4 Key Reasons To Use Hemp Oil On Your Skin

Article By Justine Lopez

Hemp oil is an incredibly beneficial skin-care ingredient that packs powerful, long-lasting hydration. It’s amazing for all skin types. Here are 4 key reasons why you should start using hemp oil for skin care today.

1. Hemp is an incredible moisturizer

If you experience problems of dry and dehydrated skin, hemp oil may be all that you have been missing to nourish your skin and keep it looking rejuvenated. Hemp oil contains fats or lipids that are similar to those occurring naturally in our skin. This makes hemp an effective moisturizer and protector of the skin. It increases the skin elasticity hence bringing to life dehydrated and tired-looking skin.

2. Hemp oil benefits for skin are nothing to shrug at

Taking hemp oil as a nutritional supplement helps to promote overall wellness. There are compounds found in hemp oil (known as phytocannabinoids) that interact with our endocannabinoid system for benefits like calming stress and inflammation. By helping you to feel good, hemp oil is a powerful tool for inner and outer beauty.

Hemp oil is a perfect skin care product ingredient for everyone. It moisturizes the skin and brings more oxygen to it, great for dehydrated, itchy skin. Hemp oil is especially ideal for sensitive skin because it is a natural product with no known negative side-effects.

Hemp oil absorbs quickly into the skin, doesn’t block skin pores, and actually helps the skin to balance oil production.

3. Hemp has vitamins and minerals vital for healthy skin

Hemp oil contains a wide array of supplements necessary for healthy living such as Vitamins A and E, as well as minerals like magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, iron, zinc and calcium. Although these essential body minerals are in trace amounts, ingesting hemp oil is great for overall wellness. Hemp oil also has plenty of antioxidants. Because of this property, many users of the oil believe that it helps slow skin aging.

4. Hemp oil lotions and cosmetics are going mainstream

Hemp oil is a common ingredient in shampoos, lotions, sunscreens, and other products for skin care. Why? Because hemp’s moisturizing properties are incredible. Plus it adds vitamin D to the skin; necessary for keeping it smooth and soft throughout.

All in all, whether applied directly to the skin or consumed as a supplement, hemp oil offers your skin plenty of nourishment, keeping it looking healthy, fresh and attractive.

This article was originally published at madebyhemp.com

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Why Eating Pepper Soup Can Boost Libido

Food and sex have a long, complicated history. For years people have talked about some foods that work on both psychosomatic and physiological levels. Supported in part by mythological beliefs and in part by actual science, pepper soup garnished with scent leaf can help boost sex drive.

Researchers show that many condiments of pepper soup such as scent leaf, nutmeg and African black pepper can significantly impact sex drive.

Extracts of these spices have been shown to enhance libido in animal trials, which offers promise for humans, too. In a new study, researchers said scent leaf reduces the key enzymes relevant to poor libido in penile and testicular tissues of rats.

For the study, the researchers tested water extracts of scent leaf on penile and testicular tissues of rats under laboratory conditions and said it has similar effect to sildenafil, a conventional sex-enhancing drug, although with a less effectiveness.

They declared that scent leaves work by boosting smooth muscle relaxation leading to penile erection. In addition, its chemical constituents are, also scavengers for free radicals in the body. Free radicals are involved in the development of several disorders including erectile dysfunction.

This 2019 study involved researchers at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (Nigeria) in conjunction with others at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. It was published in the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine journal.

Scent leaf is thought to originate from Asia and Africa. In Nigeria and other parts of the world, it is used as a traditional vegetable condiment and oral care products.

Previously in a study, rats fed with scent leaf supplemented diet over a six months period experienced an increased number of spermatozoa, suggesting its capacity to enhance reproductive ability.

Also, another study revealed that extract of scent leaf significantly increased the sexual behaviours of normal male albino mice in a dose-dependent ratio, without causing an ulcer or adverse effects of conventional sex-enhancing drugs like nasal congestion, headache and visual aberrations.

