skin health

A Vitamin B12 deficiency can result in skin lesions. And Vitamin A poisoning from fish actually resulted in one man experiencing such serious peeling of his skin it took more than 3 months to heal. Butchers warts afflict those who handle fresh meat for a living, thought due to the viruses in meat. There is a concern that some of these same viruses may be cancer-causing. The superbug MRSA , which can cause difficult-to-treat skin infections, appears to contaminate approximately 5% of U.S. retail meat. And a lack of safety thresholds in US meat for drug residues, toxic metals, and pesticides can potentially result in jaundice and skin cancer, among other dangers.

Tanning beds have recently been classified as a Category One (the highest) level carcinogen. Also best avoided for optimal skin health is milk because hormones in dairy are thought to be a cause of acne (see also here, here, here, here, here).

Recently, antioxidant levels in living skin were measured; researchers concluded that especially when we are sick, stressed, or tired, we need to load up on antioxidants. In terms of attractiveness, both a golden glow and a rosy glow have been found to be the most attractive skin tones in Caucasians; this is best achieved by eating carotenoid rich foods (like kale) and eating heart healthy diets. Indian gooseberries have been found to possess wound healing capabilities and have even been found to be effective in the treatment of diabetes (without the side effects of leading drug, which extremely rarely includes your skin coming off).

Topic summary contributed by Denise.
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