Hangover vs. Beauty: instant tricks to look and feel better

 So your beauty detox diet took a night off...don't worry, you can get back 

on track to healthy eating, shift that hangover and get back to Ultra Beautiful 

in no time. Read below for the best hangover cures...

Splitting headache, nausea, bags under your eyes the size of a Samsonite luggage suite: yep, you overdid the booze last night. After swearing you'll never EVER drink alcohol again, you want to do something, anything, to help you look and feel better - especially if languishing in bed for the whole day is out of the question. 
Follow the steps below as soon as you wake up. They will help settle your tummy, shake off the vice around your skull, and put a rosy glow in your cheeks so that when you get to work you can innocently say, 'Out last night? Me?'

Quick plug - sorry - please follow me on Twitter +Ultra Skin Beauty  and sign up to this blog by putting in your email address in the box at the top of this page!  Oh and click on the Google+ sign to the left.  I would LOVE to get more followers!  Thanks very much!

1. DRINK THIS

Water and lemon

Lemon water is the first thing to get you back on the beauty detox diet,
and is an easy part of the healthy eating plan for glowing skin

H2O is a must. As you likely know from the frequent trips to the bathroom during a night of debauchery, alcohol is a diuretic and causes dehydration. This adds up to a grey, puffy complexion and a thumping headache as your blood literally thickens from the lack of moisture. A tall glass of water with a squeeze of lemon or dash of orange juice will replace that lost moisture in your skin, and the hit of vitamin C will perk up your complexion. Don't overdo it - drinking pints of water won't work any faster, and will shock your jaded stomach. Tempting though it is, skip the cappuccino calling your name - the caffeine will give you five minutes of energy, after which you'll be left with a trembly, anxious feeling, rather than the balanced composure we are aiming for. 

2. EAT THIS
After hydration, your skin needs nutrients to replenish those lost during the night, to reduce puffiness and restore peachy glow. 
Ever wondered why you feel sad, confused and depressed after a night on the booze? That's because alcohol leaches B vitamins from your body, ransacking stores of these vital nutrients leaving you deficient. 
The eight B vitamins work together to manage your mood, feelings and stress levels, so it's no wonder that a sudden drop results in those morning-after blues. 

The best thing to do is take a supplement, which will have super high potency for fast replacement - Solgar is my favourite but Berocca works too and both will turn your pee a pleasant orange colour. Even better, take one a day during the party season. 

Without a cupboard full of pills though, your best bet is to eat Marmite - a rich source of the vitamin B complex. As an added benefit, Marmite has a high sodium content which can help replace the salts lost through alcohol.

Eat bananas: Calm your stomach and get an energy boost

Bananas are a classic hangover food. They are packed with potassium and magnesium, two of the minerals often depleted in our bodies after a night on the fizz. A lack of potassium in the body can lead to nausea, weakness and tiredness, so stocking up on bananas can help reduce these classic hangover symptoms. As an added bonus, bananas are natural antacids so great for reducing stomach acid, and are good for providing a boost of energy if you have a busy day ahead.

What's with the shakes?

You feel shaky after drinking because your alcohol makes your blood sugar levels plunge so low that without food, your body has to release adrenaline into the blood stream to break down fats to provide energy. That adrenaline disturbs what little sleep you had tried to get, and makes you feel panicky and trembly when you awake. 

Solution: stodge

Slow release, carb-rich foods stop that shaky feeling by giving cells much-needed energy to function and work at clearing the toxins alcohol left behind. Porridge is the food of choice: rich in our pals the B vitamins, magnesium, calcium and iron; and on top of this, oats can help neutralise acidity levels in the body, cleanse the liver, absorb toxins and slowly raise blood sugar levels, making a bowl of porridge the perfect hangover breakfast. Otherwise, gluten free muesli with almond milk or a baked potato with beans are perfect. Don't worry about the time of day - just choose whatever you feel like best. Eating something warm and nutritious will make you feel immeasurably better. 

Other hangover busters are...

Eggs: Incredible, edible toxin destroyers, eggs pack heavy loads of cysteine, an amino acid that can break down toxins. Plus, eggs are high in B vitamins.

Coconut water: A low-sugar coconut water contains just as many electrolytes as Gatorade.

Soup: The salt and potassium help bring body levels back to normal. The sneaky benefit is that saltiness makes you thirst, meaning that you're forced to glug more water.

