Holistic Skin Care

By Lisa W of Ancient Paths, Naturally!

Years ago I started to struggle with an irritating skin issue, psoriasis.   It was quite uncomfortable and frustrating.  In my quest to discover what might be the cure for this skin condition I learned quite a lot about how the whole body works together and that skin symptoms reveal more about our health than a simple skin issue.  Let me share with you a little about what I learned about skin care from a holistic perspective, including topical treatments, nutritional and herbal therapies, how our organ systems work together, and the spiritual roots of the issues I was dealing with.

Our Skin

Our skin is the first thing people notice when they look at us.  It is our miracle garment.  It’s soft, pliable, strong, waterproof, and self-repairing.  It communicates our age, our health status, and our emotional status. 

The skin is our largest single organ, making up about 16% of the body weight of an average sized person.  Healthy skin regulates our body temperature and holds in moisture.  This is no small feat, considering that, by weight, we are about 60% water.  It’s also the outer wrapper of our immune system, protecting us from a host of invaders.  Our skin helps us excrete waste products, but it’s also an avenue for absorbing a wide range of dangerous chemicals.  Our skin also turns the sun’s rays into vitamin D, an essential nutrient for good health.  Our skin is amazing!

Topical Skin Treatments

When we have irritated skin it’s common for us to reach for something to put on it to soothe the irritation.  It’s important that we know what we’re putting on our skin because there are some nasty things in traditional skin care products.

According to The Environmental Working Group, personal care products expose children (and adults) to an average of 60 chemicals every day, which they inhale or absorb through the skin. Recent studies have demonstrated that product packaging rarely reveals the concentration, or adverse effects, of the pervasive chemicals found in every day products.  It’s just as important to know what’s NOT in your favorite product as it is to know what IS in it.  Our family uses Shaklee skin care products because they provide us with an ingredient glossary that describes every ingredient found in all of their products.  It also explains the difference between natural, naturally derived and scientifically formulated ingredients. 

It’s good to know what they DON’T put in any of their products as well as what they do.  Things like parabens (endocrine disruptor, breast cancer), FD&C and D&C dyes (carcinogen, protein inhibitor, cause of hyperactivity in children, immune distruptor), butyl cellosolve (causes reproductive issues, birth defects, carcinogen), formaldehyde (carcinogen, skin rash, asthma), phenols (dermatitis, cytotoxicity, kidney damage) and propylene glycol (endocrine distruptor, allergies and asthma) are never used in any Shaklee products.  They also avoid using more than 15 other dangerous chemicals in their products.  Unfortunately, all of these dangerous chemicals are routinely found in supermarket shampoos, moisturizers, shaving and cleansing gels, tanning solutions, pharmaceuticals and even your toothpaste.  A quick internet search will reveal that you don’t want to be exposed to these chemicals, ever. 

Homemade Herbal Salves

Along with Shaklee’s personal care product line, our family has begun to make our own herbal salves to aid in healing of cuts.  Living on a small farm and having a busy lifestyle, sometimes someone gets a cut or a nasty gash.  Rather than traditional ointments, we have taken to harvesting herbs in our garden, drying them and creating our own salves to help fight infection and encourage healing.  Herbal salves contain only oils, herbs and beeswax and will not clog pores.  An oil infusion of herbs such as lavender, comfrey, plantain, self-heal, and chamomile added to a beeswax base has had tremendous healing properties and we have seen amazing results.  For example, my son cut off the tip of his finger just days before leaving for an intense weeklong outdoor summer event.  He made himself an herbal salve and added honey to the mix.  He applied it to his fingertip and covered it with a bandaid twice a day.  Not only did it not get infected but by the time he came home the skin had grown back with fingerprints – no scarring!  We were very impressed.  Needless to say, when my husband severely injured his foot a few years ago, we used our son’s salve to help heal the wound.  Because the salves are homemade with primarily homegrown herbs, we are confident that we’re not putting toxic chemicals onto our skin.  Whenever we need herbal oils that we cannot grow I use oils from Young Living Essential Oils. 