Moreover, a healthy blood flow can do wonders for a man’s libido by increasing circulation to the sexual organs. Foods that increase circulation include garlic, chilli peppers, African black pepper and ginger. They contain allicin, which dilates blood vessels and thins the blood.

In certain parts of Eastern Nigeria, men would usually request “ofe-n’gwere” (emergency soup), which contain spices like African black pepper in the night to get charged or induce sexual desire. Thus, the inclusion of African black pepper in the diet may help prevent poor erection and low libido.

Some studies show that nutmeg is one spice that has the ability to increase a person’s sexual desire. It awakens the senses and the brain clamours for something pleasurable such as sex.

Researchers in the 2005 edition of the BMC Complement Alternative Medicine said the resultant significant and sustained increase in the sexual activity of male rats, without any conspicuous adverse effects and toxicity, suggests that nutmeg possesses clinically applicable aphrodisiac activity, and also lends support to the claims for its traditional usage as sexual function-enhancing medicine.

Furthermore, another 2008 study of the School of Pharmacy and Technology Management, NMIMS University, of Mumbai at Ethnopharmacology revealed that the extract is safe and thus provides a scientific rationale for the traditional use of nutmeg in the management of male sexual disorders.

Even in ancient times, the spice is well known for its ability to increase erotic sensation in both men and women. It works its magic by mimicking the effects of the popular feel-good hormone, serotonin, hence playing a crucial role in setting the mood right.

Capsaicin, the spicy chemical that gives hot peppers their eye-watering kick, has been linked with improved vascular health and increased testosterone in men, both of which could indirectly improve sex drive and function.

Also, several studies have linked a variety of African ginger to improved sexual function and desire in men. One of these studies, published in 2010, concluded that ginger might activate a family of enzymes—known collectively as nitric oxide synthase—that support sexual function. Another study from South Africa also linked ginger to increased arousal and sexual stimulation in rats.

So, to keep a high libido, gravitating towards spicy foods to ensure higher levels of testosterone is the way to go.

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Is Honey Really Better Than Sugar?

By Sade Oguntola

Regardless of the argument as to whether honey has many health benefits over table sugar, many consumers are being misled by claims about honey. Unfortunately, its consumers are also adding it in excessive quantities to foods and drinks in the mistaken belief that it is healthy.

But swapping sugar for honey is not a healthy diet choice. Analysis on 223 kinds of honey, sugars and syrups, all widely available in United Kingdom supermarkets, by Action on Sugar found that honey can be up to 86 per cent free sugars, while maple syrup can be made of 88 per cent free sugars.

It found that adding a 7gm teaspoon of honey to a cup of tea added about 6gm of free sugar, while adding a teaspoon of table sugar would add 4gm.  Also, a portion (15mls) of maple syrup added to porridge contained 13.1gm of total sugars, only a little less than 15gm of table sugar.

Honey, the sweet liquid produced by honeybees (Apis mellifera), is composed of about 40 per cent fructose, in contrast to the 50 per cent fructose in table sugar and between 40 and 90 per cent fructose in high-fructose corn syrup.

Although honey is often promoted as a healthier option to table sugar because it is natural, Mrs Taibat Oduneye, a dietitian at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, stated that its use in excess could have an adverse effect in the long run.

Mrs Oduneye said honey, like table sugar, is a form of carbohydrate, adding that its intake can also make blood sugar level to increase.

According to her, “Honey is safe to use, but an excess of it can have a bad effect on the body or blood glucose level, as is applicable to a diabetes patient. So, it is not something to be used freely. For diabetic patients, we do not encourage its use as an alternative to sugar, no matter how natural it may be.”

She declared that in Nigeria, a lot of adulterated or diluted honey is on sale, despite marketing gimmicks like people testing it with flame, checking if ants would hover around it or it will dissolve in water.

Mrs Oduneye stated that honey is not to be used freely or in excess but she recommended for a cup of tea, say about 250 mls, a teaspoon of honey or a tablespoon at the maximum.

Professor Soji Fasanmade, a consultant endocrinologist at the UCH, Ibadan, stated that many people assume honey a good alternative to sugar because the sucrose in honey is converted slowly to glucose.

