Is Spray Tanning & Tanning Booths Dangerous?

Lately you’ve been hearing on the news and reading about how unhealthy spray tanning can be. The Food and Drug Administration has long advised spray tan users to be careful in the booths because inhaling or ingesting DHA (dihydroxyacetone) can be harmful.

Back in the late 50s, designer Coco Chanel made tanning chic. That’s when sun-kissed skin was considered as a sign of wealth and class, you were one of the fabulous people. Actor George Hamilton was another public figure known for having bronze skin. However, misinformed people were led to believe that laying in the sun was not good. When you take precautions such as using sunscreen, tanning can be okay. We all need our vitamin D and the sun can give us the best form of it. Once people heard sun tanning can cause Cancer, people started looking for alternative ways to have sun kissed skin without the sun.

In 1977, the FDA approved dihydroxyacetone (DHA) for bronzers intended to be used for topical application only. The FDA did not specifically approve its use in spray tanning booths. Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is a color additive that darkens your skin by reacting with amino acids in the surface layer of your skin and is abbreviated as DHA. (Please do not confuse dihydroxyacetone, (DHA) with the healthy DHA omega-3 fat). In the 1980s, alternatives to getting that glowing healthy tanned skin were introduced to the public. If you’re old enough to remember the first self-tanners on the market left you looking like a carrot, followed by several number of lotions, sprays, creams and eventually spray tanning booths.

The spray tan solution DHA, contains lead, mercury and arsenic. Lead is known to affect brain development. The Food and Drug Administration says consumers should avoid spray tan exposure to their eyes, ears, nose, lips and all parts of the body covered by mucus membrane. When you spray tan you expose your entire body to a very fine mist of DHA tanning solution. This solution can also enter your bloodstream and affect your organs, and cause Cancer or birth defects. Some of the adverse reactions from spray tanning received by the FDA from consumers include rashes, coughing, dizziness, and fainting.

There are healthy alternatives out there that you can use that are safer than spray tanning booths. Chocolate Sun and Lavera are two of them that use DHA derived from sugar beets. The difference between DHA from sugar beets and those found in spray tanning salons is that it is naturally derived. Chocolate Sun is a natural & organic based, sunless tanning solution that also includes antioxidant vitamins, minerals and essential oils to condition the skin. Lavera also uses DHA derived from sugar beets, organic macadamia nut, organic jojoba oil, organic soy and organic sunflower oil. You can purchase Chocolate sun at http://www.spiritbeautylounge.com/chocolate-sun-absolute-sun.html and you can purchase Lavera at http://www.lavera.com/products/Self_Tanner_Sunless_Tanning_Lotion-1034-1000015.html

Don’t rule out traditional sun bathing. We all need our vitamin D from the sun and traditional sun tanning when using a good sun screen will give you the healthy dose of vitamin D that only the sun can provide.

The K-E Diet: Weight Loss Insanity!

The K-E diet ( Ketogenic Enternal Nutriton) has become the biggest rave with brides to be who want to lose weight for the big day, but at what cost. The K-E diet was brought to the U.S. by Dr. Oliver Di Pietro from Italy. The diet is unlike any other diet I ever heard of. The diet involves inserting a feeding tube (nasogastric) into the patient’s nose that runs through the esophagus and into the stomach and stays inserted for a period of 10 days. Before beginning the diet the patient is screened in order to participate. The patients on this diet are monitored with urine and blood test during the 10 day cycle of the diet. The patient carries the solution in a small bag that resembles a purse which runs through the tube. The solution contains 800 calories that consists of only fat and protein, no carbs or sugar. This diet forces your body to go into Ketosis, which means your body goes into emergency or starvation mode. As a nutritional health coach I wouldn’t advise anyone considering doing this type of diet.

Although this diet will result in some weight loss, the weight loss comes from water and muscle mass, instead of fat. The weight you lose will return as fat rather than muscle causing the patient to gain double or triple amount of weight after the diet is over. Aside from being costly, going rate for this diet is $1,500.00. The feeding tube diet can be extremely harmful, there are numerous risk associated with having a feeding tube down your throat when it is not medically necessary.

Some of the risks are lung and septum damage, headache, perforated throat, dehydration, problems with your kidneys due to the shortage of electrolytes, insertion trauma, GI bleeding, fatigue, esophagus stricture (tight narrowing from scarring on the esophagus) as well as a risk for pneumonia. Those with diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease or any chronic disease should not try this diet.

Losing weight too fast is not the way to permanent weight loss. Fad diets don’t work! Some can be dangerous and in the end you will gain more weight than you initially had. It seems absurd to do the K-E diet for a one day event. Most brides have enough time before their wedding day to lose those extra pounds in a healthy way. There are no magic pills, potions or diets to help you lose weight. Diets like the K-E diet are a reflection of how desperate people are to lose weight and how more education and information needs to be given to the public about healthy eating, weight lost, and physical activity. The best and healthiest way to lose weight is to eat healthy high nutrient dense foods, exercise and create a healthy lifestyle that will last a lifetime. This will keep the weight off and maintain your desired weight.

Free Fueling for Fitness Workshop

Not getting the results you want from your workouts? Are you confused about what to eat before you run, bike or lift weights? How about the best way to refuel after your workout? Learn to separate myth from muscle at the free Fueling for Fitness workshop.

Join Yvette Laboy, holistic nutritional health, wellness and transformational coach, on June 7th at 7pm ET. for the Fueling for Fitness workshop and discover what to eat in order to get maximum results from your workout. The workshop is being sponsored by Go natural Health Food store and Juice Bar, which is owned by Phil and Nancy Valenti. Yvette will teach you how to plan your meals and snacks around your exercise schedule, to help you reach your fitness goals. You’ll also learn which foods are “energy boosters” that will keep you burning fat throughout your workout. Most importantly, you’ll hear which foods might be sabotaging your best efforts, and what you should be eating instead. (This might surprise you!)

The Fueling for Fitness workshop is highly engaging and offers participants a chance to ask questions about their personal exercise routines and food concerns. As an added bonus, you’ll receive a step-by-step action plan for fueling and refueling your workouts.

If your workouts have reached a plateau no matter how often you exercise, it could be how, what and when you’re eating. Workshop will be held at 43-12 46th Street Sunnyside, NY 11104 (All Saints Church) Thursday June 7th at 7pm ET. No need to sign up, just show up to workshop location and learn about Fueling for Fitness. For more information about the Fueling for Fitness workshop, please visit www.inspiredwellness.org or call 718-781-5406.