Skin health and resistance training

"The beneficial effects of physical activity on human health are well-known. Making time for 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week can reduce our risk of heart disease and stroke. Regular movement helps to counteract diabetes and metabolic syndrome risk, encourages stronger bones and can positively affect our mental health. But what about skin health?" Would you believe resistance training? https://www.technologynetworks.com/cell-science/news/resistance-training-promote-helps-to-rejuvenate-aging-skin-377368

Coconut oil for skin care

Perhaps one of the best, and cheapest tips circulating the internet is to use pure organic coconut oil for skin care. I had a jar in the cupboard for cooking, so I squished some (it is solid but melts with just skin heat) into an unused pill container and put it in the bathroom. This stuff is amazing. I'd had 2 stubborn spots on my face, and after using it for both removing make-up and a moisturizer under make-up, they just disappeared; last night I slathered it on my hands and put on cotton gloves, and this morning my hands feel like summer; and there is no water or alcohol or chemical lab list to worry about. There are lots of new babies in the family and I see it's good for stretch marks http://coconutoilcooking.com/coconut-oil-blog-posts/top-10-uses-of-coconut-oil-for-skincare/

                                    

I've only used it once for cooking, so have a lot on hand. It seems expensive for shortening, but when compared to a mid-price brand of lotion or moisturizer of a few ounces with all the unpronounceables on the label, it's a bargain.

Pigmentocracy and shadeism is world wide

Note to readers: I was asked to research the topic of why among people of color in every culture the darker are often lower, socio-economic class. I haven't spent a lot of time on this, but here's my opinion.

Although I don't like President Obama as a leader because of his regressive 19th century based social and economic policies where citizens are considered pawns and tools of the state, there are three positive cultural check marks in his column as a role model for American blacks. 1) He is educated and employed and thus a positive role model for young men who may find glamor and self-esteem in a gansta life style. 2) He is married to the mother of his children, and lack of marriage of their parents is the number one reason for poverty among children, whether black or white. 3) He did not use skin tone in selecting a wife. This is a huge plus for darker skinned, African American women, and certainly can't hurt him at the polls.

He's one of the few high profile blacks in American culture of any age, time, income, or profession who is married to a woman darker than himself. When you analyze that, it's not hard to figure out why. He was raised in a white culture, by his white mother and grandparents, and in that culture any black person, regardless of skin tone is simply . . . black. Not so for black men raised culturally with African Americans. For them, a lighter skinned girl friend/wife is preferred.

And this isn't an exclusively American phenomenon, although some would like to brand us with that and link it to years of racial mixing with the slave masters. See this biased link whose authors apparently have never traveled. Sorry folks, that war ended in 1865 and black men are still choosing women of light skin tone to be the mother of their children. It also happens in Brazil, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and also in India and many Asian countries. It was also apparent among Russians, where many Russians were ethnically part Asian or descendant from people who had worked the land for centuries. In India, the caste system is also a system of color. In China, before the Communist revolution, the higher better educated classes were very light skinned. The Laplanders of several Scandinavian countries are all darker and of lower social/economic class than the majority Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Russians with whom they share citizenship.

It's called "pigmentocracy." My theory is it's roots are in labor--the darker a woman was, the more likely her family worked in the sun; they were laborers, slaves, serfs, servants. The freedom to choose a spouse based on relationship or love is just a little blip of recent history even for Europeans and Americans. If a man's wife and children didn't labor in the fields or mines, he had status. For most of history, it's been an economic decision made early in life for the betterment of the family. If you can't change your own skin color, you can change that of your children by selecting a fair skinned wife. Now it's an economic decision made by media--have you ever seen the women hosts of Spanish/Hispanic TV? Or even the desk clerk in a hotel in San Antonio compared to the maid who cleans your room?

Shadeism from Shadeism on Vimeo.

This video was made by a woman whose family is from from Sri Lanka. But notice the young black women shown on this documentary, who apparently haven't seen the pigmentocracy among their own people! The young Bangladeshi woman had discrimination even among her own siblings and parents. If it's in your own family--do you really want to condemn dead colonialism and society years later? In south Asia, colorism existed long before the British arrived as one gentleman observed. The Hip Hop culture really promotes shadeism. Ironically, Nayanni (film maker's name, I think) will get better attention and coverage because she is light skinned.

I've seen one exception and that's the Berbers of North Africa which DNA studies have shown to be Eurasian, not Arab, not African. I used to help in an ESL class a lovely hazel eyed, fair skinned Berber from North Africa who told me they came to the U.S. due to extreme discrimination in her home country. Although they were Muslims in a Muslim country, they were fairer skinned than the majority. They were the last educated and the last hired and they wanted a better life for their children. There is speculation that Berbers descended in part from white European slaves, so whether it's true doesn't really matter if that was the perception.

This woman wants to be the first female President of Mexico. Look at the color of her skin. If she were more Indian, more ethnic with darker skin, instead of European, what would her chances be?

Thursday Thirteen about protecting your skin

Today's Wall St. Journal had a skin care article because that's the woman's business, and WSJ is all about business! I glanced through it, and decided I could glean 13 ideas from it, some I'd never thought of. For instance, I always thought nice skin came as an inheritance from your parents or grandparents, and doing sensible things like staying out of the sun or tanning booth, and not smoking, but this article didn't even mention those things. The interview was with Tracie Martyn, a skin care specialist for celebrities and socialites, and here's what she does in cold weather. This looks like a lot of work, but if it is your business, I suppose it is like investing in yourself. I looked her up, and she really does have fabulous, glowing skin.

1. She exfoliates 3x a week (I looked this up on her web site and it is $90.00 a jar),
2. 10 minutes in the morning,
3. followed with a shower,
4. then moisturizes,
5. applying with an upward movement so she doesn't drag down her skin.
6. Tracie sleeps with a humidifier in cold weather,
7. and wears sunblock even in the winter (I don't know if this goes under or over the moisturizer)
8. and applies extra moisturizer before going outside,
9. and then covers her face with a scarf.
10. She drinks only moderate amounts of alcohol.
11. She sleeps on her back.
12. She never uses a pillow, and says she can tell by her client's skin if they do.
13. She always gets her beauty sleep.

I've heard drinking a lot of water is important for skin health and eating a good diet. But Tracie didn't mention it to the interviewer, so maybe there's a second interview somewhere out there.

4005

Naturally aged skin

That'd be mine. Yes, I stayed out of the sun--haven't had a real sun tan since I was 19 (although skin damage starts very young), and I'm not a smoker. But I am very fair. Sun, cigarettes and pale skin are the big three for wrinkles. So can this be reversed? Yes, according to a new study in Archives of Dermatology, 2007; 143:606-612.

The study was done on 36 residents of nursing homes with an average age of 87 using topical 0.4% retinol lotion, 3 times a week for 24 weeks on the arms.

"Conclusions: Topical retinol improves fine wrinkles associated with natural aging. Significant induction of glycosaminoglycan, which is known to retain substantial water, and increased collagen production are most likely responsible for wrinkle effacement. With great skin matrix synthesis, retinol-treated aged skin is more likely to withstand skin injury and ulcer formation along with improved appearance."

Or you can put on 20 lbs. and fill out your own wrinkles (that's not in the article, but is from personal experience).

WebMD summary
ScienceDaily summary