Dr. Lark

I was extremely disappointed to hear about this study and find it to be another unwarranted attack on the supplement industry. The fact of the matter is, our diets, no matter how good and well-balanced, simply do not meet our bodies’ nutritional needs. Conventional farming practices leave our fruits and vegetables lacking in nutrients, and thanks to our on-the-go lifestyles, processed and fast foods dominate many American women’s diets. 

Furthermore, this one study contradicts the literally THOUSANDS of earlier studies that have consistently shown the countless benefits of supplements for the reduction of breast cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and other health problems that plague women. It also contradicts years of years of clinical findings by physicians like myself, who have seen great positive results in patients by prescribing nutritional supplement regimens to prevent and treat illness and disease.

Of course, this one negative study comes on the heels of increasing attempts by the FDA to regulate the supplements that so many of us take every day to maintain our health and well-being. The timing of this study's release is very suspicious!

I, for one, will continue taking my multivitamin and other supplements with extreme confidence, and I suggest that you do the same.  

One of the most widely accepted natural treatments for hair loss and promoting healthy scalp circulation is lavender. A study reported in the Archives of Dermatology indicated that 3 drops of lavender (along with 2 drops each of thyme and cedarwood and 3 drops of rosemary in a carrier-oil blend of 1/2 teaspoon of jojoba oil and 4 teaspoons of grapeseed oil) promoted hair growth and healthy scalp circulation! In fact, 44 percent of the treatment group enjoyed new hair growth, as compared to 15 percent of the control group. And there were none of the adverse side effects frequently found with conventional treatments for hair loss.

If you would like to try this treatment option, you can use lavender three ways:

1. Use a diffuser to disperse micro-particles of the essential oil in the air. 

2. Apply through your skin by bath, compresses, massage, or simple topical application. 

3. Spray infused waters in the air or onto your skin. (Lavender also is a component of some wonderful natural beauty care products.) 

Essential oils can be purchased in health food and beauty stores, but keep in mind that the quality of the oil may vary. For the highest quality, look for oils packaged in small dark blue or brown vials. Also, prices within a particular brand line will vary, as some essential oils are far more expensive than others. A product line with similar pricing throughout may be offering oils of inferior quality. 

To reduce your risk, don’t use permanent, dark colored hair dyes, which have more of the offending chemicals. Instead, consider trying other options, such as henna, semi-permanent dyes, highlights, and herb-based rinses. Some salons, like Aveda, offer dyes that have lower concentrations of certain chemicals like peroxide and ammonia. I also suggest you try foiling, as less of the dye touches your scalp. Or, visit Long Locks for some fun and interesting natural skin care recipes and hair care recipes. 

Heavenly Pillar

This pressure point can be found about a thumb-length from the bottom of each ear lobe, and a half-inch below the base of your skull. It is excellent for reducing the appearance of swollen eyes, too.

Interestingly, you can use acupressure to restore facial beauty and create the appearance of wrinkle free skin--and what woman doesn't want a wrinkle free face!? Press on the points with gentle to medium pressure using the tips of your fingers for at least 15 seconds. After treating one side, be sure to treat the other before moving on to the next point.  

Acupressure Exercise #1: Facial Beauty 

This point is located at the bottom of each cheekbone, directly below your pupil. It helps with sagging, poor complexion, and blemishes.

Just because you’re not actually out in the sun when you go to a tanning salon, the risks are just as real. The truth is, ultraviolet radiation is ultraviolet radiation, whether it comes from the sun or from a tanning bed, and there is no such thing as a “safe tan.”

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, “The use of indoor tanning beds before the age of 35 has been associated with a significant increase in the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Yet, more than 1 million Americans—70 percent of whom are girls and women—visit a tanning salon each day.” And new reports now state that the risk of melanoma from the use of tanning beds increases by an unbelievable 75 percent!

I know that most women believe that having “a little bit of color” makes them appear healthier. But the paler you are, the healthier your skin actually is…which means less risk of wrinkles (and who doesn't want a wrinkle free face!), premature aging, and skin cancer. I dare you to challenge the standard belief that tan=healthy. I encourage you to feel comfortable in your own skin and appreciate the natural tones and hues that make you so distinct.

While I like to believe that lip lines (or wrinkles around the lips) are a distinctive part of a woman’s beauty, I certainly understand that it can be upsetting to see those fine lines around your lips. If your lip lines are bothering you, I encourage you to try what complementary dermatologists call combination therapy, which is based on two facts: 1) A woman’s skin rebuilds itself constantly, and 2) The aging of a woman’s face results from a multitude of factors, each requiring a different therapeutic approach. By combining gentle therapies that target the different processes that cause lip lines, you can significantly reduce those lines without side effects, exorbitant cost, or the need to hide for weeks while you heal from painful cosmetic procedures. Better yet, the effects are cumulative over time. 

Step 1 for Wrinkle Free Skin Around the Lips: Relax Your Lips
Skin, like bone, reshapes itself according to the forces that it is chronically exposed to. The predominant force that shapes your lips is the orbicularis oris muscle, which forms a pursestring-like ring around your mouth. Contracting this muscle causes your lips to “purse” and pulls the surrounding skin into radiating folds. With repetition, the folding creates creases in the skin’s deeper layers. This causes new layers of skin to accommodate and deepen that crease. Sucking on a cigarette, drinking straw, or similar object encourages this process. In conventional dermatology, Botox injections paralyze the culprit muscle fibers, but the same result can be had by simply not smoking or using drinking straws, and by not engaging in similar actions that contract the orbicularis oris muscle.

