That’s why this multipurpose fruit is a superhero in the anti-aging world.

According to botanists, the grapefruit is an accidental hybrid between the pummelo and the orange. But, no matter how it came into being, I’m just glad it did. Not only is the luscious grapefruit known for its fat-burning enzymes, it also has several other excellent benefits.

Anti-aging physician (and my mentor) Al Sears, MD, is also a big fan of grapefruit. “Grapefruit contains a flavonoid called naringenin. It’s what gives grapefruit its bitter taste. It’s also a potent antioxidant. And that’s the secret to grapefruit’s cleansing power. It binds to toxins and helps flush them from your body,” he explains.

Dr. Sears also maintains that naringenin can increase your body’s insulin resistance to help prevent diabetes. Plus, it can reprogram your liver to melt excess fat, instead of storing it.

On top of that, a study by Scripps Clinical Research found the fiber in grapefruit helps with the digestion of carbs. In turn, this helps stop spikes in your blood-sugar levels.¹

Dr. Sears says, “This effect that grapefruit has to remove toxins from your body can be made more powerful when combined with a fast. What I mean is, you only eat grapefruit for a day. Grapefruit makes the fast much easier because you get some carbohydrates, some bulk in your intestines and some fiber. And I don’t find it difficult. If I’m hungry, I just eat more grapefruit.”

According to the Florida Department of Citrus, one medium grapefruit has four grams of dietary fiber. Some of that is soluble fiber (pectin), which helps support healthy cholesterol levels. Dietary fiber also keeps you feeling full for longer, meaning you eat less overall. In fact, half a Florida grapefruit has more fiber than one cup of popcorn!

You can find fresh Florida grapefruit from January through April, its peak season. However, 100-percent grapefruit juice is available year-round.

If you want to melt fat, get rid of toxins and charge up your antioxidants, why not give grapefruit a try?

Have a Youthful Day,

Jackie Silver

Grapefruit may conflict with some pharmaceutical medications, so consult your caregiver if you’re taking any medications.

[Ed. Note: Our guest columnist Jackie Silver is the author of Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young. She’s a dynamic and beautiful 50-something bombshell who looks half her age. She created “Aging Backwards” in 2006 to help empower women to look and feel younger than their actual age. On her website, www.agingbackwards.com, you’ll find some of Jackie’s best tips, tricks and secret weapons for stopping the effects of aging and improving the whole self – mind, body and spirit.]

1 Mulvihill, E., Allister, E., Sutherland, B., et al, “Naringenin Prevents Dyslipidemia Apolipoprotein B Overproduction, and Hyperinsulinemia in LDL Receptor–Null Mice With Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance,” Diabetes 2009

A group of my friends and I decided to take a five-day vacation to relax and unwind. A few martinis later, everyone was suddenly discussing the different stress factors in their lives and how everything seemed to change past the age of 30.

For starters, our tolerance for drinking had definitely gone down! Our skin regimens seemed to have become significantly more complicated. Our attitudes toward exercise had become discouraging to say the least.

Until my girlfriends and I got together to talk, I thought I was the only one who felt these frustrations. A friend who was over 50 assured the group that it only gets worse with age. This got me thinking: How can we battle the exhaustion that we feel and still preserve our pretty?

Here is what I have learned over the years as I have dealt with these side effects of age:

Hormonal Changes Come with Age

In today’s environment, hormonal changes are starting earlier than in our mother’s and grandmother’s day. The breakdown of collagen and elastin in the skin causes the complexion to become wrinkled and acne-prone. Less oil production means that our skin begins looking dry and saggy, and our hair and nail growth seems to slow down dramatically.

As we age and our ovaries become less functional, the decrease in estrogen and progesterone causes a decline in bone density. Digestion takes longer, and our metabolism starts to slow down. This makes us become even more prone to weight gain. And let’s face it… if we don’t look good, we don’t feel good – plain and simple.

Proper Diet and Exercise Is Instrumental

• Make sure to get enough magnesium and vitamin D. Calcium works with vitamin D to strengthen your bones and benefit the appearance of your hair and nails. But my friend Dr. Al Sears, MD, says if you want stronger bones, calcium supplements won’t help. Calcium is in so many foods that you already get plenty from your food. And taking even more calcium in supplement form puts women at a huge risk for heart attacks. To retain the calcium you get from food, make sure you get enough magnesium. It works in your bones to balance your calcium. It’s no coincidence that the foods with the most calcium also have a lot of vitamin D – small, cold-water fish, dark, leafy vegetables, and dairy products like cheese, yogurt and milk. Of course, your natural source of vitamin D comes from the sun – so aim for 10 to 20 minutes of sun exposure each day and you’ll make up to 20,000 IU of vitamin D. If you don’t get out in the sun much, you should try to get at least 2,000 IU per day of the D3 form. Try to get at least 400 mg of magnesium per day.

