We are celebrating our
new redesigned Web site with a fantastic sale. All our lotions and creams
are on sale, plus free shipping on orders $40 or more. Time to stock up or
try for the first time our luxurious lotions and creams. Go ahead, pamper
yourself. They are high in nutrients, rich, creamy and moisturizing. Try
them once and you will know what I mean.
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Reduce Your Cancer
Risk
High levels of Vitamin B6 and Folate (also
known as vitamin B9 or in synthetic form as folic acid) may lessen women's
risk of developing breast cancer, according to the latest results from the
Nurses' Health Study of nearly 33,00 women. The benefits of folic acid in
reducing birth defects and cardiovascular disease have been well
established. But until now, its protective impact on cancer has been less
clear.
The findings from this large study suggest more precisely
that by ensuring adequate levels of folate and vitamin B6 by consuming
foods (oranges and leafy green vegetables) rich in these nutrients and
taking vitamin supplements- a woman's risk of breast cancer may be reduced
says Shumin Zhang, MD, ScD, at Brigham and Women's and the Harvard School
of Public Health. In this study high blood levels of folate were linked to
a 27 percent reduction in risk for breast cancer. Separate research at the
University of California at Davis suggests that folate fosters DNA repair,
protecting against cancer in important ways.
If You Got Teenagers, You Got
Zits?
The teen years can be very
difficult and when you add zits it can be an emotional nightmare. Well I
have two treats that will help heal those zits. First we start with clean
skin, some herbs for a facial steam, and then we apply our zit
mask.
The herbs we will use for the facial steam are roses, sage,
thyme, chamomile and calendula. If your teen has allergies to any of these
you can substitute with other herbs. Boil the herbs in purified or
distilled water in a stainless steel or glass pot until the steam is
rising then remove from heat. Let the teen cover their head with a towel
and place their face over the steam for about 10 minutes. If it gets to
warm they can open one end of the towel.
Herb Zit Mask
1 teaspoon
green clay (french is better)
1 teaspoon liquid honey
1 teaspoon
plain yogurt or sour cream
1 drop tea tree, or lavender, or rose
geranium essential oil
Combine all ingredients to mix well. I use a
small saucer. Add the essential oil last and mix well. Spread on face and
neck, then lay back and relax for an hour or more. When they are ready
just rinse well with warm water and finish with a splash of cool
water.
Green Tea
Gives Skin Healthy Glow
The skin-healing properties of green tea may help scientists
develop new treatments for skin diseases and wounds, say researchers at
the Medical College of Georgia.
Green tea contains compounds call
polyphenols, which help eliminate free radicals. These free radicals can
cause cancer by altering DNA. Polyphenols also protect healthy cells while
promoting the death of cancer cells.
Cell biologist Dr. Stephen Hsu
recently began studying the most abundant green tea polyphenol, called
EGCG, and its effect on skin cells. Hsu and his colleagues compared
the growth of normal skin cells to those exposed to EGCG. They found the
EGCG reactivated dying skin cells.
"Cells that migrate toward the
surface of the skin normally live about 28 days, and by day 20 they
basically sit on the upper layer of the skin getting ready to die. But
EGCG reactivates them. He and his colleague also found other ways that
EGCG benefits the skin. The findings indicate EGCG may offer potential
benefits for skin conditions including psorasis, rosacea, wrinkles and
wounds.
The research appears in the online version of the Journal
of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Let Us Hear From You ..
Please tell us what you think of our newsletter and our new site.
If you have ordered any of our products please give us your feed back. We
are a new company and really want to know what you think. Thanks for your
help.
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Milk Thistle |
Red
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We are excited
to release the first issue of Herbal Luxuries Natural Health and
Beauty newsletter and look forward to bringing you information, news and
tips to assist your pursuit of a more natural lifestyle. With all the
toxins in our environments, from the carpet in our homes to the
re-circulated air in our offices, looking for ways to limit that exposure
is becoming increasingly more main stream as consumers become of aware of
the dangers and the alternatives. We hope to bring you useful information
about alternatives and alert you to some of the dangers.
We have
been very busy since announcing our newsletter and have totally redesigned
our Web site. Our hope is that you find the information we offer useful
and that you shop for all natural skin care products in our
store.
The
Science of Shampoo
When I first began researching shampoo I was
more than amazed at all the chemicals that are used and also the chemistry
involved in making the products. This months feature in our Personal
Products Research Center we tackle the science and chemistry of shampoo.
What you learn may just help you better decide what product you will use
for that next shampoo, if not for you perhaps for your family. There is
more going on in that bottle than you would ever imagine.
Hidden
Dangers
There is a real danger in using cosmetic products containing
Diethanolamine (DEA) and other ingredients such as MEA and TEA. Perhaps
you have seen this warning on the Internet. With our article on shampoo it
was impossible to ignore looking deeper at these ingredients since they
are used in shampoos and other personal care products. Not only is the
danger real but it is also well documented. You may be surprised at what
you learn, I was.
Fish Oils In Heart
Cells Can Block Dangerous Heart Rhythms
DALLAS, May 27 - Eating oily fish like salmon, tuna or bluefish at
least twice a week can prevent sudden cardiac death because fatty acids in
the fish block dangerous irregular heart rhythms, experts say in a review
article in today's issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart
Association.
