It’s August, ladies and gentlemen. The last hurrah before the school year begins. With or without school-age children in the house, we still seem to get that back-to-school feeling! Hopefully, we can experience it without butterflies and without a care in the world about being cool … since we know we are cool already! Get Clearer Skin For Back To School! Acne is a terrible thing to live with. It causes low self-esteem, withdrawal, depression and more. Addressing your teenager’s skin is an important part of back-to-school preparations.
Reserve an appointment and let us create a customized and effective acne program for your teen so they can go back to school feeling confident and ready for a great year!
Face Toner The best product to follow your face wash is a toner. We were amazed to find out the number of clients who didn’t use a face toner during their routine. Toner helps to minimize pores, balance your skin’s pH and acts as an extra cleanser after removing makeup. We highly encourage using a toner every day and would love to recommend a few good brands to you. Just give us a call or ask us about it the next time you come in! Ditch Overwhelming To-Do Lists Productivity requires action. When something is written on a list, there is no action associated with it. On your calendar, it becomes a scheduled activity. Instead of writing it on a long, daunting list, consider the best time to complete that task and block off the minutes to get it done! Everyone needs to unwind after a long day. Why Your Gut Health Is Everything Most disease begins in the gut. Hippocrates even knew the importance of gut health more than 2,500 years ago. Talk about keeping or restoring a good gut seems to be everywhere these days and science has embarked on a flurry of research into the topic. It is clear, however, that gut health affects everything in your body, including the health of your skin, your mood, your digestion, and it can even trigger or prevent disease. Below, we’ve outlined some easy steps you can take to improve your gut. Here’s a challenge to you: Once you’ve read the article, make changes right away. It’s easy to say to yourself, “I’ll look into this later.” Take action before your brain can interfere with that decision. Take A Quality Probiotic Probiotics help maintain healthy intestinal bacteria or microflora and including them in your diet is the easiest step you can take to help your gut. Like anything else, the quality of probiotics vary, so it’s important to ask a trusted medical provider or health professional which brand they recommend. We are happy to share the brands we like; just ask us! To get you started, here are a few traits to look for in your probiotic: - Probiotic supplements should contain 5 to 10 billion CFUs (colony forming units). - Encapsulated pills are the best form of probiotic because they help the bacteria survive the acid within your stomach. - A wide range of bacteria strains is best because each strain benefits different areas of the body. Eat Less Refined Sugar Refined sugar has a bad rap for many reasons, and gut health is one of them. Sugar helps promote the growth of bad bacteria in the gut and can cause inflammation as well. Stress Less Easier said than done, we know! But there’s a reason stress is called the silent killer. Its effects are widespread within your body, and the gut is one place where stress can wreak havoc. Instead of focusing on its negative effects, try looking for simple ways to reduce your stress. Ironically, stressing about stress is not good for you either! These ideas will lower your stress: - Meditation. Practice makes perfect, so try it several times before deciding if it’s right for you. - Exercise. Physical activity lifts your mood as it lowers your stress levels. If you can’t get to a gym, that’s okay. Just try walking for a half an hour, get active outside in the garden or go for a run with your dog. - Laughter. Laughing releases endorphins in your brain that are critical to improving stress. If your partner isn’t as funny as he/she thinks, turn on a show or movie to get your happy tears rolling. Making an active choice to reduce stress will help immensely. When you choose to handle tense situations with a lighter attitude, your stress will start to melt away. You will retrain yourself how to react in a manner that leads to a more peaceful existence. If this article has you thinking about improving your gut health and you want to know more, tons of online resources can help you make a change for the positive. Remember, respect your gut and it will thank you! Reserve a consultation so you can start feeling better again! We love this recipe for school lunches and work, too. If you don’t want the pasta, simply take it out and make it into a sandwich! So versatile. See you soon at Madison Skin Specialists 6314 Odana Road, Suite 20 |