Page 48 - Fall2010

Of those who non-sagging “youthful” skin. fats. “Saturated fats. . . which are solid at room
9
Glycine is not only needed for healthy carti-

admitted to lage, but also helps digestion by enhancing gastric temperature, include vegetable fats, such as Crisco
or shortening, and animal fats, such as butter and
being on a acid secretion. According to the late Robert Atkins, lard. . . . Research has shown that the wrong types
MD,,“A lack of stomach acid is commonplace, the
diet high result of aging, genetics, use of certain medications of saturated fats can have a strong inflammatory
effect on the body. To avoid proinflammatory,
in poly- and a variety of other factors.” Dr. Atkins contends proaging responses, you must limit your intake
unsaturated that the inability to properly digest protein contrib- of red meat. . . to one serving per week.” Animal
utes to numerous health problems including skin
fats, including butter, also contain arachidonic acid,
oils (more conditions like psoriasis, vitiligo, hives, eczema, which Perricone insists has a pro-inflammatory
dermatitis, herpetiformis and acne.
10
than 10 effect, leading to skin damage and wrinkling. 12
To be fair, in a separate passage, Perricone

percent of the FATS AND THE SKIN does also condemn vegetable oils, including trans

Since conventional theories single out satu-
diet), at least rated fat as contributing to cancer, heart disease fats, but the false association of animal fats, which
actually suppress inflammation, with trans fats,
78 percent and almost every other ailment under the sun, uni- which cause inflammation, infuses the entire book,
versity researchers and politically correct nutrition
showed writers naturally also assert that saturated fats are including the collection of recipes, which feature
chicken and fish, lowfat dairy products and olive
marked signs bad for the skin. oil. To his credit, he warns against sugars and
A 2001 survey, published in the Journal of

of premature the American College of Nutrition, cites butter as refined carbohydrates, but it may be hard to resist
the temptation to consume these foods since your
aging of the a food that contributes to wrinkles. The research- body will need them to produce saturated fats in
11
ers measured skin wrinkling in over four hundred
facial skin, fifty subjects and correlated skin damage with the absence of saturated fats in the diet.
The wrinkling study published in the Jour-

with some food items taken from food-and-nutrient-intake nal of the American College of Nutrition was an
questionnaires. There were four groups: Greek-
appearing born subjects living in Melbourne; Greek subjects epidemiological survey, and such surveys can only
show associations, not prove causes. Since but-
more than living in rural Greece; Anglo-Celtic Australian ter consumption was lumped with consumption
twenty years elderly living in Melbourne; and Swedish subjects of margarine, milk products (likely pasteurized
living in Sweden. Lower amounts of skin damage
milk products) and sugar, it is inappropriate to
older than were associated with higher intake of vegetables, single out butter as a cause of wrinkling. In addi-
they were. fish and legumes and with lower intakes of butter, tion, the group that showed the most skin damage
margarine, milk products and sugar products.
was the Anglo-Celtic Australian elderly living
Nicholas Perricone, MD, the New York derma- in Melbourne, certainly the subjects most likely
tologist, made these confusing findings even more to show wrinkling because of their age and the
confusing in his book on skin care, The Perricone exposure of their fair skin to the harsh sunlight of
Prescription, lumping trans fats with saturated Melbourne, Australia. This is also the group most
SUNSCREEN? PLEASE THINK TWICE

Pick up an article on keeping healthy and it will almost always recommend a generous application of sunscreen to
“protect” the skin. This trend has become so widely accepted that some people wear sunscreen every day, even in winter,
and slather their children with it before they get dressed, just in case they may come in contact with that dreaded, un-
natural substance: sunlight.
The list of questionable ingredients in sunscreens include benzophenones (dixoybenzone, oxybenzone), PABA and
PABA esters (ethyl dihydroxy propyl PAB, glyceryl PABA, p-aminobenzoic acid, padimate-O or octyl dimethyl PABA),
cinnamates (cinoxate, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate), salicylates (ethylhexyl
salicylate, homosalate, octyl salicylate), digalloyl trioleate, menthyl anthranilate and avobenzone.
Some of the chemicals have been implicated as causing thyroid problems. German researchers found that rats ex-
posed to the sunscreen chemical 4MBC had raised levels of thyroid stimulating hormones and heavier thyroid glands.
Another chemical, benzophenone 2, was found to alter thyroid hormone levels, although the effect was reversed by other
chemicals present in sunscreens (BBC News, June 10, 2006).
In most situations, normal exposure to the sun is benefical, not harmful, especially if you take care to avoid polyunsatu-
rated oils and trans fats. If you are fair-skinned and find youself in situations where long exposure to the sun is unavoidable,
be sure to cover your torso with a shirt, wear a hat and use a safe sunscreen like zinc oxide on your nose and cheeks.

48 Wise Traditions FALL 2010