Well Women Guide to Beauty-Minerals

Before I proceed further, I would highly recommend David Wolfe's book as it is truly inspirational in obtaining beautiful skin, hair, nails and anti-ageing in general. It is only concerned with what you put into your body and explains how food and minerals are truly the way to transform yourself. Having read this book, and putting into practice much of what it says, I am inclined to agree. It only takes a week or so to notice the difference too.

Many large skin care companies and womens magazines promote skincare products designed to keep us young, leading to a paranoia about aging skin and our appearance.

The thing is, as many of you have probably already realised, these products do not work, and can not do what they promise. The reason for this is, that we can not apply a cream to our face that will stop us from ageing. Creams can not stop wrinkles. Period.

Our best chance of looking radiant, with or without wrinkles, is to anti age from the inside out. Many minerals will help repair skin ageing, but it is inevitable that our skin will age, and much depends on our lifestyle too. Choices such as smoking, high alcohol consumption and sun worshipping, sun beds and aggressive skin peels as well as a poor diet, low in nutritional value will age our skin more than anything no matter how much fancy face cream and nutritional supplements we use.

These are the most valuable minerals to beautify our skin.

Organic Silicon

Silicon is completely non toxic and is vital in cellular repair. It has powerful healing and regenerative properties and is highly anti-inflammatroy. It was used originally for arthritis conditions but studies have proved that it is beneficial when used both internally and externally to improve the condition of ageing skin hair and nails in women as it increases both the thickness and strength of the skin, improves the appearance of wrinkles, and strengthens hair and nails.

It is a mineral that is highly concentrated in hair and nails, and is present in skin, teeth, connective tissue, muscles, bones, cartilage and lungs.

Silicon plays a vital role in the formation of connective tissue and therefore helps to improve and maintain elasticity of the skin.

A deficiency of it in tissue causes a calcium deficiency which, in turn, results in a loss of tissue elasticity.

Silicon is rich in certain foods such as cucumber, radishes and tomatoes as well as bell peppers and marjoram, but it can also be purchased as a pure organic nutrient for daily supplementation to ensure you are getting the benefit of a regular supply and is easily assimilated by your body.

It also:

* Strengthens the immune defences of the body * Has a detoxifying effect on the lymphatic system * Improves the metabolism * Facilitates a general healing response * Moves the body towards a more naturally balanced state * Accelerates the processes of cicatrisation & tissue healing * Plays a vital role in restructuring the fibres of elastaine and collagen * Has no side-effects, even after being used for many years * Compatible with any other treatments that may be prescribed * Diffuses throughout your body, reaching those organs or areas suffering from pain, damage or malfunction

It relieves other conditions such as skin irritation, burns, sunburn, herpes and degenerative diseases affecting the joints.

It is known to play a part in the health of the bones, arterial walls, skin, teeth, gums, hair and nails, and has been used to alleviate eczema and psoriasis. It is being used in many rheumatic conditions.

A silicon rich diet combats decreasing bone density, which lead to osteoporosis but this mineral is sadly declining in our diets due to moden farming methods. It is also found less and less in our bodies as we grow older, so there is a greater need for it in our diet as we age to combat many degerative conditions.

So silica or silicon is not just for a pretty face, and it helps to combat ageing in many ways. This makes it useful in an anti-ageing programme both for your looks and your overall wellbeing.

30ml daily orally and can also be used as a toner for great skin improvement.

Sulphur

This is referred to as The Beauty Mineral and nutritional supplementation is in the form of MSM (Methyl Sulphonyl-Methane)

I prefer to take the powdered form of MSM which I mix into drinks, smoothies or yoghurt, but you can also buy it in tablet or capsule form.

Sulphur is also present in many foods such as broccoli, kale, rocket, onions, garlic, watercress, brussels sprouts, spirulina and radishes.

Sulphur is a vital mineral in the formation of collagen, elastin, cartilage and keratin and provides us with flexibility in our joints, muscles and tendons. It allieviates many allergies, helps with pain and inflammation in rheumatic and arthritic conditions as well as joint pain experienced by autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia and CFS sufferers. It is crucial for the metabolic process and the only way to ensure you obtain enough from food, is to eat an entirely raw diet, that is why supplementation is advised in those who eat cooked food especially as cooking destroys it.

A mental tonic aiding in the relief of depression and anxiety and improving mental clarity and concentration.

It also helps conditions of the digestive tract such as diarrhoea, chronic constipation, nausea and overacidity and 500mg to 1500mg will benefit sufferers, often dramatically when taken daily as a matter of course.

Between 1000mg and 5000mg can be taken a day although there is no known toxicity and higher doses have been used. It is a natural and pure element, as pure as water.

Many people have reported a noticeable improvement in skin hair and nails when supplementing with MSM as well as an overall feeling of wellbeing. MSM repairs cells and aids in skin cell renewal.

MSM is a detoxifier and aids the immune system and inflammatory conditions by eliminating toxins from the body.

The addition of vitamin C benefits the overall absorption.

Diabetes can be improved as a sulphur deficiency can also be the reason for poor insulin production.

It is also important for eye health and can be applied to eyes to reduce cataracts. MSM water drops are available to buy.

Emphysema

This is a serious health condition that ultimately resulted in the death of my father and is very difficult to treat or to make any difference to the quality of life of the sufferer. MSM was a supplement that I suggested to him around 4 years ago, but he was too concerned about taking it with his other medication such as warfarin. However, MSM is safe to take with medication.

Since MSM is beneficial to the lungs, it can help relieve the symptoms associated with emphysema and thus enable sufferers to enjoy a better quality of life enabling them to get around better.

Another mineral that is not only a beautifier, but that has huge health benefits in many ways.

Zinc

Zinc helps in the formation of new collagen and is important for a beautiful complexion. It also helps with conditions such as acne, howver we are often deficient in zinc due to our poor soil and modern farming methods.

Strong indicators of zinc deficiency are white spots on nails, poor sense of taste, stretch marks etc and the deficiency is also universal.

Lack of zinc in pregnancy can lead to poor foetal devlopmement and in severe deficiency, birth defects.

It is a supplement that should be considered by all those planning a pregnancy, during pregnancy and by those who are breast feeding and 15mg a day is the RDA, best taken at bedtime.

Zinc plays a vital part in our developement and performs over 300 enzymatic functions as well as playing a major part in cell division, repair and growth. It is therefore an essential trace mineral.

As a beauty mineral, it works in conjunction with other nutrients such as sulphur and vitamin A for hair and skin.

It is also a powerful antioxidant and is present in pecan nuts, cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and many others. If supplementation is preferable, then zinc should be food state such as the one available from Regenerative Nutrition or obtained from consumption of superfoods such as MACA, Mesquite Powder, Green foods such as spirulina.

Iron

Oxygenates the blood, skin, nerves and brain cells and is important for repair of cells. More on Iron to come.

Manganese

Important in the formation of cartilage, connective tissues and bone. Essential for repair, building and nourishing of tissues. Plays a part in oxygenation of blood, skin and nerves as well as all cells.

How can I ensure I get adequate minerals?

Organic foods are important as they contain substantially more nutrients than non organic. This has been proved consistently through research studies and experiments.

Products like Celtic Ocean Sea salt, Ionic Minerals and Seagreens will substantially improve your intake if food alone can not. Avoid processed foods with little or no mineral content. Be cautious regarding mineral supplements and choose one only. Colloidal minerals should also be taken with caution and not in addition to mineral supplementation. Colloidal silver and MSM are the exceptions here.

To read books about beauty-minerals please click here