However, Professor Fasanmade declared “I will not recommend honey as an alternative to sugar because when you do, people now take it in large amounts. And we should not encourage diabetes patients to take a lot of honey.

“If you want to take honey, maybe just in a little quantity to mildly sweeten the food. But they must remember that when taking honey, they are also taking sugar in an indirect way.

“Some people believe that honey has antioxidant properties, but research findings on it are not consistent. Antioxidants reduce oxidative stress in cells of the body, thus helping to protect these cells from damage.”

Professor Fasanmade added, “If you have to take honey, do not take more than half a teaspoon maximum three times a day. This small quantity of honey should not cause any problem.”

Although studies in animals show that honey raises blood sugar very slowly, the medical expert said this does not translate to this sweetener doing exactly the same in humans, particularly in diabetics.

Fasanmade stated: “When we induce diabetes in rats at our laboratory and we give them honey, it did not worsen their diabetes state, unlike when you give them food. That is why some people believe that honey is good.

“But it is unethical to induce diabetes in an individual just to substantiate this. For diabetes, so many factors like genetics and lifestyle need to be taken into consideration.

“But if you want to do such study in an animal, you can control all the other factors and just pick only one factor, but you cannot do that successfully in humans.”

Meanwhile, researchers’ investigation found that some products which are billed as containing honey actually have more table sugar in them. Too many calories from all types of sugars contribute to increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, various cancers, liver disease and tooth decay, all of which have devastating effects on health and well-being.

So, the notion that honey can be used as a sugar substitute in recipes is a fallacy since honey is sugar in itself and, therefore, is not technically a substitute for sugar.

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Why Mental Disorders Is Becoming More Common

A new study has concluded that living alone is linked to common mental disorders. The authors have also identified the main driver of this worrying relationship.

Some common mental disorders (CMDs) include mood disorders, anxiety, and substance use disorders.

According to some studies, almost one-third of people will experience a CMD in their lifetime.

These conditions can have a significant impact on the individual, of course, but due to their high prevalence, they also affect society at large. Due to the widespread influence of CMDs, scientists are keen to understand the full range of risk factors that feed into mental health.

In recent years, scientists have investigated whether living alone might be one such risk factor.

A new study, the results of which now appear in the journal PLOS ONE, takes a fresh look at this question. The study authors conclude that there is a link between living alone and CMDs. They also find that it affects all age groups and sexes, and that primarily, loneliness is the driver.

The number of people living alone is steadily growing throughout much of the Western world; this is due to a number of reasons, including the aging population, people tending to get married at an older age, and increased divorce rates.

Researchers have already looked at the relationship between CMDs and living alone, but most have focused on older adults, so their findings may not apply to other age groups.

A recent study has confirmed that loneliness is linked to a higher risk of developing dementia.

Also, a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), United States, study has found evidence that children under three years old are most the vulnerable to the effects of adversity – experiences including poverty, family and financial instability, and abuse – on their epigenetic profiles, chemical tags that alter gene expression and may have consequences for future mental health. Their report appearing in the May 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry, which has been published online, finds that the timing of adverse experiences has more powerful effects than the number of such experiences or whether they took place recently.

“One of the major unanswered questions in child psychiatry has been ‘How do the stressors children experience in the world make them more vulnerable to mental health problems in the future?’,” says Erin Dunn, ScD, MPH, of the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit in the MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, corresponding author of the report.

“These findings suggest that the first three years of life may be an especially important period for shaping biological processes that ultimately give rise to mental health conditions. If these results are replicated, they imply that prioritizing policies and interventions to children who experienced adversity during those years may help reduce the long-term risk for problems like depression.”

Also, a survey of thousands of people suggests that mystical experiences positively affect a person’s mental health, regardless of whether they are naturally occurring or a result of psychedelic drugs.

Religion may have a wide range of health benefits, research suggests.

For instance, a study that appeared last year found that religious believers tend to live four years longer, on average, while another study found that attending religious ceremonies slashes the risk of premature death among seniors.

