Honey On My Lips

My mom told me not to fret over my skin so much— it’s true I used to have really nice skin— now every time I get even a tiny mosquito bite it becomes a huge ugly red welt that itches crazy for a week or so, and then becomes dark brown, and takes forever and ever to go away :( so, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to wear shorts / miniskirts again.

But my mom told me she also developed that sort of sensitivity recently with her outdoor adventures, it’s pretty much the same thing I have. Perhaps it’s skin asthma of some sort. My lola has asthma and my cousins have skin asthma, my sister did too when she was younger.

My derma found it weird that my insect bites take so long to heal, but it looks like it’s just because my mom and I have the same kind of skin! Super allergic to any sort of insect bite.

Apparently, sometimes allergies just appear spontaneously and it’s hard to pinpoint a reason. Like, a friend of mine recently became suddenly and violently allergic to crustaceans, she’s in her mid-20s and she’s never been allergic to any food before. :(

:C sadness! It was such a good acne cure for me last year! And now…

I’ve been on Cetaphil-only regime since last month due to skin problems. Recovering alright; then last Sunday night decided to try and see if I could put tea tree oil on my face again (for zits). Big mistake!!! Got a major flare-up again =\ so I’m back to saline solution + Bactroban cream, which is what worked for me during my last flare-up. I guess this’ll take several days to sort out. My derma will be all “I told you so” tomorrow!

Lesson learned: Listening to my body.
I guess allergies can pop up any time; and the body undergoes changes that can be mysterious. Clearly, I’m to stick to Cetaphil only for my face for now. It doesn’t make much sense to me because I know Cetaphil’s got parabens in its ingredients! But if this is what my body is telling me… okay. Whatever you say.

For those of you who hear me say, “I don’t drink milk anymore because it causes pimples.” I want to explain why I’ve been telling this to people for the past several months.

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But first! An important disclaimer:

I am not a health professional of any sort, and have received no formal education in this field. I’m only sharing here what I’ve learned, and am learning, about what works for my own body, based on personal research and experimentation. Please remember that each body is different and what works for me may not work for you. Based on my own experiences, and those of others, I am confident in believing that the human body responds positively— enthusiastically!— to a good range of wholesome, natural foods (combined of course with proper exercise, rest, and a healthy spirit).

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Here’s my story. Most of you who know me well, know that I love milk. I love dairy in general. Anything cream, cheese, butter. Yum! So the whole “milk causes pimples” thing has been difficult for me to swallow. But, I love my skin (and my health) more, so I decided to try it. I stopped drinking fresh cow’s milk. After several months of not getting big and frequent pimples, and noticing that I do get a zit every time I eat or drink cow dairy products, I had to admit defeat. :C I did not want to believe it, but that’s what happened. So now I mostly avoid dairy. Sometimes it’s just really hard to pass up that ice cream or pizza, and I get a pimple the next day.

I must qualify that when I say “milk” and “dairy” here, I am referring in particular to processed (pasteurized and homogenized) milk products harvested from unhealthy unhappy cows (GMO corn-fed cows who are pumped full of antibiotics and RBGH). Let’s go through this one by one:

Antibiotics— Cows raised in “factory farms” are kept in dirty, crowded conditions, and they are not fed proper cow food (GMO corn is not proper cow food, they should be eating nice green grass). These cows would simply die if they weren’t injected full of antibiotics. The antibiotics keep them alive enough to keep producing milk, but not much else. Of course, this stuff gets into the cow’s milk. You know why doctors are supposed to be careful in prescribing antibiotics to humans, right? Antibiotics kill most, but not all, disease-causing organisms. The pathogens that survive become stronger and immune to those antibiotics. So stronger and stronger antibiotics are used to kill these; while stronger and stronger pathogens develop. Many farm workers, the people who are most highly exposed to these antibiotics, have already become so allergic to them that if ever they get sick in a way that needs antibiotics, they can’t be treated anymore. When you drink that milk, you expose yourself to that risk as well.

RBGH— Recombined Bovine Growth Hormone. Basically makes the cow’s udders bigger in order for them to produce unnaturally large quantities of milk. In fact, their udders grow so big that they often drag on the ground, and are constantly full of wounds, pus, bacteria, dirt, all of which goes into the milk of course! Synthetic hormones are generally risky… we just don’t really understand hormones very well yet. But we do know that a hormone-type chemical can cause big changes even in just tiny tiny doses. This totally makes sense to me - no wonder milk causes my pimples! It’s a hormone thing! Now, pimples are one thing— at least they’re external— but hormones are deeply involved in the way our bodies work; especially the reproductive system. I’ve read articles claiming that milk— processed milk from unnaturally-raised cows— has been linked to breast cancer and other problems related to the reproductive system. Again, makes sense to me after researching on RBGH.