Epidemiologists have known for years
that eating fish was associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular
disease, but only recently have researchers had laboratory evidence to
explain this effect, says review author Alexander Leaf, M.D., Jackson
Professor of Clinical Medicine Emeritus, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Leaf and colleagues present a detailed explanation of how omega-3 (n-3)
fish oils benefit the heart.
"Animal experiments show that fatty
acids from n-3 fish oils are stored in the cell membranes of heart cells
and can prevent sudden cardiac death or fatal arrhythmias," Leaf says.
MSNBC Health News June 5,
2003
Most American women cite
breast cancer as their No. 1 health concern. But heart disease kills more
women each year - around 370,000 - than all cancers combined. A woman's
chance of developing heart disease increases with age and is believed to
be associated with the loss of natural estrogen at
menopause.
Reuters June 5, 2003
According to a new Australian-Chinese
study, dusting and vacuuming could help prevent ovarian cancer.
The
study, published in the International Journal of Cancer this week, found
moderate exercise such as housework decreased the risk of ovarian cancer
with the benefits increasing the harder the work.
Head researcher
Colin Binns from Perth's Curtin University on Australia's west coast said
the two-year study of 900 Chinese women found the risk of ovarian cancer
declined with increasing physical activity. Housework was on the
list.
Site Polls
We are
conducting polls on our Web site over the next few months about natural
health and skin care issues to get a real idea of what's important to our
site visitors in this area. Please take a moment to visit our Web site
home page and participate in our polls. They change weekly. Thank you for
your help. |
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The Skinny on
Skin
Skin is a remarkable organ, the body's
largest, but it is often taken for granted. Most people are content to let
it be until dryness, oiliness, a rash or a wrinkle rouses attention. But
once they understand how it functions, many reconsider the importance of
the skin and the quality and content of the skin care products they use.
Consider these facts:
1 . An adult's skin comprises between 15 and
20 percent of the total body weight.
2. Each square centimeter has 6
million cells, 5,000 sensory points, 100 sweat glands and 15 sebaceous
glands.
Skin is constantly being regenerated. A cell is born in the
lower layer of the skin called the dermis, which is supplied with blood
vessels and nerve ending. The cells migrates upward for about two weeks
until it reaches the bottom portion of the epidermis, which is the
outermost skin layer. The epidermis doesn't have blood vessels but does
have nerve endings. The cells spends another two weeks in the epidermis,
gradually flattening out and continuing to move toward the surface. Then
it dies and is shed. Two billion to 3 billion skin cells are shed daily.
The body expends this effort to replace skin every month because the skin
constitutes the first line of defense against dehydration, infection,
injuries and temperature extremes. Skin cells can detoxify harmful
substances with many of the same enzymatic processes the liver uses. The
unbroken surface also prevents infectious organisms from penetrating into
systemic circulation. As gatekeeper, the skin absorbs and uses nutrients
applied topically. Because it cannot completely discriminate, the skin may
absorb the synthetic chemicals often present in soaps and lotions, which
at best it has no use for and at worst can be toxic or
irritating.
Most of our customers are committed to natural foods
and remedies, but may aren't as selective when it comes to personal care
products. These otherwise savvy shoppers might purchase any sale shampoo,
skin cleanser or lotion. But because new skin is constantly being
generated and because it plays such an important protective role, it makes
sense to choose nourishing skin care products.
Natural
Depression Lifters
Holistic consultant and researcher
Carolyn Dean, M.D., favors herbs and homeopathic treatments for
depression. She also reminds us that physical reasons for depression can
include food and chemical allergies, hypothyroidism, and candidiasis,
which should be investigated before beginning any medication. Here are
Dean's favorite herbal remedies for depression:
St. John's wort for
mild to moderate depression, irritability, and frustrations of
menopause.
Hops, valerian, and skullcap combinations for the
insomnia that magnifies the blues.
St. John's wort is one of the
featured herbs this month in our Natural Health and
Beauty Center.
Always remember to consult your physician, holistic
or homeopathic practitioner before adding herbs to your health
routine.
Allergies
Deconstructed
An
allergy is a reaction of the immune system to normally harmless substances
that don't cause problems for most people. These substances which include
pet dander, certain foods, molds and pollens - cause a false-alarm
reaction because the immune system treats it as an invader, generating
large amounts of the disease fighting protein immunoglobulin E (IgE), a
type of antibody.
Normally present at very low levels in the body,
IgE is found in larger quantities in children and adults with allergies.
If you're allergy prone, the first time you're exposed to an allergen, you
begin to make large amounts of the corresponding IgE antibody. The IgE
molecules attach to the surfaces of mast cells (in tissue)
or basophils (in the blood). Mast cells are
particularly plentiful in the lungs, skin, tongue and lining of the nose
and intestinal tract, places where the outside of your body meets inside.
When the IgE molecules latch on, they activate the mast cells, which begin
spitting out the chemicals (histamine, cytokines and leukotrienes) that
cause the allergic response, and the wheezing, sneezing, runny eyes and
itching.
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