Beauty

WTH is oil pulling? It’s actually really simple. Oil pulling is just swishing oil around your mouth for about twenty minutes. Since it has antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties, coconut oil is my favorite to use (and tastes best). It’s actually an ancient Ayurvedic tradition that has ancestral roots. Like so many ancient traditions, it fell out of favor and people now resort to teeth cleanings, teeth bleaching, harsh mouthwashes and toxic, fluoride-filled toothpaste. What are the benefits? I know oil pulling may seem completely odd. How could swishing oil around your mouth for twenty minutes be so beneficial? First, understand that the health of your mouth affects the entire body. Not only are you swallowing the bacteria (both good and bad) that is present in your mouth, but oral health can also play a role in heart and overall health. Harmful bacteria in the mouth can be transmitted to…

You know what’s really upsetting? Hearing about women binge dieting to prepare for their weddings. There is NO need to try these dangerous, unhealthy diets to prepare for your wedding. Preparing for a wedding should be fun, it should be a happy time in your life; not a time where you’re cranky and constantly hungry because of a new diet you’re trying out. If you eat healthy, exercise and sleep there is literally no need for any of these crazy diets I see floating around. The issue is that most people aren’t even sure what is “healthy” anymore. Should you avoid fat? Should you avoid sugar? Should you avoid carbs? I’ll tell you what you should do and what will work: eating real food. Binge diets, low calorie diets, low fat diets and eating low-fat foods or “diet” foods (i.e.: 100 calorie snack packs, low calorie frozen dinner, etc) is…

We are constantly bombarded with wrinkle creams, lotions, acne cleansers and every other product on the market that’s supposedly going to give you beautiful skin. Here’s the thing: beautiful skin starts internally. Whatever is going on in your digestive tract, the vitamins and minerals you consume, the healthy fats (or lack thereof) all directly affect the appearance of your skin more than a $60 cream ever could. The foundation of healthy skin is a healthy diet, but did you know that the supplements you take internally can affect your skin more than what you actually apply to it? Let me introduce you to the mother of all healthy skin supplements: collagen. No, I’m not talking about expensive collagen creams; which are ridiculous anyway because collagen molecules are too large to be absorbed by the skin. So when you buy topical collagen, you’re just wasting your money. I’m talking about taking collagen…

This article is ridiculous for a few reasons, one being that archaeologists widely agree on what our ancestors ate, though diet DID vary from throughout regions; the Eskimo ate a shit ton of whale, the Massai ate a low of raw blood and milk, the Aborigines ate the stomachs of kangaroo, etc. “You simply do not see specific, trans-regional trends in human subsistence in the archaeological record. People can live off everything from whale blubber to seeds and grasses. You want to know what the ideal human diet consists of? Everything. Humans can and will eat everything, and we are remarkably successful not in spite of this fact, but because of it. Our adaptability is the hallmark of the human species. We’re not called omnivores for nothing.” Hoyes misses the mark here. Yeah, people can live off of anything, we see people living off of McDonald’s and Burger King and…

The average woman uses up to 515 chemicals per day on her skin. FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN. Where’s the “natural beauty” in that? The skin absorbs whatever is applied to it. So even if you’re eating a mostly organic and local diet, if you use toxic body products you’re still ingesting chemicals. But this doesn’t take away from the fact that the first step to natural beauty is a healthy diet. I firmly believe that beauty is a direct result of health. Eating healthy fats, organic veggies and nutrient dense proteins will provide clear and hydrated skin, strong nails and great hair. Not only that, but diet directly influences mood. Happiness is hot, y’all. Here’s the good news: most organic, chemical-free makeup and body products are way cheaper than their toxic counterparts. Here is a list of some of my favorites, all of which are much more effective than the chemical laden…

When I was sixteen I started dating a vegan. He was older, lived on his own, was in a band and I thought he was so cool. The relationship lasted all of five minutes, but he left me with something I would hold onto for the next five years: vegetarianism. It was sort of the perfect storm that led me to become a vegetarian. My mother had always told me I had the body that was “prone to getting fat”, I was compassionate and then introduced to the horrors of factory farming, I was sort of hippie-ish by nature and didn’t want to destroy the environment or kill anything, I wanted to be healthy and have clear skin, and I thought going vegetarian was my answer. How had I not seen it sooner? Of course, the answer to life’s problems was eschewing meat! I didn’t want any part of factory…