• The best way to stay hydrated is to drink plain, purified water. It’s also important to use a hydrating body moisturizer to help your skin retain moisture and prevent dehydration.

• Eat lots of protein and leafy greens to keep you full and energetic. It’s also important to eat foods rich in antioxidants to protect you from disease and premature aging, like broccoli, blueberries, tomatoes, garlic, grapes and spinach.

• Cut down on drinking. Alcohol only makes you feel bloated and dehydrates the skin, contributing to premature aging.

• Exercise is a terrific stress reducer and a must to keep you looking fabulous. With a lack of energy increasing with age, we have to try to make our exercise routines a little more fun for motivation. Next time you exercise, try something different! How about a walk on the beach, a bike ride around the neighborhood, or even signing up for dance classes or tennis lessons? Do whatever it takes to get moving. I do PACE workouts every day. It takes just 12 minutes and is great for building my heart and lung muscles. This simple callisthenic routine definitely gives me more energy.

Gentle All-Natural Skin Care Is Critical

As you age, you’ll notice that your skin begins to get a little more sensitive. Be sure to use gentler products and:

• Cleanse your skin daily with a non-drying non-toxic cleanser.

• Exfoliate regularly to get rid of the outer layers of dead skin that cause the complexion to look dull.

• Moisturize daily, especially at night.

• Use vitamin A creams to rebuild lost collagen that causes sagging in the skin.

Fortunately, there are many wonderful products on the market that really work. Be sure to choose products that contain no parabens, gasoline distillates or other harmful toxins.

When it comes to makeup, less is always more. For mature skin, it is best to avoid using heavy foundation since it will only highlight fine lines and wrinkles.

• Light concealer underneath the eyes tends to highlight wrinkles rather than hide them. Choose a concealer that blends well with the tone of your complexion.

• Bright, shimmery eyeshadow should be a thing of the past. Daytime makeup should be light and natural. A little more drama in your makeup is okay at night – but apply in moderation!

• Blush should be applied on top of the cheekbones and not directly on them. This will provide the illusion of higher cheekbones for a quick mini-facelift. Stay away from too much red in your choice of rouge. With age, it is more natural not to look too rosy.

• Heavy lip liners are outdated. Pick a lip liner color that is closest to the lipstick that you will be wearing. Apply the lip liner in a thin and delicate line when lining your lips.

There is no way to opt out of going through menopause, even though we would choose to if we could. But there are definitely some graceful solutions. Wisdom should come with age – so we can finally be smart about the way that we approach aging.

Keep on Stylin’!

Anesta Dawkins

If I could show you a photo of an ancient woman, you’d be jealous. Her skin was healthy with few wrinkles and no blemishes. We all want skin like that, right?

I’m going to show you exactly how it can be yours, no matter what condition your skin is in today.

When I went searching for a cure for acne, I found a study that looked at more than 1,300 people living in isolated, primitive cultures. These hunter-gatherers had gorgeous skin.

The key was diet. The natives ate the same way their ancestors had eaten for millions of years: high-protein, low-glycemic, and rich in antioxidants.

When I spoke to the lead researcher on the phone, he told me how he was disappointed that this research had been lost and ignored.

It’s a shame, because it wasn’t just their skin that was gorgeous. They also had no signs of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease.₁

This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.

It doesn’t require chemicals. It’s not expensive. And you don’t have to endure injections and surgery. All you have to do is go back to the diet you were intended to eat.

This got me interested. So then, I found that not only did it give natives beautiful skin, but a similar diet was tested on modern Australians who had really bad skin. I was delighted to find that in just three months, not only did their acne clear up, but they slimed down. And… hormones thought to contribute to skin eruptions were suddenly back in balance.₂

Remember, your skin is an organ, just like your heart. When you have bad skin, it’s a reflection of what’s going on inside your body. What you eat will either make it healthy or damage it.

Any time you eat processed food instead of the real thing, your body knows the difference.

And it gets worse as you grow older, because your skin loses the specialized cells that repair your skin.

When you follow a primitive diet, all this changes. By eating high-protein, low-glycemic foods, you naturally protect your skin with the nutrients nature intended for you to have.

Here’s what you can do to have healthy, glowing skin at any age:

1. Eat antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, and natural protein instead of high-carbohydrate, processed foods. Most fruits and vegetables and all protein is low-glycemic. When a food is processed and contains high-glycemic carbohydrates, it turns to sugar. Sugar damages the collagen in your skin and makes wrinkles. So, cut these unhealthy foods out of your diet to stop further damage. Antioxidants will take care of the damage already done.
2. Apply natural antioxidants directly to your skin. Here’s a list of antioxidants particularly important to your skin. You should include them in your diet and look for creams to apply them directly to your skin.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Cordain, L. et al. “Diet and Acne Revisited” Arch Dermatol. 2002;138:1591-1592.
2. Smith, R. et al. “The effect of a high-protein, low glycemic–load diet versus a conventional, high glycemic–load diet on biochemical parameters associated with acne vulgaris: A randomized, investigator-masked, controlled trial.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2007 Aug; 57(2):247-256.

