POWER UP WITH PROBIOTICS

    According to Ruth Harper, M.D., a board-certified internist in Austin, TX, who specializes in Nutritional Medicine, “If you’re not getting enough nutrients, your skin for example, gets cheated out of what it needs for optimal health and beauty. Learn to make the most of your body’s skin and stomach connection.”

    Beginning early in the alphabet, let’s look into the benefits of the almond and blueberry connection.  “When stress or antibiotics gets the stomach’s natural flora out of whack it can cause acne, psoriasis memory problems, and wrinkles.  “If your gut’s bacteria balance is not favourable, the toxic bacteria can leak through microscopic holes in the wall of the intestinal track and travel throughout the body, including the skin, causing inflammation that prevents the skin from functioning properly,” says Frank Lipman, M.D., an integrative physician and director of Eleven Wellness Center in New York City.  “To prevent problems keep your digestive tract populated with good bacteria which coats the lining of your gut and helps seal in unwanted substances so they can no longer leak out and cause irritation,” adds Whitney Bowe, M.D., assistant medical director of cosmetic and laser services at Advanced Dermatology in Ossining, N.Y.

    The best way to get the good bacteria into the system is to furnish a probiotic supplement available at most health food stores or consume fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, miso, kimchi or sauerkraut.  These foods stimulate the growth of good bacteria in the gut. Other beneficial foods include whole grains, as well as bananas, onions and garlic.  Super seeds are rich in beneficial omega-3s like manna from heaven for dry skin that also protects the skin from sun damage and skin cancer.  Eat chia seeds (soak one tablespoons of them each morning or ground flax.) Salmon, sardines (in spring water, no salt added), and mackerel offer a great alternative.  Sometimes I include Brunswick kippered Seafood snacks for a change.  The above listed seeds have six times the recommended daily amount of omega-3s.