Skin Zone Medical

Ten Tips for Mental Health

Build Confidence – Identify your abilities and weaknesses together, accept them, build on them and do the best with what you have.

Accept Compliments – Many of us have difficulty accepting kindness from others but we all need to remember the positive strokes when times gets tough.

Make Time for Family and Friends – These relationships need to be nurtured; if taken for granted they will not be there to share life’s joys and sorrows.

Give and Accept Support – Friends and family relationships thrive when they are “put to the test”.

Create a Meaningful Budget – Financial problems cause stress. Over-spending on our “wants” instead of our “needs” is often the culprit.

Volunteer – Being involved in community gives a sense of purpose and satisfaction that paid work cannot.

Manage Stress – We all have stressors in our lives but learning how to deal with them when they threaten to overwhelm us will maintain our mental health.

Find Strength in Numbers – Sharing a problem with others who have had similar experiences may help you find a solution and will make you feel less isolated.

Identify and Deal with Moods – We all need to find safe and constructive ways to express our feelings of anger, sadness, joy and fear.

Learn To Be At Peace with Yourself – Get to know who you are, what makes you really happy, and learn to balance what you can and cannot change about yourself.

What makes protein good or bad? Find out — and learn to make smart protein choices.

Our bodies need protein to build strong bones, muscles, skin, and cells. Because we can’t store protein in our bodies the way we can store carbohydrates, we need to make sure we eat enough protein every day. But is all protein created equal?

What makes a protein “good” or “bad” is its saturated fat content. Proteins that are high in saturated fats can raise your cholesterol level, which in turn puts you at higher risk for heart disease. Most adults need to eat 40 to 65 grams of protein each day. And though most Americans already eat more protein than they need, we don’t necessarily eat enough of the “good” protein. So how can we make smart choices about which sources of protein to choose?

Good Sources of Protein
Here are a variety of protein choices you probably encounter every day:

Meats.  Salami, steak, and chicken with skin are meats that are high in protein but also high in saturated fat. A six-ounce steak, for instance, has almost all the protein you need for one day, but that same steak has nearly 75 percent of your daily saturated fat intake. Does this mean you have to give up your Italian sub sandwiches or Philly cheesesteaks? Not necessarily.  Try to eat these meats only once or twice a week.

Lean meats. Luckily, there are also leaner choices for die-hard meat eaters. Chicken, turkey, fish, and beef that is 95 percent lean are still high in protein but have less fat, especially the saturated fats that can lead to high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Soy. Soy proteins are rich in protein and low in saturated fats. She recommends edamame (baby soybeans) and vegetarian meat alternatives such as soy nuggets and veggie burgers. Look for these in the refrigerator case at your local supermarket. Edamame is usually served lightly boiled and salted, often as a part of Japanese and Chinese cuisine. If you don’t have an Asian specialty market near you, check the freezer section of conventional supermarkets, which sometimes carry edamame.

Beans, legumes, and nuts. All varieties of beans are good sources of protein and low in saturated fats.  Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, taste delicious on salads or in hummus, a low-fat dip. Spicy vegetarian chili recipes can be a flavorful alternative to traditional chili. Legumes such as dried peas and lentils can also be used in chili and stews. And nuts, when eaten in moderation, are another good source of protein that is not high in fat.

Dairy. Dairy products are often overlooked as sources of protein, but they are certainly worth mentioning. Some dairy products are higher in saturated fat than others.  A good souce of dairy is a  low-fat version of cottage cheese, Greek-style yogurt, and ricotta cheese, not only because of their value as a protein source but because they also make an easy and convenient snack.

In addition to choosing good sources of protein, it can also be useful to plan your meals ahead of time. Advance planning can help you identify the foods that you tend to eat too much of, allowing you to make better substitutions beforehand.

Things to Remember
When choosing protein sources, remember that while you might get the same amount of protein from high- and low-fat options, you run the risk of increasing your blood pressure and cholesterol levels by choosing sources with a higher fat content. Consider leaner cuts of meats and getting more of your daily protein from plant sources to protect your heart.

What is the one fitness goal you wish you could achieve? If you’re like most people, you want six-pack abs. It seems easy; do hundreds of crunches a day and wait for your abs to magically appear. But, after a few months of that you might be wondering: where’s my six-pack?

It Takes More Than Ab Exercises

As you may have found, crunches aren’t enough to flatten your abs. Ab exercises will build strength, especially if you focus on core strength but, if there’s a layer of fat there, you’ll never see them. You’ve probably heard that spot reducing is about is effective as spitting in the wind, but when you work your abs in an effort to reduce the belly flab, spot reducing is exactly what you’re trying to do. The body can’t be forced to lose fat in a particular area by exercising the muscles directly under that area. What you should be focusing on is losing body fat and gaining a little muscle.

Start with Your Diet

The first step to losing body fat is changing your diet.

Women’s health concerns are a little different from those of men. Find out how women can stay healthy at any stage of life.

To look and feel your best at every age, it’s important to make smart lifestyle and health choices. Here are six simple things that women can do every day (or with regularity) to ensure good health:

Health Tip #1: Eat a healthy diet.  Try eating a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods. Eat whole grains and high-fiber foods and choose leaner cuts of meat, fish, and poultry. Include low-fat dairy products in your diet as well — depending on your age, you need between 800 and 1,500 milligrams of calcium daily to help avoid osteoporosis.   Avoid foods and beverages that are high in calories, sugar, salt, and fat.  Healthy eating will help you maintain a proper weight for your height, which is important because being overweight can lead to a number of illnesses. Looking for a healthy snack? Try some raw vegetables, such as celery, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, or zucchini with dip made from low-fat yogurt.  If you’re not getting enough vitamins and nutrients in your diet, you might want to take a multivitamin and a calcium supplement to make sure you’re maintaining good health.

