Entries from June 2009 ↓

Mineral makeup is awesome but can you still be allergic to it? Even if it’s a natural brand?

And is eating gluten going to make your skin worse? I have a few gluten intolerant friends and they’ve all got great skin. Maybe this is because they’ve removed all gluten from their diet …

If you have a question that you’d like me to answer in a video, or a topic that you’d like me to discuss, post it in the Ask Fran forum – http://www.highonhealth.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17

High on Health is running another contest, yay! This prize has been kindly donated by Dr Neal Schwartz from the Acne Practice and it’s an exclusive contest for High on Health readers because I do believe that this is the first time Dr Neal has offered his products and services at a 100% discount.

I interviewed Dr Neal about the Acne Practice and his products the other day. It’s an awesome interview because he told me his personal story about why he got into the industry in the first place and why the treatment of acne is so important to him. Have a listen, just press the play button to begin-

Of if you want to download the audio and listen to it on your mp3 player, you can download it from here.

And here are the contest details …

What you win

The winning entry will receive a starter kit for Dr. Neal’s Acne Bootcamp™ for FREE which is a saving of up to US$300. The acne kits come in a variety of strengths to meet the needs of any type or degree of acne. You can read more information about the kits here. Dr Neal will help choose the best kit that’s right for your skin.

How to enter

Dr Neal only works with people who are serious about clearing their skin. So you need to be able to follow the program and be determined to give it a really good go. So, to enter the competition we want you to let us know why you think you’d be the best person to win the prize.

You can submit your entry using any media you like so be creative! If you have a video upload it to YouTube and post the link in the response box below. You can also use audio, images or text for your submission. The prize will go to the best submission and will be chosen by Dr Neal and myself.

Entries close on Monday 22nd June 2009.

And if you haven’t seen Dr Neal’s video testimonials in YouTube, here’s a couple to get you familiar with his wonderful work-

Visit this link for more information about Dr Neal’s Acne Bootcamp starter kits.

I just went for a skate along the Brisbane river and it was beautiful. I stopped half way at a quiet spot and did a 30 minute music meditation in the sun. I took my skates off and sat on one of them to help support my straight back and it was surprisingly comfortable.

Once a week I skate with a group but I go out on my own once or twice a week as well. I also walk or bike ride two or three times a week, often with a girlfriend. I’m definitely not at my peak level of fitness but this regular exercise certainly does help keep a healthy body and healthy mind.

I get asked all the time weather or not exercise is good for clearing acne. And while the answer isn’t black and white – if you do exercise every day it’s not guaranteed to clear your acne, it still certainly does help.

Why exercise is good for the skin

We all know that regular exercise is good for our health and good for our bodies, so of course it’s good for our skin. This is nothing new. Some resources I’ve read in the past also claim that the extra sweating during exercise can either help acne or make it worse, but personally I don’t feel as though this makes much of a difference.

BUT, the way that I personally feel exercise is most beneficial to the skin is for creating a healthy mind and a more positive attitude towards your problem skin. Sounds a bit trippy I know but let me explain.

I know from personal experience that whenever I’m feeling down or depressed, regular exercise is one thing that helps pick me up. Just getting my body moving, the blood flowing and my mind distracted helps tremendously.

Revisiting the mind/body connection Continue reading →

I took myself off to Greenfest on the weekend which is a green festival run in Brisbane each year.

The festival was okay. There were a few natural and organic skin care stalls which was nice, and I bought a couple of raw food treats from a Byron Bay raw food stall.

But the highlight for me was definitely an organic donut stall which sold donuts made with xylitol and rice bran oil (which is one of the worlds healthiest oils). Xylitol as you may know is a alternative and natural sweetener made from fibrous vegetables and fruit, as well as corn cobs and various hardwood trees like birch. I’ve blogged about xylitol in the past and how wonderful it can be as a sugar alternative because it has a 0 glycemic index. And apart from getting a funny stomach if I eat a lot of it, I still think it’s great.

This is a perfect example of a “half healthy treat” which it my own made up wierd term to give to treats that are trying to be alternatively healthy. A regular donut for example would have gone all out on the refined cane sugar, and most likely the unhealthiest oil out there. This donut was at least trying to be a little better for our body. So even though I was eating a chocolate donut, it was organic and made with xylitol and rice bran oil which is at least having a go at being a little healthier. Half healthy treats to me are guilt free!

And here’s a lovely shot of me enjoying the donut-

I finally gave into my colonic irrigation fear and had a series of three colonics done over three weeks.

And even though I won’t be getting another colonic done again in a hurry (or even at all), I’m glad I did this experiment because colonic irrigation is often said to be one of the best ways to “clear acne”. And I didn’t feel comfortable recommending a treatment to High on Health readers when I hadn’t personally trialled it myself.

So did it work? Watch this video to find out-

Kevin Gianni from Health Renegade has done a great video on colonics which actually shows the same system that was used when I got mine done. It’s definitely worth a look – Are Colonics Good For You?

If you’ve had a colonics experience that you’d like to share (even though it’s a bit icky I know!!) or have any questions for me, let me know in the response box below.