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Show Youthful Appearance Begins Inside ' By LELORD KORDEL Number Thirteen of a Series Ben Bald treats his thinning hair to a series of expensive expen-sive scalp treatments, while Susie Sallow spends plenty ; of hard earned money for creams and lotions. Both believe that hair and skin can be "nourished" from the ; outside. Nothing could be farther from the truth! A youthful appearance begins inwardly -- with healthy, heal-thy, properly nourished endocrine glands. Before my efforts to help you recover your lost youth can progress any further, you must realize that endoc- rine glands are the dictators which determine whether " or not your all-out campaign to look and feel younger will succeed or fail, r Your glands must be nourished with the proper food ' elements or you can't depend on them to lend you much aid in the effort to regain your vanishing youth. If a part of the human body could be described as J "temperamental," then I would say the word was ; coined to fit your endocrine glands and their hair-trigger sensitivity. 1 NEED NOURISHMENT They hold unlimited power over every human being, i keeping one person young and vigorous despite the ; passing years, condemning another to a premature old ; age and thrusting a third into a morass of depressed '. thoughts and nagging ill-health. I The names of these glandular despots are pituitary, ' thyroid, adrenals, pancreas, thymus, pineal, parathyr-! parathyr-! oids and gonads. I How do these eight glands hold such vast control j over your life? Hormones are the answer -- a word that has become headline news in recent years. I When it came time to name secretions of these all- powerful endocrine glands, some imaginative scientist I chose the appropriate Greek verb "Hormon" meaning J "excite." For that, in brief, is the intended function of all hormones-to excite your bodily organs into per- forming at maximum efficiency so you may possess all l- the vitality, all the magnetism, all the radiance of a healthy, happy person. J No person can say with authority that any one of p these glands is the "most important," because each i other has its work so closely tied in with the other seven that a slight upset in one member of the endocrine i family reacts almost immediately on the efficiency of the others. What one gland does, or does not do, is i registered without fail in the entire clan's activities. r The only way you can tell when your glands are not r functioning up to par is when you begin noticing the effects of their suffering. These effects often put in an appearance in spots quite remote from the seat of the I original trouble. S For instance, the two adrenal glands (each about as I large as a bean) are suspended one above each kidney, r When these adrenal glands are not behaving as they , should, the skin becomes dark and sallow, with deep m lines. Note, please, that they don't advertise their upset by a pain in the small of the back where they are located. i. 4 mBQB'i'' VIBRANCY OF YOUTH Let's consider the glands which perhaps should rank first in your effort to retain the appearances and sensations sensa-tions of youth. What qualities or attributes make people say of a certain man or woman: "He (or she) is so young for his (her) age?" My first answer would be sexual vibrancy-for in these two words are contained the confidence, inward feeling of power, energy, vitality, enthusiasm, mental alertness, sense of attractiveness, assurance, stamina and radiant glow which are gifts to the young of any age. The hormones secreted by the gonads exert a tremendous tremen-dous influence on your physical health, as well as on your ability to retain a youthful appearance and to live a long, useful life. As a further example of the devious ways in which the endocrine glands proclaim their unhappiness, there is the unpredictable thyroid, located at the front of the neck. Frequently any change in the normal functioning of this well-known gland may bring on ulcers in the stomach or in the upper intestine. Here is the outstanding fact you need to keep uppermost upper-most in mind as you read on: Your endocrine glands, as well as their youth-giving hormones, are made of protein. MADE OF PROTEIN Protein foods are hormone builders and conditioners. Therefore, a continued lack of high-grade food protein in your diet can weaken these glands so seriously that old age has gained a head start in you almost before you realize it. Feed your glands-not your stomach-if you want to look and feel younger than the calendar says you are. In addition to protein foods, iron and copper are important to your glands. Rich sources of iron are beef liver and other organ meats, dark poultry meat, lean beef and lamb, egg yolk, apricots, prunes, raisins, molasses, whole grains, lettuce, beet tops, leeks and radishes. Copper is usually present in the foods containing iron, but especially in almonds, dried beans, whole wheat, prunes, calf and beef liver, shrimp and egg yolks. And then there are the vitamins. Vitamins and hormones hor-mones are interdependent. The regular use of a good vitamin-mineral supplement makes nutritional sense-and sense-and protects your glands. You can't be any younger than your glands. And your glands can't stay young and healthy if they arc starved. Foods that befriend your glands are the best youth-insurance youth-insurance you can buy. Condensed from the book "Eat and Grow Younger" by Lelord Kordel. All rights reserved. Distributed by Specialty Spe-cialty Features Syndicate. Next: Resistance to germs and viruses can be built-up by proper food. The first of six "Commandments" ruling your health. |