Nutrition For The Skin

Shaklee’s nutritional programs have been developed with over 55 years of nutritional research and independent clinical studies.  Because of their science-based approach, the food based supplements and Enfuselle Skin Care program contain the right nutrients, in the right forms and concentrations, to rejuvenate damaged skin, peeling away the years, so that you can maintain that healthy glow all without harsh chemicals found in traditional skin care regimens.  The Enfuselle System combined with Shaklee’s food based nutritional products provides a solid nutritional base for your skin, as well as the rest of your body.  A solid nutritional approach to skin issues such as acne, eczema and psoriasis have been shown to protect, heal and rejuvenate our skin.  Speaking before the American Academy of Dermatology, New York-based dermatologist Karen E Burke, MD reviewed the antioxidants that have been proven to be the most effective in protecting skin and reversing photo-aging damage from UV exposure.  She said, “There are three antioxidants that have been proven to decrease the effect of the sun on the skin and actually prevent further damage.  They are:  selenium, vitamin E and vitamin C.”  She went on to say that “although many topical formulations contain antioxidants, very few are actually effective in preventing or reversing damage to the skin.  That is because almost all these formulations only contain minute concentrations of the necessary antioxidants, and they are not well absorbed by the skin.”

Antioxidants keep free radicals form damaging cell walls and other cell structures like DNA, which helps protect us from cancer.  Selenium preserves tissue elasticity and slows down the aging and hardening of tissues.  Natural sourced vitamin E reduces sunburn, chronic UV-induced damage and production of cancer cells, associated with a 70% reduced risk for basal cell carcinoma.  It also reduces wrinkles and improves skin texture.  Topically, naturally sourced vitamin E soothes dry, rough skin and combined with vitamin C creates a highly protective lotion against sun damage.  Vitamin C is well known for fighting free radical damage and is the most abundant antioxidant found naturally in the skin.  It slows accelerated skin aging and can prevent the consequences of prolonged sun exposure.  Other important nutrients for our skin include zinc, B complex vitamins, and omega oils.

Body Systems & Emotions

As I was learning and applying what I was learning to myself in trying to treat and heal the psoriasis that I was struggling with, also learned that the organ systems in our bodies affect one another.  For example, in my research I learned that when the liver isn’t functioning properly that it often affects the skin.   The liver is the second largest organ in our bodies, after the skin which is the largest.  I was glad to be on a good nutritional program and hoped that my liver would find the nutritional support it needed to be happier.  By now the itchy and frustrating skin problems were significantly less but when it would flare up, boy would I be miserable!  So I went on a quest to find out what else might help my liver become happier.   Because I didn’t drink or have a liver disease and was cutting out chemical exposure in my home, I decided to follow a new and intriguing thread in my search.

One of the things I learned was that emotions affect our organ systems in different ways and emotions such as anger and frustration have negative effects on the liver while kindness has a positive effect on the liver.  Anger and frustration damage the liver. So here I was with a catch-22 because I was frustrated with the psoriasis and sometimes I did find myself getting angry about it.  I also learned that the liver is often the source for headaches, which I had been having on and off for a while up till this point.  Now I had two immediate reasons to support my liver – psoriasis and headaches.  I had multiple reasons to really get myself in check and control my frustration better.  Not only did it not do any good real good for me to be frustrated, it was causing me physical damage and causing the very thing I was frustrated about to be worse.  

Spiritual Roots of Disease
The final key in unlocking the mystery of the, by that time, come-and-go psoriasis was learning about the spiritual roots of disease.  I learned that spiritually psoriasis is rooted in self-hatred, a lack of self-esteem and conflict with identity.  These go along well with the anger and frustration that damages the liver and I saw the connection right away.  While you may not consider these issues spiritual as much as emotional it’s important to know that as a believer in and follower of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob I know that my G-d has said that He loves me and accepts me, so for me to harbor hate in my heart, even for myself, is a sin.  It says that I don’t believe that He is truthful when He says that He loves me and considers me a special treasure, it is my way of calling Him a liar.  And if I cannot even love myself, how can I love anyone else, like my husband and my children?  I needed to come to grips with the sin in my life and repent, turn around and stop sinning, and walk in the right way.  At the time we were learning this material my elbows itched like mad.  About a week after working through some of the weighty issues in the course we were taking I noticed that my elbows were fine – 100% fine!  There wasn’t any trace of the psoriasis left on my arms at all, the skin looked and felt completely normal!  Not only did this process open the door for healing of my skin, but I was healed of a debilitating allergy to tree nuts as well.  Praise G-d for His healing touch!! 

While I once dealt with adult acne, psoriasis and other issues I now deal with none of these things in my life.  My family and I have been completely changed as we have taken charge of our health and learned about holistic health care, and applied what we’ve learned.  We have been created perfectly and it leaves me in wonder and awe of our Creator.  From food based nutritional supplementation, chemical free personal products, herbal treatments, balancing the body systems, keeping our emotions balanced and fighting against sin in our lives, we will all tell you that we are not only healthier, but we’re happier too!