3. BEAUTIFY

Ok, so we've done the groundwork with the food, so you should already be starting to perk up. Looking in the mirror though, it may be clear that you still look like the sorry mess that you woke up as. It's time to turn that around, if only to avoid the sniggering 'Good night last night?' wink-wink comments that are bound to come your way when you venture out of the house. 

First, get into the shower, bathtub or whatever water based feature you can handle. Having greasy hair even on a good day makes me feel semi-homeless, so if you've got time, do a shampoo and condition. If not, or you don't have access to your usual products (we won't ask why), spray dry shampoo, shake a sprinkling of talcum powder or rub face powder into the roots - both act to absorb the oil.

Dry shampoo or talc can save hungover hair!

Getting dressed - choose kind colours like pink and cream which will reflect nice warming tones onto your skin, instead of pallid greens and black. 

Fill the sink with cold water, add as many ice cubes from the freezer as you've got - frozen peas will do too - and dunk your face into the freezing cold ice spa you've created. Hold as long as you can stop breathing for, lift out, and repeat five times. The coldness makes your red eyes appear whiter, the puffiness go down, and will put colour back into your cheeks.

After a thin layer of moisturiser, don't be tempted to put concealer under your eyes. It will turn into a crinkly, flaky mess. The same with mascara - less is more. Think of today as your chance to try the au naturel look. 

Last point, if you've done anything at a work party you're less than proud of: Get. Into. Work. Take a taxi, arrive late, do whatever it takes to get your bum on that desk chair. It is the number one thing you can do for damage control and limit the gossip, however excruciating it may seem. At the end of the day you can retreat home to the sofa, pile on a face pack and swear off booze...until next time..

Ahh the sofa.. grab some beauty detox diet snacks and relax...

Supercharge your body: Gluten free diet for athletes

Can going gluten free boost athletic performance?

Djokavic loses the gluten and gains some abs: The Ultra Beauty detox
diet plan hows you why healthy eating begins with the right choice of carbs

For radiant skin and a smoking hot body, we at Ultra Beauty mainly eat gluten-free grains. For exercise though, we’re often told to eat wholewheat sandwiches or pasta to get those carbs in - so how do you make the switch to gluten-free alternatives?  Whether you’re intolerant to wheat or just want to perfect your skin, lose weight and increase your concentration and mood, choosing gluten-free options to wheat, barley and rye can have real benefits.  

The science between gluten free and enhanced performance 

Read this for more info on why GF grains are best for optimum beauty and health

It seems that going gluten-free can really help athletic performance as well as natural beauty:  Novak Djokovic became the top tennis player in the world after giving up gluten. Djokovic claims that going gluten-free gave him more energy, sharper focus, and an improvement in the asthma that had compromised his ability to win long matches.

For optimum performance in sports, it’s logical that if a gluten-sensitive athlete is experiencing fatigue, lack of mental focus, and other symptoms, such as stomach and joint pains, that he or she is likely to perform better gluten-free. But even if you're not gluten-sensitive, going gluten free may give you an energy jolt, since the body utilizes extra energy to digest gluten, which can detract from your performance and just generally slow you down.

Here are some good alternatives to that wholewheat sandwich:

Soba Noodles. These Asian noodles are made from buckwheat, which despite its name, is not a type of wheat and does not contain gluten but does contain a hit of vitamins and minerals. They're a great alternative to traditional wheat pasta. Check the ingredients of your favorite brand to make sure it's made from 100 percent buckwheat, since some brands also use wheat. I like Eden Organics 100% Soba Noodles.

Soba salad with peppers and ponzu dressing, from The Perfect Pantry. Click here for the recipe!

Quinoa. Unusually, this grain contains both carbs plus 8 grams of protein per cooked cup, which helps preserve lean mass and build new muscle tissue after a strenuous run. Check out Rainbow Stuffed Peppers here or the delicious quinoa, pomegranate and mint salad below:

White and brown rice. Whole-grain brown rice provides slow-burning carbs and plenty of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Low-fibre white rice is ideal the night before a long run or race for easily digested carbohydrates. Sushi is my snack of choice when out and about!

Beans. They are an all-in-one source of carbs, protein, and fiber. Beans also contain iron, which is needed to boost a runner's endurance.

