Skin Nutrition

Bone broth is rich in minerals that support the immune system and contains healing compounds like collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline. The collagen in bone broth heals your gut lining and reduces intestinal inflammation that can help improve your overall well-being and appearance. Below is a great way to incorporate Bone Broth in one of my favorite meals!

Canola oil is a popularly used oil that is marketed as a “heart-healthy oil”. However, in reality, canola oil is far from healthy. First of all, canola oil is not a natural, plant-derived oil. The term “canola” is a commercial name for the genetically modified version of the toxic rape plant. In other words, it is entirely manmade.

While most of the research behind coffee and caffeine’s benefits are attributed to internal use (ingestion), there are actually a surprising amount of benefits that can be reaped from topical use.  In this blog, we focus on the skin benefits of coffee.

Salt is an interesting topic. Like sugar, fat, and protein, it is one of the most controversial topics in the world of health and nutrition. When it comes to salt, most of the conventional information is inaccurate. Salt is actually...

Improved skin health is among the top reasons a person might choose to eat a more nutritious diet. Today, many people battle with skin disorders of all types, including chronic acne, aged skin, wrinkles, and more severe diseases like eczema and psoriasis. While invested “professionals” deny the healing ability of proper nutrition, there is strong proof and history that demonstrates the connection between our food choices and skin health. The fact of the matter is, the intake or deficiency of specific vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients can have a strong positive or negative effect on the skin conditions. Behind most skin conditions is an underlying nutrient imbalance. Correcting these imbalances can result in better looking and healthier skin.

The world is filled with conflicting views, especially around what or what not to eat. There is a lot of confusion as to what is health and what isn’t when it comes to food. However, if we zoom out and take a broader look at nutrition, we’ll find that it’s a much easier situation than it has been made to seem. According to Ancient Chinese medicine, there are no definite ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods; there are appropriate foods for each individual, which help their unique constitution achieve balance. 

What do you think of when you hear the term “skin care”? We’d imagine that most people think solely of topical routines that address the skin from the outside only. You know, the use of products such as serums, moisturizers, exfoliants, cleansers etc. While these things (when of quality) are an integral part of any good skin care routine, we at Alitura have an extended viewpoint of the subject. When we think of “skin care”, we think of a systematic, holistic approach that encompasses not just external care, but also diet, nutrition and lifestyle factors including intelligent exercise, stress management—and even smart supplementation.

Essential oils are becoming increasingly popular for many reasons; they offer a range of aromatic, therapeutic and practical benefits. Most of all, they offer a natural, non-toxic alternative to harmful, synthetic commercial personal care and household cleaning products. Of the many essential oils available, sandalwood is a special essential oil with a lovely scent and impressive healing abilities. In this post, we will cover just how sandalwood can help improve overall health and well-being of the body.

Bone broths are a staple food in many traditional diets. As with most traditional foods, bone broth is very nourishing, healing, easy to digest, and most of all, delicious. Just as the name suggests, bone broth or stock is made from using the bones of various animals. This is a technique developed out of sustainable eating practices that involved utilizing all parts of an animal. In their raw state, bones, marrow, skin, feet, tendons and ligaments are not necessarily edible, at least not palatable. However, rendering these parts of the animal into a well-cooked stock not only produces a delicious liquid, but a nutritious one. 

 He Shou Wu, also known as Fo-Ti or Polygonum multiflorum is one of the most powerful and popular herbs in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia system. It has a long list of pharmacological studies which point to its ability to successfully treat various diseases including liver injury, cancer, diabetes, hair loss, sleep disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Exploring the pharmacological actions behind these benefits, we find that He Shou Wu has a few primary abilities that make it so therapeutic. Let’s look at some of the science behind He Shou Wu’s abilities to promote health, longevity and physical beauty and find out why we use it in our Alitura Revitalize.

Manuka honey is a special variety of honey that comes from New Zealand, produced exclusively by bees that pollinate the Manuka bush. While honey has been considered a superfood for centuries, Manuka is said to be the most beneficial of the lot. Honey is perhaps one of the oldest forms of natural medicine, tracing back thousands of years, where it was used for its antimicrobial and immune enhancing purposes. However, Manuka has been shown to possess profound immune modulating properties. In study, it actively protected against resistant strains of bacteria and inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria, more effectively than antibiotics. 1 The antimicrobial activity of honey is due to the enzymatic production of hydrogen peroxide. However, Manuka honey is a “non-peroxide honey”, which displays significant antibacterial effects even when the hydrogen peroxide activity is blocked, making it a true medical grade honey.