GMO corn as cow feed— Cows are supposed to eat grass. That’s their natural food. The reason why factory farms feed them GMO corn is… kind of a long story… but basically, it’s cheap, easy, and it fattens them up real quick. But it’s no good for cows at all. It’s like fast food for humans… cheap, easy, fattens you up quick. (By the way, fast food for humans IS mostly made of GMO corn too!) It’s terrible for the health. The cows, who are already suffering from dirty and crowded conditions, are subjected to yet another factor that makes the overuse of antibiotics necessary just to keep them alive. And of course, garbage in, garbage out. The cow’s body can make milk out of that bad food, but it’s definitely bad milk.

Pasteurization and homogenization— If the cows were happy and healthy, they would produce clean and healthy milk that can be taken raw and would not need any processing for consumption. That raw milk would be a living, wonderful, healthy liquid full of good microorganisms and nutritional value! As it is, though, the milk from those unhappy unhealthy cows is just so sick and dirty and gross that you really have to process the crap out of it just to get it passable for human consumption. Any real nutritional value it could’ve had, is processed out as well of course.

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Don’t just take my word for it! I’ve just summarized for you the results of my personal research to explain those things above. I totally encourage you to do your own research, and to try and see if it works for you too. It is time-consuming to read up on all this, but do remember that you only get one body— you can’t replace it with a new one ever! So take good care of it and make informed decisions, because being healthy means being able to continue doing the activities you love. It’s not just for yourself. If you take good care of yourself, you’ll be able to better care for those you love, as well as set a good example. If you are a woman who plans to have children, then start being healthy as early as you can… your future baby’s health depends on your womb’s health which depends on your overall health. So I hope later you’ll check out the list I made at the bottom, giving you links and recommendations to further reading. :)

So does this mean goodbye to creamy and cheesy things forever? Nope, thank goodness there are other types of milk products available. I am talking about milk products that are non-processed (or are at least less processed), and come from happy healthy animals that are grass-fed and not injected with synthetic hormones or antibiotics. Due to the estrogen issue of soy products, I don’t want to recommend soy milk (or any unfermented soy product for that matter— breast cancer issues again— but that’s a whole other essay!) as an alternative milk. I would recommend milk products coming from goats, water buffalos (kalabaw), and almond nuts. If you can find a source for milk from happy healthy cows, that’s good too. Personally, I’ve mostly switched to kalabaw dairy because it’s so creamy, so yummy, and available so near me. Kesong puti yumyum! Goat milk’s a little harder to come by; almond milk even harder, and so expensive, but I must say it’s really yummy.

Where to get these wonderful kalabaw milk products?
I’ve made a Google Map of my sources in Metro Manila.
This Google Map is also my ongoing project for mapping sources of eco-friendly and organic goods.
If you have more sources, please do let me know about them and let’s share this info! :)
P.S. Arce Dairy ice cream (I swear I am not their official endorser I just really love their queso ice cream :P) is made from carabao milk, yay! Extra-creamy guilt-free goodness. Just check the ingredients label to make sure it really says “water buffalo” or “carabao” milk because I think some of their flavors are made from cow milk.

Where to get calcium if I choose not to drink any sort of milk at all?
I don’t really know much about this but try: malunggay (moringa), papaya, sesame seeds.

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Sources & Recommended Reading

Is Soda Pop or Milk Healthier?
A very comprehensive explanation of the true health value of real milk vs. that stuff that’s sold to us in cartons in supermarkets. (If you’ll be drinking that stuff, you might as well be drinking soda.)

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan (Book)
What should I have for dinner? Where does my food come from? Who makes it, and how? What’s in it? Is it good for me?
And why does it require scientists, investigative journalists, and healthcare professionals to answer such basic questions?
This is an excellent book for exploring food, and humankind’s relationship with food. A wealth of info for the majority of us living in utter disconnect with the sources of our food— we don’t anymore see where it comes from and how it gets to us, and what things happen along the way. I learned a lot about the GMO corn and soy industry and “factory farms” here.
* Also see documentary film, “Food, Inc.” narrated by this same author.

