How to Get Healthier Skin: the Absolute Most Effective Steps to Vibrant, Younger Looking Skin

After the ravages of winter, your skin may be dull, dry and more prone to wrinkles and blemishes. But do you want healthy, glowing skin? Then it's time for a skin "spring cleaning," and probiotics can help! Probiotics are beneficial bacteria and yeast that live in your intestines and keep you healthy and strong. Research supports their topical use for conditions like acne.1 But the latest buzz in the beauty world is that applying probiotics topically to your skin may reduce the effects of sun damage and slow the aging process.2 Advanced skin care with probiotics surely can't do any harm when used ON your skin, but probiotics are far more effective when you put them IN your body. Your Looks and Your Inner Ecosystem When your body is healthy inside, you look vibrant on the outside, but when your body is out of balance your skin is one of the first places to show it. A key to a healthy inside is a thriving inner ecosystem. Is your inner ecosystem thriving? A healthy inner ecosystem is full of microflora, the good bacteria and yeast (probiotics) that reside in your intestines. These probiotics help you digest and assimilate important nutrients, boost your immune system and help you stay healthy, strong, and youthful. If you notice that your skin is not always clear and bright, you might have an imbalanced inner ecosystem that has been weakened by environmental toxins, processed foods, drugs and a stressful lifestyle. How can you populate your inner ecosystem with the probiotics that keep you healthy and looking great? Body Ecology's Probiotic Protocol We believe that taking in probiotics from your foods and beverages (as opposed to topically or in supplements) is the best way to populate your gut with good bacteria that can help you turn back the clock. Since most Americans have an imbalanced inner ecosystem from poor diet and lifestyle habits, the best way to vibrant health - and vibrant skin - is to repopulate your gut with healthy microflora. The most effective way to get microflora into your gut is by consuming fermented foods and drinks. Most other probiotics on the market, whether in supplements or creams, are not nearly as potent or effective. Since microflora live in your intestines, fermented foods and drinks help escort them in quickly and efficiently. In food form, you can be much more certain they will colonize inside your intestines where they will then begin to start practicing their magic. In fact, we often call them "alchemists." Here are some easy and delicious ways to incorporate probiotics into your diet:

• Raw, cultured vegetables. These fermented vegetables are a delicious fast food that you can enjoy alone or as a probiotic-rich accompaniment to any meal.
• Young Coconut Kefir is a refreshing fermented drink. We have had many reports that it can improve your complexion and even cause age spots to fade and skin tags to disappear! Make our Young Coconut Kefir at home with Kefir Starter.
• Dong Quai probiotic liquid is a delicious fermented beverage that can help regulate female hormones that are related to your skin's appearance.

For more on how probiotics can enhance your appearance and your health, read: Want to Look Younger and Better? 8 Reasons Why Probiotics are an Essential Tool. Body Ecology and Aromatherapy Skin Care While probiotics are best inside your body, there are great options for revitalizing your skin from the outside in: essential oils. Essential oils have been used since ancient times and are 70 times more potent than the plants they are derived from. For skincare, Rosemary essential oil is great for restoring your skin's vitality and youth. Rosemary essential oil can:

• Reduce puffiness and swellingrn
• Soften and degrease your skinrn
• Help heal acnern
• Ward off skin parasites like ringworm and scabiesrn
• Be used on your hair to control dandruff

Also try versatile Lavender essential oil for its soothing properties. To learn more about the amazing properties of this essential oil, read: Lavender Oil: If You Want to Eliminate Stress, Improve Your Skin & Immune System, Think Lavender. Forever Young Essential Oils are third-party certified 100% pure, unlike many essential oils on the market (even those sold in health food stores) that have potentially toxic extenders. Labeling laws allow manufacturers to use up to 50% chemical extenders and still say they are 100% pure. As you heal your body, use essential oils to treat your skin and keep it youthful. More importantly, make probiotics your first step to healthier, clearer, younger looking skin. You now have an inside out and outside in approach to beautiful, glowing skin! Shake off those winter blues by nourishing your inner ecosystem and giving your body a reason to radiate health. One thing's for sure: as you take care of your inside, your outside will take care of itself. Sources: Siver, R. (1964). "Lactobacillus for the control of acne." The Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey, 58 (2): 52-53. http://www.natren.com/pages/skincare.html 2 Blitzer, Ilana, "Probiotics: can bacteria benefit skin?" Self, Dec 2006.