Is Your Diet Giving You Wrinkles?
Written by RealAge, Inc., peer-reviewed by Dr. Axel Goetz, December 2003

Wrinkles may be an inevitable part of aging, but that doesn't mean fighting them is useless. Protecting your skin from exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the most significant thing you can do to

prevent wrinkles, sagging, and discoloration. And, some people try invasive techniques, such as chemical peels, Botox, dermal fillers, or surgery.

But those efforts are all done from the outside. What about protecting your skin from the inside?
 Shield Your Skin

•
 spend less time outdoors
 
•
 clean your skin gently each day and wear moisturizer
 
•
 wear sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses
 
 
 


Can something as simple as modifying what you eat and drink help you smooth the lines on your face or prevent future wrinkles?

Erase wrinkles NO, look younger YES
Studies show that what you eat, or don't eat, has a definite effect on the health of your skin. As the outermost barrier of the body and your largest organ, the skin is continuously exposed to various sources of stress, including many environmental factors. So, although a new diet won't clear away all your wrinkles or halt skin aging, nutrition can make a huge difference not only in how you look, but also how you feel. This in turn will influence how young or old you may appear to be.

Food fight... against aging
Researchers are just beginning to explore the extent of diet's role in the skin aging process. One recent study revealed that people whose diets are rich in vegetables, beans, olive oil, nuts, and multigrain breads are less likely to wrinkle than those who feast on red meat, butter, and sugary foods.

Experts suspect that antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E and the minerals zinc and selenium may keep wrinkles at bay by reducing the amount of potentially damaging free radicals produced by skin cells. One study revealed that a supplement that included a combination of these antioxidant vitamins helped protect the skin from aging due to solar UV exposure.

Another study suggests that for light-skinned people, consuming a diet rich in carotenoids offers similar UV protection and also may contribute to healthy skin coloring.

To achieve a healthy, youthful glow, turn away from the sun and turn to carotenoid-rich foods such as cantaloupe, apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and other fruits and vegetables that have deep green, yellow, orange, and red hues. A multivitamin may provide your skin further protection against aging.

In addition, several research reviews have revealed that botanical antioxidants show promise as an effective means of protecting skin cells against ultraviolet radiation; this is another good reason to eat at least four servings of fruits and five of vegetables each day.

Some Healthy Food Choices for Your Skin and Body
 
Choose
 Nutrients Supplied
 
Vegetables
Spinach, leaf lettuce, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes
 Vitamin A (carotenoids)
 
Tomatoes, bell peppers
 Vitamin C
 
Fruits
Papayas, mangoes, cantaloupe
 Vitamin A (carotenoids)
 
Oranges, grapefruits
 Vitamin C
 
Other Foods
Fortified whole-grain cereals (check label)
 Vitamins B, D, zinc, selenium
 
Nuts, sunflower seeds
 Vitamin E, zinc
 
Salmon, tuna
 Vitamins D, E, calcium, omega-3 oils, selenium, protein
 
Vegetable oil
 Vitamins D, E
 
Low-fat milk
 Vitamin A (retinol), calcium, zinc, selenium
 
Eggs
 Vitamins A (retinol), E, B, zinc
 
Legumes, dried beans
 Vitamins B, zinc
 
 


Find more skin-healthy food selections with the RealAge Vitamins and Nutrients Best Bets.

Visit the water fountain of youth—several times a day!
Imagine what happens to a plant when it goes without water for too long. It begins to droop, then it becomes dry and brittle. Watering the plant may bring it back, but it will likely have damaged leaves. Water works similarly within people. By drinking water, you moisturize your skin from the inside out, helping to maintain its elasticity and suppleness—less drooping, less drying, and less damage. Monitoring such things as your thirst and energy levels, as well as the concentration of your urine, is a good way to assess whether you're getting enough to drink. Alcoholic beverages and caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, and colas don't count; they have a diuretic effect that may deplete your body's water supply. Exercise and low humidity climates also can affect your body's water level. Remember to drink extra water each day to account for these factors.

The bottom line: you'll get out what you put in
It may not be a sure cure for crows' feet, brow furrows, or laugh lines, but improving a few food and behavior choices could save your skin. Although studies specific to wrinkle prevention are currently limited, a
host of other studies reveal that the same vitamins and nutrients
that may protect your skin also are beneficial to the health of your eyes, teeth, nails, bones, and circulatory system. So, if a more youthful appearance is what you seek, then skin is only a portion of the equation. By eating a diverse diet, including five servings of vegetables per day, you can make your RealAge as much as 4 years younger. And adding more antioxidants and essential oils can bring out a healthier and younger-looking you.  RA

Healthy Tips

•
 Look for foods containing vitamins A and C, zinc, lean proteins, and essential fatty acids. These are great for healthy skin.
 
