Second, there’s the price. You can have a Breastox for about $1000. And if you’re reading this you probably know how expensive breast implants are.

Third, the procedure is a lot safer. You just have 12 painless injections into your breast muscles and in 30 minutes voila! Instant boobs! I don’t know about you, but I’d take a needle over a knife any day!

The down side is that the effects of Breastox are not permanent. Your breasts will return to normal in about 6 months. But if you’ve got a date tonight or you want to make an impression at your high school reunion, there’s still time for uplift! Literally! If you have a free hour and $1000 to spare, there’s still time to put some ‘wow’ into your jiggle!

So what’s it gonna be? Breastox or implants? In my opinion, neither injecting toxins in your muscles nor stuffing silicon in your breasts seems like a good idea… But hey, Boobtox seems to be the lesser of two evils!

So what do you think about this? Soon enough, we’re going to be 80% flesh and 20% expensive chemicals… But stick around! I have a feeling Buttox will be in fashion next fall!

Are you worried about your weight?

With these tips, you can have the metabolism you don’t even dare to dream of!

• Go for the greens
  Green fruit and vegetables have fewer calories!

• Eat spicy food
  Spicy foods raise the blood pressure and thus raise your metabolism.

• Eat raw foods
  Raw foods are harder to digest, and the body spends more energy on them. In some cases, even more energy than they give out. Like celery for example!

• Be active
  The more you move, run, jump, fidget, the more calories you burn!

• Breath in deep
  Breathing in more oxygen boosts your metabolism and burns more calories.

• Take the stairs.
  I know you hear this one countless times before. So stop hearing it and start doing it!

• Don’t skip breakfast
  If you eat a little something for breakfast you’ll awaken your metabolism early in the day so it can get to work burning calories

• Many small meals
  Eat small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism up. This is what the French Paradox is based on!

• Build muscle
  The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn. So do some muscle buildings exercises to lose weight!

• Do cardio exercises
  Exercise that really gets the blood pumping burns a lot of calories. And you don’t only burn them during the workout, but after it also!

• Drink lots of water.
  Being hydrated is important to ensure that your body is working properly and burning up those extra calories!

• Get fiber into your diet
  Fiber can’t be digested by the organism, but the digestion attempt certainly burns some extra calories!

• Coffee and green tea
  Drinking coffee or green tea can boost your metabolism, but please go with green tea! It’s the healthier choice by far!

• Avoid stress
  Stress takes its toll on the body in a number of ways, one of which being messing with your metabolism. So if you want to burn more calories, you’d better not let anything get to you!

• Sleep
  Get as much sleep as you need. People who are deprived of sleep are often overweight and have chaotic eating patterns.

• Avoid sugar
  Carbohydrates from processed foods are a diet disaster! Run from sweets and fast food as if your life depended on it!

• Vitamin supplements
  If you are depleted of any important vitamins, you’ll have trouble burning calories properly. So it would help to take some supplements and regain those much needed vitamins.

• Dark chocolate
  If you can’t live without sweets, I have good news for you! Dark chocolate will help raise your metabolism thanks to its amazing powers. But, everything in moderation of course!

Feel free to jump in and leave your thoughts and ideas below!

You are my superhero!

It’s a though world out there and everybody is doing their best to be the best. And whether you like it or not, every single day of your life is a competition.  You have to be better than everybody else. But what sets you apart?

Imagine this: You walk into a store complex to buy gloves. You find 3 pairs that you like, all at the same price, but in different stores. How are you going to choose which pair to buy? In store 1 the salesperson ignored you. In store 2 the salesperson told you the gloves look good on you. In store 3 the sales person said they looked absolutely amazing and complimented your tastes with sincere enthusiasm. Which pair of gloves will you pick?

Now put yourself in the shoes of the salesperson. How would you feel about your product? Are you going to sell it if you’re not crazy about it? Probably not… Will anyone want your product if you couldn’t care less about it? Not likely! Now, how do you feel about yourself? Because, whether you want it or not, you’re put in the position of “selling” yourself every time you interact with somebody. Do you think they will ever like what they see if you don’t?

Step 1: Like yourself!

So, if you’re going to get people to like you, you have to start by liking yourself. I know, that’s tricky. You have to change the way you think about yourself. But you can start by lying to yourself. Yes, that sounds horrible. But if you act like you’re awesome, you’ll eventually start believing it and people will start believing you. You’re smart! And people know that. If you believe you’re a great person they should definitely love, they will trust your judgment!

How to show that you like yourself:

• Don’t be afraid to talk about yourself. You are interesting and it’s their honor to know you.
• Be sure of yourself. You are smart and you know what you’re doing. If you make mistakes, well, that just proves you’re human. Besides, people around will feel better if they see you’re not perfect after all…
• Be happy. You’re amazing, being in your presence is awesome and you can make anyone happy. Even yourself!
• Smile. Smile at people, because you are a warm, friendly person. Even if you’re having a bad day, make the extra effort and smile. After all, you have a strong character and you don’t let anything put you down!
• Learn to take a compliment. Dealing with compliments is not hard if they don’t catch you off guard. The next time someone compliments you just look in their eyes, thank them and make a compliment too. Don’t worry if you blush. I think that’s cute!
• Dress hot. If you feel confident and hot, then be sure that everybody will see you like that!

Step 2: Like others!

This part if all about making people around you feel good. Let’s face it, people are selfish, but if they have a great time with you, you will become like a drug to them. And if you make them feel important and appreciated, they’ll love you forever! They’ll only like you if you like them. And that makes perfect sense, do you like someone who doesn’t like you?

How to make people feel liked:

• Smile at people! Even if you’re not in the mood for anything, make sure your facial expression says: ‘I’m happy to see you!’ This is really important!
• Listen to what people are saying. Would you like to be ignored while you talk? Nod, ask question, be attentive and care about what they are saying!
• Be interested in them. Ask questions about them: ‘How did your meeting go today?’, ‘How’s your wife?’, ‘Are you feeling better today?’. Care and don’t be afraid to show it!
• Answer calls, emails, invitations. There’s nothing worse than waiting for a call for hours. And you know what sucks? Really looking forward to seeing someone and they don’t show up! Don’t pull that kind of stuff!
• Offer to help. Genuinely volunteer your help or at least your advice. I’m not saying you should become a slave, but you should make small gestured to prove that you care: ‘Can I walk you to your car?’, ‘Do you want me to drop off this envelop on my way to work?’, ‘I’m going to grab a coffee. Should I bring you anything?’
• Treat people like you would like to be treated. Think of 3 people you really like and the next time you see them observe how they behave toward you. Notice how they pay attention to you, how important you feel, how they say your name. Observe and learn, my friend!

You did great! I like you already. Make sure you drop a line and tell me that you like me back!

Smooth skin! I know you want it!

I was sitting in the waiting room of my salon this morning waiting for the wax to reach the proper temperature when it struck me! Even after 3 years of getting Brazilian waxes I’m still feeling anxious about it! I got to a point where I can stand it. But you wouldn’t believe how horrible it was in the beginning. I even tried using a local anesthetic to make the pain bearable. And I can’t even count the times my best friend talked me through it from over the separating screen. Nevertheless, I stuck it through and I got to a point where I don’t have nightmares about this.

I won’t lie; getting a bikini wax will never be a pleasant experience! But if you take advantage of a few tips I learned along the way, waxing could stop being hell.

1. Pick the salon carefully

Do a little field work and investigate the salons in your area. Find someone you like. You’re going to be in an awkward situation, so choose a person you think could make you comfortable.

2. Take a hot shower just before

A hot steamy shower before your appointment will open up the pores, and the hairs will slip out easily. Waxing will be a lot less painful like this, and you won’t have the sensation that you’re being tortured with duck tape. Also, you’re less likely to be irritated afterward.

3. Hydrate the skin

This part is a bit tricky. You want your skin to be hydrated, so it’s elastic enough to loosen up and not hold on to the hairs so fiercely. At the same time, you don’t want your skin to be greasy and slippery so your hairs don’t get “trapped” in the coat of wax. So after the shower, apply a light, hydrating cream. Nothing too greasy!

4. Pain killers

I’m not advising you to go pouring local anesthetic on your skin like I did (nothing good can come out of that!), but I do recommend 400 grams of ibuprofen half an hour before your appointment.  That should be enough to numb your skin so that you don’t feel the burning sensation of the hot wax or the sharp pain that follows the yank of horror.

5. Comfortable clothes.

Don’t wear tight clothes! Really! Wear a pair of comfortable underwear that won’t bother you after the waxing. And please don’t wear jeans! Even if it’s the middle of winter, you’ll be a lot more comfortable with a skirt and stocking than in pants.

6. Fear is the enemy!

Change the way you think about the bikini wax. Stop dreading it, and you’ll get through it faster and easier. Until the very moment you have to take your clothes off and prepare, just block it out entirely! A bikini wax doesn’t last long. During that time focus on the outcome, not on the experience. It will be over very soon! The more scared you are, the more it hurts. So stop now! No more fear!

7. Don’t be shy

Yes, you might have to undress completely, or you might be wearing a small thong. Nevertheless, don’t feel awkward. You’re in a salon. You’re not the first woman to go through it and you won’t be the last. The woman waxing you is a professional and she knows what she’s doing.  So feeling embarrassed would better not even cross your mind!

8. Respect the wax

Getting a bikini wax gets easier over time. The hair becomes thinner and it feels less and less painful every time. That’s why it’s so important to be consistent! You can mix in a shave every now and then, but don’t expect to get used to waxing if you don’t stick to it!

One last word of advice: If you were thinking about going drunk for your appointment, forget about it! It might make the entire experience easier on you, but that’s not cool!

Well…It does! Yesterday I tried out a Coffee Scrub, which I’m sure you read about. If you haven’t, make sure you do here! Well, a few hours later I started feeling very jittery. I was so hyperactive that I started questioning my memory… I knew I hadn’t drunk any coffee, black tea, Red Bull or nothing of that sort… But then why was I feeling like I had drunk 5 coffees? And now you guessed it! I had absorbed the caffeine through my skin while doing the scrub. I overdid did the scrub for the sake of the experiment, but it was totally worth it!

It’s amazing how much you absorb through the skin without even realizing it. This is how the nicotine patch works! How all the creams that alleviate pain work. This is how painters were poisoned with chemicals after cleaning the paint brush in the palm of their hands. This is why natural skin masks actually work! And this is why you have to be careful what kind of skin care products you use.

How does this work?

Our skin cells are actually permeable, which means that water can sip in through the pores. And along with water, any chemicals and minerals that are dissolved in the water! They go through the skin and into the blood stream quicker than you can even imagine!

What’s the lesson here?

Rule 1: Be careful what you put on your skin because that goes into your body! Check the labels of skin care products that you use and even cleaning products that your skin comes into contact with. If there are any dangerous chemicals, try wearing gloves when you clean!

Rule 2: Exfoliate! If you let dead cells to build up, after a while they are absorbed into the organism as toxins!

Rule 3: Give masks and creams a shot! Make your own scrubs and face masks out of fruit, natural oils, honey, milk, brown sugar and so on…

Some parts are spongier than others!

Some parts of the body absorb substances a lot faster and easier than others. Here’s an illustration! The forearm has been attributed the value 1. Now, to interpret the image think that each body part is X times more absorbent than the skin on your forearm, X being the value attributed to that particular patch of skin.

No reason you can't be pampered at home!

So why not take advantage of the natural powers of coffee to cure your cellulite? If you’re aiming for perfect skin, this is the way to go!

First, you’ll have to make the coffee scrub. Take a look here to see how to make it. You should also read this article if you’re interested in the many benefits of a coffee scrub.

1. Make your coffee scrub

Start by making your scrub mixture. Pick the ingredients you like. I recommend mixing the coffee grounds, honey, cinnamon, brown sugar with a heavy cream (or yogurt) instead of body oil. You can still put in your favorite oil, but try to get a creamier consistency.

2. Prepare the battle field

Spread a towel on the bed so you won’t get it dirty. Put on some music or a movie and prepare to relax for half an hour. This is pure, uninterrupted, blissful YOU time! You can even light some candles if that relaxes you.

3. Apply the mixture

Massage the mixture into your skin in circular motions. Do this in the bathroom so you won’t make a mess! After you have applied the cream to your thighs, bottom, abdomen, arms (where you want) wrap the desired area in plastic wrap. The coffee will be absorbed into the skin easier like this, and it will begin to works its magic!

4. Lie still a bit

Then, hop on to the bed and lie down on the towel and just relax for 20-30 minutes while the scrub does all the work for you. Relaxation and beautiful skin! What more could you wish for?

5. Wash it off

In the end, remove the plastic wrap and jump in the shower for a quick rinsing.
And voila! You saved 50 dollars and time!

Let me know what mixtures you tried out and how they turned up!