Warmer weather means you might be showing a little more skin—and thinking a little more about protecting your skin from wrinkles with wide-brimmed hats and sunscreen. And, yes, sun can cause your skin to wrinkle, and sunscreen is a must, but a year-round diet of anti-inflammatory food can help your skin—and your overall good looks—even more.

Inflammation is the primary cause of wrinkles, and the reason why you lose your youthful good looks. But inflammation can be controlled by the foods you eat and how you prepare them: Controlling inflammatory foods in your diet starts with avoiding simple starches and sugars and eating more anti- oxidant-rich whole foods, healthy fats and protein. The best and easiest way to start incorporating these foods into your diet is with delicious whole food beverages like smoothies. According to Kat James, best selling author of "The Truth About Beauty", a regular dose of dark green vegetable juice can really give your body and skin a beautifying boost.

Kat makes her lower-sugar, more fibrous Beauty Detox Elixir (see below) in the Vitamix 5200 to liberate the nutrients that are locked in the cell walls and seeds of the produce. Green drinks like Kat's elixir are super-alkalizing and rich in healing enzymes and chlorophyll, which has been shown in studies to help carry pollutants out of the body. These drinks are not bland, bitter or boring. Other exceptional nutritional benefits of the the foods featured in her elixir are outlined below:

Aloe Juice - Aloe helps improve circulation, regulates blood pressure, promotes healing in the joints and strengthens the immune system. Aloe also heals internal tissue damage, helps regulate blood sugar and aids digestion.

Fresh parsley - Parsley contains volatile oils that are true detoxifiers. Parsley has been shown to help inhibit tumor formation, especially in the lungs.

Red cabbage - Red cabbage has been shown to help ulcers and stomach conditions. Other studies have shown that beets may help reduce the plaque build-up in the brain that causes Alzheimer's disease.

Kale - Dark bitter greens like kale are essential to bone health and blood health. A potent detoxifier, kale helps stimulate the liver and the high concentration of sulforaphane may help reduce the risk of several cancers.

Ginger - Ginger is an anti-inlammatory that improves digestion, circulation and may also ease arthritis pain.

Lemon - Lemon is a great skin purifier because it alkalizes the body. Lemon can also ease heartburn, bloating and other digestive problems. Lemon contains calcium, magnesium and potassium and cleanses the liver and kidneys.

Beet - Beets are natural internal cleansers that helps remove toxins from the body and nourish the bloodstream.

Cayenne or Jalapeno Peppers - Capsaicin is what makes these peppers hot and it has also been shown to impede cancer cell formation.

Stevia and Xylitol - Two natural sweeteners with unique benefits: Stevia tastes much sweeter than sugar and has actually been found to stabilize blood sugar levels. Xylitol has about the same sweetness as sugar, yet may actually help prevent tooth decay.

OPTIONAL “WILD” VARIATIONS:
Try experimenting with exotic berries like acai—and you might even try cocoa for a real flavor twist coupled with anti-wrinkle power.  Both of these options offer anti-inflammatory and sun damage-inhibiting flavonoids.

Kat also recommends upgrading drinks with a nutritional oil such as virgin coconut oil or hempseed oil, and a high quality, highly-digestible protein such as whey or hemp. Healthy oil and protein increase the nutritional benefit to your skin and takes your drink to the level of a smooth, sweet-tasting meal replacement.

Doreen's Testimonial

Doreen C., Spring 2008 Total Transformation® 2-Day Weekend, and Mastery TelePrograms "Since Kat’s program, the operative word from my family and friends is that I have recaptured my ‘glow.’ When we took these “after” pictures, I welled up with tears when I first saw them because I am seeing something in my face that I thought I’d lost long ago. My face has changed dramatically as have my energy and moods. My skintone is even different. Kat says it is from the plant pigments I’m consuming in my detox elixirs from her program. I am also sated by absurdly smaller amounts of food these days, not because I am trying to be 'good' but because my body just knows when it has finally been deeply nourished! My behind is smaller, my legs and arms are firmer. My husband, Patrick, hid the scale at Kat’s bidding, so that I will just keep my focus on improving my health. My favorite part about eating this way is the effect that it has on Patrick, who no longer falls asleep after dinner (life just got more interesting!)....

Winning the Vitamix at the end of Kat’s Syracuse program was an incredible stroke of luck for us. We don’t know how we existed without it. Between the ice creams we make on a whim, to being able to powder the xylitol we use every day as a sweetener (make it go much further and eliminates grit), to getting every bit of nutrition from the seeded fruits in our green smoothies, we use it constantly!”

Recipe for: Kat’s Beauty Detox Elixir With "Wild" Variations

Made in the Vitamix 5200, Kat’s recipe liberates nutrients from the cells and seeds of whole foods that promote great skin and the glow of natural beauty from within. Her “whole” juice elixir is low in natural sugar and high in food fiber.

1 cup cold water or aloe juice
1/3 cup of fresh parsley
1 ¾” wedge of red cabbage
½ cup of fresh dark, bitter greens
1” piece of ginger, peeled
½ lemon, scrubbed but not peeled
½ small beet Pinch of cayenne or ¼” slice of small jalapeno pepper
Smart sweetener
1 cup of ice

Place all ingredients in the Vitamix container in the order listed, with water up to half the level of the ingredients. Run the machine in HIGH for 15 seconds, then taste to make any sweetener adjustments and add the rest of the water.

Yields 2 10-ounce servings