Whether you are looking for quick fat/weight-loss or trying to make yourself look more youthful, there is no one treatment that will immediately do this. You need to be in it for the long haul. Even with surgery and injectables - yes there are some quick results - you still need to employ long-term care of your skin and the health of your body for ideal healing and the best natural looking outcome. 

Want better skin?  Then a plan that includes an in spa skin program where you can have controlled but more aggressive treatments, combined with home care and the tried and true basics.

Want a good body?  You need to pick up the weights, start moving your body and change your eating habits. It’s a process.

I was actually glad to see Linda Evangelista come out with her experience as it is something many of my clients have already  been through when trying supposed fat melting procedures. Here is a woman with access to the best trainers and personal chefs. Yet she still chose to have a treatment that according to her has left her disfigured.

​Uneven dents due to CoolSculpting are quite common. I have seen it in numerous clients. Liposuction as well can leave bumps and bulges and some of the fat removal systems that utilize heat and cold can cause nerve damage. ​

What does work? Nutrition and fitness and  time. 
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But those are not the only reasons for opting out of permanent fat removal -  gaining weight even minor amounts less than 5 lbs can show up near the area you had the fat removed. It seems those fat cells that are left near removal sites increase in size often leaving  the area looking worse than prior to the treatment.  Recent studies show  that in most cases all fat returns after a year. In some cases the fat comes back as visceral fat - the more dangerous type that wraps around your internal organs.

If you still choose one of the these methods please be aware they are not for weight loss and anyone with significant weight to lose should not even consider them. They are designed for specific fat  site removal - side effects and all. ​

I could write for hours on the many reasons promises of instantly turning back the clock often results in disaster, from too much filler to fat removal, to not taking the time to search out trained professionals for treatments. Simply said, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If you are going to try something that you are not sure about,  research it, work with someone who has performed many procedures, understand the risks and start small.

I had to go directly out to dinner and needless to say looked a bit strange. My face was both shiny and sticky with a few bonus blood droplets. But nobody commented, maybe because my dinner partner who had a plasma treatment a few days earlier looked even stranger 😉.

I was told I needed to leave it on for 4 hours or overnight and use a clean disposable sponge or clean hands to apply makeup for the next couple of days. No direct acids, scrubs or retinols.

​That evening I decided adding a towel to my pillow was a good idea and in the morning was glad I did. 

There is a lot of talk today about turmeric and it's potential health benefits. With every trend, I like to take a step back and go to the science to separate the hype from the facts. I gave turmeric a solid skeptical hippo gaze, and here's what I found out.

Turmeric is a spice that has been used in India for centuries.  It gives curry that beautiful yellow color and adds the flavor that is distinctive to many East Asian dishes. It has recently been hailed as an antioxidant that reduces inflammation and provides relief for a whole host of ailments. 

The active ingredient that provides the benefits is curcumin. Unfortunately, there is only about 3% curcumin in turmeric, making it virtually impossible to get the healing benefits from just turmeric alone. You just couldn't consume enough of it to hit a meaningful therapeutic threshold. Curcumin is also very poorly absorbed in the bloodstream, so you need to combine it with piperine - which is found in black pepper.  Once those two get together, their absorption rate can go up as high as 2,000% over just taking curcumin alone. Knowing this, taking turmeric is pretty pointless.

Now that we know turmeric won't give us all the benefits the mob is telling us, what is curcumin good for? 

1 - It's a proven anti-inflammatory  that in some tests proves as potent as a pharmaceutical agent

2 - It increases your anti-oxidant capacity - and getting rid of those free radicals is always a good thing

3 - In your brain, there is a hormone called "Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor" (BDNF) - This hormone helps create the pathways for neural activity - which happens in childhood.  Studies show that curcumin can increase your BDNF levels, and put those pathway crews back to work.  It can help repair and potentially slow some of the aging processes in the brain.  Amazing.

4 - Heart Disease is a killer - and curcumin works to improve the function of the lining of the blood vessels.  When the lining isn't functioning properly, the negative impact of heart disease can accelerate rapidly.  Combine better function with reduced inflammation and you are on your way to a happier heart.

The list truly goes on and on.  When I turned my hippo gaze  deeper into my bowl of curry, I found the answer was not turmeric, but curcumin.  Remember, curcumin alone is not enough - it needs piperine or you will literally be flushing your supplements down the toilet.

When the hype tells you to take turmeric, get on some curcumin with piperine - and keep the spices in the kitchen.  Hey - don't be sad turmeric - being delicious is a big benefit too....

I wanted to share an article I wrote for a trade magazine.  It will give you a little insight into my business philosophy and give you a look inside what makes S-Team work.  Click the link below...