How to care for your skin during a heatwave, according to dermatologists

 Returning to Chennai after more than a year away was a visceral shock to the system. I expected the familiar embrace of home; I didn’t expect the air to feel like a convection oven. Being one of India’s hottest cities, the humidity here can really cling on and within forty-eight hours, my skin felt like it was burning.

We all know the "drink more water and apply sunscreen" mantra, but when the heat index is this extreme, systemic hydration and sun protection is only half the battle. To truly survive a heatwave without a total skin meltdown, you need a calculated strategy and a serious switch-up in your vanity (and wardobe).

We spoke to the experts to break down how to pivot your routine when the heat cranks up.

 Why does your skin freak out in a heatwave?

It comes down to thermoregulation. When the air is hotter than your body, your skin relies almost entirely on evaporation to stay cool. "For every degree's rise in skin temperature, sebum production can increase by approximately 10%," explains Dr Kiran Sethi, skin and longevity doctor.

This surge in oil, mixed with sweat and dead skin cells creates a ‘pore-clogging cocktail’ that leads to the dreaded trifecta: acne flares, prickly heat (miliaria) and fungal infections.

The biggest mistakes we make

When your face feels like a slip-and-slide, the first instinct is to scrub. Don’t. Over-cleansing strips your lipid bilayer (a thin, protective layer of fats and oils that helps lock in moisture), leading to reactive seborrhea—where your skin overproduces even more oil to compensate for being parched. "Stick to pH-balanced cleansers with a pH of 5.5," says Dr Sethi. If you’re desperate for a midday refresh, try using blotting papers or a gentle mist instead of a full wash to manage oil without disturbing the barrier.

But the biggest mistake we make is clinging to our heavy winter favourites. Dr Chytra V. Anand, cosmetic dermatologist advises a texture shift: "Switch to gel or water-based cleansers and moisturisers". High-viscosity creams can actually trap heat and sweat against the skin, exacerbating rashes. Try to consciously change a few (not all) of your products, according to the weather outside.

Key ingredients to look for, according to the dermatologists:

• Low-molecular-weight humectants: Glycerin and Sodium Hyaluronate draw moisture into the skin without a suffocating film.
• Niacinamide (vitamin B3): A heatwave hero that regulates oil production and calms inflammation.
• Salicylic acid: Use low concentrations (0.5%–2%) to dissolve sebum plugs before they turn into breakouts.
• Soothers: Aloe vera, panthenol or antioxidants like Vitamin C are essential for cooling down angry, irritated skin.

Lifestyle changes to consider making

The lukewarm water rule

It’s tempting to jump into an ice-cold shower, but Dr Sethi warns against it. Cold water can trap core heat. Lukewarm water promotes vasodilation, which allows your body to dump heat more efficiently.

Cut sugar

Extreme heat often drives us toward sugary "cooling" drinks. However, high-glycemic loads trigger IGF-1 (a hormone that can increase oil production and stimulate acne-related skin cell activity).

Make smart fabric choices

Synthetic fibres like polyester trap sweat, inviting fungal infections. Stick to linen or cotton to allow your skin to breathe.

Be mindful of the 11-to-4 window

Limit outdoor exposure during peak UV hours (11:00 AM to 4:00 PM) when the "Heat Index" most severely challenges your skin’s ability to repair itself.

In the end, the secret to weathering a heatwave is as much about minimising the body's heat load and respecting the skin's natural acid mantle as it is about the products you use. When the air feels like a furnace, your routine should be feather-light, breathable and hyper-focused on barrier support. Abandon the heavy occlusives, embrace the humectants and remember: in extreme heat, less is always more.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for food, medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Two simple habits for a healthier liver- Harvard Dr.

Liver health is finally in the spotlight, and honestly, it’s about time. For the longest stretch, people only paid attention to their liver when binge-drinking or during a serious doctor’s visit involving hepatitis. But now? From fatty liver concerns to detox advice and enzyme level checks, the liver is suddenly front and center—and for good reason.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is on the rise, quietly becoming a global health issue. The kicker? You don’t need to touch alcohol to have liver problems anymore. Unhealthy eating habits, excess sugar, a sedentary lifestyle, and stress are enough to mess it up. What’s worse—most people don’t even know their liver’s struggling until things are already serious.

And let’s not forget—your liver does way more than process alcohol. It’s your body’s detox champion, filtering toxins from medications, pollutants, processed food, and more. If your liver is under strain, your whole body feels it. From breakouts and hormone issues to fatigue—your liver may be behind the scenes of it all.