References:

Skin:  Protection, Rejuvenation and Healing

Health Quest Newsletter;  Volume 27  Number 3

The Environmental Working Group

www.ewg.org

The Shaklee Ingredient Glossary

http://tinyurl.com/3thuo74

Herbal Medicine Made Simple

http://tinyurl.com/3um97cb

American Academy of Dermatology Meeting

http://tinyurl.com/3swdp7u

Skin Care May Be Affected By Your Liver Function

http://tinyurl.com/5vjmwd4

Understanding Emotions in Traditional Chinese Medicine

http://tinyurl.com/ydwgev9

A More Excellent Way To Be In Health

Henry W. Wright

Lisa’s Shaklee Online Store

www.LisaW.myshaklee.com

Young Living Essential Oils

http://tinyurl.com/3thqc7w

Following The Ancient Paths blog

www.blog.followingtheancientpaths.org

Vitamin E

We have all learned that vitamins are an essential part of life.  They are micronutrients because our bodies require them in small amounts compared to things like carbohydrates, proteins, fats and water.  Vitamins are a significant part of our good health because they regulate metabolism and are part of how our processes our food to release the energy within it.  Vitamins are either soluble in water or fat.  Water-soluble vitamins must be brought into the body daily because they are not stored in the body but pass through the body within hours.  Fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body, usually in the body's fatty tissues.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is actually a family of eight antioxidant compounds.  Vitamin E prevents cell damage, protects other fat soluble vitamins, and protects low-density lipoproteins (LDL cholesterol) from oxidation.  This vitamin is essential for normal calcium metabolism.  Vitamin E has is also known to inhibit blood clotting and has other functions related to the activity of the immune system.  The most common form of Vitamin E supplement is the gamma-tocopherol form.  However, this form is not taken up by the body in any quantity because the liver selectively incorporates alpha-tocopherol into the blood.  Still the gamma form may have some unique benefits in suppressing colon cancer.  Vitamin E deficiency may result in damage to red blood cells and to nerves.  Signs of deficiency include infertility in men and women, menstrual problems, neuromuscular impairment, shortened red blood cell lifespan, miscarriage and uterine degeneration.  People with impaired balance and coordination and/or damage to the retina may also be deficient.  People with severe malnutrition, fat malabsorption problems, may have Vitamin E deficiencies as well.  Use caution when taking an anticoagulant medication, if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, rheumatic heart disease or an overactive thyroid when taking supplemental Vitamin E.

Supplements

Supplementation is important today because while we were created to get all the nutrients we need for healthy lives through our food, our commercialized food supply today does not provide the same volume of important nutrients that it once did.  Due to poor commercial farming practices, depleted soils and premature harvesting, our produce is not as nutritious as Grandma's produce was.  It is important that we supplement our diets with food based supplements because our bodies don't appreciate synthetic copy-cats.

 

Vita-E Complex plus Selenium® contains a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant, vitamin E which supports heart, brain, and prostate health and promotes lung, colon, and immune function. 

Vita-E® contains naturally occurring vitamin E from vegetable oil, which is more easily absorbed and retained by the body than synthetic forms.




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The Linus Pauling Institute

National Institutes of Health
Prescription for Nutritional Healing

Tremendous Improvement With Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Our daughter developed rheumatoid arthritis at age 13.  Before that she was very athletic and one of the finest sprinters in her junior high school.  One day after diving and swimming practice, her knees became swollen.  She was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with this horrible disease.  Doctors put her on aspirin, which, in time, created a large ulcer.  We had to carry her to her second floor bedroom and take her wheelchair to school, wheeling her to her first period class.

She began taking Shaklee products:  Instant Protein, Vita-Lea, B Complex, Vita C and lots of Alfalfa.  She stopped aspirin and started to walk and feel better.  Encouraged by her improved health, she willingly used the supplements.  Just eight months later she was back on the track team in high school!  One summer at camp she stopped taking the Shaklee supplements and her legs stiffened and the symptoms returned.  When she got back on her supplements, her health returned.

Amy stayed healthy and even competed in triathelons (swim, bike and run) and other strenuous activities.  She admitted to slacking off on her Shaklee supplements when, at age 32, her legs began to ache and she again needed crutches.  With lots of alfalfa and large amounts of other specific supplements she was able to run, swim and bike plus raise two active preschoolers.  With Amy's experience, we've helped hundreds of other arthritics through the use of these wonderful Shaklee supplements:  Protein, Vita-Lea, Omega Oils, Alfalfa, B Complex, Vita C, Vita E, Calcium, GLA and Lecithin.
  ~ Jack and Joan

What Can Kosher Shaklee Supplements Do?

