Kasia the Expert

With each passing year, I've become more and more cognizant of my skin's health and appearance.  My days of slathering on the baby oil and roasting in the golden sun are gone!  I've noticed today's youth were taught to protect their skin from head-to-toe starting on day one, which sparks my curiosity to see how their skin will weather 20 years from now?  Especially with all the emerging health news ranging from wrinkles to skin cancer, I really want to practice good habits in order to prevent my complexion from looking like a roasted chicken carcass. 

Now, I'm sure you've read countless articles about skin health and how eating the right foods and staying out of the sun are your "golden tickets" to keeping that school-boy/girl glow, right?  Not so fast--if only it were that easy.  Turns out, after doing some research, skin health is a multi-faceted beast.  It's a combination of many things, for example:

1)                             Genetics - Does your Grandmother's skin look like that of Helen of Troy?  If so, good for you because she has most likely passed along those genes for maintaining good skin-naturally-as the years go by.  Bottom line: Depending upon your family's genes and how you treat your skin will dictate the outcome of its appearance.

2)                              Weather exposure - If you're like me and participated in sun-worshipping rituals with little protection in your 20's, be aware that this could cause more wrinkles later in life.  Bottom line: skin damage doesn't always show up right away, so be kind to your skin and use sun-block.

3)                              Eat your fruits & veggies - Not to take anything away from your beloved chocolate cake, however, a study was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition[1], showing an association between consuming plenty of vitamin C-rich foods (think broccoli, oranges, tomatoes and strawberries) and less skin aging. Bottom line: As part of a balanced diet, vitamin C helps maintain skin health and is associated with fewer wrinkles and less skin dryness.  Disclaimer: While eating more fruits and vegetables won't miraculously transform your skin into that of a 16-year old, it's a step in the right direction in terms of skin maintenance for the years to come!

     For more information regarding the daily recommended amounts of fruits

and vegetables you should be consuming, please visit www.mypyramid.gov.

     Eating healthfully doesn't mean you have to eat "cardboard" every time you dig in to your sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread. How many of you are worried that you'll have to sacrifice all your favorite foods (i.e. cheeseburgers and ice cream) for lentils at every meal? The good news is you just plain don't have to do that. There are so many different ways to put the delicious back into nutritious, the key is substituting certain ingredients that your taste buds won't notice once it's all put together. Take New England clam chowder for example. Your arteries are saying, "No way! All that rich cream and bacon? Don't even think about it, buddy." But, you can kindly reply to your arteries with these simple modifications to your favorite clam chowder recipe, which I found actually tasted better than original clam chowder--I promise. Here's what I did to enhance the nutritional value:

1) Replaced pancetta and bacon with peppered turkey bacon. They both have that smoked flavor and meaty texture; the difference is that turkey bacon has fewer calories.[1]

2)   2) Replaced the typical russet potato with "Purple Majesty" potatoes. These are high in some of the same antioxidants found in blueberries, hence their royal purple color. Purple potatoes are identical to russet potatoes in taste and texture, while providing you with a higher antioxidant benefit. What a great way to get more antioxidants in your diet!

3)     3) Replaced heavy whipping cream with half & half. This one was my favorite because the taste difference was hardly noticeable, but I knew I was consuming fewer calories and grams of fat . [2]

 After calculating the nutritional difference, these small changes save approximately 138 calories, 16 grams of fat and 10 grams of saturated fat per 1 cup serving.  For me, that's a 10-minute jog on the treadmill!

 Served with whole wheat sourdough bread and a side garden salad, your taste buds will surely thank you at the end of this meal.

 Enjoy dinner tonight!