Thanks to the wellness wave and growing focus on holistic health, people are now looking beyond visible muscles or calorie counts. They want to feel good from the inside out—and a healthy liver is key to that. 

What Dr. Saurabh Sethi has to say

Popular on social media for his health insights, Dr. Saurabh Sethi recently explained how liver disease develops—starting from fatty liver, progressing to inflammation, and ultimately, cirrhosis if ignored. In his video, he highlighted two key strategies for maintaining liver health:

Cutting back on alcohol
Improving metabolic health

Let’s break them down.
Your liver is a powerhouse, but it needs help
Your liver is like the hardest-working employee in your body—it detoxes, stores energy, breaks down fats, and keeps your internal systems running smoothly. But today’s lifestyle—marked by sugary snacks, lack of movement, and weekend drinking—is taking a toll.

Alcohol is a known liver enemy, and not just in large quantities. Even moderate drinking, when consistent, can silently harm your liver. That’s because when the liver breaks down alcohol, it produces a toxic byproduct—acetaldehyde—which causes inflammation and scarring. Left unchecked, this can progress to fatty liver, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis. The scary part? These changes often come without warning signs.

The good news: Your liver can regenerate—but only if you stop stressing it. Reducing alcohol intake, even slightly, can give your liver space to heal and function better.

The other culprit: Poor metabolic health
Even without alcohol, your liver can suffer—especially when your metabolic health is off. Think high blood sugar, insulin resistance, belly fat—this combo can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), now a leading cause of liver damage globally.

When your diet is overloaded with refined carbs and sugar, your liver stores the excess as fat. Pair that with low activity and poor sleep, and you’ve got a recipe for chronic liver stress.

How to support your liver—The right way
Forget expensive liver detox powders or week-long juice cleanses. Real liver care comes down to simple lifestyle shifts:

• Cut the sugar and processed carbs
• Be more active—even daily walking helps
• Eat real, whole foods
• Get enough sleep
• Maintain a healthy weight

Even small improvements can pay off. Losing just 5–10% of your body weight can reduce liver fat. Better sleep reduces inflammation. Moving more boosts insulin sensitivity. It's all connected.

 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Things That Happens To Your Body When You Stop Eating Sugar

About 20% of Americans eat more than 700 calories of sugar per day, which equates to over one cup. This poses disastrous risks to one’s health and longevity, and can easily lead to weight gain. To put it in perspective, you would only have to drink a couple soft drinks and eat a slice of cake to take in 700 calories. The problem with foods today is that they have way too many calories and not enough nutrients. We generally need to up our intake of nutrients, which help to satisfy our appetites and supply energy to our bodies.

The problem is that even so-called “health” foods such as yogurt, granola bars, and pasta sauce have loads of hidden sugar. It therefore becomes quite easy to overdose on the sweet stuff.

“Not only are we getting added sugar from obvious places like cakes, candy, and soda, but it’s also coming from healthier-sounding packaged products like salad dressing, pasta sauce, and yogurt,” says Elyse Powell, a doctoral researcher at UNC.

Of course, eating natural sugars from fruits, whole grains, and vegetables won’t cause adverse health effects; however, all the added sugars from processed foods can seriously harm your mind and body. Some studies of people who previously ate large amounts of sugar and decided to give it up have found that people experienced withdrawal symptoms similar to those trying to sober up. These symptoms include anxiety, depression, irritability, mood swings, etc. This means that sugar alters brain chemistry and can easily lead to an addiction.

Because of this fact as well as the myriad negative effects on health, many people have chosen to wean themselves off of sugar or at least cut back substantially. In this article, we’ll go over what happens when you decide to give up sugar.

It is recommended that humans consume no more than 9.5 teaspoons of sugar per day. Currently, the average American adult consumes 22 teaspoons daily. The average American child consumes 32 teaspoons of sugar each day. – The American Heart Association

HERE ARE 7 THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO YOUR BODY WHEN YOU DECIDE TO STOP EATING SUGAR:

1. YOU’LL HAVE A HEALTHIER HEART.
Your risk of dying from heart diseases will decrease by three times, according to research by a cardiovascular research scientist. Added sugar raises insulin levels which activates the sympathetic nervous system, in turn raising blood pressure and heart rate. Dr. says that in just a few weeks of giving up sugar, your LDL cholesterol could go down by 10%. Additionally, your triglycerides could potentially decrease by 20-30%. You could see a drop in blood pressure as well.

Added sugar puts an enormous strain on your heart because your body must work so hard to process it. A high-sugar diet causes the liver to work on overdrive as well, pumping more fat into the bloodstream. The focus of heart disease in the past has largely been on saturated fats and cholesterol. The truth is that studies have shown sugar consumption to be a much greater risk factor in heart problems.

