Health Habits

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Posts Tagged ‘skin’

What does Healthy Look Like?

November 19th, 2009

According to research out of the UK, the color of a person’s skin affects how healthy and therefore how attractive they appear.

And since the color of a person’s skin is directly influenced by the quality of their diet, the researchers concluded that your diet may be crucial to achieving the most desirable complexion and therefore maximizing your attractiveness.

So, it’s true…you are what you eat.

Or, in this case, you’re as attractive as you eat.

Note - Researchers were looking exclusively at Caucasian test subjects. The research was not concerned with racially differentiated skin colors.

The Study

Using specialist computer software, a total of 54 Caucasian participants of both sexes were asked to manipulate the skin color of male and female Caucasian faces to make them look as healthy as possible. They chose to increase the rosiness, yellowness and brightness of the skin.

“Most previous work on faces has focused on the shape of the face or the texture of the skin, but one of the most variable characteristics of the face is skin color,” said Dr. Ian Stephen who is now at the University of Bristol.

“We knew from our previous work that people who have more blood and more oxygen color in their skins looked healthy, and so we decided to see what other colors affect health perceptions.

Skin that is slightly flushed with blood and full of oxygen suggests a strong heart and lungs, supporting the study’s findings that rosier skin appeared healthy. Smokers and people with diabetes or heart disease have fewer blood vessels in their skin, and so skin would appear less rosy.

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The preference for more golden or ‘yellow-toned’ skin as healthier might be explained by the ‘carotenoid pigments’ that we get from the fruit and vegetables in our diet. These plant pigments are powerful antioxidants that soak up dangerous compounds produced when the body combats disease. They are also important for our immune and reproductive systems and may help prevent cancer.

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They are the same dietary pigments that brightly colored birds and fish use to show off their healthiness and attract mates, and the researchers think that similar biological mechanisms may be at work in humans.

“In the West we often think that sun tanning is the best way to improve the color of your skin,” said Ian Stephen, “but our research suggests that living a healthy lifestyle with a good diet might actually be better.”

Melanin, the pigment that causes the tan color when skin is exposed to the sun makes the skin darker and more yellow, but participants in the study chose to make skin lighter and more yellow to make it look healthier.

Conclusion

Beauty = Health

And until all of us start carrying our health records around with us, we will have to rely on our ancient “lizard brains” to determine if another person looks healthy and therefore attractive.

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TURKEY STUFFED WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND RICE

January 16th, 2009

How brilliant does this look? Cooking healthy doesn’t mean your food has to lack imagination, presentation or taste. Nor does it have to be hard to make. I know this looks difficult but all it takes is a little practice and you’re on your way to rave reviews from the fam bam.

Let’s talk turkey for a sec. Did you know that the skin contains the most calories and fat? You can save yourself calories and fat by simply removing the skin on any cut. Many lean proteins have a tendency to dry out easily so cooking with the skin on, such as cooking a whole turkey or cooking a recipe such as this, will help the moisture stay in the bird. But removing the skin before eating will help cut the junk in the trunk. The breast is the healthiest cut of meat. A 3 1/2 oz portion of turkey breast w/o skin (we’ve all heard this-it’s the size of a deck of cards) has 161 calories, 4g total fat and 30g of protein. Compare that to with skin which has 194 calories, 8g total fat and 29g of protein. That’s double the fat so you see what I mean.

This recipe is all-in-one (you can thank me anytime now!) You’ve got your lean protein, carbs and leafy greens. Even the mushrooms are a good source of Vitamin D. We’re talking a healthy and delicious well balanced meal.

RECIPE:
3 lb. Boneless turkey breast

Stuffing mix:
4 Swiss chard leaves – blanched in boiling water for 20 secs. and refreshed in ice water for 10 secs. Drain on a kitchen towel.

1/4 lb. button mushrooms – sliced
1/4 lb. oyster mushrooms – sliced
2 garlic cloves – minced
1/2 cup uncooked rice (white or brown)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. fresh tarragon – chopped
1 lemon – zested
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
cooking twine

1 cup chicken broth for roasting turkey

DIRECTIONS:
When you buy a boneless turkey breast in the supermarket it will usually come trussed or tied together, as did the one I bought. If you have a nice local butcher he may stuff the turkey for you if you bring him the filling and tie the bird for you. Otherwise when you’ve put the stuffing in the breast get someone to help you tie it up.

Begin by preheating a large saute pan on medium heat. Once hot add olive oil and mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 minutes tossing occasionally. The salt will help extract the water from the mushrooms as well as get a little flavor in them as they’re cooking. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add in your uncooked rice to mushroom mixture and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. I like to cook the rice with the mushrooms to get some additional flavor into the rice as opposed to just adding the cooked rice to the mushroom mixture.
Add in 1 1/2 cups of broth to rice and mushroom mixture. Cover pan with foil or lid and simmer until rice is cooked, stirring occasionally. Check rice after 10 minutes to see if it’s done. If not, continue to cook until ready. Once rice is cooked add fresh tarragon and lemon zest. Taste and season with S&P. Spread out on an oven tray to cool.