Salt has a pretty bad rep. It has been deemed to cause hypertension, high blood pressure, and heart disease. However, in this post on the skin and beauty benefits of salt, we're going to debunk that. Those claims do not tell the whole story and they fail to point out that there are key differences between refined, heavily processed salt and unrefined, minimally processed salt. Real, unrefined, high-mineral salts have been used for enhancing the flavor of food for thousands of years. Not just that, salt is a very important part of a wholesome diet for optimal health.

There are only a handful of supplements that are worth taking and astaxanthin is among that short list. Astaxanthin is a true powerhouse nutrient with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities that far exceed other nutrients. Improved eye health and cardiovascular health are the more commonly associated health benefits of astaxanthin.  But that’s not all astaxanthin can do for you. Its pharmacological functions can also help preserve our beauty. Considering that the primary antagonist of skin aging is oxidative stress and inflammation, astaxanthin can serve as a very helpful anti-aging tool.

Honey and other food products of bees are some of the world’s oldest foods; in fact, raw honey is one of the only foods that has an indefinite shelf life. More than that, these foods have been respected throughout history for their powerful healing and nutritional properties. There is significant research and history that back up the therapeutic and beautifying properties of beehive products. These superfoods include not just honey, but also beeswax, propolis, royal jelly, and bee pollen, all of which provide some degree of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities, making them fantastic for the skin.

For most people, the idea of eating seaweed is not very appetizing. However, the consumption of seaweed has an extensive following and history throughout many parts of the world, and for good reasons; they’re actually delicious and one of the world’s healthiest foods. As a staple food in Chinese and Japanese cuisine, seaweeds are considered an essential part of a healthy diet. During times of the Ancient Orient, they were considered a food for the royal and honorable. Today, the medicinal and culinary benefits of consuming seaweed is gaining more popularity. The coastlines of Maine in fact, are a source of some of the healthiest, most nutrient-dense seaweeds on the planet.

Astaxanthin is often referred to as "the king of carotenoids". Carotenoids are a class of phytonutrients that are extremely important antioxidants that deactivate free radicals - atoms that can damage cells by reacting with other molecules. These antioxidants fight cancer, promote vision and normal growth & development, and are very anti-inflammatory - providing heavy support to our immune system. Astaxanthin is naturally found in certain marine plants and animals and is a powerful carotenoid.

Having great looking skin is something that most of us strive for each day, but finding the best ways to make it happen can be a bit confusing. You hear all kinds of suggestions about routines you should do for taking care of your face to maintain a healthy glow, but how do you know which of them works the best? You could go through trial and error and spend lots of money trying out products that may or may not work for you, or you could turn to something that has been in use for thousands of years and is known to provide great results – the clay mask. Once you learn the benefits of a clay mask, you will wonder why you have waited so long to try one out.

Aloe vera is the most popular herb used in the world of natural health. It is used in thousands of different supplements and is a major highlight in the fields of organic and conventional cosmetology and dermatology. However, Aloe vera is by no means a fad product, its uses trace back to Biblical and Egyptian times, when it was known as “The Plant of Immortality”. It was considered the secret to Cleopatra’s astonishing beauty and in addition to promoting beauty, was used to heal infections, promote digestion and detoxification. Today, many of the marvelous healing and beauty benefits of aloe are confirmed by science. In fact, one of the most fascinating features of this highly intelligent plant, is its immunomodulation abilities – it can identify mutated cells, viruses, and infections in the body, which it then aids the immune system in terminating.

Neroli, scientifically known as citrus aurantium, is a citrus botanical commonly used as an essential oil. Being a member of the citrus family, neroli possesses several of the same wonderful medicinal properties as other citrus fruits, such as lemons and oranges. Neroli essential oil is best known for its miracle healing abilities and intoxicating scent. In fact, it's a feature fragrance in many top perfumes and colognes. The primary constituents in this highly healing essential oil are alpha-pinene, alpha-terpinene, beta-pinene, camphene, farnesol, geraniol, indole, nerol, linalool, linalyl acetate, methyl anthranilate, nerolidol, and neryl acetate. Looking at the skin benefits of neroli, you’ll find an impressive list of therapeutic actions. 

Gynostemma did not get the nickname “miracle grass” without reason. This highly medicinal herb is known to be the most powerful adaptogen on the planet. The anti-aging benefits of Gynostemma are due to its many rejuvenating properties, which all actually serve to protect the body from the damaging effects of stress.

The cosmetic industry is full of "miracle" skincare products that promise to solve any and all skin problems. However, many of these products, despite their claims, can actually be quite counter-productive. Many even contain a variety of known toxic ingredients. Fortunately, nature has provided us with healthy, non-toxic alternatives to these harmful, synthetic products for centuries. Looking at the wisdom and science of Ancient Indian Medicine, known as Ayurveda, we discover a handful of powerful, beautifying herbal powerhouses.