Below is a list of some of the more popular supplements that can have a profoundly positive impact on your health and well-being.   Take a look at this quick list of a few Kosher Shaklee products:

Vita-Lea - A Multi-Vitamin and Mulit-Mineral Complex, comes in iron formula, no iron formula and senior formulas.
A formula providing 23 essential vitamin & minerals at clinically proven levels. Vita Lea has a patented Bioactivated Absorption System to ensure increased absorption of critical folic acid. Taken daily, Vita Lea promotes overall health & wellness and supports long-term colon, heart, and eye health, and strengthens the immune system. Nutritional insurance with scientifically balanced whole concentrated food supplement. Shown to increase bone density. No added preservatives, artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners. Makes protein more efficient with 29 vitamins and minerals to activate body cells to rebuild and to be strong and healthy.

Why Suppliment? And If So, With What?

You've probably heard that eating an apple today doesn't have the same nutrient value as an apple did 50 years ago.  And that's true, it's been proven by scientific research.  Why is that?  Well, today we have industrialized our food supply to maximize volume, not necessarily quality.  The small family farm that puts a lot of effort into maintaining their soil and their crops is a losing venture anymore.  Plus it's become common practice to harvest produce before it is fully ripe and then force the produce to ripen as it's being transported to our grocery stores -  across many states or from far away countries.  When foods are harvested before they are fully ripe they do not contain the nutrients that they would when they ripen, and they will not develop those nutrients once they are cut off from the plant.  Then there's the issue of all those pesticides and herbicides that food producers use so they can maximize their profit from each crop.  For big businesses it's all about the bottom line.  We have allowed our food production to become an industrialized machine and have paid the price with our health.


Over-farming of the soil, premature harvesting and chemical sprays leave us with nutrient starved and contaminated produce, but it sure looks beautiful in the produce section of the grocery store!  Most of us realize that homegrown foods are much more healthy for us because when we're eating the produce of our own hands we are much more attentive to what we put into the soil and what we put on the produce, and we can take it from the garden to the table in just minutes.  But few of us even have vegetable gardens anymore and even fewer of us have the ability to grow enough food to feed our families. 

Consider this:

• We are willing to put premium gasoline into our vehicles but yet we hesitate to buy organic foods and quality nutritional supplements for ourselves and our children.  Yet we replace our vehicles every few years and we only get one body, one life.

Another Lyme Disease Story

This story is ... wow!

I contracted lyme in 1990 in Arkansas, a state as many are told does not have lyme disease. I found the tick so therefore I knew I had lyme. I developed everyone of the lyme symptoms, but could not get a Dr to believe it was lyme. In 1992 we moved to upstate NY and in 1994 when things really got bad for me I finally found a Dr to diagnosis me and basically couldn't believe with my symptoms that no one else would treat me for this. I received at that time 4 weeks of doxy which temporarily helped with things like the black outs, but nothing else. As time went on I got really scared. I actually thought I had Ms because the symptoms were so bad. Well it continued to get worse to the point I was now bedridden. Test showed I was "Full of Arthritis". They put me in physical therapy for 3x weekly and told me to get use to it.

To give you a little background on myself, prior to contracted lyme in 1990, I was an extremely active person. Did century rides on my bike, ran 3 miles daily, swam, lifted weights, you name it. Nothing in this world would ever slow me down. Little did I know how severe this disease could be. In fact when I found the tick on me, after collapsing in a store totally paralyzed, my husband was more upset then I because he knew more about lyme. No little tick was going to get me down. When you are lying in bed it gives you lots of time to think and read which is exactly what I did. Prior to contracting lyme I had used supplements, but nothing major. In fact I want to clear the air right now this is not about selling anything, it is about what worked for me and why I use a certain brand - Shaklee. I had used the Shaklee multi and that was it, but had seen this product do wonderful things for others in my family, including my son who was so sick from birth.

