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Natural Skin Care |
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Skin Care Naturally |
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GETTING INTO YOUR OUTSIDE: NATUROPATHIC BODY CARE I think health
nuts are right when
they emphasize skin health for total health. Your skin is your body's
largest organ, and virtually the only organ that you can watch. So many
people have skin rashes, dryness, sores, blisters, corns, dandruff and such
that more attention needs to be given to what holds you together. Do
you realize what you'd look like without skin? A heap of organs on the
floor: how explicit! The skin also excretes many wastes from the
body. That's what sweating does, in addition, to automatically cooling
you. Naturopathic theory
holds that rashes, pimples, eczema, and illnesses like chicken pox or measles
are attempts by the skin to clean itself out. This idea will never
cease to come up as long as we talk of nature's way in health: the body will
try, must try, to clean itself of toxins, foreign chemicals and
poisons. Nature eliminates wastes. You may not like it; it may not look
romantic; it might even itch. However, the toxins must be
expelled. Since the skin is your largest organ, it will by nature want
to do a lot of cleaning out. The more it does so, the more you needed it
to. "So that's
where all those hives and rashes come from," you might think, and you'd
be essentially correct. Take a VERY common complaint: dandruff. An
over-abundance of mucus-producing items in the diet seems to be a basic
cause. Persons with dandruff have found that if they reduce their
consumption of milk, ice cream, yogurt and eggs that
their dandruff goes away. No medications, no special patent
shampoos. I have seen this in my own experience, and if you will pardon
me, on my own scalp. Cottage cheese and the aged cheeses seem to be less
involved in making up what comes off us as dandruff. Over consumption of
cooked, processed foods in general seems to predispose a body for complaints
like this. I even had a dog with dandruff...until I stopped giving him
dry skim milk plus cream plus milk on top of all the dog food he could
eat. When the dog's diet was cut in half, following a four-day cleansing
fast, the dandruff was gone and never returned until the animal was overfed
again. Simple, proper diet
eliminates so many complaints. Whole foods, raw or lightly-cooked
vegetables, grains and fruits, no meat and no chemically-doctored food will
go a very long way to improving your skin in a short time. Unfortunately,
many folks are inclined to and even encouraged to put creams, salves,
ointments and other patent remedies on their skin to "relieve the
itching and scaling of the heartbreak of psoriasis" or to "restore
moisture to dry, worn-out skin." Let's "clear
up" this skin medication question right here. First of all, there
is no such thing as "worn-out skin." Fortunately for us, skin
is perennial, self-repairing, and virtually indestructible. Now
just think how many times you scraped, cut or bruised your skin when you were
a kid! Look at you now; look at your hands, arms and knees. You're
not covered with patches, are you? Nature repairs and mends skin
beautifully. When you cut yourself, you might disinfect the wound with iodine
or some other preparation. But does the iodine re-knit the skin, make
the new cells, or weave new tissue? No, nature does. When a surgeon
stitches up an incision or a wound she brings the skin together and holds it
in place with sutures. But if nature didn't re-unite the cells, what
good would the stitches do? Vitamin C and E
seem to be most important for proper healing and maintenance of your
skin. Drs. Wilfrid and Evan Shute used vitamin
E, both internally and externally, in their extremely successful treatment of
third degree burns. Vitamin C is well-known to be essential to holding
the cells together and encouraging their normal growth (that's a reason why C
is so desperately important to a cancer patient's body). Vitamin C
compresses have been used on severe skin ulcerations with success surpassing
that of antibiotics. Both of these vitamins can be given internally, plus
applied topically without danger of side effects. Recovery periods are
rapid with each, and probably best with both. Show me a person with
chronic skin problems and two times out of three I'll bet their diet is
deficient in E or C. For the other one
time out of three, the person may benefit from the Schuessler Cell Salts,
particularly if a needed mineral is missing. How can the skin function
normally if it is lacking a raw material that it must have? The absence
of any one nutrient is a problem for the whole system. A high-fidelity
enthusiast once told me that a stereo system is only as good as its weakest
part. You can spend a fortune on the best speakers, the finest amplifier, the
highest quality CD player, and the greatest recordings. But if there's
just one bad electrical connection, all the rest is useless to you. The
Schuessler minerals in homeopathic potency are provided in minute but vital
quantity and quality. "A little dab will do ya"
if you'll pardon me. J.B. Chapman, M.D. lists over 85 different skin ailments
that are helped by Schuessler minerals in Dr. Schuessler's Biochemistry
(New Era, London. 1973). Would you like to
know what some of the indications for use are? This is some of what Dr.