2. YOUR SKIN WILL CLEAR UP.
If you have skin problems such as acne, it could be attributed to eating too much sugar. In fact, one study  found that when people who normally didn’t drink carbonated beverages drank one 12-ounce can a day for three weeks, their inflammation levels went up by 87%. This inflammation can lead to skin problems because the body considers sugar a toxin. If the liver can’t process it and you don’t sweat it out, inflammation can show up on the skin in the form of acne and other blemishes.

Sugar causes glycation, a process where sugar binds with collagen and elastin in the skin. Collagen and elastin are two proteins that help maintain the skin’s youthful, glowing appearance. Cutting back on sugar will help the body keep these proteins intact.

3. YOU’LL GREATLY LOWER YOUR RISK OF DEVELOPING DIABETES.
Eating added sugar causes fatty deposits to build up around your liver, which can contribute to insulin resistance and cause your pancreas to work on overdrive. The pancreas normally helps slow down production of insulin, but if you constantly pump sugar into your body, the pancreas and liver won’t be able to keep up. In a study of sugar consumption in 175 nations, a Professor found that eating 150 calories of added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 11 times, compared to eating the same amount of calories from fat or protein.

4. YOU’LL FEEL HAPPIER.
You might feel on top of the world once the sugar high hits you, but coming down off that high only causes the cycle to repeat itself. Eat sugar, feel energized, crash, and do it all over again when another craving strikes. In other words, the happiness you feel from the sugar only sticks around for a short while before disappearing and leaving you wanting more.

A Columbia University study found that women who eat a lot of added sugars have a higher likelihood of experiencing mood swings, anxiety, depression, and irritability. If you want more stable emotions without the awful withdrawal symptoms, taking sugar out of your diet will help you tremendously.

5. YOU WILL HAVE MUCH BETTER SLEEP.
Added sugar increases cortisol levels in the body, which can disrupt sleep at night. Plus, the crashes you feel when the sugar wears off will leave you sleepy during the day and wanting to take a nap. Sugar disrupts the central nervous system, which causes fluctuations in energy levels and sleep cycles. After giving up sugar, you’ll sleep better at night and feel more alert during the day.

6. YOUR MEMORY WILL IMPROVE. Sugar can lead to cognitive impairment and an overall feeling of “brain fatigue.” One animal study found that diets high in sugar hinder memory and learning. The study also concluded that eating a lot of sugar may damage communication between brain cells. It might be because the influx of sugar disrupts the delicate balance of chemicals in the body, which can lead to lethargy and mental exhaustion.

7. YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT.
As we said earlier in this article, products with sugar contain enormous amounts of empty calories. If you eat a sugary treat, you probably notice that you feel hungry within an hour of eating it. Why? Because cakes, cookies and the like have a lot of calories but don’t have very many nutrients. So, your body continues having cravings because it needs clean energy from healthy, whole foods.

Cutting back on sodas and bread, for example, will decrease your daily caloric intake by a few hundred calories. It’s a lot easier to dial back on sugary snacks than spend hours in the gym trying to burn off those excess calories, so try to eliminate unnecessary foods from your diet. Your brain (and your waistline) will thank you!

TIPS ON CUTTING OUT SUGAR
While you might find it difficult to eliminate added sugars at first, you just have to start slowly and work your way up. For example, try the tip above and cut out one or two sweet items for a month. Then, start paying attention to boxed and canned products such as salad dressings and sauces. Finally, look at anything you drink other than water, such as smoothies or fruit juices. These products are marketed as healthy, but you can just eat the whole fruit or vegetable instead of blending it up. Our bodies don’t process a large amount of blended fruits very well.

HOW FAST WILL YOU SEE RESULTS?
You might think it will take a long time to notice a difference, but it doesn’t have to. In one study involving children who gave up added sugars, they started feeling the positive effects in just over a week. The team of researchers  noticed a 33-point decrease in triglyceride levels on average, and LDL (bad) cholesterol went down 5 points, as well as diastolic blood pressure. In only 10 days, all of the children who participated in the study significantly decreased their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Sugar is abundant in our society, and getting away from it seems, at times, an impossible task. However, by taking small steps toward a healthier diet, you can get rid of unwanted sugar in your diet. Simply begin by making smarter choices. For example, instead of going to the vending machine at lunch for a candy bar, bring some sliced fruit or veggies to work. It might take more time to prepare healthy foods, but the way you look and feel will more than make up for the extra effort.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement   
 
Source: https://www.powerofpositivity.com/when-you-stop-eating-sugar/