SkinAsthetics
Calories andthe Skin
NoveletteBodden,
Certified Aesthetician
It may seem somewhat removedfrom the study of skin care to go into the matter of caloriesand diet. However, health is part of the personal care picture,so a few simple facts about diet and health are important to understandthe chemistry of the body; as a well balanced diet is a form ofhealth insurance for the skin.
From the dietary point ofview, protein does not give as many calories of energy as fator carbohydrates. Proteins are the materials that the body usesto build tissue in the first place and to replace and repair tissueas it is "worn out".
It takes a certain amount of energy to keep us alive and healthyin our daily activities. The amount of energy required dependson the kind of work we do, our age, sex, height, and weight. Thisenergy is measured in terms of calories, which are units of heat.This means that if food were burned in a special apparatus thatcould measure the heat energy released, it would be found to beso many calories.
We use this term in describingthe available energy from our various food materials. All foodscontribute calories to the total. However, some foods contributemore than others. Butter, being almost all fat, is said to bevery fattening, but it is no more fattening than an amount ofcarbohydrate or protein having the same caloric content. In reducing,it is not what you eat so much as it is how much you eat, figuredon a caloric basis. It is the grand total of calories from allforms of food, measured against the grand total of energy thebody uses up, that determines whether the dieter will gain lose,or maintain normal weight.
When food is utilized inthe body, the energy is extracted from it. This is accomplishedby a breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones. However,it is sufficient for us to know that many substances present inour food finally end up as carbon dioxide and water, of whichthe body disposes. But, it is in this breaking up of larger moleculesinto smaller ones that vitamins and enzymes play their roles.
Enzymes are substances thatcan bring about reactions that would not otherwise occur or thatcan speed up reactions that normally are very slow. They are allprotein in nature; the protein being a special one for each differentkind of enzyme.
Everyone has heard aboutvitamins and most people have taken one or more at various times,but they know little about their place in body chemistry. Evenfewer people have heard of or know about enzymes. Since theirfunctions are essential to life and health and therefore, to theunderlying condition of the skin we should consider their rolesin keeping the skin as well as the entire body healthy!
Novelette Bodden
Spa Novell