Emerging research is also looking into the mental health benefits of various psychedelic substances.

For example, several studies have shown that psilocybin — the psychoactive compound in so-called magic mushrooms — has the potential to treat severe depression without the side effects of conventional antidepressants.

Now, a new study is bringing these research topics together, as a team of psychologists sets out to examine the effects of naturally occurring and drug-induced mystical experiences on mental health.

Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, led the team to look at the effects of spontaneous and chemically induced religious experiences among thousands of participants.

Prof. Griffiths and colleagues published their findings in the journal PLOS One.

Also, earlier studies generally focused on just one mental condition: depression. This might not provide the full picture.

Previous work has also not quantified how other factors influence this relationship; for instance, people who live alone are more likely to be overweight, smoke, use drugs, and lack social support. So which of these, if any, is the main driver of CMDs?

The authors of the new study aimed to fill in some of these gaps. They looked for links between living alone and CMDs in general, and they investigated which factors seemed to be influencing the relationship.

To investigate, scientists from the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France analyzed data from 20,503 adults, ages 16–74, living in England. The data came from three National Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys that experts conducted in 1993, 2000, and 2007.

Participants completed Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised questionnaires, which assessed whether they had experienced neurotic symptoms during the previous week.

The surveys also collated data on a range of variables, including height and weight, level of education, employment status, alcohol and drug use, social support, and feelings of loneliness.

As expected, the authors found that the number of people living alone has steadily grown. In 1993, 8.8 per cent lived alone. This is compared with 9.8 per cent in 2000 and 10.7 per cent in 2007.

Their analysis also showed that across all age groups and sexes, there was a significant association between living alone and having a CMD. The size of this relationship was fairly similar across the three surveys.

CMDs were more common in those living alone than those not living alone.

When the scientists delved deeper into the relationship between CMDs and living alone, they found that loneliness explained 84 per cent of the association.

Earlier studies had shown that loneliness is linked with depression and anxiety. Others still had investigated whether loneliness might increase mortality risk.

During what some experts call a “loneliness epidemic,” this finding is particularly important. Similarly, because ill mental health is a growing concern, understanding the risk factors associated with CMDs might help turn the tide.

Of course, not everyone who lives alone is lonely. However, for those who are, interventions to tackle loneliness are available. These may include talking therapies, social care provisions, and animal-based interventions.

The next and most challenging step is to find ways to ensure that people in need get access to these tools.

The researchers acknowledge certain limitations to the study. For instance, this was a cross-sectional study, meaning that it looked at a snapshot of people at one point in time. The authors call for longitudinal studies to ascertain how this relationship might play out over time.

As with any study of this nature, assessing cause and effect is not possible: Did a person develop a CMD because they lived alone, or did they develop a CMD and then decide to live alone?

Or, perhaps, someone with a predisposition for CMDs is more likely to want to live alone. As ever, scientists will need to carry out more work to fill in the gaps.

Earlier findings back up these results, but the new findings also go a few steps further; they show that the relationship between mental health and living alone is stable across time, that the link is not restricted to older adults, and that loneliness plays a pivotal role.

Meanwhile, studies conducted in both animals and humans have found that adverse experiences early in life can have lasting effects on epigenetics, the process by which chemical tags added to a Deoxy ribonucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material sequence control whether or not a gene is expressed. These studies reported differences in DNA methylation, which can either silence or enhance gene expression, between individuals who were and were not exposed to early-life stressors.

The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that there are sensitive periods during which adversity is associated with even greater changes in DNA methylation.

The investigators also compared that model to an accumulation hypothesis, in which the effects of adversity increase with the number of events, and a recent hypothesis, that the effects of adversity are stronger when events happened more recently.

They gathered data from participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a U.K.-based study that has been following a group of families since the early 1990s.

Participating parents report regularly on many aspects of the health and life experiences of their children, who were enrolled in the study before they were born.

The current investigation analyzed data from a subgroup of more than 1,000 randomly selected mother/child pairs from which DNA methylation profiles had been run for the children at birth and at age seven.

