People with dermatologic disorders, such as eczema, which results in thicker skin, have decreased absorption. In contrast, absorption through psoriatic skin (psoriasis disease) or that with ichthyosis it is enhanced.
In diabetes, the structure of the epidermal basement membrane is altered so that diffusion out of cutaneous capillaries is enhanced and this alters the absorption of compounds.
The blood flowing through the skin is dependent upon ambient temperature. When this exceeds body temperature, cutaneous blood flow increases and with it substance penetration. A threefold increase in methyl salicylate absorption was seen in humans exposed to high temperatures or those who underwent strenuous exercise.
Increased blood flow is certainly a major factor, but increased skin hydration or sweating also has contributed as previously mentioned.
Once a substance has penetrated into the skin, it may enter the circulation unaltered or be metabolized due to epidermal biotransformation. (both phase I and II metabolic pathways have been identified).
It depends upon the nature of the substance, the inherent activity of epidermal enzymes, and their anatomical location within the epidermis.
All of the work on skin penetration primarily looks at the effect of synthetic chemicals, I have not been able to find any work done on food besides that by me. However, this is only true in the scientific sense and not in the cultural or anecdotal sense.
We are now finding that more information is coming to light with respect to the topical application of fresh foods for the treatment of certain dermal conditions and for beauty purposes. I refer to books such as Heinemann’s Encyclopedia of Fruits and Vegetables; in there you will read about applying cabbage leaves for the relief of arthritic pain, banana skin for the removal of plantar warts, the use of honey in burns, ulcers and gout, and grated potatoes in the treatment of inflammation, to mention a few.
Needless to say I have continued to research Healfas NMF with a view to understanding it more fully. Certainly whatever is added to it is magnified in its effect. This is both good and bad. For substances that are irritant these must be reduced in concentration, whereas those that are not achieve even greater results.
This has led to a careful consideration of the preservative system. Healfas NMF does not incorporate any sensitizing preservative, for experience has shown that incorporation of this may produce allergic reactions. The system only uses the gentlest available.
Furthermore incorporation of other foods has led to a magnification of specific applications. For example, in the quest to find the ultimate beauty products, I have incorporated fresh fruits, such as strawberries, peaches, avocados, cucumbers and additives such as chocolate, various essential oils and culinary spices to preserve and enhance beauty irrespective of age or sex; such romantic names as Roses and Chocolate intensive wrinkle treatment, Lemon and Olive Oil Cleanser, Rice and Almond scrub, Champagne Toner, Apricot Avocado and Honey Mask, Lady Rosa’s Nourishing Cream, Creme D’Universale and Hot Passion are just some examples.
The formulation incorporating strawberries and fresh dairy cream, demonstrated a remarkably accelerated ability to resolve burns in one quarter of the normal time. This is in keeping with the ancient cultural use of applying mashed strawberries to burns of varying severity.
The use of chocolate in association with dairy cream resulted in a formulation that reduced the severity of superficial capillaries, improved appearance of wrinkles by 50% but most importantly resolved skin cancers because of the high levels of essential fatty acids found in chocolate.
Finally the incorporation of culinary spices and essential oils produced perhaps the world’s finest cellulite treatment, the results of which can be seen in the testimonial letters and a unbiased television video report of the remarkable product and how well it works. How Cellfre came about, is an interesting story in itself. By now you may gather that I am preoccupied with finding the truth behind things and that is what fundamentally drives me in everything that I do. Some years ago I had a retail pharmacy in Manning Western Australia and next to it was a cellulite clinic that literally attempted to beat the cellulite off women many of whom sought medical help for their bruises. Some of the women approached me to develop an efficient cellulite cream that was gentle and effective. The answers I believed lay in nature and the approach I took was to thoroughly investigate essential oils and the cultural use of culinary herbs in keeping women attractive and slim.
With respect to essential oils it soon became apparent that many cellulite treatments failed because the oils could not penetrate the skin to exert their effect coupled with the fact that many took as long as four to six hours to achieve this and by then the women would have either showered or toweled off the excess product. The Healfas NMF formula was the simple solution to this technical problem. I also discovered that Mexican and Indian herbs and spices were the best to keeping the fat off and I carefully selected a handful of these after much deliberation and research, developed a unique specialized yet simple extraction process and incorporated them into the final product with outstanding results much to the delight of customers with one side effect, that being, it dramatically improved the ladies libido and sexual response.
I also learnt that the biggest enemy of cellulite is estrogen women are therefore advised to avoid estrogen rich foods and liquids such as beer, which derives its content from the hops that are used to brew it. This also partially explains the origins of the beer belly and why men’s fertility is dropping
There is also an amusing anecdote with respect to the creation of Ovaderm Massage Cream or Quelfas A as it was initially known. Once again the origin of the name was from the Latin and English, the meaning being natural laws pertaining to quelling or making things quiet in this case arthritis and muscular aches and pains. It was at the insistence of a rather colorful Italian woman who wanted a effective topical treatment for her arthritic condition because everything that she had tried was largely ineffective.
The simple incorporation of methyl salicylate, menthol and camphor into the Healfas NMF formula delivered the results but what was interesting is how well it worked in horses. Over a number of years I trialed the product with eight different horse trainers and we found that Quelfas A reduced healing time, inflammation and swelling and generally improved the mobility and strength of the joint.
What is important is that horses cannot lie, either a product works or it does not
Is there a downside to the raised awareness that the skin is more absorptive than previously thought? From the application of food, the answer is no, except for people who are unfortunately allergic to certain foods the vast majority benefit to varying extents depending upon their health status and nutritional status. What about synthetic substances, in this case the answer would have to be yes.
As previously described the very act of washing and beautifying our bodies, using soaps, detergents and various beauty products causes a change in the absorption by the skin, so that it is manipulated, and with that irritant or toxic substances are absorbed to a greater extent, so that disease states of a local or systemic nature may occur.
The first to be seen is that of decreased irritation leading to the precipitation of more serious conditions such as eczema, dermatitis and or psoriasis.
I made the statement that even beauty products can cause problems. Why, because the constitutional makeup of creams and lotions contains a surfactant-detergent system that influences the absorbability of the skin.
In 1990, it was reported that the major prestigious cosmetic companies had to withdraw many of their cream and lotion products. Why, because they contained a substance, urocamic acid, which was included to improve the smoothness of the skin but ended up promoting the formation of cancers instead.
The cosmetic companies are constantly on the hunt for ingredients that gives them the edge over others, however in the process the final product becomes questionable in its ability to do anything for the skin and more importantly questionable in safety. The FDA is constantly monitoring ingredients for safety.
There is no doubt that synthetic products will never approach the safety of effectiveness of the natural product.
My journey into this sphere of learning has inspired me to prepare the best natural products for the benefit of the consumers’ health and beauty of the body’s largest organ, namely the skin. But it goes beyond that because many of the products that I now create are for specific purposes such as arthritis, hair growth, the reduction of varicose veins and even libido. Once again through the insistence of a personal friend I have ventured into the world of garlic and I have formulated a light activated alcoholic extract of this God given herb that has a profound influence on one’s general well being besides being the ultimate natural anti-infective. The extract shows a profound synergy with the vitamin B group of vitamins thus enhancing its abilities when taken together at the same time. A separate synergy is seen with extracts of ginseng and ginger which has created a product that both enhances neurological function and appears to retard if not reverse neurological degenerative diseases in the handful of people who have used the product.
I am deeply thankful to pharmacy for giving me the technical ability to create such extraordinary products and I realize that all answers lie in Nature but one needs to be divorced from the pursuit of money and fame if Nature is to yield her profound knowledge. |
