Skin care – more than just beauty

What really defines you and pigeon-holes you in society’s memory bank is your skin. More accurately, your colour — black, white or brown — is your most visual characteristic; it profiles you in the mental folder. Most often, your reference is not your facial features. It is the more obvious colour of your skin, and this, consciously or unconsciously, becomes your identity card. Beauty is not just skin deep. Because the skin stands for so much more…

Your skin is the body wrap woven by the warps and warts of time. Unlike a snake that sheds and replaces its entire skin in one go, the human conditioning of the skin is a stop-and-start affair spread over time. It is the final frontier of our body.

Your skin is also a good indicator of your inner health. You are what you eat. Hence, quite often, it isn’t what you’ve eaten but what’s eating you that erupts on your face and/or body. An early warning signal of inner turmoil. If health is wealth, hygiene is its hard currency.

The body has three skin levels. Going top-down, the first and outermost is the epidermis. It is tasked with protecting the skin frontier. It hydrates and produces new skin cells when required. The second layer, dermis, contains fibres, a gel-like fluid, capillaries, nerve endings and hair follicles. It also contains sebaceous glands that produce a lubricant and sweat glands which act like an air-conditioner to regulate the temperature of the body. The hypodermis is the third layer that stores fat and is the buffer that cushions muscles and bones from injuries. The skin ‘breathes’ air, in a manner of speaking, and generates vitamins. An estimated 90 per cent of our blood Vitamin D is D3. Sources, apart from fresh air and sunshine, are eggs and fatty fish like salmon.

Thirty minutes of sunshine on skin suffices to maintain Vitamin D levels, increase immunity and keep our bones strong. Most of our subcontinent celebrates 300–330 sunny days in a year — more than sufficient time for the skin to ‘inhale’ Vitamin D3. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) states that a daily supplement of 400 IU (International Units) are sufficient. Our wheat-brown skin contains melanin, a natural normal protector against developing melanoma and other skin cancers.

Yet, some studies say that between 50 to 94 per cent of Indians are ­Vitamin D deficient. Perhaps these figures are conceived and developed by vested interests in the pharma market? Skin specialists do not see eye-to-eye on what is a ‘normal’ Vitamin D level. ICMR values above nine nanograms (NG) per ml as sufficient. America’s Endocrine Society recommends a level above 30 NG/ml and leading pathological labels alert you if this level dips below the US standard. As always, ­the US once again sets the skin’s ­Vitamin D3
standard for the world to follow. It ­follows — the US, once famed for its land of opportunity tag, also leads and lends itself to pharma-medico opportunism.

Thirty minutes of sunshine on skin suffices to maintain Vitamin D levels, increase immunity and keep our bones strong.

The normal Vitamin D3 level is 12 NG/ml, which combined with the natural intake of calcium, is sufficient protection. This should be underlined and strictly observed. Because social media magnifies this vitamin as a magical pill. A cure-all solution for everything from fatigue, hair loss, diabetes, to high blood pressure. Even cancer. Doctors can be guilty too by acts of commission or just turning a blind eye. Prescribing a harmful Vitamin D shot may not burden their conscience. Chemists, in most cases, overlook their ‘by prescription only’ precaution. Even more significant, a play on a person’s vanity or fears feeds and multiplies that factor.

The truth is simple. Fifteen to 30 minutes of sunshine exposure daily is all that it takes. To top it all, sunshine is one of the few good things that come for free in this sun-bathed country.

Just put on your shoes. And as that old song ‘These boots are meant for walking’ concludes: ‘Keep walking’. A Nancy Sinatra sung solution. Fact, not fancy.

Vitamin D plays a part in producing calcium transporters in our intestinal cells. This process enables the absorption of calcium from food in the digestive track. When ­calcium and phosphorus swim together in the bloodstream, they combine to strengthen and mineralise the skeletal structure.

The dermatologist is numero uno in the cosmetic field. A big business market for those who make ‘beautiful skin’ their livelihoods. From to be brides, models, actors, and all those whose appearance matters,  the dermatologist is the first and final choice. The layman may not know that these doctors work on skin cancer and autoimmune disorders, but they do know their new avatar. The ‘insta’ in the Instagram world of luxury, travel and ‘selfie-conscious’ individuals. As doctors, they cannot advertise. But hold it, they don’t need to. There is the internet to promote their wares. Their Q&A sessions attract people by the thousands. And mega-buck fortunes are at their beckoning, with followers and clients in their trail.

Meanwhile, the black is beautiful concept went out with the GOAT (greatest of all times) Mohammed Ali who flitted like a butterfly and stung like a bee in the swinging ’60s era. However, fair and lovely more than took its place.

Let’s come to vegetables that are good for your skin. The beetroot blends appearance with high-level nutrition. As part of a dish or tossed into a salad. In fact, it is so rich as a holistic health food that it requires no other vegetable to complete your salad. It can reverse high blood pressure. It has nitrates which convert into nitric acid and keep our arteries flexible. It also reduces bad cholesterol and triglycerides. Just toss seven or eight pieces in your lunch and dinner. You could also juice it. It provides a rich-red energiser that would make a tomato blush.

Eighty-five per cent of your immunity lies in your gut. And 85 per cent of cancer is lifestyle created. And, of course, the beetroot is loaded with vitamins and minerals. The Vitamin D that sunshine dispenses can be complimented with what beetroot provides. Because it also aids elimination of waste. Giving the skin that extra glow.

Bon appetit: Enjoy the sunshine of your life.

The writers are authors of Fitness for Life and Simply Spiritual – You Are Naturally Divine and teachers of the Fitness for Life programme