To Assemble: Lay untied turkey breast on a clean surface, skin side down. Season with S&P. Lay blanched and cooled Swiss chard leaves on each breast. (See photo above.)
On top of the chard lay a nice layer of your stuffing (rice mixture) on the entire area on the breast. Lay 5 pieces of twine horizontally on your work surface parallel with each other 2 inches apart. Very carefully fold the stuffed turkey breast in half and lift it onto the twine. This is where an extra pair of hands is handy, so to speak. You can even get the kids involved.
TIP: Start tying at the ends first working your way towards the center so you’ll keep the filling actually in the breast, otherwise as you keep tying the twine you’ll end up pushing some of it out the other end. Not so good.
Take the ends of one of the pieces of twine in your left and right hands. Tie this sting like your tying shoelaces as tightly as you can, and knot it to keep it in place. While you tie each piece of twine tightly around the breast have your assistant help. Continue until all strings are tied and knotted around the turkey. Cut a longer piece of twine and tie end to end to reinforce the roll.

There you have it. Now preheat oven to 400F. Also preheat a large saute pan on high heat. Season the turkey with S&P. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to pan and sear the turkey on all sides, including top and bottom if possible, until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes each side.
Once all sides are browned place on a foiled roasting tray with 1 cup chicken broth. Pop in the oven for 1 1/4 hours or until internal temp. of 160.
Let rest for 10 minutes before carving so as to let the meat relax and to retain the juices in the meat.

Let me know how you get on with this recipe. And if you have any requests or questions, please leave a comment! To see more of my recipes and learn about me and my healthy food philosophies head over to thehealthyirishman.com.

The Healthy Irishman Fueling your body with healthy food. Fueling your mind with the wealth of health.

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Does Your Diet Make Your Skin Look OLD?

November 4th, 2008

The global skin care market is estimated to be USD $43 billion per year.

$43,000,000,000

That’s greater than the GDP of 120 of the world’s 190 countries.

And how about all of the money being spent on Botox, Restylane, chemical peels, laser treatments, goat placentas, human sacrifices, etc…

What if I told you that a big reason for the success of the skin care industry is all of the sugar found in the now global “Western Diet“.

What if I told you that even if you kicked your cravings for Big Macs and Venti Mocha Frappuccino® Blended Coffees with whipped cream, and began eating a diet based on the USDA’s Food Pyramid, you would still be doing major damage to your skin.

Here’s Why…

Your skin is 75% collagen.

Collagen is the body’s major structural protein. It makes up 33% of the protein found in your body. It supports tissues and organs and attaches muscles to bones. In fact, your bones are made up of a combination of collagen and various minerals such as calcium and phosphorous.

So, what does that have to do with keeping my skin wrinkle free?

Like I said, collagen makes up 75% of your skin. But what I didn’t say is that the smooth, plump appearance of young, healthy skin is due in large part to the presence of healthy collagen levels.

This is why beauty seekers around the world search for new ways to boost collagen levels and repair past collagen damage—some go so far as to inject collagen proteins into the skin to plump wrinkles and add volume to the lips.

This is where it gets interesting.

It has always been believed that the breakdown of healthy collagen and the decline in collagen production was a natural and unavoidable side effect of aging. Because of that, we are doomed to wrinkles, age spots and thin, drooping skin.

Maybe Not

We all know that sun damage and cigarettes are not conducive to healthy skin.

What we didn’t know was that a diet based on carbohydrates was an even bigger threat to healthy, youthful skin.

Here’s Why

Eating a diet based on carbohydrates raises our blood sugar
Raised blood sugar increases the production of Reactive Oxygen Species and Advanced Glycation End-Products
Advanced Glycation End-Products or AGEs are linked directly to the aging process (hence the acronym)
Collagen is especially prone to damage caused by AGEs
It is the collagen that has been damaged by AGEs that causes the loss of elasticity in your skin.

And it’s not just your skin.

The same diet that causes your skin to droop and wrinkle does the same type of damage to the rest of the collagen in your body…in your joints, arteries, heart and lungs.

So What Should You Do?

This isn’t going to sound very revolutionary, but:

Stop eating a diet based on processed and refined carbohydrates
Start eating more vegetables
Don’t avoid fruit, but treat it more like a dessert and not a main course.
Eat meat – beef, chicken, pork, etc…
Don’t be afraid of natural fats…animal fats, olive oil, the less processed the better

Basically, stop eating processed junk and start eating foods that come without labels and long lists of ingredients

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Health Habits

Posts Tagged ‘skin’

What does Healthy Look Like?

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TURKEY STUFFED WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND RICE

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Does Your Diet Make Your Skin Look OLD?

Here’s Why…

Maybe Not

Here’s Why

So What Should You Do?

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