Hot & Cold Foods

Dietary influences on the skin have been around for thousands of years. One of the lasting practices was the Chinese’s, which is based on the yin and yang theory. Yin and yang are opposing forces; yin represents the dark, cold, and males and yang represents the light, hot, and females. Every thing or event can be divided into yin or yang. This is most often seen with food. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) divides every food into five categories: hot, warm, neutral, cool, and cold.

According to TCM, every illness is also either yin or yang, and the distinction decides what foods you can eat to get better. If you have a yang disease, which is hot, you should eat cold/cool foods. Conversely, if you have a yin disease, which is cold, you should eat hot/warm foods. By eating certain foods, you restore balance to you qi, or lifeforce. Healthy people have a balanced qi.

Acne and other skin diseases also have been reported to be due to an unbalanced qi. This is often due to excess yang or heat in their body. This condition is known as yin deficiency, meaning that the body is lacking coldness. Yin deficiency manifests itself with lower back pain, agitation, hot flashes, night sweats, and most importantly: acne and skin rashes.  This imbalance can be fixed by altering the diet by eating foods in the cool and cold categories.

Some foods in the cool or cold categories include pears, apples, yogurt, broccoli, avocado, shellfish, and fish. In general, most raw fruits and vegetables are cool or cold, while meats and dairy products are neutral and warm. However, increasing dietary in cold foods is just as important as decreasing in warm or hot foods, like spices, onions, dairy, and meats.

The TCM belief of eating cool and cold foods to treat acne is supported by current dermatological findings linking acne to diet. Foods that are high in antioxidants, like raw fruits and vegetables, which are also low in fat and sugar, can help acne prone skin.  High intake of pastas, candy, chocolate, and dairy can increase acne breakouts. Dr. Talakoub recommends a diet evaluation if your acne is not improving on standard medical treatments. Call our office at 703-356-5111 if you need an acne examination of if you have questions about dietary influences in acne.  

Dr. Lily Discusses Solutions For Baggy Eyes:

Baggy Eye Solutions: The Skinny Podcast : Skin & Allergy News

Don't Let The Label Fool You! Part II

Broad spectrum means that the sunscreen has been tested to ensure it will provide sun protection against UVA & UVB rays.  What is the difference between UVA and UVB? UVA rays can pass through window glass and penetrate deeper into your skin. UVA rays can cause local suppression of the immune system, which can interfere with your immune system’s ability to protect you against the development and spread of skin cancer. UVA rays also damage the deeper layers of your skin leading to signs of aging the skin as wrinkling and age spots. The UVB rays are burning rays, which are blocked by window glass, and are the primary cause of sunburn. So UVA rays are the aging rays and UVB are the burning rays. Excessive exposure to both forms of UV rays can lead to the development of skin cancer.

Two products with broad spectrum coverage are Anthelios and Elta M.D. McLean Dermatology & Skincare Center offers a full line of skincare products including sunscreens and daily moisturizers with SPF. You should wear SPF daily even on rainy or cloudy days! Even though many products are labeled as broad spectrum, not all products cover the ENTIRE UVA spectrum. 

Dry Shampoo!

What is it?

Dry shampoo is a powder substance used to clean the hair as an alternative when it is not practical to use traditional (liquid) shampoo and water. 

What makes it work? 

Ingredients called ‘absorbing agents’ in dry shampoo absorb oil and residue from the scalp. The most common ‘absorbing agents’ are oryza sativa starch, aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, zea mays starch and silica. In addition, there are conditioning agents like avena sativa kernel oil to keep hair smooth and healthy looking.

Oryza sativa starch	binds to and removes liquids such as oil
Aluminum starch octenylsuccinate	acts as an anti-caking (product build up) agent
Silica	Adds emolliency to hair products

When hair looks “greasy” it is usually the 3 inches closest to your scalp. This can be a blonde’s best friend, they show oil on the scalp quicker than redheads and brunettes.

Benefits?

Over washing hair can ruin hair color and takes valuable time out of your day. Using a dry shampoo in between traditional washes is a great way to maintain healthy, sleek hair and keep color bright! Most dry shampoos are ‘sulfate free’ which means it doesn’t have those harsh chemicals that strip your hair and scalp of natural, essential oils that are produced by the body. Dry shampoo doesn’t have to mean dry hair!

Recommendations? 

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo, $11 @ sephora.com 

This non-aerosol application technique makes for easy dispensing. Apply to hair roots and rub into scalp, shake out excess shampoo, style as usual. 

Umberto Dry Clean Dry Shampoo, $8.99 @ Target stores

This comes in an aerosol can but is residue-free and great for newcomers to the dry shampoo world. Aerosols are a little harder to control the amount that is dispensed, however this is a great one to start with!

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Gluten : A Fad or Fix?

Gluten: a Fad or a Fix?

When you enter the supermarket, it seems as though you can’t escape foods with “gluten-free” labels or magazines featuring celebrities, like Oprah, Kim Kardashian, and Miley Cyrus, praising their gluten free diet. So what is the big deal about gluten and the gluten free diet?  

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and triticale, meaning that it is in foods derived from those core grains (pastas, crackers, breads, baked goods, pizza, cereals). It’s even in substances aren’t from the core grains like self-basting poultry, vegetables in sauces, or even your makeup. It’s hard to escape gluten if you aren’t purposefully avoiding it. 

But why avoid it? 

One reason to avoid gluten is if you have celiac diseae, or if you find your skin sensitive to foods with gluten. Celiac disease is a condition where gluten causes the immune system to attack the small intestine’s villi, or outer lining, thus preventing the body from absorbing essential nutrients. Those with celiac disease suffer from abdominal pain, bloating, skin rashes, cramps, and malnutrition. 

However, you may test negative for celiac disease, but still experience acne, eczema, or other skin rashes which improve with a gluten-free diet. This new phenomenon is known as gluten intolerance.  Gluten intolerance is like celiac disease, just with out the damage to small intestine, and is treated the same way: a gluten-free diet. 

A gluten-free diet is heavy on fresh meat, fruits, and vegetables and replaces foods with gluten with “gluten-free” foods, which have less than 20 ppm of gluten. While foods like potatoes, rice, corn, beans, and quinoa are naturally without gluten, breads and starches have to be manipulated to remove the gluten. One of the main ways to transform the staples into gluten-free is by using rice flour, potato starch, or tapioca flour instead of wheat-based flour. 

Acne has been recently shown to be sensitive to the starch load and often the amount of gluten in the diet. Similarly, skin rashes, such as eczema, improve with a low-gluten or gluten-free diet. If you feel your skin is not improving on standard acne or eczema medications, talk with Dr. Talakoub about exploring how your diet may affect your skin.  

Don't Let The Label Fool You! Part I

Don’t let sunscreen labels fool you! There are a few key points you should pay attention to:

1. You shouldn’t be seeing the word ‘sunblock’ anymore, only ‘sunscreen’. The word ‘sunblock’ exaggerates the products effectiveness, it’s not blocking the sun after all!

2. Waterproof and sweatproof are no longer allowed to be put on labels, either. Water resistant is okay, only if it states how long it will stand up to swimming or sweating (either 40 or 80 minutes, based on testing).

3. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. SPF only refers to UVB protection, not UVA! Sunscreens are rated or classified by the strength of their SPF. The SPF numbers on the packaging can range from as low as 2 to greater than 50. These numbers refer to the sunscreens ability to block the sun’s UVB rays (burning rays). Wearing an SPF of 50 or higher is recommended. Apply sunscreen 15-20 minutes before going outside and reapply every 2 hours and after swimming or perspiring heavily.