DROP AND GIVE YOUR SKIN 20

Most of us think exercise and we think ’shed some pounds,’ or ‘get trim,’ or lately ‘get that body ready for the beach.’ But its important to remember that the health benefits of exercise are felt by the WHOLE body. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, so whether you are working out for your heart or for your thighs, your skin is getting incredible benefits too!

Exercise holds important benefits for the entire body, but its benefits to the skin are largely unheralded. According to Audrey Kunin, MD of Kansas City, MO, the benefits of exercise to the skin can be enormous. Exercise increases circulation and delivery of nutrients to skin cells, flushing away potentially damaging toxins. Exercise also gives skin the optimum conditions for making collagen, the support fibers that help keep wrinkles and lines at bay.

THE ANTI-AGING WORKOUT?

Most of us don’t immediately think of exercise when we think of an anti-aging treatment, but several experts think we should. Exercise influences the natural production of collagen, which is the connective tissue that plumps your skin, giving skin that youthful tone and texture. According to Kunin, the collagen producing fibroblasts become fewer in number and “lazy” as we ger older. This results in skin becoming less firm, drier, and appear wrinkled.

Kunin goes on to say that adding an exercise routine to your skin care regimen will infuse oxygen into skin cells as well as stimulate the circulatory system and deliver additional nutrients to skin cells, kick starting the “lazy” fibroblasts and stimulating collagen production.

Stretching and toning is also critical when it comes to overall skin health. The added benefits can be immeasureable as far as some of us are concerned. Certain exercises can break up pockets of cellulite on the butt, thighs and arms. Cellulite is formed when the fibrous connections in the skin are pulled tighter. The tension leads to puckering in the skin in pockets of fat that we all recognize as cellulite. Stretching workouts such as yoga, pilates and also weight training can reverse that tension and reduce the appearance of cellulite.

WORKOUT TO BEAT THE BREAKOUTS

Exercise can also reduce your level of stress. This can reduce the level of male-type hormones like DHEA and DHT that are associated with acne flare-ups. According to David Berman, MD of Palo Alto, CA, reducing stress tends to quiet the adrenals, thus there is less hormone output which in turn helps to control acne.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Your skin care regimen is about giving your skin cells what they need to be healthy and look its best. An exercise regimen will only help. Your Kanreki products are designed to deliver the full spectrum of nutrients necessary for healthy skin. And what better way to ensure you are getting the maximum benefit of those nutrients than to stimulate your skin’s built in delivery service – your circulatory system.

Its important to note that the critical elements of success for your skin can be achieved from a wide range of exercise regimens, so if you can’t stand jogging, try a yoga class, or dive in for a swim, or just take off for a walk. Our bodies are dynamic and exciting systems, so head out and exercise knowing that your whole body health is contributing to your whole body’s beauty.

HOW DO WE GAGE PROGRESS?

We were more than a little shocked to learn that women were more likely to use creams, vitamins, and dermatologic procedures to look younger if they believe these tactics aren’t working. Yes, you read that correctly. We learned about this shocking study from the Editors at Allure magazine. They quoted the researchers at Bath University in England and Qatar University who found shocking results that “when women felt that the anti-aging methods weren’t working, 73 percent wanted to continue with them, compared to 45 percent when the women believed the treatments were effective.”

The researchers use this to delve into deeper psychological issues about worry and dissatisfaction. Frankly, there is enough worry and concern in world right now, we’re not interested in dwelling on that. What we do want to point out is the savvy potential of sticking with a plan that works! So we challenged one woman who was interested, but had yet to try our products, to make the commitment to regimen and to share her thoughts and experiences along the way.

Follow her progress here and learn from her regimen and hear from her as she talks candidly about the experience. We’ll also follow her journey as she shares her photos along the way.

The more we examine the aging process the more we recognize the importance of the function of the individual cell. If we keep the individual cell healthy then we keep the skin healthy and looking young, as well as keeping the body healthy and feeling young. If we treat the body on an individual cellular basis, we treat the aging process at the foundation.

Water is the most important substance we need to function and be healthy. It is widely believed that water loss is directly responsible for the aging of the skin and body, the increase of sensitivity, and the decline in function as we age. Dehydration results in a drop in function of the cells of the skin and body. Compounding this problem is Mineral Deficiency, which prevents cells from holding an adequate amount of water inside the cell membrane. A person drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water a day is only doing half the work necessary for hydration.

Cells must absorb and retain sufficient amounts of water to function at a full, youthful capacity. The key is to increase the cell’s energy through supplementation. The use of key nutrients such as minerals, glucosamine, amino acids, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients, enables cells to increase water content, encourages the healthy formation of collagen and elastin, protects against free radical aging activity and soothes skin irritation. The resulting changes can be seen in the smoothing of wrinkles, the faster healing of acne and reduction of breakouts, the reduction of dryness and irritation of Eczema and other skin irritations. Bottom line is that the symptoms or signs of aging are warded off. Hydration and nutrients increase the essential process of metabolism and preserve the integrity of the cell and tissues of the skin – and there is no better source of these than the sea.

With its long history of therapeutic uses and the numerous scientific studies supporting the beneficial applications of seawater, the tradition is well established. When applied topically, products based with seawater create an ion-transfer – improving conductivity, enhancing circulation and sensation, diminishing redness, detoxifying and remineralizing the skin – restoring moisture, stimulating cellular turnover and infusing a full spectrum of 78 elemental nano-nutrients into the skin.

Every year we learn more about the prevention of the signs of aging. One theory is that the symptoms we see as “aging” are actually an accumulation of tissue damage – that the signs of aging are more related to the damage of tissue than the actual passing of years. This is a theory that I find very intriguing, mainly because it gives us hope. There is something that we can do. If we target the skin on a cellular basis, deliver the right ingredients of metabolism – like trace minerals and amino acids, increase the moisture delivered and retained by the cell, then the symptoms or signs of aging may be lessened. We all have to age – so we should all do what we can to age intelligently.

-Gregory Dean, C’watre National Education Director [from the May '08 issue of C'watreMonthly]