So I thought it was time to test this stuff on me. Through my research I discovered a lot about the immune system and how critical it is to any disease to keep it running correctly. I learned a lot about environmental toxins, the foods we eat and what is in them and on and on. So I watched what I ate, MEGA-dosed on supplements, drank lots of water to flush my system and hydrate me, and learned to listen to my body. So began my recovery. I was up and walking again in a short period of time and a lot of the other symptoms started to disappear. The longer I did what I did the better I got. Below is a list of what I take and why. Please understand I am not into these so called miracle cures. I believe if the body is fed what it needs it will take care of itself. After all we are made of nothing but protein, vitamins, minerals, water, fats, carbos. The problem being is so much of our food is depleted of these things and heavily saturated with chemicals it suppressed the immune function.

This is what I take:

Soy Protein (kosher) - You can not build a cell without protein as well it needed to repair tissue cells

Vita Lea (kosher) - Best all round multi-vitamin

Vita C (kosher) - This is probably my favorite and I megadose on this. So good for the immune system and fighting infections.

B-complex (kosher) - Converts food to energy, builds red blood cells, and helped withmy neuro damage.

Nutriferon (kosher) - This is designed specifically for the immune system.

Garlic (kosher) - Again great for the immune system as well as the heart. I had developed heart complications.

Lecithin - It is a fat emulsifier for the heart problems. As well it got my liver enzymes back to normal.

Alfalfa (kosher) - Great for arthritis as well as allergy problems which I developed after the lyme. Also great for fighting infections.

Fiber (kosher) - For the obvious reasons, digestion. It is so critical to have a properly running digestive tract to rid the body of toxins. If the body does not flush the toxins out it will reinfest itself. Americans are the most constipated people in the world.

Herb-Lax (kosher) - Again for the obvious reason, but as well this product cleanses lymph glands and blood stream.

OsteoMatrix (kosher) - This stopped the muscle spasms

Optiflora - For intestinal bacteria

Vita E (kosher) - For heart and immune function

Beta Carotene - Immune Function

As you can see from the list I take a lot of supplements. But these supplements, along with some diet changes, have brought my life back to normal. I look at it like this, instead of eating a bag of M&M's I eat supplements. One thing I must stress also was I avoid sugar. This is the quickest way I can bring my arthritis pain back. I have learned that it is because sugar dehydrates you and then causes digestion problems. As I mentioned earlier listen to your body. Each of use is different.

Also my husband had candida problems and it wasn't from antibiotic use. We get more antibiotics in the food we eat then we consume. And if the body is stressed with any disease, infection, healing a wound, etc. this will cause the immune system not to keep the yeast under control.

I will continue to stress to use Shaklee supplements. I know no other company with a better product. I have researched these as well have tried other brands and there is no comparison.

God Bless, Mary

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Since this time Shaklee has put together a few packages with several of these products together at a discount.

To help reduce your exposure to environmental toxins, Shaklee has the Get Clean cleaning product line for everything in your house and office.

The Vitalizer Wellness Pack contains the Soy, Nutriferon and a revolutionary Multi-Vitamin/Multi-Mineral

The above product does not contain all kosher products but The Rx for a Healthier Life is a kosher product pack. It contains the Vita-Lea, B Complex, OsteoMatrix, Vivix, Nutriferon and Cinch protein drink mix.

Vivix wasn't mentioned in this testimonial because it was written before the product was produced. Other Lyme Disease testimonials have had a lot of positive things to say about Vivix.

Combatting Lyme Disease

Recently my dear friend was tested for Lyme Disease at the urging of several of her doctors.  I took a bit of my spare time and learned a bit about what Lyme Disease is and how it can be dealt with.  I thought I'd share it here since it didn't seem that my internet searches turned up as much as I had hoped it would.  Maybe this will be helpful for someone, somewhere, someday.  :)

Adult Deer Tick

Lyme Disease is caused by a bacteria that is introduced to the body through a deer tick bite.  If the bacterial infection isn't defeated quickly it will continue to multiply in the body and begin to affect various parts of the body with an array of symptoms ranging from:

Stage 1: Circular rash and flu-like symptoms

Stage 2: Muscle and joint pains, heart palpitations and dizzyness, neurological problems and head aches.

Stage 3: Chronic symptoms affecting nearly every part of the body that can even lead to motor sensory impairment in the lower parts of the body (think paralysis).

The short of the story is that this bacterial infection has been found in the tissues of the skin, muscle, joint, heart and nervous systems.  It has the potential to make a big mess of a person's life!

It's a recent 'discovery' (the 1970's) which  makes me wonder why, in years gone by, it wasn't recognized as a disease.  That got me thinking quite a bit!   Why would a bacterial infection be-all-of-the-sudden newly discovered in recent years?  I'm inclined to think that it has more to do with the lifestyles and health of people today than it does with the bacteria or the tick.