Flax for Beauty
Everyone’s always looking for the next beauty trend. Something to make your skin brighter, hair stronger and teeth cleaner.
If you’re anything like me, you want all these things, but you want to get them through natural means. Sometimes that’s not always an easy task. Many beauty products that are meant to improve your skin, hair and teeth have chemical additives that are hard on your body.
The good news is, there are some great alternatives to those products.
One of those alternatives is a catch-all item that can help improve the overall health quality of your skin, hair, teeth and more. I’m talking about flaxseed.
Flaxseeds are chock-full of important nutrients your body will thank you for, like fiber and theomega–3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The nutrients found in flaxseeds can aid with a number of health issues. Check out our Benefits of Flax blog post to learn more about the numerous benefits that can come from flaxseed consumption.
In terms of beauty benefits, a little flaxseed can go a long way. Not to mention that for those who are vegan or vegetarian, using flaxseeds are a terrific beauty option that keep you away from any animal-related goods.
Flax for healthier, happier skin
Your skin is your body’s largest organ, so it’s important you take care of it. For hydrated, youthful and brighter skin, flaxseed is a great place to start.
If you’ve been suffering from dry skin, Bustle says the omega–3s found in flaxseed oil provides hydration when applied topically, locking in moisture and preventing water loss.
According to dermatologist Dr. Jeffrey Benabio on The Derm Blog, foods that are high in omega–3s help protect the skin from the inside out by increasing natural oils that are secreted through your skin’s surface, keeping your skin soft and preventing dryness while protecting it from irritants.
The SRoom explains that these beneficial “facial oils protect the skin by strengthening and maintaining its lipid barrier, blocking external influences such as extreme temperatures, over-cleansing, low humidity, sickness and travel. Strengthening this lipid barrier also accelerates the skin’s natural healing and repairing process.”
When people hear about this increase in natural oil on their skin’s surface, particularly on the face, they tend to shy away for fear that oil could make the condition of their skin worse. Don’t stress! Some oils are important for your skin’s health.
Even with this increase in protective natural oils, flaxseed can actually help combat oily-looking skin, which is the concern when it comes to hearing about the increase in skin oil.
According to beautyglimpse.com, flaxseed keeps the hydration that makes your skin look healthy while thinning down the sebum in your skin, which is what usually gives skin the shiny, oily look most want to avoid. Trapped excess sebum can also lead to breakouts.
Livestrong.com suggests that dry skin can lead to a variety of skin conditions, such as psoriasis, eczema and signs of aging. Bustle says using flax oil topically could help those suffering from moderate acne, rosacea, acne scars and even general skin rashes.
Flaxseeds possess anti-inflammatory properties which often soothe patches of irritated skin. Herbwisdom.com tells us that “the essential fatty acids in flaxseed oil are largely responsible for its skin-healing powers. Red, itchy patches of eczema, psoriasis and rosacea often respond to the EFA’s anti-inflammatory actions and overall skin-soothing properties. Sunburned skin may heal faster when treated with the oil as well.”
The hydrating properties of flax also aid in the anti-aging process as beautyglimpse.com points out, because good skin hydration prevents the onset of wrinkles and fine lines.
Skin improvement is just the start of the benefits that flax can bring to your body.
Flax for longer, stronger hair
Your hair can often provide a glimpse into your overall health. Healthy hair often represents decent overall health and people definitely notice the difference between strong, shiny locks and weak, lackluster strands.
There are a number of ways that flax can positively impact your overall hair health.
For starters, One Green Planet suggests that “massaging flax oil onto your hair and onto your scalp once a week or as needed can relieve dandruff and itching.”
The calming of scalp irritants is just scratching the surface of what this seed can do. One Green Planet also suggests that treating your hair with flax oil can help the hair maintain its moisture and create healthier follicles.
Flaxseeds are rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, one of which is vitamin E. Vitamin E is an effective tool for hair growth.
According to All Remedies, “by providing the required nutrition to your scalp and your hair, flaxseed expedites the growth of your hair. Moreover, omega 3 fatty acids found in flaxseed can boost the elasticity of your hair. As a result, it prevents hair breakage.”
Vitamin E, according to The Health Site, helps prevent those annoying split ends and even the premature greying of hair.
Not only will eating flaxseed and using it topically give you the long, strong and healthy hair you’re looking for, but it will also help you keep it that way.
GuideDoc says that one of the leading sources of baldness is dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. ALA, found in flaxseed, works to block the enzyme in the body that creates DHT. “By preventing DHT from shrinking hair follicles, flax seed helps ensure continued growth.”
Flax for stronger, whiter teeth
Your teeth are the first thing someone notices when you flash them a smile.
A healthy mouth is important for keeping those pearly whites intact and preventing a number of different mouth problems that can creep their way into your gums.
According to Delta Dental, the omega-3 fatty acid that’s found within flaxseed which acts as a strong anti-inflammatory can prevent against gum disease.
SaveOurBones explains an unexpected benefit that seeds have on your teeth.
“When it comes to whitening teeth, all nuts and seeds have an abrasive quality when chewed. This acts like a scrub brush on your teeth, removing plaque and stains.”
They further go on to explain that flaxseeds are an excellent source of calcium, magnesium and zinc, which are all great minerals for tooth health.
In terms of flaxseed oil, there’s the option of oil pulling. Oil pulling is a complex option for dental health, with both pros and cons.
Those who practice oil pulling have reported whiter teeth, fresher breath and mouths that feel much cleaner due to the fact that oil pulling actually pulls the bacteria out of your mouth.
While it sounds like there aren’t any negatives to oil pulling, upon further research it’s clear that oil pulling regularly actually pulls out all of the bacteria from your mouth, including the good bacteria that is necessary for the overall health of your mouth.
If you have an infection in your mouth, oil pulling may be beneficial, but regular, long-term oil pulling may have negative effects.
For more information on oil pulling, check out our Surprise your Dentist with Healthier Teeth blog posts, parts one and two.
How should I take it?
To benefit your body inside and out and to get the full benefits of flaxseed, there’s a number of ways to ingest and apply flaxseed to your body.
Applying topically, for hair and skin benefits, while also ingesting flaxseed for teeth and other health benefits will allow you to reap the full realm of benefits flaxseed has to offer. We also recommend taking it both in oil and ground form, in order to benefit from the minerals, vitamins and all nutrients found in the seed.
We suggest ground flaxseed rather than whole seed due to the fact that the seeds are too hard and tiny for your system to digest before they pass right through you, which means your body won’t absorb any of the seeds’ nutritional compounds. If you want the benefits of the seed that you lose in the oil, the ground option is your best bet.
In terms of oil, proper pressing is extremely important. Flaxseed oil can easily go rancid if pressed and stored improperly and rancid flaxseed oil won’t help your health. In fact, it can be harmful.
For the best flaxseed oil you can buy, check out Perfect Press® Flax Oil. Our oil is pressed with Perfect Press Technology and sealed in a UV-protective Miron glass bottle to prevent rancidity and keep your flax oil in perfect condition.
Related Links:
https://draxe.com/nutrition/flaxseed-oil-benefits/
https://www.bustle.com/articles/56520-these-flax-seed-benefits-for-hair-and-skin-are-the-perfect-way-for-vegetarians-to-get
http://www.healthbeckon.com/flax-seeds-benefits/
http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/5-amazing-beauty-facts-about-flax-seeds/#gref
http://www.beautyandtheboutique.tv/why-our-wrinkles-need-flaxseed-oil/
http://beautymunsta.com/flaxseed-face-mask-for-beautiful-skin-vegan-face-mask-secrets/
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