The children’s exposure to adversity before the age of seven was based on whether parents reported their child’s repeated experience of seven stressors: abuse by a parent or other caregiver, abuse by anyone, a mother’s mental illness, living in a single-adult household, family instability, family financial stress, and neighborhood disadvantage or poverty.

The investigators recorded the number of exposures to each adversity, whether or not they were experienced at specific developmental stages and how close they occurred to the age at which blood samples were taken for the second methylation profile.

The analysis identified 38 DNA methylation sites at which adverse experiences were associated with changes in methylation, most of which were associated with when the stressful experience had taken place.

Adversity before the age of three had a significantly greater impact on methylation than did adversity at ages three to five or five to seven.

Exposure to adversity was typically associated with increased methylation, which would reduce the expression of specific genes; and neighborhood disadvantage appeared to have the greatest impact, followed by family financial stress, sexual or physical abuse, and single-adult households.

Although early-childhood experiences had the greatest effects, adversity at older ages was not without an impact. And while the results provide the strongest evidence for the sensitive or “vulnerable” period model, they do not totally rule out any effect related to the accumulation or recency hypotheses. In fact, two of the sites at which methylation appeared to be changed by adversity were associated with either the number of adverse experiences or how recent they had been.

“These additive effects may work together with the timing of exposure, so it would be interesting to examine more complex mechanisms in future studies with larger groups of participants,” says Dunn, an assistant professor of Psychology in the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry.

“Our results need to be replicated by other investigators, and we also need to determine whether these changes in DNA methylation patterns are associated with subsequent mental health problems. Only then will we be able to really understand the links between childhood adversity, DNA methylation and the risk of mental health problems; and that understanding could guide us to better ways of preventing those problems from developing.”

Meanwhile, studying religious and mystical experience, researchers asked 4,285 study participants to answer a survey in which they had to describe their “God encounter experiences and mystical experiences.”

The surveys asked the participants about their experiences with the “God of [their] understanding,” a “Higher Power, Ultimate Reality, or an Aspect or Emissary of God (example, an angel).” The survey also inquired about how the participants felt after the experience and how it changed their lives, if at all.

Approximately 69 per cent of the participants were male, aged 38 years on average, and the vast majority of the respondents were white. The study looked at mystical experiences that occurred both naturally and as a result of taking psychedelics, using two different surveys.

A total of 3,476 participants answered the psychedelics survey, and 809 answered the non-drug survey.

Specifically, in the former group, 1,184 participants took “magic mushrooms,” 1,251 took lysergic acid (LSD), 435 took ayahuasca, and 606 reported taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

“Most participants reported vivid memories of the encounter experience, which frequently involved communication with something having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing,” report the researchers.

Overall, the study found that most participants who had “God encounter experiences” reported positive effects on their mental health.

Namely, the mystical experiences improved their life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning, and these positive changes lasted for decades after the experience.

In fact, about 75 per cent of all respondents (in both the drugs and no-drugs groups) said the experience was “among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with moderate to strong persisting positive changes” to their mental health.

Furthermore, 70 per cent of participants in the drugs group said they had a decreased fear of death as a result of the experiences, whereas 57 per cent of the non-drug participants reported the same feeling.

Approximately 15 per cent of the participants in both groups said the experience was “the single most psychologically challenging experience of their lifetime.”

In the non-drug group, 59 per cent of the respondents described their experience as meeting “God” or “an emissary of God,” whereas 55 per cent of the psychedelics users chose to describe it as an “ultimate reality.”

The lead researcher comments on the findings, saying, “Experiences that people describe as encounters with God or a representative of God have been reported for thousands of years, and they likely form the basis of many of the world’s religions.

“Although modern Western medicine doesn’t typically consider ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ experiences as one of the tools in the arsenal against sickness, our findings suggest that these encounters often lead to improvements in mental health.”

The researcher stresses the fact that their research says nothing about the existence of a higher being. “We want to be clear that our study looks at personal experiences and says nothing about the existence or nonexistence of God.”