•
 Leave the skin on fruits and vegetables (wash well) and eat raw or lightly cooked for optimal nutrition.
 
•
 Minimize intake of simple or high glycemic-index carbs, such as enriched bread or flour products, processed and refined foods, candy, and soft drinks. These are often nutrient poor and high in sugar.
 
•
 Include complex or low-glycemic index carbohydrates, such as whole-grain breads and cereals, and legumes.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CHICAGO - Tom Cruise went back to where his run of negative publicity began: On a couch, next to Oprah Winfrey.

But unlike his couch-jumping appearance on Winfrey’s show three years ago, this time Cruise was serious, thoughtful and tried to defend his personal beliefs without seeming overbearing during an hourlong interview broadcast Friday.

Several entertainment-focused public relations experts said that’s a smart approach.

“I think Tom learned his lesson. The lesson was that sometimes your personal beliefs can get in the way of the projects," said Howard Bragman, founder of Los Angeles PR firm Fifteen Minutes. “And you don’t want people to be turned off to you so that they’re turned off to your projects."

Winfrey’s interview with Cruise, 45, was taped at his Telluride, Colorado, home. Another show, billed as a celebration of Cruise’s 25-year career in movies, was taped before an audience at Winfrey’s Chicago studio and is being aired Monday.

The back-to-back interviews appear to be part of an effort to put the bad patch of PR behind him and get people talking about his career again, instead of his personal life.

Answering a question about whether he feels he comes under attack unnecessarily because of his belief in the Church of Scientology, Cruise said he understood the interest in “a minority religion."

But from now one, he said, “when I’m dealing with my humanitarian issues, I’ll talk about my humanitarian issues, and when I’m promoting a film, I’m just going to promote the film. And that’s just the way it’s going to be."

Hollywood media expert Michael Levine said Cruise would “do well to cool the Scientology stuff. That’s grown very wearisome for a lot of Americans. ... There’s certainly no problem with him stating his religious choice is different from the majority, but when he gets aggressive and starts pushing it, there is some blowback."

Cruise’s handling of the Winfrey interview was a good step, Levine said, but it’s just part of a process during which Cruise will have to avoid doing things that compel the media to write negatively about him.

“When you’re in a hole, quit digging," said Levine, founder of Los Angeles-based Levine Communications Office.

Cruise is in talks to star in a fourth “Mission: Impossible" film, which would represent a reunion between the actor and Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, who severed a 14-year relationship with Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, in August 2006

Redstone booted the pair from the Paramount lot and ended their lucrative deal to develop projects for the studio, citing Cruise’s “recent conduct" for the split, which came after the couch-hopping incident and his tussle with “Today" show host Matt Lauer over antidepressant drugs.

At the time, Redstone called Cruise “someone who effectuates creative suicide," but the Viacom chief and Cruise were spotted dining together in Beverly Hills in March.

Cruise’s last movie, “Lions for Lambs," was the first release from MGM’s United Artists banner since Cruise and Wagner took it over in late 2006.

Also starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, it was box-office dud. But that’s been the fate of most movies concerning the Middle East and the war on terror in recent years.

His next starring role is as a World War II German officer in “Valkyrie." Its release was recently pushed back from Oct. 3 until President’s Day weekend starting February 13, 2009.

But first, Cruise is gathering great buzz for a cameo in the upcoming Ben Stiller comedy “Tropic Thunder," as a mostly bald, fat studio chief.

Comedy might be a good avenue for Cruise to explore, Levine said.

“Nothing mitigates tension like humor," he said.

Winfrey and a subdued, jeans-wearing Cruise conducted the interview on an overstuffed couch in the family’s living room before ending the show with Cruise taking Winfrey snowmobiling.

Cruise said his couch-jumping was an authentic way of expressing his feelings for Katie Holmes—and a moment he’s not sure he would take back.

Holmes, now his wife, welcomed Winfrey to the couple’s home at the top of the show. She then left Cruise to conduct a tour, which included a peek at daughter Suri’s playrooms, the home’s kitchen, Cruise’s collection of bound film scripts, and stunning views of snow-topped mountains.

Much of the rest of the interview involved Cruise shooting down various rumors and reports.

He said ex-wife Nicole Kidman still has a relationship with the two children they adopted during their marriage and stressed that the two share custody. He said he loves Holmes’ family, calling them “amazing people."

Asked about skeptics who believe his marriage to Holmes is a public relations stunt, Cruise said, “That’s laughable to me. I don’t know what to say."

Winfrey asked about a book that she said “implied" Suri was not Cruise’s child.