Along with providing your skin with important nutrients, proper female hormone balance is essential for healthy, moist, and resilient skin, particularly because of the action of estrogen on the skin. Estrogen is responsible for the deposition of fat under the skin, which gives rise to the soft and fine-textured skin that many women enjoy during their younger years. Estrogen also keeps the skin looking and feeling plump and healthy.

During your active reproductive years, your body produces enough estrogen to properly support the structure and texture of your skin. But when you enter the menopausen, your estrogen levels start dropping, which causes your skin to become drier, and the underlying collagen connective tissue, muscle, and fat tissues that give skin its support also begin to shrink, leading to more apparent creases and wrinkles.

While that all sounds like doom-and-gloom, keep your head up because there are plenty of nutrients you can take to rebalance and restore your hormones levels naturally, resulting in plumped up and moisturized skin. The following nutrients either create estrogen-like activity in your body or help you to produce more of your own estrogen. They also slow down the metabolism and excretion of the estrogen you do produce, thereby raising your own estrogen levels. You can use as many or as few of the following nutrients as you need to achieve your desired level of hormonal support. 

• Boron is a trace mineral found in apples, grapes, almonds, legumes, and dark-green leafy vegetables. There is some evidence that boron enhances estrogenic activity. In one study, when women on estrogen therapy supplemented their normally low-boron diet with 3 mg of boron, their blood levels of estrogen were significantly elevated. Based on this research, I suggest taking 3 mg of boron per day.
• Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) is a fat-soluble B vitamin necessary for the production of folic acid. It helps to safely and effectively impede the breakdown of estrogen in the liver. I recommend taking 400–500 mg of PABA a day in divided doses.
• Wheat germ oil is rich in vitamin E, which has mildly estrogenic properties. In fact, wheat germ oil contains the fatty acids and other nutrients that your body needs to support and produce hormones such as estrogen. I recommend taking 2,000–2,400 mg of wheat germ oil in capsule form a day, in divided doses.
• Cobalt slows down the excretion of estrogen, thus allowing you to better maintain your own production of estrogen. It is able to do this by stimulating the production of heme oxidase. This, in turn, promotes the breakdown of cytochrome p450, a substance that normally metabolizes and detoxifies estrogen. By breaking down this substance, cobalt helps to prevent estrogen metabolism and excretion. I suggest taking 400–500 mcg of cobalt a day. To further improve your cobalt status, you can also take 100–500 mcg of vitamin B12 a day. Research shows that cobalt is supplied in your body by B12. If you have adequate levels of B12, you likely have adequate amounts of cobalt, as well.
• Black cohosh is an estrogenic herb that was often prescribed in colonial times to treat a variety of menopausal symptoms. I recommend taking 40–80 mg of a standardized extract of black cohosh twice a day. This dose should contain 2–4 mg of the active components (triterpenes, calculated as 27-deoxyacteine). 

Excess facial hair, called postmenopausal facial hirsutism, is a fairly common effect of menopause--especially in those who have decided to not use conventional hormone replacement therapy. Understandably, this condition can be extremely upsetting.

The following strategies are free of side effects and address the underlying problem so that the growth of facial hair actually stops. Because hair grows in cycles, these treatments require about two to three months of use before you see results. In the interim, you can remove the worst of the hair by plucking or sugaring. Like waxing, sugaring removes hair at the root, but it doesn’t damage the surrounding skin. And it’s painless! I recommend using the wonderful sugaring product from MOOM to remove unwanted hair while you treat the underlying problem.

First, if you’re in your perimenopausal or menopausal years, female hormone balance is key to reducing unwanted facial hair. Refer to my recommendations throughout this blog for achieving female hormone balance.

In addition, there are natural botanicals that, when used topically on the face, are known to inhibit 5-alpha reductase—the enzyme that activates testosterone in facial follicles, causing facial hair.
• Green tea extract (epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG) inhibits 5-alpha reductase and also has been shown to reduce skin inflammation. 
• NDGA (nordihydroguaiaretic acid), an extract of chaparral, blocks receptor sites for 5-alpha reductase and also inhibits the skin’s pro-inflammatory cascade.
• Zinc, azelaic acid, and vitamin B6: Even at low doses, zinc and azelaic acid (from the yeast Pityrosporum ovale) are potent 5-alpha reductase inhibitors because they work synergistically. Vitamin B6 enhances their activity and their ability to penetrate the skin. In a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology, when very low doses of these agents were applied together, their combined activity blocked 5-alpha reductase by an amazing 90 percent. 

You can find most of these nutrients sold separately at health food stores or vitamin shops. Or you can use a product called Reductase-5, which contains these botanicals.

• Protect against ultraviolet radiation and avoid the sun-induced skin inflammation that triggers hyperpigmentation in the first place. No skin lightener will work if sun-induced inflammation isn’t avoided. Use a top-quality sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB and has a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more. Also make sure it does not contain any inflammatory ingredients such as PABA.
• Cleanse gently and always moisturize. For the treatment of age spots, try using a mild facial cleanser once a week unless your face needs a thorough washing—for instance, if you have a lot of makeup on. On the other days, cleanse twice a day with oil instead of soap. Using about 1/4 teaspoon of a high quality, perfume-free oil such as organic jojoba, olive, grapeseed, or macadamia oil, gently massage your face. Then, wet a clean washcloth with warm (not hot) water, and remove the oil by scrubbing gently in a downward direction to clean and close your skin’s pores. Follow by massaging in about 1/4 as much of the same oil, preferably while your face is still damp. If your skin feels too oily afterward, gently dab away the excess with a clean cloth.
• Twice a week, exfoliate with 10 percent glycolic acid. For most women, 10 percent is gentle enough even for everyday use without causing inflammation. I recommend Mango Madness SkinCare’s Exfoliate Me Glycolic Acid Cleanser.