Chapman suggests: Cracks in hands:
Calc. Flour. And there's
over 72 more suggestions in this one book alone. Many of what we
call "allergies" are probably just local
or system-wide deficiencies of vitamins or minerals. As you now know, I
don't believe in allergies. I do, however, believe in one's body showing
in symptoms what it needs in nutrition. Also, I believe in the body
showing that it has received something it doesn't need. If you're
"allergic" to sulfa drugs or antibiotics, consider yourself
lucky... and normal. Drugs, chemicals, preservatives, food coloring dyes, and
other unnatural substances have to be high on the body's list of "things
to excrete at first opportunity." These are foreign, toxic and very
commonly ingested although bad for us. How is it then, that we are
surprised when the irritant starts a rash, fever, nausea or sneezing?
Wouldn't you expect your body to indicate poisoning in some way? If
someone ate poisoned food and then developed fever or threw up, we'd agree
that the body was reacting to get rid of the toxin in the best way it
could. When a child eats preserved, colored food with the vitamins and
nutrients processed out of it, and then develops food sensitivities, where is
the surprise? Even injections and vaccinations are forced through our
skin in an effort to get a drug into our bloodstream. We should remember
that the body may utilize that same path in trying to get foreign toxins and
poisons out. Think of that next
time you see a rash or other skin symptom.
Your skin is a
living, breathing, body-cleaning organ. If you stop it up, you're in
trouble. In the James Bond story Goldfinger
people were spray-painted gold. Remember that they supposedly died? Your
skin must be free from pore-clogging coatings. That's why
commercial creams, ointments and salves are not doing any more than
removing the symptoms of skin excretion. In slowing down or blocking
this excretion they are clogging the pores and of themselves adding to what has to be cleaned out. Why make the skin have to now excrete these added toxins on top of the old ones? It's like
shaking the dirt out of your rugs... in the middle of the living room. If you don't use
any of the countless patent skin treatments for beauty or disease, your skin
will be that much better. Treating symptoms is just trying to fool
Nature. Coating over the body's cleansing efforts does not make you or your
skin well. I don't think it's wise to use chemical creams or antibiotic
ointments or any of that. Keeping drugs, artificial colors,
preservatives, alcohols, artificial fragrances, and those foot-long chemical
names off your skin can only help it. If nature had
wanted us to use lots of synthetics on our body, she would probably have put triethanolamine, carbomer-934, methylparaben,
propylparaben, dimethicone,
titanium dioxide, sodium myristate, stearyl alcohol, FD&C Red #4, Yellow #3 and other
"beauty necessities" within easy reach. As it is, these and
other nostrums are key ingredients in today's best-selling lotions. I
read right from cosmetic labels, including a "mysterious beauty fluid
(that) works with your skin's own natural moisture to quickly ease away
dryness" and "impart a new radiance and glow to your
skin." Some are in "a unique conditioning lotion" that
"keeps skin wonderfully soft and smooth." Would you care to
tell me how they can do that? It's small wonder why people think
they've got allergies, or that there's something wrong with their skin.
There's nothing wrong with the skin; there's something wrong with what's
layered onto it. As for my family,
we use a lot of vitamin E. It's hard to beat when directly applied to
rough, sore or dry skin. For topical (external) application, simply take any
E capsule and carefully puncture the end of the capsule. This is easily
done with a push-pin or plastic-handled thumb tack. Then just squeeze
the E directly where you need it. We keep a bottle of 200 IU capsules
in the bathroom cabinet and in the past kept another bottle near the baby
changing table, and use it almost daily for diaper rash, dry skin, chapped
hands, burns, etc. Unlike commercially
concocted skin preparations, vitamin E is wholly natural as long as it's
D-alpha-tocopherol. The "D" form is right handed in molecular
structure, and the "L" form is left handed. As far as vitamin
E is concerned, the body seems to have a preference for
"right-handed" molecules". (On the other hand, you body
can only use left-handed vitamin L-ascorbic acid, or vitamin C.) The
natural "D" form of vitamin E is manufactured from vegetable
oils. Fresh vegetable oil is a nutritional source of E as well, and the
Biblical "anointing with oil" or "binding up wounds in
oil" may be seen as very sensible.
Vitamin E promotes rapid, scar-free healing, prevents
infection, feels a lot better on a kid's cut than iodine, and is almost
unbelievably versatile. Please refer back to the appendix for a list of
some of E's uses. Other entirely natural, simple skin aids are olive oil
and cocoa butter. Both are just vegetable oils, although cocoa butter is
not liquid in its natural form. It is more like a wax candle, like a stick.