The Meatrix
“What is the meatrix? It is the story we tell ourselves about where our meat and animal products come from… a fantasy”
Fun short animated cartoon films summarizing life on the factory farm, and why this is bad for both animals and humans. Those pictures of clean farms with happy cows, on the packaging of meat and milk products? An illusion. Take the red pill and discover the truth. :)

Milk: Healthy or Not?
I think the comments here are more interesting than the post itself. :)

http://www.drlam.com/opinion/soyandestrogen.asp
http://www.naturalnews.com/022630_soy_food_products.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/026294_Silk_soy_milk.html
http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/everyone/question/soy.jsp
Basically, this is why I stopped drinking soy milk and eating tofu. I’ll have to write another piece on it, but here are a couple of links to start with.

http://www.agribusinessweek.com/carabaos-milk-the-most-complete-food/
I haven’t really find much on carabao’s milk :) help me out if you know more.

http://www.suite101.com/content/alternative-calcium-sources-a15861
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/milk-alternatives-easy-greening.html#
Alternative sources of calcium. Help me out if you know more :)

I’m pretty happy with my skin now. Pimples are small, few, and far in between. I’ve found that it’s a combination of diet, exercise, and organic skincare products. Here’s what I do, that works well for me:

DIET:
- more veggies and fruits
- more seafood than other types of meat
- avoid junk food and fast food
- avoid cow dairy * this seems to be the crucial point. I’ve stopped drinking fresh cow milk and ever since then, I stopped getting big pimples! I drink carabao milk instead. :)
- fresh buko juice and meat every day
- avoid white stuff (rice, bread, sugar); consume the brown versions instead

EXERCISE:
- I’m doing at least half an hour on the treadmill every day, plus at least ten minutes of stretching.

ORGANIC SKINCARE PRODUCTS:
- facial wash, facial scrub, facial toner, facial moisturizer all by human ❤ nature. I cannot stress how lovely the facial scrub is! It really helps clear my oily T-zone. :)
- body soap - I like to try various scents by various brands, as long as they’re organic
- Giga Tea Tree Oil - I use this *every* day on my T-zone, and dab a bit on other areas if they get pimples.
- Virgin Coconut Oil - for rashes and any other skin problems. This is a cure-all! :)
- AllOrganics natural deodorant spray - works totally well, even with gym usage! This is great because commercial deodorants carry the risk of breast cancer. =\

And of course, I avoid wearing all makeup. If I want to look a little rosy, I just put on a little blush and that’s it. Any more is reserved for special occasions / nights out.

A ceasefire from my breakouts!

At the moment I’m not using much on my face… basic organic cleanser, toner, and moisturizer.

Also avoiding makeup as much as possible.
When I do use makeup, I just put on moisturizer, and then face powder to cover blemishes… no foundation, and I don’t like to cover the whole area with powder. This makes it look fresh and a little luminous too. I can still put on thick cat eyeliner with that, if I so desire.

I’ve found that tea tree oil works incredibly well in warding off zits. ❤

On a sadder note, I think milk causes or aggravates my breakouts so I’ve stopped drinking milk. Ice cream or cheese or butter or other dairy products don’t seem to have any effect on my skin. But nice cold creamy milk itself… ahh goodbye for now. :c

My theory is, my skin won’t fully recover until I get diligent with schoolwork. :P I noticed that ever since I got really lazy in school, my skin got worse.

Dear skin, these are tough times for you but we’ll get through it together. We can do it. You’re recovering now— stay healthy! xoxo

Works better for my skin problems, compared to VCO :D so I figured. Tea tree oil is for fixing skin problems; VCO is for soothing the skin.

Bought at the palengke today:
1 kilo large shrimp, P500
1 kilo small squid, P200
1 kilo kamote (sweet potato), P40
4 fresh buko (coconut), P72
2 bundles kangkong, P12

Bought at the organic market:
Organic eggs, P10 each

Shrimp and squid’s good for one month. Kamote maybe 2 weeks. Coconut’s only good within the day, and kangkong within 3 days. Eggs, maybe 10 every week.

Since I’m sourcing almost all my food from the palengke and the organic market, and I’m using organic personal care products, I no longer need to buy a lot of things from the supermarket. Also, I’m no longer buying milk (both cow and soy).

Current supermarket shopping list:
Monggo beans (not available today at palengke)
Butter (I still really like regular butter for cooking eggs in)
Herbal toothpaste (so happy to find this in the supermarket)
Facial tissue paper
Toilet paper
Sanitary napkins and liners

Personal care products (not available at supermarket):
Organic soaps, shampoo & conditioner
Organic facial cleanser and toner
Organic lip balm
Virgin coconut oil as skin moisturizer, blemish remover, & underarm deodorant

This is a small step, and far from perfect, but still an improvement. So my rule is, I have to try hard to eat “greener” (organic, sustainable, local, fresh, healthy), at home. Outside home I can still eat what I like. Otherwise I might go crazy missing all the junk food I used to eat and do a fast food binge. :P

Woke up today to find my stye gone and my zits drying up. Normally this’d take me 5-7 days.
VCO = 1
blemishes = 0
:D