H A N N A S I L L I T O E

Berries are a brilliant addition to your daily diet if you're looking to achieve healthier skin. The antioxidants in berries are fantastic in helping your body fight the stress caused by free radicals that can eventually lead to illness.

Not only can eating a diet rich in antioxidants help to improve your overall health, it's great for protecting your skin and hair, and preventing certain diseases. Why not check out some of my delicious berry dessert and smoothie recipes by joining here. 

Here are just a handful of reasons to include more berries in your diet;

BLUEBERRIES - to prevent aging 

Eating blueberries helps to reverse the signs of aging. A superfood, blueberries are rich in antioxidants. In fact a cup of wild blueberries can contain up to 13,427 antioxidants, including Vitamin A and C, as well as flavonoids. Antioxidants react with free radicals and prevent them from causing damage. 

RASPBERRIES - to heal eczema 

Raspberries are such a delicious, summer fruit. As per tra...

There are 7 million Americans and 2 million Brits living with psoriasis. As much as we sometimes feel alone, that's really a large percentage of the population struggling with just one skin condition.

And it seems even celebs can't disguise their skin problems forever. More and more well known faces are speaking up about their struggle with psoriasis. Is this good news? Regardless of your opinion on these celebs as individuals, I certainly think them highlighting the condition and facts about it can only be a good thing. Here's what 5 famous faces had to say about their struggle;

KELLY BENSIMON

Kelly Bensimon says she’s dealt with psoriasis her entire life, and the condition made her “scared” to bare all for her 2010 Playboy shoot.

The former Real Housewives of New York City star and model tweeted about her psoriasis on Friday as she was getting ready for a new photoshoot.

“I’ve had psoriasis since I was a kid. I hated it. I found it so embarrassing,” Bensimon, 49, writes on Twitt...

There are certain foods which are quite often cited as potential triggers for skin conditions. Sugar, gluten and dairy are more commonly linked to exacerbating or triggering eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis. 

But what about seemingly innocent foods? Could strawberries be contributing to your skin condition? Those little pips in the flesh of the strawberry have been shown to irritate the lining of the gut and the large number of pesticides used to protect strawberries from insects as they grow can wreak havoc on our immune system.

So why are strawberries any worse than any other food? They have this month be hailed as the fruit "most likely to be contaminated with pesticide residues even after they are picked, rinsed in the field and washed before eating" - according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG)

STRAWBERRIES & PESTICIDES

Each year, over 3 billion pounds of strawberries are produced in the USA. With strawberry growers using 74 different pesticides in various combinations....

I love to share inspirational stories and photos with you. Pictures like Kirsty's are what got me through my own skin healing journey. They were the inspiration I needed to keep going! 

This is Kirsty’s story. Kirsty can be found on Instagram @the_skin_she_is_in

My name is Kirsty* from Bristol uk and I’m 43. Married, Mum of two gorgeous pesky kids. I’ve had psoriasis for around 35-40 years, guttate and plaque. I’ve tried everything- all the usual creams and systemics including methotrexate (worked but so scary) and acitretin (TERRIBLE).

I changed my diet and lifestyle to vegan, because I’d heard I was at very high risk of heart disease to go alongside the autoimmune skin disease, also diabetes. My Dr recommended a plant based diet to reduce those risks and I saw veganuary2017 on social media so just thought sod it. I had nothing to lose and believed I was psoriatic for life, I just wanted to reduce my risks and stay healthy longer for my kids- I was scared.

I was on acitretin for m...

Has it ever been suggested that dairy may be responsible for your skin condition? Acne and eczema are particularly triggered by dairy. 

Did you know that up until 10,000 years ago we in the western world were all lactose intolerant? It was a genetic mutation that enabled us to begin drinking milk. In China and SouthEast Asia over 90% of the population still can't consume dairy. Interestingly osteoporosis in these countries is also low, putting a question mark over whether we really do need to consume dairy for calcium. 

There are so many incredible plant sources of calcium. Whenever I get asked by concerned parents what they can possibly introduce into their child's diet to ensure they're not calcium deficient, here are my top 5 suggestions. (For reference, the RDA for an adult is 1,000 mg);

SEEDS

Seeds are tiny nutritional powerhouses. Some of them are high in calcium, including poppy, sesame, celery and chia seeds.