Coach Yari

Eat small, protein-rich meals every 2½ to 3½ hours.

When you eat small, frequent meals it allows your body to become a metabolic machine.

You see, when you don’t feed your body often enough – or feed it the wrong kinds of foods – it starts thinking it’s going to starve, so it goes into what I call “defense mode.” And that’s bad news. Because when this defense mechanism kicks in, your body begins storing FAT – the last thing you want it to do!

Now, I’m not telling you to fill up on pasta, french fries, and hot dogs every couple of hours. That’s not the way to go.

Instead, to ramp up your fat-burning capacity, you need to eat foods that can be digested and absorbed properly. That includes lean proteins, vegetables, salads, and complex carbs – foods that are in a form closest to what nature intended.

The best thing about it: There is absolutely no sacrifice involved. You’ll just get to eat a lot more of plenty of foods you like.

Lean Protein: There’s no need to stay away from protein. In fact, it’s the one food that’s really going to kick your metabolism into overdrive. When you get enough of it on a regular basis, your body has no reason to store fat. Try fish, poultry, lean steaks, eggs… and yes, you can eat the yolk too.

Veggies and Salad: Eat as many vegetables as you like… the greener the better, but all colors are good. They may not have as much nutrition in them as they used to, but they’re still a good way to get the antioxidants and nutrients your body needs to feel satisfied and healthy.

Complex Carbs: Instead of getting your carbs from processed sugars and refined wheat products that pack on the weight, get as close to nature as you can. Stick with foods that are low on the glycemic index, like brown rice, sweet potatoes, millet quinoa, sprouted grains, and beans.

Here’s an example of my daily eating plan…

Your Health and Fitness Specialist,

Coach Yari

[Ed. Note: Yarixa Ferrao, A.K.A, Coach Yari is a Certified Personal Trainer (NASM) and an expert in functional training, fat loss, sports performance, and cellulite. Coach Yari is the founder of Get Fit in 6, a 6-week life transformation program for both men and women in Delray Beach, Florida. You can visit her at: www.getfitin6.com.]

Something they told me in medical school has to be wrong. I’ve been seeing more and more acne in mature adults. Yet convention claims that the primary cause is genetic. If it were genetic, how can it change in a single generation?

One thing is for certain: It’s not just a teenage problem anymore. Nowadays about 40 % of men continue to endure acne past the age of 25. Even more surprising, 12% of all middle-aged women suffer from acne.₁ If you suffer from facial blemishes as an adult, you know how troublesome it can be.

In my own practice, I have had remarkable results using diet to cure acne. But I get resistance because every dermatologist in town believes science disproves any link between diet and clear complexions. Their only solution is to see a dermatologist and get prescriptions for antibiotics, drugs, and toxic creams like Accutane.

Today, I’ll share recent evidence that diet has an undeniable link to acne. My friend and colleague, Dr. Loren Cordain, has released a remarkable program that produces fast results. It’s called The Dietary Cure for Acne.

Dr. Cordain is an expert on the diets of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes. These cultures still follow their traditional diets, which haven’t changed for centuries.

In 2002, Dr. Cordain and colleagues studied the Kitavan people who live on remote islands in Papua, New Guinea. Their findings were startling – not a single case of acne in 300 natives between the ages of 15 and 25. Later, his colleagues examined hunter-gatherers living in a remote jungle in Paraguay. After following 115 of them for two years – again, not a single case of acne!

Compare that to American teenagers: Over 80% of U.S. teens between the ages of 16 and 18 have acne.

Dr. Otto Schaefer treated the Inuit (Eskimo) people in some of the most remote villages and outposts on Earth. When he started his practice, the Inuit were still following their native diets – wild animals from hunting and fishing, along with a few wild plants gathered during the summer. He noted no acne. But as the Western diet encroached, Dr. Schaefer noted that the locals were complaining about changes in the complexions of the teenage Inuit. They were seeing acne for the first time.

So, how does the Western diet cause skin problems? As Dr. Cordain points out, over 70 percent of the energy we get in our diets comes from refined sugars, grains, vegetable oils, and diary. That’s just not natural. To diverge this far from your natural eating habits is a dangerous experiment.

Landmark Study Proves the Dietary Acne Cure

In November of 2005, Dr. Neil Mann from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia conducted a study of dietary intervention in acne patients for two years. Based on Dr. Cordain’s work using diet alone, he was able to improve or cure the acne of the majority in the study.