Popcorn. A healthy snack that's high in carbs, popcorn is a whole grain that also supplies LOADS of antioxidants. Choose plain and lightly season it yourself with a bit of oil and herbs and spices. 

Click here if you need a recipe!

Essential power foods for cardio fans: max your workout and win races

Add these healthy eating foods to your beauty detox diet plan 

and get Ultra Beautiful in no time

Beauty foods for runners and cardio enthusiasts

Everyone knows that cardiovascular exercise is great for your heart, lungs and mood – but another reason to get moving is that exercise is one of the keys to beautiful skin.  Include long sessions of running, cycling or power walking into your beauty detox routine and you’ll not only burn fat and tone muscle, but also stimulate the circulation to pump oxygen and nutrients to the skin cells, flushing out cellular debris and plumping and smoothing the surface of the skin.

Running is a brilliant type of exercise, and pounding the pavement really helps your face and body shows its true beauty: putting on your trainers and getting out in the fresh air (or treadmill) a few times a week makes your heart and lungs fitter, your immune system stronger, stress levels fall, plus it burns around 500 calories an hour.  If you see a runner on her way back from an outing, you’ll notice that she has a glow in her cheeks and a real radiance. 

To maximize the benefits, you need to eat the right things to make sure you’re feeding your muscles and your skin.  Whether you’re a recreational exerciser or a competitive racer, there are certain things you can eat to really improve your performance, stave off injury and boost that fat-burning.

Before exercise:

Oats

I call oats the perfect 10.  Sports nutritionists recommend that runners and gym enthusiasts get 60 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrate to maximize performance. Choose the right type and you’ll also get a skin-friendly boost, such as the anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory chemicals naturally found in oats - which help to keep your skin looking smooth, youthful and without red patches or irritation from the cold weather.  

That's not all: old-fashioned porridge is a high-fibre, low-glycemic index food, so the energy it provides is long-lasting. A Penn State study found that men were able to exercise significantly longer after a breakfast of old-fashioned oatmeal than after a high glycemic index breakfast of puffed rice. Just make sure you choose rolled oats, not instant oat cereal which doesn’t have the same effects!

Cherries

Cherries are the most antioxidant-rich fruit on earth. They contain particularly large concentrations of a type of antioxidants called anthocyanins. Antioxidants provide a host of beauty benefits, maintaining healthy blood vessels and therefore glowing skin, and slowing down the ageing process and wrinkle formation. Not just a pretty face though; they’re also good for athletic performance. In one study, the addition of cherry juice to the diet of competitive rowers significantly reduced the amount of strength loss and muscle soreness they experienced after a strength test designed to cause muscle damage compared to a group of fellow rowers who received a placebo. 

They’re one of my favourite fruit because they taste really sweet but are actually very low in calories plus have one of the lowest GI scores ever – a rock bottom 22!  Low glycemic index (GI) foods mean the carbohydrate in them is released slowly into the body. Low GI foods can help control blood sugar levels and therefore your appetite, and may enhance performance because of their steady release of energy.

Dip cherries in dark chocolate for a nutrient-packed dessert (see below for dark chocolate’s angelic properties).

Salmon

You probably know already that I love salmon for its supreme beauty-enhancing properties, so I’ll keep this short. Salmon is the king of fish. Besides being an excellent source of high-quality muscle-building protein, salmon is one of the best food sources of omega-3 fats. These essential fats balance the body's inflammation response and massively slow ageing - especially important when your muscles and joints are put under regular stress, not to mention the damage that the outdoor elements can do to your skin!

Tea with honey

Your body loses electrolytes when you sweat, so when you’re running a long race, or planning an hour-long gym session, you need to replenish them by drinking something other than water. Don’t buy expensive sports drinks which are full of skin-dulling sugar; just mix black or green tea (which contains caffeine, a stimulant) with honey (which contains sodium and potassium) and you’ll create an effective endurance drink.  Green tea is especially good: A recent Colorado State University study found that the brew’s main antioxidant (EGCG) can help raise your VO2 max, a measure of how well your body uses oxygen. Other studies have shown that green tea reduces free radical damage to muscle tissue during exercise.