For instance, 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of poppy seeds has 126 ...

This is a really interesting question and one I'm asked often. 

Skin conditions represent 34% of disease in children; 20% of children have eczema and children with serious skin conditions have their quality of life impaired to the same extent as those with chronic illnesses such as epilepsy, renal disease and diabetes.

The most common skin conditions affecting children are;

• eczema
• diaper rash
• seborrheic dermatitis
• chickenpox
• measles
• wart
• acne

Conditions such as chickenpox and measles can of course be treated and last only a relatively short period of time (even though it might seem like forever when you have a distressed toddler on your hands!) Eczema and dermatitis on the other hand can be more difficult to treat and in some cases last months or even years. 

The most common primary treatment routes for skin conditions often begin with a mild topical steroid cream. ‘Topical’ means something that is applied to the skin. 

There are many types and brands of topical steroid...

Foods Is Affecting Your Skin

My doctor and dermatologist told me a thousand times that my diet would have no bearing on my skin. I was already feeling pretty miserable about my skin, so my doctor telling me food would have no effect was the only excuse I needed to carry on drinking away my depression and console myself with junk food. 

A healthy diet is absolutely key to healing skin. Start by introducing two litres of fresh, filtered water each day and reducing your sugar, dairy and gluten consumption. It's easy to keep making excuses but rest assured food can have a hugely detrimental or incredibly beneficial effect on your skin. 

Emotions, Stress, the Skin and the Body are Intrinsically Linked

We all know that high stress levels are not conducive to good health. Stress creates acidity in the body. There's nothing worse than someone telling you to 'stop getting stressed', as if stress can simply be switched on and off, even more so when you're struggling to cope with a skin condi...

Look Younger and More Radiant … Naturally

I’m sure it will come as no surprise that the female cosmetics industry is booming. Us ladies collectively spend approximately £300 billion on beauty products each year. Split between us, that’s around £2,000 a per person! The truth is, when it comes to feminine beauty, many of our expectations and aspirations have been largely shaped by advertisers. Whether our skin is deemed too dark or too light, too puffy or too wrinkly, too plump or too sallow - modern day marketing has an awful lot to answer for.

So advertisers want us to spend a fortune on their very latest skin miracle, it’s an age old marketing concept. Regardless of cost, the crucial question is this; are these expensive face masks, anti-wrinkle creams and beauty serums having any discernible benefit on our skin? Does the answer to achieving a younger looking, radiant and altogether healthier complexion really lie in a bottle of costly chemicals, or can we achieve much the same natu...

Low sodium lacto-ovo gluten free? It’s no longer pie in the sky

 
I have a confession to make. I like in flight food. I know I’m not the only one, I’ve shared this confession amongst friends and a surprising percentage nodded excitedly in agreement.

 
I’m not sure what it is about aeroplane food that makes it so appealing. At home a pre-packaged, re-heated, microwave meal is the least appetising thing I’d ever voluntarily eat. But somehow 40,000ft up in the air I’m delighted when they announce it’s time to put your seat in the upright position and flip your tray table down. Perhaps it’s the anticipation of lifting that shiny silver lid and seeing what’s on offer, or maybe it simply comes down to breaking the monotony of 13 hours stuck in a gigantic metal tube. For the record I am not that person who pre-books a paid-for meal on short haul budget flights, so in thinking it through I can’t be overly enamoured by it.

Whilst complimentary meals rarely exist on European city hops these day...

Thailand's Expanding Waistline

Each year in Thailand over 20,000 adults die from being overweight. Most alarmingly, obesity is now the leading cause of death amongst females here.

 
I first came to Thailand ten years ago. Back then, in 2005, ten million Thais were classed as obese. Fast forward a decade and I’m back in Bangkok, as the countries bulging waistline continues to expand. Far from it being a case of merely loosening the belt a notch, the growing trend is much more serious.

 
Thailand ranks second behind Malaysia in the top five Asia-Pacific nations with the highest number of obese people, and the problem isn’t going away. According to Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, this year will see the country struggle with a whopping 21 million members of a "fat tummy network”.

As Thailand’s love of junk food grows, so it seems does its collective waistline. Sugar filled convenience snacks, brightly coloured soda pop and the rapid expansion of junk food outlets such as KFC, Pizza...