"Cocoa butter lotion" or "cream with natural cocoa
butter" is not 100% cocoa butter. They may contain some and have
wonderfully natural names, but the words "100% Cocoa Butter" should
be on the label you look for if you want the real thing. Just apply the
cocoa butter to skin like a stick deodorant or lipstick. And Speaking of
Lipsticks and Deodorants: Deodorants don't
skimp on chemicals. Of all of them, Right Guard brand and Mennen brand stick deodorants are less bad than the most, but is
not as good as what health food stores generally carry. Anti-perspirants are the worst kind of all deodorants because
they contain aluminum and chemically block up skin pores and prevent natural
sweating. Okay, so you don't want to sweat? Then dress more
seasonally! When I was in Concerning
cosmetics, I can't really say that much from personal experience. My
wife uses some make-up, although I think she's very attractive without
it. It would seem to me that moderation and natural ingredients would
be the two things to look for in using cosmetics, if you choose to use them
at all. Loofas and Dry Towels Soaps Shampoos It has always been known
for its "No More Tears" products, but Johnson and Johnson have
really gone one better. Their popular Baby Shampoo label in Sept. 1999
specifically stated that it is "As Gentle To Eyes As Pure
Water." I guess I've been reading only the front of their label for
too long, so now I looked on the back to find, in addition to the usual
detergents, these goodies: polyquaternium-10, tetrasodium
edta, quaternium-15, and D&C yellow #10 and
D&C orange #4. I'm not saying that this stuff is dangerous. I
actually used the product on my kids for years. I am surprised, though, that
Johnson & Johnson would claim it is as gentle to the eyes as PURE
water. It might have a pH of 7, but those other ingredients must make
it just a little different than H20. So who can be
surprised that natural, herbal shampoos are highly recommended by many health
advocates. There are many brand names of natural-origin shampoos, and you'd want to read the
labels before purchasing any and reject any bright colors, preservatives, or
long names! One or two natural ingredients don't make a product natural
unless the rest are natural, too. In case you think that natural shampoos and
soaps must be expensive to use, please consider this: In terms of quality of
ingredients, "bargain brands" may be the real waste of your money
and generate the biggest profit for manufacturers that don't care what's in
their product. Natural products may not be the cheapest, but they do cost
more to produce in the first place. Keeping these points in mind may
help you compare quantity and quality and still save money in the long
run. Good daily skin care is cheaper than a visit to a dermatologist. In case you feel
that natural ingredients are not important in your shampoo because synthetic
ingredients are carefully tested and approved, please consider this quotation
from "And Now A Word About Your Shampoo" by Harold C. Hopkins in
March 1975 FDA Consumer: FDA (Food and Drug
Administration) authority under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to regulate
synthetic detergent shampoos, along with other cosmetics, falls considerably
short of the comprehensive kind of jurisdiction the Act authorizes for
regulation of foods and drugs. The maker of a cosmetic is not required, as is
the sponsor of a new drug, to obtain FDA approval before marketing to assure
that the product is safe and effective. And cosmetics makers, unlike food
processors, are not required to obtain FDA clearance to use new additives
(except for color additives) in their products. The law does hold the
manufacturer of a synthetic detergent shampoo or other cosmetic solely
responsible for safety in its use. He is expected to use ingredients about
which there have been no questions of safety, and to perform adequate
studies... to make sure his product is safe before he puts it on the
market. FDA must trust that the manufacturer has fulfilled his responsibility. It is only if, or
should we say when, an "adverse reaction" occurs that the consumer
or the manufacturer is supposed to notify FDA and then FDA will "look
into the matter." This does not seem like much of a safeguard
to the millions of people who may have been using the product already. FDA's enforcement
of its regulatory powers over foods are weak
enough. Think of all the chemicals, preservatives, dyes and other
additives that are legally allowed, to contaminate our food. To think
that FDA's authority over cosmetics and shampoos is actually less than its
control over "Kool-Aid," "Twinkies," Mello Yello," "Hamburger Helper" and
bologna! And if you think that's
bad, consider soap itself. This same article also says this: The Food. Drug and
Cosmetic Act of 1938 defines a cosmetic. But the same law specifically
excludes soap from this definition of a cosmetic and it Is thus exempt from
FDA regulation. We'd better all read the
package labels for everything we put on our bodies as well as for everything
we put into them. The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 was a very watered down excuse for the original and very
strict Food and Drug Act of 1906. The original 1906 law actually
permitted only pure foods and drugs! It didn't last long, after
industrial lobbying and governmental corruption started after it. If you want
to read an account of this amazing and unlawful process, it is all in Dr.
Harvey W. Wiley's A History of a Crime Against the Food Law, most
recently republished only by photocopy. This is probably another job for
your skilled librarian and an interlibrary loan. If you still think that
the government protects us from toxic substances in what we eat or drink or
put on our skin, it's time to reconsider. There is little question
that natural cosmetic products, soaps and shampoos are nearly as important to
us as natural foods. Nature is best for your inside and your outside. Copyright C 2004 and previous years Andrew W.
Saul. Andrew Saul is the author
of the books FIRE YOUR DOCTOR! How to be
Independently Healthy (reader reviews at http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
) For ordering information, Click Here .
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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision. Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of their names or the use of any material contained within in connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual, non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of content are made, and credit is given. |
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