Health Tip #2: Exercise. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in America, but plenty of exercise can help keep your heart healthy. You want to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week, if not every day. Aerobic exercises (walking, swimming, jogging, bicycling, dancing) are good for women’s health in general and especially for your heart.

Health Tip #3: Avoid risky habits. Stay away from cigarettes and people who smoke. Don’t use drugs. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Most women’s health studies show that women can safely consume one drink a day. A drink is considered to be about 12 to 14 grams of alcohol, which is equal to 12 ounces of beer (4.5 percent alcohol); 5 ounces of wine (12.9 percent alcohol); or 1.5 ounces of spirits (hard liquor such as gin or whiskey, 80-proof).

Health Tip #4: Check for breast cancer. The American Cancer Society no longer recommends monthly breast self-exams for women. However, it still suggests them as “an option” for women, starting in their 20s. You should be on the lookout for any changes in your breasts and report any concerns to your doctor. All women 40 and older should get a yearly mammogram as a mammogram is the most effective way of detecting cancer in its earliest stages, when it is most treatable.

Tips for a Healthy Diet and Better Nutrition

Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible – all which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and incorporating them in a way that works for you.

Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Expand your range of healthy choices to include a wide variety of delicious foods. Learn to use guidelines and tips for creating and maintaining a satisfying, healthy diet.

Eat enough calories but not too many. Maintain a balance between your calorie intake and calorie expenditure—that is, don’t eat more food than your body uses. The average recommended daily allowance is 2,000 calories, but this depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity.

Eat a wide variety of foods. Healthy eating is an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don’t normally eat.

Keep portions moderate, especially high-calorie foods. In recent years serving sizes have ballooned, particularly in restaurants. Choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.

Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol. Try to get fresh, local produce.

Drink more water. Our bodies are about 75% water. It is a vital part of a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems, especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste products and toxins. A majority of Americans go through life dehydrated.

Limit sugary foods, salt, and refined-grain products.   Sugar is added to a vast array of foods. In a year, just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can increase your weight by 16 pounds. See suggestions below for limiting salt and substituting whole grains for refined grains.

Ever wonder how some people seem to have that perfect, glowing skin? It’s no secret or magical potion. It’s because they exfoliate.  And it’s a practice everyone should get in the habit of doing.

Exfoliation is the process of getting rid of the old, dead cells on the outermost surface of your skin. It’s been a part of men and women’s skin care routines for centuries, beginning with the ancient Egyptians, and it’s been proven to play a dramatic role in achieving younger skin.

Your Skin’s Life Cycle

Your skin is constantly regenerating itself. New skin cells are created in the dermis (the lower layer of the skin). Over time, these skin cells work their way to the surface and die. These dead cells are constantly shedding and the entire cycle repeats itself.

However, some of the cells have a hard time leaving the skin. Dirt and oil trap these cells on the skin’s surface, causing your face to look dull, your pores to look larger and your wrinkles to appear deeper.

The longer these dead cells build upon each other, the greater chance you have for clogged pores and acne. The longer the pores are clogged, the less likely they are to shrink back down to a smooth and flawless appearance.

Why Your Skin Needs Help

The amount of time it takes your skin to regenerate has everything to do with your age. As babies, the skin usually renews itself in 14 days, needing little to no help to shed dead cells and replace them with new, healthy skin.

In fact, the skin continues to do a pretty good job at restoring itself until you hit 30. It’s at this time that your skin’s life cycle begins to slow, causing more flaws to appear on the skin’s surface. By the time you hit 50, your skin takes nearly 40 days to regenerate, resulting in a rough, uneven, older-looking complexion.

How Exfoliation Works

There are two ways to exfoliate the skin: physical and chemical.

Physical exfoliation involves scrubbing the skin with an abrasive. This abrasive could be a rough cloth or loofah, facial scrubs (with ground-up kernels, nut shells, sugar or salt) or microdermabrasion, which uses an electric-powered sponge and a crystal-based cream to manually remove dead cells.

Physical exfoliation does a good job at sloughing away dry, damaged skin. But it’s important not to go overboard. If your abrasive is too rough or if you use it too often, it can lead to skin irritation and damage.

Chemical exfoliation includes cleansers, gels, serums and creams that contain beta hydroxy acids, alpha hydroxy acid or fruit enzymes to loosen the glue-like substance that holds skin cells together, allowing them to shed more easily.

Chemical exfoliation is the best treatment for unclogging large pores, lightening hyperpigmentation and reducing the appearance fine lines and wrinkles.

As we age, our bodies lose muscle tissue and our metabolism slows down. Exercise is the best way to get physically fit and lose weight. Starting an exercise regimen at any age is extremely beneficial and can add years to your life.

Working out takes discipline and should not be painful. “No pain, no gain” is just a myth and is not good advice to follow. Exercise should make you feel healthy and fit, not looking for the ibuprofen and ice packs.

Experts advise that 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic activity at least three times a week is beneficial for both men and women. Select the best plan that is favorable to your lifestyle, whether it is at home or a fitness club.

Opt for a form of exercise you will enjoy the most and start out slowly, increasing your activity and work out-time gradually. Consider adding basic weight training to build muscles, burn calories and control body fat.

For beginners, try increasing personal fitness in your everyday life by walking more, doing some yard work, painting, and parking your car further from your destination. Not only will you have the satisfaction of getting things done, you’ll enjoy the benefits of being physically fit.

You don’t need to lump your exercise all in one session. Try it in 10 minute increments if this is easier for you and as time allows. While there’s no plan or guarantee for everyone, get started and find out what works for you.

Consult your physician before starting any exercise routine and understand that diet and nutrition will play a big factor in your overall results.