Lifestyle Choices

You will notice at the base of the fingers that it says “ears” and “eyes.” With your right thumb, press on the pad just about where the fingers join your left hand. Use a press-and-roll motion here as you search out tender spots. When you find a sore spot, keep working it for a few seconds to release a flow of electrical life force into the congested area, thus giving nature a helping hand in healing whatever the malfunction might be. (more…)

There are two types of sweat glands. The eccrine glands which are most numerous on the palms, soles, and forehead, and the apocrine glands which are in the armpits, anogenital area, nipples, eyelids, ear canal (secreting ear wax) and around the belly button. The apocrine secretions are regulated by sex hormones that activate at puberty and decline with old age. It is the apocrine sweat which breeds the bacteria that causes body odor, explaining why pre-adolescents and the elderly usually suffer less from this problem. (more…)

There is a common misconception that body odor comes from perspiration. It doesn’t. Perspiration or sweat consists of nothing more than almost odorless water plus a few mineral salts that are responsible for that slightly salty smell many find has an almost aphrodisiac appeal to it. The unpleasant smell often thought to be the result of perspiration or sweat is in fact caused by waste products from the bacteria on the skin. The smell only occurs when more water is given off from perspiration than can be easily evaporated into the air and/or when clothing—particularly clothing made from synthetic materials, which hinder evaporation—interferes with this drying out process. (more…)

The Cause

Oily skin is the result of overactive sebaceous glands, which usually occurs due to a hormonal imbalance in the body. Occasionally a diet too high in fats and fried foods or refined sugar can contribute to the condition, as can too much stimulation of the sebaceous glands by heat, the sun, or skin-care products containing chemicals such as sulfur, which, although they are designed to dry out the condition, in the long run work in a counterproductive way by removing too much oil and thereby stimulating the glands to produce yet more. Studies show that people on diets slightly deficient in some of the B group of vitamins rapidly develop whiteheads, blackheads, and oily hair and skin. (more…)

A living, breathing thing, skin is far more than just a superficial covering for your body. It is your largest organ. It covers a surface area of about 17 square feet and weighs between six and eight pounds. So complex is this stuff called skin that a piece of it with only the surface area of your thumbnail boasts a yard of blood vessels, twenty-five nerve endings, one hundred sweat glands, and over three million cells.

Lasting skin beauty is a question of lasting care, not spending lavishly on fancy creams and treatments. It is the everyday way you treat skin that matters year after year. But to know how to look after your skin you must first know something about it—what it is and isn’t, what it’s meant to do, and the many things that affect it for better or worse. For then you can see that its needs are met from day to day. In return it will give you what you desire: beauty that at the very least is skin deep. (more…)

Although physical diseases can cause or mimic depression, they are a comparatively rare cause. Most of the specific illnesses mentioned here are uncommon and, with the possible exception of hypothyroidism, they start with depression in only a relatively small number of cases.

Several hormones have an effect on mood. As well as the female sexual hormones, hormones from the pituitary gland, adrenal glands, thyroid glands, parathyroid glands and pancreas may all affect energy and mood. However, such effects occur only when there is a significant disease in therelevant gland, which is fairly rare, and in which case there are usually also physical symptoms. (more…)