Furthermore, the scientists caution that people should not use psychedelic drugs without professional guidance, as there are various psychological dangers to misusing these substances, in addition to legal risks.

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Why Chewing Sticks, Herbal Toothpaste Prevent Tooth Decay Better Than Chemical Toothpastes - Experts

Though, the modern chemical-based toothpaste and mouthwash have been effective in combating germs that cause tooth decay, the major challenge is the resistance of these germs to some commonly used antibiotics and other antimicrobial chemicals.

Now, experts have formulated a herbal toothpaste that can reduce, control and prevent various types of dental diseases from edible and medicinal plants. These are Syzygium aromaticum, Dennettia tripetala, and Jatropha curcas latex.

The researchers, who tested the extracts of these medicinal plants on disease causing germs, said the formulated kinds of toothpaste have better and significant antimicrobial effect when compared to commercial toothpaste.

The tested disease-causing organisms included Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mitis and Candida albicans that have been implicated in dental diseases.

For the study, toothpastes of various compositions were formulated using the ethanolic extracts of pepper fruit seeds, buds of S. aromaticum with J. curcas latex as the active ingredients and other non-bioactive ingredients.

The 2019 study published in the AMB Express involved Olugbenga Oludayo Oluwasina; Ifunanya Vivian Ezenwosu; Clement Olusola Ogidi and Victor Olusegun Oyetayo.

Commercial antibiotics such as flucloxacillin and ketoconazole were used as positive control for bacteria and yeast respectively, while sterile distilled water was used as the negative control.

All the formulated kinds of toothpaste exhibited antimicrobial property against all the tested microorganisms. Formulated toothpaste with only S. aromaticum extract seems to be much more active among the three bioactive materials used for the formulation. But, commercially produced toothpaste without any herb product has no inhibition against tested microorganisms.

They, therefore, suggested that the chemical substances in these plant extracts and latex could be useful raw material in producing toothpaste that may reduce the occurrence of microbial pathogens associated with dental diseases.

According to them, the use of medicinal and edible plants for the formulation of toothpaste should be of interest in oral care products due to the presence of compounds that are capable of inhibiting the growth of microorganisms causing oral infection.

“The adoption of herbal toothpaste by consumers and dentists will safeguard the side effect of oral care products containing synthetic compounds and reduce the cost of treatment,” they stated.

Syzygium aromaticum is commonly called clove. It is used in preparing Nigerian pepper soup with meats and fishes. Dennettia tripetala is pepper fruit. Jatropha curcas has been used as a traditional toothbrush in some places and used for various trado-medicines.

Meanwhile, Nigerian researchers have also demonstrated that three local chewing sticks performed better than fluoride-based and conventional kinds of toothpaste in preventing tooth decay.

The study, published in British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research was entitled “A Study of the Anticaries Activity of Three Common Chewing Sticks and Two Brands of Toothpaste in South West Nigeria”.

It included Odeleye Olubola Florence; Okunye Olufemi Lionel; Kesi Christopher; and Abatan Temitope Olubunmi, all from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State,

The researchers evaluated three common chewing sticks – Fagara zanthoxyloides, Vernonia amygdalina and Massularia accuminata- and two brands of toothpaste in southwest Nigeria for the ability to control caries-causing bacteria.

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Fagara zanthoxyloides) is called orin ata in Yoruba. Veronica amygdaline commonly called bitter leaf. Commonly called Chewing stick, Massularia acuminata is called pako-ijebu, orin-ijebu in Yoruba and atu uhie in Igbo.

The results showed that the ethanol extracts of Fagara zanthoxyloides showed the highest anti-caries activity followed by Vernonia amygdalina (VA) and then Massularia acuminata (MA).

They concluded: “The chewing sticks used in this study showed good antimicrobial activity against the isolates and could provide better care than fluoride kinds of toothpaste. The active compounds if isolated would be good caries-controlling components of herbal kinds of toothpaste.

