Wednesday, October 26, 2011

What about AHA Fruit-Acids in Skin Care Products?


As soon as an American fashion invades Europe many cosmetic companies, beauty salons and consumers, incited by advertising adopt this fad without considering the possible negative effects on skin health. By marketing people (who are often lacking basic expert knowledge) fruit acids have been touted as the decisive new development in cosmetics. They are apparently not interested in the probable long-term dermatological effects, which can be observed especially after application on a daily base.

With normal skin with a normal horny layer and, treatment with fruit acids causes thins out of the horny layer, that why treatment of normal skin with fruit acids is utmost senseless. Be ware, that the horny layer is an important barrier for protecting our body. You are well advised to support the physiological function and structure of the skin, be careful not to harm it. This is above all important with regard to sunlight protection.

If the epidermis becomes too thin, the skin loses its most effective protection, dramatically increasing the sensitivity to UV-radiation that can penetrate more easily into the skin. Malignant skin tumours can be triggered by the possible cell injury. High UV-radiation always causes premature aging of the skin. If the treatment with fruit acids is carried out during wintertime because of reduced sun radiation, cold injury to the skin may result with low temperatures. The constant everyday treatment with fruit acids also seems to have a negative effect on the physiological skin bacteria that are important as a protection against the spreading of pathogenic germs. Also, the immune defence against bacteria, viruses and mycoses can be diminished, increasing the vulnerability of the skin to allergic diseases, eczema, etc., in the long run.

Fruit acids should only be used with skin problems caused by a thickened horny layer. The peeling of the upper horny layer makes sense, for example, when it is too thick and has closed the sebaceous glands, one important reason for acne. The skin should not be treated with fruit acids on a daily base but only in the form of cures so that the skin has the chance to regenerate in the time between the single cure treatments. We recommend glycolic acid in the form of a peeling cure. Concentrations of glycolic acid in the offered preparations is 10%, 20% and 30% so that the beautician can use the appropriate concentration for the respective type of skin.

With the first treatment, concentration of fruit acids should be low and the duration of traetment should be short in order to learn about the individual reaction time of each skin, even if there is only a small or no peeling effect at all with the first treatment. Note: Fruit acids in the form of a peeling cure are perfectly appropriate to reduce an overly thick horny layer to a normal level, e.g.. if a thickened horny layer has caused skin problems like acne. From our point of view, it is not advisable and is even dangerous to treat normal skin with a normal horny layer with creams containing fruit acids every day.
For an A – Z Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary, click here.

VEGAN - The Healthiest Diet

Decades ago, the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein said the following:
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet”

These clear words seem even more amazing when one considers that they were spoken at a time when people knew little about how the food on their plate affected their health or how it was connected to the environment, the world’s climate, world hunger, animal rights and human rights. If Albert Einstein had been familiar with current scientific evidence, surely his words would have been a bit different:
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegan diet.”

A vegan diet is one that contains no animal products. If well planned and well balanced, it is the healthiest diet one can follow, benefiting the environment, the world’s climate, animals and humans. Because following a vegan diet and a vegan lifestyle can bring such great benefits to each and every one of us, I have decided to publish this little booklet for the sake of society – especially for our children and grandchildren – as well as for the benefi t of the environment, the world’s climate and animals. In order to make the healthiest decisions for ourselves and the planet, we need to have the best available information. Of course, it is also important to understand that following a vegan diet does not mean that we have to miss out on anything. Quite the contrary – a vegan diet is a pure feast, as numerous vegan cookbooks and restaurants have proved.
To this brochure you find the accompanying short film under www.veganvideo.org
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The quality of our diet directly influences our health: Our diet enables us to remain in good health and good shape for the majority of our life. Considering its extraordinary importance, shouldn’t we want to learn what nutritionists and studies from around the world say about a healthy diet? To read more download the full PDF