Combat the cold sores

Belated happy new year! 2013 HAS to be the year for turning over a new layer of healthy skin cells! I am highly motivated as (as we all are 2 weeks into January) because I am determined to remain as stress free as possible during my busy last semester of university, avoid wearing heavy foundation to mask my spotty skin and keep my energy levels high all in a bid to get my skin glowing again after this years festivities.

Ok, so I wanted to start 2013 skin pantry off with a post on cold sores, specifically aimed to help my dad who has suffered with a severe case of them over his face during the last few busy months which have left him in absolute agony, although my dad is far too selfless to make a big deal about them. Caused by a virus, cold sores appear in blisters and are brought upon by stress, sunlight and tiredness and fatigue. My dad loves his job and although this time of year will undoubtedly be stressful I am certain they were brought on by the latter.

I have done my own research in a bid to help my dad through his diet, I must mention he has also been taking tablets to specifically target them.

Arginine is an amino acid that is involved with the replication of the cold sore virus so avoiding foods that are high in the substance may help reduce the risk of an outbreak. Such foods are chocolate, peanuts, spinach, oats and protein shakes. I need to mention however that the body naturally produces arginine so it can never be completely avoided from the diet, but it is worth being aware of the foods that are excessively high in the substance.

DAD! Listen up! The main point of this post is to familiarise yourself with lysine. Lysine helps to stop the virus that leads to cold sores and increase the healing period and is present in fruits and vegetables especially avocados, tomatoes, apples, seafood, meat including chicken, beef and lamb and dairy products such as milk and yoghurt.

I have put together an easy and quick dish that is full of lysine. As you know I am big on fuss free dishes so as like me you do not need to be high on the kitchen skills!

Jumbled chicken

For this chicken dish, I literally chucked everything my mum had in the fridge (literally nothing), however it seems on this occasion it was successful. It’s perfect for any occasion and serve with broccoli to add some colour to the dish!

Turn up over to around 170 degrees Celsius

Grab yourself
A large roasting tray
Rapeseed oil
3- 4 garlic cloves, whole
2 red onions, roughly sliced into half moons
1 white onion, same as above
1 – 2 peppers, roughly chopped
8 – 10 chicken legs / wings
3 large potatoes cut into wedges
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Paprika (optional)
Tin foil

Ok, so it is this easy; drizzle tin with oil, chuck ingredients in, drizzle with oil over everything and season with salt and black pepper and paprika. Cover with the tin foil and place in the oven for an hour. Remove from the oven and remove the foil, spoon the juices over the ingredients and place back in the oven for approximately 30- 40 minutes.

Please don’t sue me if your cold sores haven’t gone overnight, however over time the anti- inflammatory properties of the ingredients in the dish and those foodstuffs that contain lysine will help to ease your cold sores.

Enjoy!

The oil our skin loves!

I wanted to tell you about one of my favourite cooking ingredients that I always use when cooking, be that for a savoury dish, sweet dish or even a dish that doesn’t involve standing over the cooker (berry bars!). In particular Supernatures rapeseed oil  is Scotlands answer to the meds traditional olive oil as the weather is particularly great for the rapeseed crop to flourish thanks to the long days and cooling temperatures of what we call our “summer” and of course rain.

I absolutely love Supernature rapeseed oil, not only is it low in “bad fats” and exceptionally high in “good fats” (monounsatured and polyunsaturated fats) it is… you guessed it great for the skin thanks to the high Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids and its vitamin E content. Infact I concluded it is more beneficial for you than olive oil (in my own opinion) as a result of a tad nutritional analysis that I carried out.

Thank you high content of vitamin E! You are what we want to stay young, once again if you are one of those from the group who are embracing the ageing process then all be it and good for you. However vitamin E is an antioxidant that will help fight free radicals (our enemies) that give us lines and wrinkles. As for the lack of “glow” in our skin as we age the omega rich nutrients found in this bottle will make your appearance seem like a halo is shining down on you!

So splash this oil into everything and anything, just make sure you give your skin it somehow if your not in the cooking spirit (this morning I took a couple teaspoons of it straight), oh and thanks to the variety of flavours, (I have oregano and ginger as well as the original one) it just adds another reason why this is the oil our skin loves!

Get yours from http://www.supernature.uk.com/infused-rapeseed-oils-100ml/gift-set-herb-range

or

http://www.forsyths.biz/shop.php?cat=13

Fish in a dish – Together we can fight the ageing process!

Together we will fight the ageing process!

I absolutely for one have already considered when is the best time to begin to use “anti-wrinkle” products, infact, getting quite panicky at the thought of it. I am slightly worried about the visible signs of ageing and whoever likes to act that they are “embracing” ageing is so wrong! However I do need to remind myself from time to time that I only turned twenty one in the summer. My somewhat lack of diet that I once had will be my cause of premature wrinkling and general ageing, certainly not the lack of anti-wrinkle products that I have yet to have stocked up on.

Chips ‘n’ Dips – Beat the blemishes!

Beat the blemishes!

 No one wants aggravated or problem skin. In the case when I have problem skin I suffer from major self-consciousness and discomfort. Like many I suffer from quite bad blemishes as a result of not eating well or when I’m feeling particularly stressed.

Berry bars – Demolish those dark circles!

Do you find that you need to hide those dark circles under your eyes? Instead of hiding them, take them head on and minimise them through your diet.