”The active constituents in the ethanol extracts of the chewing sticks will be useful as anti-caries components of herbal kinds of toothpaste which are becoming common in the market.”

The use of chewing stick is still being practised in some part of the world such as Africa, South Asia, an isolated area in America and Southern United State, owing to some unique characteristics such as foaminess, hardness and bitterness.

Some of these chewing sticks have been shown to possess varying degrees of antimicrobial activity against germs that cause dental diseases. This indicates, therefore, that the chewing sticks, in addition to providing mechanical stimulation of the gums, also destroy microbes, a feature which is absent in the common toothpaste and brush method. This advantage of the chewing sticks over the conventional toothpaste and brush could explain why many Africans have strong teeth.

Some African chewing sticks have also been reported to contain fluoride ions, silicon, tannic acid, sodium bicarbonate and other natural plaque-inhibiting substances that can reduce bacterial colonisation and plaque formation.

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8 Ways To Get A Younger Looking Neck

Article From Penelope Andersan

The skin on our necks is thinner than the skin on our faces and it’s exposed to the same wear and tear. So what are you doing about your neck?

You have your anti-aging skincare routine down to a science, you never leave the house without wearing vitamin c serum and sunscreen, and at night you refuse to let your face touch the pillow without applying under-eye treatment and moisturizer. But what are you doing about your neck?

Americans spend so much effort preventing signs of aging like creasing and wrinkling in the space between their chins and foreheads. In reality, the neck often starts to look older long before crow’s feet enter the picture. The skin on our necks is thinner than the skin on our faces and it’s exposed to the same wear and tear. Unfortunately, it also tends to get a lot less TLC, if any at all.

“Over time, skin loses collagen and elastin,” says New York City plastic surgeon Benjamin Paul, MD. Dr. Paul explains smoking and sun damage can also further accelerate aging of the skin on the neck. Those aren't the only causes of neck aging. As we get older, laxity in the neck occurs due to a loss of support from connective tissue and muscle. This leads to what we commonly call a “waddle” or “turkey neck" and looks like loose skin under our chin.

The appearance of sagging skin on the neck can affect everyone. Repeated pulling of the platysma muscle, which is the muscle men often flex while shaving, tugs on the overlying skin and causes it to wrinkle over time. According to Dr. Paul, thyroid or neck surgery also loosens the neck and can contribute to an older appearance.

While there’s not much we can do about getting older, it is possible to slow down the physical signs of aging. Here are some ways you can prevent future sagging skin and promote a younger-looking neck.

Protect Your Skin From the Sun

It’s common knowledge that sun exposure causes major damage to your skin. This includes the delicate skin on your neck, which is one of the first places the signs of aging can take hold. According to Dr. Paul, the single best thing you can do to preserve a youthful neck and prevent sagging skin, age spots, and fine lines is to wear sunscreen.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends an SPF of at least 30 because it blocks 97 percent of the sun’s damaging UVB rays. Apply sunscreen to your face and neck every morning before putting on your makeup, whether you’re spending the day indoors or outside. Remember to reapply every few hours to make sure your skin is always protected.

Add a Retinoid To Your Skincare Routine

If you’re an anti-aging veteran, your medicine cabinet is likely stocked with skincare products that promise to reduce wrinkles and give you a smooth, tight complexion. There is a huge variety of creams, for instance, that help moisturize the neck. Do they actually work? “In my experience,” says Dr. Paul, “the benefit of neck creams is quite limited.” Unless it contains a retinoid.

Retinoids, a class of ingredients that includes retinol, retinyl palmitate, and retinoic acid, can repair sun damage by reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, smoothing the skin texture, and evening the skin tone. They do it by boosting collagen production and stimulating cell turnover deep within the skin.

“Retinoids are potent, but they may be irritating,” says Dr. Paul. To minimize irritation, apply a retinoid to clean skin at night and wait a few minutes before layering on moisturizer. Because the skin on the neck is thinner than it is on the face, start with a small amount of retinoid and build up slowly. If you've never used one, a dermatologist can guide you in selecting the right product.