So, what is the diet to cure acne? A high-protein and low-glycemic intake is key. Remember, the glycemic index measures how quickly the food will spike your blood sugar. Dr. Cordain also explains how to use the concept of glycemic load. It adds a calculation taking the quantity of carbs you’ll find in a serving of a particular food into account.

To give you a better idea of how glycemic load differs, let’s look at watermelon. It has a high glycemic index, meaning it breaks down into sugars rather quickly. But its glycemic load is very low, because a typical serving has few grams of carbohydrate. (Most of its weight is water.)

So, even though watermelon has a high glycemic index, it won’t make you fat, because the total number of carbs it has will not have much impact on your total insulin release. (Keeping insulin low is one of the keys to staying lean.)

Naturally occurring low-glycemic foods cure acne. But they also prevent chronic disease. So, even if you don’t have acne, Dr. Cordain’s diet is an excellent guide for fat loss and chronic disease prevention.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Cordain L. The Dietary Cure for Acne. Paleo Diet Enterprises. 2006.

In my own practice, hundreds of teenagers – and many adults too – have come to me for answers after seeing every dermatologist in town. My solution? A better diet.

If you could only see the look on parents’ faces when I suggest that diet will cure their child’s acne… They act as if I should have my medical license revoked. But when they see the results months later, they practically fall over themselves with gratitude.

Today, I’ll share new evidence that diet has an undeniable link to acne. My friend and colleague, Dr. Loren Cordain, just released The Dietary Cure for Acne. This remarkable program is getting rave reviews and producing reliable results for those suffering from acne.

If you’re a long-term reader, you’ll remember my articles about the “caveman diet.” Dr. Cordain was one of the first to show that our ancient ancestors ate more fat and protein – and fewer carbs – than we do today.

After researching the connection between diet and acne, Dr. Cordain discovered that anyone – including you – can eliminate acne by avoiding processed and refined foods and eating more lean meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Cordain found new evidence in the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes. Living in far-flung locales like Paraguay and Papua New Guinea, these cultures still follow their traditional diets, which haven’t changed for centuries.

In 2002, Dr. Cordain’s team of researchers studied the Kitavan people who live on remote islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Their sample included 300 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15 and 25.

Their findings were startling. Not a single case of acne! Later, his colleagues examined 115 hunter-gatherers living in a remote jungle in Paraguay. This time, they followed their subjects for 2 years, periodically checking for signs of acne. Not a single case!

Compare that to American teenagers: 79 to 95 percent of US teens between the ages of 16 and 18 have acne.

Coincidence? Not by a long shot… This is not the first time researchers have seen the effect of diet and acne on native populations. From the late 1940s through the early 1970s, Dr. Otto Schaefer was a frontier physician. He treated the Inuit (Eskimo) people in some of the most remote villages and outposts on Earth.

When he started his practice, the Inuit were still following their native diets. This consisted of wild animals obtained from hunting and fishing, along with a few wild plants gathered during the summer.

But as the Western diet encroached upon their old traditions, their health began to decline. In 1971, Dr. Schaefer noted that the locals were starting to talk about the changes they noticed in the complexions of the teenage Inuit. Acne was everywhere. Yet the medical establishment still maintained that diet had nothing to do with these dramatic changes.

So what are Americans eating that causes such trouble? As Dr. Cordain points out, over 70 percent of the energy we get in our diets comes from refined sugars, grains, vegetable oils and dairy. And that’s downright dangerous…

The same foods causing acne are the same ones that promote obesity, heart disease and cancer. Sound familiar?

Landmark Study Supports – and Proves – the Dietary Acne Cure

In November of 2005, Dr. Cordain met with Dr. Neil Mann from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. Two years earlier, Dr. Mann had launched his own study based on Dr. Cordain’s work. Now Dr. Mann was ready to share the results.

Dr. Mann worked with 43 acne patients for 2 years. Using diet alone, he was able to improve and in many cases, reverse the acne of his patients.

A high protein, low glycemic load diet was the key. Glycemic load is the number of grams of carbs you’ll find in a serving of a particular food. (Glycemic index is how quickly the food will spike your blood sugar.)

To give you a better idea of how this works, let’s look at watermelon. It has a relatively high glycemic index, meaning that it breaks down into sugars rather quickly. But its glycemic load is very low. So the total number of carbs it has will not have an impact on your insulin levels. (Keeping insulin low is one of the keys of weight loss and a long life.)

Low glycemic foods prevent acne. But they also prevent chronic disease. So even if you don’t have acne, Dr. Cordain’s diet is perfect for weight loss and disease prevention. Use it for a lifestyle that’s full of energy and free of disease.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD