The absolute key to looking your best permanently is to deal with your inside health first. After that your natural beauty will shine through on your wrinkle free, radiant complexion, your strong nails and shiny hair, and your sparkling eyes, with a natural shift towards a healthy, normal body weight. The process to finding this natural glow and vibrancy begins with internal cleansing, eating nutritious food, engaging in regular exercise and taking the right amounts of minerals, vitamins and essential fats.

Anti-aging
In the natural beauty market you’re likely to find a number of programs and books with ‘anti-aging’ in the title, which in reality is misleading. Although you may not want to hear this ‘the aging process cannot and should not be stopped’. On the contrary, aging is a natural occurrence that helps the body evolve from one fundamental stage to another. Instead of focusing on anti-aging embrace a wiser more effective natural mind and body approach, by working with, not against the aging process. You can look and feel ten to twenty years younger in your 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

The key to optimize your inner and outer health is to target the top ‘beauty robbers’, the physiological processes that accelerate the aging process in an unnatural fashion.

1 Faulty digestion.
The digestive system can be likened to an intricate pipeline system that’s responsible for absorption, assimilation and excretion. We have many physiological processes take place to assimilate the minerals, vitamins and fibre from the sandwich we ate at lunch into the fuel that we need to run our body. When the digestive capacity is compromised by stress, faulty food choices, an acidic diet or lack of hydration a myriad of symptoms can develop such as constipation, dry skin, a build up of yeast, fatigue and even weight gain.

2 Chronic inflammation.
Inflammation is the body’s first line of defense against unwanted bacteria, viruses and a multitude of harmful invaders. Although critical to maintaining the balance of health, researchers and scientists have demonstrated that problems arise when the inflammatory process becomes chronic and no longer switches ‘off’. In fact, hundreds of studies now pinpoint inflammation as the platform in which several disease processes begin including heart disease, colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Faulty food choices, an increase in trans fatty acids and saturated fats along with a lack of omega 3 fats in the diet can all lead to a state of chronic inflammation.

3 Free radical damage.
All cells in the body are composed of molecules which are made up of smaller units called atoms. Free radical (cellular) damage occurs when one of the rings of the atom does not have a full set of electrons and is therefore unstable. To achieve stability, the atom literally rips an electron from a neighbouring cell to take it as its own. The ‘ripping’ or ‘stealing’ of a neighbouring electron from the cell’s membrane creates cell damage and destruction. Free radical damage can be caused by many factors including invading bacteria and viruses, or as result of the Western lifestyle including a lack of fruits and vegetables, smoking, stress, and ingestion of toxins such as herbicides and pesticides. A certain amount of free radical damage is normal and expected, however, when we tip the scales by taking in too much of the ‘bad stuff’ and too little of the ‘good stuff’, free radical damage occurs robbing us of our health and beauty.

Reversing beauty robbers
To reap the best results for inner health and outer beauty, work with and not against nature by starting with these simple steps:

CLEANSE When starting any health program, it’s always best to begin with a gentle cleanse to get rid of unwanted ‘internal garbage’. This allows your body to set the stage for healing to take place and for your natural beauty to emerge. Eliminating inflammatory foods such as red meats, dairy, white flour and refined grains is recommended for a 5-10 day period. In addition, supplement with high fibre foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, ground flaxseeds (1 Tbsp) and probiotic supplements to improve digestive function. Drinking a minimum of 6-8 glasses of fresh clean water is of utmost importance while cleansing.

NOURISH After completing a 5-10 day cleanse, it’s important to provide the body with the proper fuel for energy, to maintain an optimal body weight and to fight off free radical (cellular) damage. With a multitude of fad diets on the market and the end of the high protein craze, it can be confusing to know the types of food required for health and weight loss. In short, any diet that eliminates one of the three macronutrients: lean proteins; low glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates; healthy fats, is not a sustainable diet.

• Lean proteins – low fat dairy products, egg whites, lean meats, chicken, fish, tofu, protein powder
  
  
• Healthy fats – olive oil, avocados, walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, cold water fish and fish oils
  
  
• Low GI carbohydrates – low GI carbohydrates are those that enter into the bloodstream slowly and do not produce an excess amount of insulin. Excess insulin facilitates the storage of excess fat. Low GI carbohydrates include whole grains, fruits, vegetables and beans.

MOISTURIZE In addition to externally moisturizing with high quality day, night and eye creams, moisturize internally by supplementing with high quality omega 3 fat fish oils which dramatically improves the look and feel of the skin in addition to being an anti-inflammatory. When selecting a fish oil, be sure to choose one that is enteric coated and distilled.

MAINTENANCE Include these specific food behaviours to enhance health and beauty:

• Eat until you are sufficiently sufficed – not stuffed
  
  
• Make your meals last a minimum of 20 minutes to avoid overeating
  
  
• Improve digestion by chewing your food a minimum of 20-30 times
  
  
• Eat three meals and two snacks daily – do not skip breakfast
  
  
• Stop eating by 7pm – following this step alone quickly improves digestion, boosts energy and drops excess weight.

The body’s forgiving nature
Once given the suitable ingredients which include: proper nutrition, supplementation, fresh clean water and exercise, your inner health and outer beauty will flourish. To look and feel your best, start by implementing all of the above steps or at least one of them today!

H&L

Dr. Joey Shulman is author of the national best seller The Natural Makeover Diet (Wiley, 2006). For more information, visit www.drjoey.com