Performance boosters: Before a race

Coffee

Ok ok I know that I am against regular coffee drinking for it’s skin-unfriendly properties – but if you’re running a race and want optimal, peak performance – strong coffee before a race has been shown repeatedly to increase endurance and speed. Caffeine boosts performance in races of every distance by stimulating the nervous system and reducing perceived exertion, which simply means that you don’t feel as tired. Strong black coffee is my drink of choice before running in any competition, over and above the usual water and certainly instead of sports drinks.  It’s my secret weapon along with one or two ripe bananas pre-race. Add almond or soya milk if you want.

Raisins

Dried fruit is easily digested into the simple sugar glucose, which is the most important sugar in human metabolism and what your body needs to sustain exertion. And raisins are an especially good option because they’re so small. (Dried mangos and apples can also work.) A new Louisiana State University study found that when cyclists ate raisins, their finish time, power, and perceived exertion weren’t any different from when they ate Jelly Belly Sport Beans, a speciality item.  (For every day, they strangely also help to steady blood sugar levels.  An alternative is a banana which I call "nature's power bar", and deserves its reputation in the fitness world. Bananas are loaded with potassium and rich in vitamins C and B6, as well as fibre, which gives them an edge over sports drinks when it comes to boosting performance and balancing electrolytes.

After a workout or a race

Sweet potatoes

These orange root vegetables should be on the plates of runners year-round. Just a single 100 calorie sweet potato supplies more than 250 percent of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, the powerful skin-friendly antioxidant that we love for the way it gives the skin a natural glow without fake tan. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of vitamin C, potassium, iron, and the two trace minerals manganese and copper. Many runners fail to meet their manganese and copper needs, which can have an impact on performance since these minerals are crucial for healthy muscle function.

Canned black beans

One cup of these beauties provides 30 percent of the RDA for protein, almost 60 percent of fibre (which is important to keep the digestive tract moving, flushing out toxins), and 60 percent of folate, a B vitamin that plays a key role in heart health and circulation.

Eggs

One egg fulfills about 10 percent of your daily protein needs. Egg protein is the most complete food protein short of human breast milk, which means the protein in eggs contains all the crucial amino acids your hard-working muscles need to promote recovery. Eat just one of these nutritional powerhouses and you'll also get about 30 percent of the RDA for vitamin K, which is vital for healthy bones. And eggs contain choline, a brain nutrient that aids memory, and lutein, a pigment needed for healthy eyes. Choose omega-3 enhanced eggs and you can also increase your intake of healthy fats.

Berries

Your legs can take a pounding from high-impact activities like running; soreness you feel after a hard run may be caused by micro-tears in the exercised muscles. That's why, in addition to their high fibre content, berries are a good option for endurance exercisers: the vitamin C and potassium they contain help the body repair itself.  Read this to find out more about the super-skin nutrients that make berries an Ultra Beauty favourite.

Soya yoghurt

Running, power walking and other weight-bearing exercise can help you improve your bone density. But calcium is essential part of the equation, and many people don't get enough. One cup of yogurt contains a third of your recommended daily intake of calcium. Plus, soya yogurt has protein - important for building muscle and recovering from tough workouts.

Soy to replace protein shakes

Ultra Beauty followers may be wondering how to replace whey-based protein shakes with a non-dairy alternative.  Luckily, soy is a great source of post-exercise protein to promote muscle recovery. Researchers at the Ohio State University recently published a study showing that soy protein is as effective as whey protein in promoting muscle growth in response to training. Soy is a bona fide superfood and is incredibly versatile – think tofu, edamame and soya milk.  It is also an excellent source of a type of antioxidants called phytoestrogens which are very important for skin. Phytoestrogens keep skin producing collagen (the stuff that makes it looks plump, elastic and defined) as you get older and is extremely important for menopausal women whose skin typically reduces production of this key nutrient. 

Finally… Dark Chocolate

Here’s an indulgence you can feel good about. Chocolate contains potent antioxidants called flavonols that can boost heart health. In one study, a group of football players had lower blood pressure and total cholesterol levels, and less artery-clogging LDL cholesterol after just two weeks of eating chocolate daily. Other research suggests that the chocolate flavonols ease inflammation and help prevent blood substances from becoming sticky, which lowers the risk of potential blood clots – and keeps your skin glowing. But not just any chocolate will do. Dark chocolate (I dare you to try Lindt 99% Cocoa) contains more flavonols than milk chocolate, and less dairy.  Watch out for the amount of caffeine it naturally contains – I have to avoid dark choc in the evenings if I want to get any sleep!

Please sign up to receive this blog straight to your inbox, at the top of this page!