How to keep your hands from revealing too much, too early By Charlene Brooke
Every month, skin cells move from the base of the epidermis to the outermost layer where they naturally die and flake off. Aging slows the process and cells tend to clump together in scales leaving skin looking rough. Best Bets: Emollients fill in the spaces between cells in the outer-most layer of the epidermis, helping to smooth rough skin.
Joie Gator Balm A combination of plant and vegetable oils, natural emollients, minerals, proteins, and colloidal oat-meal work to help soothe and soften dry, flaky chaffed skin.
Glees and Nail Balm, stimulate cell regeneration and forms a light shield to protect against dehydration and keep skin soft, supple and flexible.
LOSE THE LIVER SPOTS
Viva Picks:
Liver spots (or “age spots”) are perhaps the most telltale sign of age, especially among people who spend a lot of time in the sun. While some people have a hereditary predisposition to liver spots, they are also the result of free radical oxidative damage that occurs throughout the body. Best Bets: As well as eating a diet that is high in antioxidants, use sunscreen with at least SPF 15.
Zia Age-Defying Hand Treatment Vitamin A and licorice extract work to improve skin texture and dark spots.
Save our SUPPLEME
A murky threat to our freedom of choice or an essential regulation to safeguard our health?
YanarAlkayat delves into the corn lax issues behind the new supplement
The natural health industry is currently facing new regulations from international bodies such as Codex Aliment Arius and the European Commission which will affect the availability of health products. This could mean that our freedom of health choice is at stake and centuries of ancient health knowledge are at threat. Here we bring you the facts you need to know.
What is about to change? Changes to the natural health industry have already begun. As of 1st January 2010, several minerals and vitamin forms were missing from a list of approved nutrients as part of the EU Food Supplements Directive. For example, the mineral vanadium, used in food supplements to help sufferers of Type II diabetes manage blood sugar levels is banned. Permitted doses for vitamins and minerals will change and many Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine products are on their way out.
Why is this happening? The aim of this directive is to control the quality and consumption of health products so they are deemed as safe as possible for consumers. As a result, some ingredients will be blocked, and permitted doses in the UK will be reduced. As new definitions are written about what constitutes food, many herbs will be forced into the drugs or ‘novel foods’ category, which means they will have to stand up to a whole new host of eligibility criteria, threatening their availability. -What really impacts us as European citizens in terms of the foods we can or can’t buy in supermarkets and health stores is EU legislation passed in Brussels.” says Dr. Robert Verger, Executive and Scientific Director of the Alliance for Natural Health International (anh-europe.org), a non-profit organization that protects and promotes natural health worldwide.
So how is Codex involved? Codex Aliment Arius (Latin for ‘food code’ or ‘food book’) is a set of guidelines and recommendations
“Permitted doses for
58 NATURAL HEALTH
Governing every aspect of food from labeling, ingredients. Additives and contaminants to pesticide residues and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The UN set it up in 1962 to protect consumer health and safety but now the global food trade falls under its remit. Critics say this serves the interests of large food corporations. Leaving small companies (and governments) out in the cold. The concern with Codex is whether its recommendations are what the public wants.
What power does Codex have? Recommendations are voluntary but countries who do not comply are penalized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) through trade sanctions. For example, the EU banned beef treated with growth hormones from the US and Canada but has consequently faced millions of dollars of sanctions over the last 10 years. How can vitamins and minerals be deemed so dangerous? Many believe Codex’s guidelines on dietary supplements stop consumers ‘overdosing’ on vitamin and mineral food supplements. However, this caution could be seen as excessive given the thousands of people who die from and become addicted to pharmaceutical products each year. This is where ifs down to the “faulty science” says Verkerk. In their zeal to protect public health, they limit the [permitted] levels so far that virtually no benefit can be derived from the supplements.” The Alliance of Natural Health International believes Codex and the EU are using inappropriate science to determine maximum vitamin levels. For many people, this signals a threat to our freedom of health choice. A few years ago. British actress Dame Judi Dench narrated a short film about multinationals.