SPRING INTO THE NEW

Hello spring! Oh, the blossom and cheer is in the air. It's always been my favorite season you see, ever since I can remember. Somehow, having born in Israel and growing up around the middle east made me cherish it. Summer was way too hot to the point that you have to spend your days on the beach else you are subject to sit under the AC for hours, winter was barely a season since it only consisted of a few showers and other semi-warm days, autumn doesn’t really happen there and… spring. Spring just made everything better. Flowers begin to bloom, the weather is just on point before it gets too hot to breath, and jackets become a rare option.

Soon enough it was not just the weather which made me cheerful though. Ever since my late teenage years/young twenties, spring signified my recovery from cancer. For me, the season is a reason to be happy, or better say - it brings along so many other, otherwise unattached, feelings. For me, spring signifies coming back to life. It was then when I realized that I was going to beat it, beat cancer once and for all. It's hard to explain these emotions to someone who's never been through a fatal disease or a life threatening condition, but just imagine getting your life back, imagine coming through a huge black curtain which you couldn't see beyond. All of a sudden, the scent in the air becomes apparent more than ever before, the sun shines through the partially cloudy sky, the birds chirp in a special melody and the fresh air is blowing through what was then - my brand new grown hair. So what can I say? Spring is good news to me. Nevertheless, I am only human and it brings its own troubles to town. The change of seasons is always a good time to reassess my skincare regime as some weather factors leave, some stay, and some just change. During winter we tend to cover up pretty well, it keeps us warm, but also lets us forget about what our skin looks like underneath and what it may have endured during the few months it's been hidden away. Water My main focus this time, and the most important, free and available tip for all is - Water. Drink lots of water. This goes as a general rule, never mind the season, but especially during the time of change. Water is the fluid of life, and as such, it contains many benefits to the skin and to our body as a whole. Our body is made of water, around 60 percent of our physical self is H2O. Drinking enough of that see-through liquid maintains the body's fluid balance, which helps with digesting food and transport nutrients in the body amongst other important kidney functions. Water also contributes to the regulation of our body's temperature, it helps fight sickness, and even presents a factor in getting better grades and maximizing brain function (and of course, keeps the headache away)! Skin wise, water is better than any cream or moisturizer you can find. Let's turn to common sense for a second - we use moisturizer to hydrate our skin, and we drink water to hydrate our bodies. Therefor, the simple conclusion is - the amount of water we drink, is going to show on our skin as well. When we don't consume enough water, we get dehydrated which means our bodies dry up. Thinking simple again - this means dry skin. Therefor, water = moisture = elastic and smooth skin. The scientific reason is, when our body lacks H2O for our organs, it pulls it from skin cells because they are inferior in importance and hence our skin is left literally dried up. Also a very interesting fact is that drinking water can help fight acne and pimples. These skin impurities that we hate so much are caused by toxins which clog the pores and water can help flush them away. Again, just as simple as that!

The recommended amount of water consumption for an average person is 8 cups per day. I usually just carry a gallon of mineral water with me everywhere I go. Luckily, there's no need to be as obsessed as I am since water is free and available to all at almost any given time. In fact, here is a fun fact: in Israel, where I grew up, it usually gets very hot on summer time as I stated above. Acknowledging this, and in order to keep people hydrated, there's a federal law that states that it is illegal to not grant a person a cup of water if they ask for it in a restaurant. The fine for not serving water per request is as high as $250! Convinced yet? See what happens when we don't drink enough: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCheAcpFkL8 Now, it is important to mention that our intake of water doesn't have to be through chugging it down, which makes it a lot more fun. Believe it or not but about 20% of our daily H2O intake comes from solid foods! In fact, many types of food, especially vegetables and fruit contain over 50% water. Cucumbers for instance are the highest in consistency and are made out of no less than 96% H2O! Perfect in a healthy salad any time of day. If you want to pump up the sugar consumption and gain some energy on the way, treat yourself with a juicy watermelon. Justifying its name, the red melon contains 92% water and is high in lycopene, which is a strong cancer-fighting antioxidant found in red fruits and vegetables. It makes it an instant favorite spring-summer food for me and I couldn't sell it better if I tried! Try it yourself, there is more than one way to go. You're welcome!