With the increasing downward spiral of food quality, vitamins and minerals that should be in your food are absent. Add to that processing and poor eating habits and this lack of sufficient nutrients show up in abnormalities of the body. The skin, our biggest organ, is the first line of defense against the microbes that lurk in the air and when changes for the worst occur in the skin it is time to re-assess our diet and to start thinking about supplementing with vitamins and minerals.
The body carries out it’s daily routines of which we are oblivious. However we become aware that all is not well when we start to see disease or deterioration. The body, to keep vital functions going – lungs repaired, heart beating rhythmically, correct pH levels of the blood – will strip less important parts of their nutrients in order to keep you alive. If a nutrient is required to keep your lungs in good repair and the nutrient is not being supplied through your diet then your body will start breaking down healthy cells just to retrieve the correct vitamin or mineral. This puts an added burden on your body. Cells once constructed usually have a certain length of life before they are broken down and new cells made. By depriving your body of its required vitamins you force it to work harder recycling itself. The more deficient your food, the harder the body works which has a knock-on effect as extra nutrients are used up in the break down, re-construct cycle.
Although skin is a protection organ, if the body had to decide which is more important (based on the nutrients available) between the repair and maintenance of heart tissue versus that of skin cells, you can instantly see that any organ or part that is not immediately vital to life would have its nutrients removed. Therefore the outward condition of the skin is a good indicator of the inward deficiencies of the body. Whiteheads are the result of a mild deficiency in vitamin B2 (riboflavin). Whiteheads usually occur with oily hair and skin. Oiliness is prevalent especially in the “T” panel of the face. A whitehead is a small fatty deposit that forms under the skin. It is not similar to a blackhead which is made in an entirely different way.
The solution may seem simple – rush out and buy a bottle of riboflavin. However riboflavin, like the body, is part of an intertwined structure that needs all the components handy to produce a satisfactory result. Vitamin B2 is a member of the Vitamin B group and as such riboflavin cannot be taken on its own. Vitamins work synergistically and the B group especially must be balanced out. If a single B vitamin is taken on its own that vitamin starts to create deficiencies in the B group. It is important to take a good quality B complex and then add a few more milligram’s of riboflavin to your complex.
The B group of vitamins is water soluble so need to be replaced on a daily basis. Choosing the best brand of B complex need not be a difficult task. Beware of buying very cheap brands that have minute quantities of B complex. It is preferable if you go into a health shop, whose personnel are trained in their specific products, and seek advice on a suitable brand.
Also take into account that consuming vitamins from a bottle are part of a supplementation programme. Improving the quality of the food you eat is also of paramount importance. Today, with pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and long, long storage times in ripening warehouses even fresh fruit and vegetables have deteriorated in health building properties. To counter act that you have to become aware of alternative ways to get the nutrients your body requires.
Buy organic whenever you can afford it. Organic food is grown on whole soils that have been built up with decaying matter and earthworm activity. The castings of the earthworms make nutrients and trace elements available to the plants which are not possible when chemical fertilizers are used. The same applies to meat and dairy. Buy antibiotic and hormone free meat and milk. Beware of meat from animals that are fed chicken litter or other animals. There is a growing sector in the food industry that sees herbivores being fed animal by-products. If you are not sure contact the Public Relations department of the supermarket chain that you buy from and check with them.
Start sprouting in your kitchen. Sprouts are completely poison free and have appreciable quantities of nutrients in them. Your kitchen garden can produce fresh food even if it’s snowing outside. Ensure you buy human grade legumes and seeds from a health shop and not from a seed wholesaler. Many seed companies impregnate their products with poison.
Food is medicine. If you supply your body with fruit, vegetables and meat that has been raised under severely deficient conditions then logically that food will not bring bouncing health to your body. The reverse is true and your quest must be to improve your diet at every turn. With planning you can triple your vitamin B intake. Finding natural sources of B2 is easy if the quality of food is good.
Vitamin B2 can be found in the following foods:
Cheese, egg yolks, fish, legumes, meat, milk, poultry, whole grains, spinach and yoghurt.
The other members of the B group also occur in most of the above foods – as nature intended – so eat widely from the list above.
The body is an extraordinary machine. It repairs and maintains itself and only goes wrong when the ingredients it needs are under or not supplied. To keep your skin glowing and healthy means eating the correct food and supplementing your diet with the vitamins that skin needs. The body requires a myriad of nutrients to keep functioning and producing healthy tissue. The more you understand about them the better your food choices of tomorrow will be.
Don’t be discouraged if your whiteheads don’t disappear quickly. It took you a few years to deplete your nutrient reserves and these need to be re-stocked. Once your body starts to receive the correct nutrients it will begin to repair all the tissues that are vital to life. It may be two or three months before that is done and then the repair will begin in the skin.