Shrink Your Double Chin

If you’re worried about a double chin, a non-invasive treatment called Kybella® could help restore the youthful neck you desire. Kybella® is a non-surgical treatment that involves a series of deoxycholic acid injections which target and destroy fat cells in the chin. There are no incisions with Kybella® and most patients experience minimal downtime.

While the acid in Kybella® does destroy fat cells, which are metabolized and eliminated by the body naturally, it won’t help with turkey neck. “Kybella® does not change the skin of the neck or laxity that may be present in the platysma,” Dr. Paul explains. To remove sagging skin after Kybella® treatment, a skin-tightening or surgical procedure may be necessary.

Reduce Wrinkles Caused By Aging and Sun Damage

We know Botox® works to reduce lines and wrinkles on the face. Similarly, Botox® can be injected into the submental area and jawline to give a “lift” to an aging neck. “Botox® may reduce vertical cording or banding on the neck that is caused by platysma muscle contraction,” says Dr. Paul. The treatment promotes a more youthful neck by relaxing the muscles that pull on the overlying skin and create wrinkles. The results of Botox® last between four and six months, and the treatment can be performed in as little as 15 minutes. It's best on vertical lines, though. Botox® will have little, if any, effect on horizontal lines which are formed on the neck through skin creasing.

Embrace Technology to Improve Sagging Skin

It can be challenging to treat sagging skin with topical products alone. At the same time, many patients are hesitant to go under the knife to correct loose neck skin. Luckily there are several professional skin tightening options that can give them the results they desire without surgery.

“Radiofrequency and ultrasound devices aim to tighten the neck with energy,” says Dr. Paul. The treatments have been shown to tighten loose neck skin by using energy to heat the skin and boosts the production of collagen and important proteins. However, Dr. Paul cautions that the effects of these devices is limited and patients may need multiple treatments to see results.

Go Under the Laser, Not the Knife

We know lasers can reduce unwanted hair and remove tattoos, but these incredible devices can also be used to rejuvenate the skin and promote a more youthful look. Laser resurfacing involves directing short, concentrated, pulsating beams of light at the face or neck to remove damaged skin layer by layer.

With laser resurfacing, “the goal is to improve lines, texture, and surface irregularities,” says Dr. Paul. There are two types of lasers commonly used in skin resurfacing: ablative CO2 lasers and non-ablative (fraxel) lasers. “There is more tightening with ablative lasers, though there is a higher risk of neck scarring,” Dr. Paul cautions. “Choose your laser doctor carefully.”

Try Intense Pulsed Light Therapy For Dark Spots

If you have dark spots on your neck, you’re looking at the results of sun damage. Luckily, you don’t have to live with age spots forever. Intense pulsed light therapy (IPL) is similar to a laser treatment in that it uses energy to treat wrinkles, dark spots, and sun damage. But it’s different because it releases many different wavelengths of light, so is more scattered and less targeted. During an IPL treatment, pigment in the skin absorbs the light, which is converted to heat. The heat then destroys the unwanted pigment to fade the appearance of red and brown spots. According to Dr. Paul, it may take between three and five IPL treatments to see results.

When Surgery is The Best Option

Non-invasive treatments can dramatically improve the appearance of a double chin and wrinkles, age spots, and fine lines on the neck. If you have loose or sagging skin, however, you might be best treated with surgery. Options for cosmetic neck surgery include liposuction of the neck to reduce fat or a neck lift to tighten the skin and muscle (platysmaplasty).

According to Dr. Paul, a neck lift in conjunction with a deep plane facelift is the gold standard in restoring a youthful neck and jawline. In this procedure, the deep tissues of the neck are dissected and supported to lift sagging skin on the neck and jowls. A deep plane face and neck lift is performed under general anesthesia in an operating room. The results are natural looking and can last up to 10 to 12 years.

Penelope Andersan is from the Content Partnerships Team of The AEDITION, an online publication created by new, aesthetic enhancement platform AEDIT. AEDIT is a next-generation, go-to source for anyone looking to continue or begin their medial aesthetic journey.

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