“I’ve had a lot of books written about me. When someone compares your daughter to Rosemary’s baby—it’s one thing to come after me. Say stuff about me," he said. “But when it comes to my family, my children, that’s when I went, ‘This is off the chart.’"

Public relations executive David Brokaw said Cruise’s approach on Winfrey’s show “might be a bit boring" but was a successful PR move. - AP

Heart attack 
By: Dr. Gary Sy, M.D. 
GABAY SA KALUSUGAN


WHEN the supply of blood to the heart is sharply reduced or cut off, the heart is deprived of needed oxygen. If blood flow is not restored within minutes, portions of the heart muscle begin to die, permanently damaging the heart muscle. This process is referred to as a myocardial infarction, more commonly known as heart attack.

The most common type of heart attack is caused by a thrombosis, or blockage, of one of the coronary arteries by a thrombus, or blood clot. This cuts off the blood supply to the region of the heart muscle served by the artery, damaging or killing the deprived tissue. Heart attack generally occurs only if your coronary arteries are already narrowed by coronary artery disease. If the infarct, or damaged area of the heart, is small, it does not impair the electrical conducting system that regulates heartbeat. Therefore, the attack should not be fatal and you will have a good chance of recovery.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptom of a heart attack is usually a crushing pain in the center of your chest. The pain may also appear in the neck, jaw, arms and upper abdomen. A heart attack can come on gradually, preceded by a few weeks of angina (chest pain), but it can also happen without any warning. The pain varies in degree from a feeling of discomfort to antagonizing tightness in the chest. The pain may be continuous, or it may last for only a few minutes, then fades away, and then return. It may come on during exercise or emotional stress or even at rest. Unlike the pain of angina pectoris, the pain of a heart attack does not go away after the exercise or stress ceases.

Other possible symptoms of heart attack are dizziness, shortness of breath, sweating, chills, nausea, and fainting. In a few instances, mainly in older people, there are few symptoms. The condition, known as a silent infarct, can be confirmed only by electrocardiography (ECG) and blood enzyme tests.

What are the risks?

Two out of three people who have a heart attack recover, but the attack may be fatal if it interferes with the electrical impulses that regulate your heartbeat or if it severely damages your heart muscle. Most deaths from heart attack occur within two hours of the onset of symptoms. About 10 percent of patients admitted to hospitals with heart attacks go into shock, which can also be fatal. Heart failure may also develop.

After a heart attack, a thrombus, or a clot, may form inside one of the four chambers of the heart. If the thrombus becomes detached (it is called an emboli) and is swept into the circulation, it can travel and cause damage elsewhere in the body. Fortunately, this occurs in only about 5 percent of cases.

Damage caused by heart attack may weaken and stretch one of the walls of the heart chambers. The resultant aneurysm, or ballooning, can lead to complications such as heart failure. There is the added risk that bed rest may cause thrombosis (blood clots) in the veins especially in the legs.

What should be done?

A heart attack is a medical emergency. Half of the deaths from heart attacks occur in the first three or four hours after symptoms begin. The sooner the treatment begins the better the chances of survival. Anyone having a symptom that might indicate a heart attack should get prompt medical attention. 

What is the treatment?

Self-help: None is possible.

Professional help:

* The most effective treatment for a heart attack is to dissolve the blood clot that caused it, but this is possible only within a few hours of the start of a heart attack, which is why it is vital to treat any possible heart attack as an emergency.

* Once a diagnosis is arrived at, a clot-dissolving (thrombolytic) drug is given, usually by injection into a vein.

* Further special tests will be performed, including coronary angiography, to assess whether thrombolytic drug treatment has been successful.

* If the coronary artery is still blocked, an attempt may be made to reopen the artery by transluminal (balloon) angioplasty.

* Coronary artery bypass graft operations are performed in cases of coronary artery disease in which the narrowing or blockages are multiple or involve the left main coronary artery.

Prognosis and Prevention:

Most people who survive for a few days after a heart attack can expect a full recovery, but about 10 percent die within a year. Most death occur in first three or four months, typically in people who continue to have angina, irregular heart beat, and heart failure.

The old saying “prevention is better than cure” is very true in the case of heart ailments. In fact in the cases of disorders of the circulatory system and the heart it is only prevention that offers the real chance of your staying alive.

Recommendations:

* Make sure your diet is high in fiber.

* Do not eat red meat, highly spiced foods, salt, sugars, or white flour. Refined sugars produce adverse reactions in all cells by causing wide variations in blood sugar.

* Eliminate fried foods, coffee, black tea, colas and other stimulants from the diet.

* Do not smoke. Avoid second-hand smoke.

* Refrain from alcohol use, as it has a direct toxic effect on the heart.

* Drink plenty of water.

* Physical exercises regularly.

* Learn to meet stress efficiently.
 

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