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https://www.essence.com/beauty/probiotic-synbiotic-healed-my-gut-skin-health/
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“Probiotic” is a buzzword in the wellness space commonly used to market fermented foods––think: kombucha, kimchi, and yogurt. Brands often misuse the under-regulated term to sell their products solely because fermentation requires microbes, like living bacteria, to ferment the food. But, this is only half of the truth.
Prior to 2001, there were only 760 papers about probiotics. Now, research has conducted over 50,000 studies with “probiotic” in the title. The commercial market of probiotics is hitting a high, too, reaching nearly $60 billion dollars in 2023 and projected to reach over $100 billion by 2031.
However, the actual definition of a probiotic defined by the UN/WHO expert panel is “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.”
While “all diseases begin in the gut,” according to Hippocrates, eating only fermented foods does not mean you’re consuming gut-healthy probiotics. So, I turned my kombucha addiction into taking Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic.
The gut is linked to conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, IBS, depression, and even cancer. It also controls the health of our skin through what is called the “gut-skin axis.” While the skin microbiome isn’t as vast as the gut microbiome, its estimated trillions of microbial cells play a vital role in our skin’s defense against the environment, helping maintain homeostasis.
From managing inflammation to skin type, texture, and adult acne, the daily synbiotic (containing both living probiotics and non-living prebiotics) has been the foundation of my diet for the past month. I ordered a 30-day supply of 60 capsules, which are arguably the most effective synbiotics on the market due to their double-capsule shell engineered to actually survive digestion and deliver potent strains to the colon.
Taking two capsules per day, I noticed gradual improvement in my skin’s health throughout the month. First of all, I had less breakouts. Relatedly, for the irregular pimples I did have, I experienced minimal inflammation which caused my hyperpigmentation to be less dark and easier to fade. I had a smoother texture and hydrated skin, even after frequent use of tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide, which helped regulate my oil production.
As a beauty writer refusing to use buzzy topical formations––like “probiotic” eye creams and skin serums––to replace the verified whole-body benefits of potent strains (DS-01® has 53.6 billion AFU), taking oral supplements has proven to heal my body from the inside out.
TOPICS: beauty supplements probiotic skincare
The post How Synbiotics Improved My Skin appeared first on Essence.
Comstock Images / Getty Images
“Probiotic” is a buzzword in the wellness space commonly used to market fermented foods––think: kombucha, kimchi, and yogurt. Brands often misuse the under-regulated term to sell their products solely because fermentation requires microbes, like living bacteria, to ferment the food. But, this is only half of the truth.
Prior to 2001, there were only 760 papers about probiotics. Now, research has conducted over 50,000 studies with “probiotic” in the title. The commercial market of probiotics is hitting a high, too, reaching nearly $60 billion dollars in 2023 and projected to reach over $100 billion by 2031.
However, the actual definition of a probiotic defined by the UN/WHO expert panel is “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.”
While “all diseases begin in the gut,” according to Hippocrates, eating only fermented foods does not mean you’re consuming gut-healthy probiotics. So, I turned my kombucha addiction into taking Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic.
The gut is linked to conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, IBS, depression, and even cancer. It also controls the health of our skin through what is called the “gut-skin axis.” While the skin microbiome isn’t as vast as the gut microbiome, its estimated trillions of microbial cells play a vital role in our skin’s defense against the environment, helping maintain homeostasis.
From managing inflammation to skin type, texture, and adult acne, the daily synbiotic (containing both living probiotics and non-living prebiotics) has been the foundation of my diet for the past month. I ordered a 30-day supply of 60 capsules, which are arguably the most effective synbiotics on the market due to their double-capsule shell engineered to actually survive digestion and deliver potent strains to the colon.
Taking two capsules per day, I noticed gradual improvement in my skin’s health throughout the month. First of all, I had less breakouts. Relatedly, for the irregular pimples I did have, I experienced minimal inflammation which caused my hyperpigmentation to be less dark and easier to fade. I had a smoother texture and hydrated skin, even after frequent use of tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide, which helped regulate my oil production.
As a beauty writer refusing to use buzzy topical formations––like “probiotic” eye creams and skin serums––to replace the verified whole-body benefits of potent strains (DS-01® has 53.6 billion AFU), taking oral supplements has proven to heal my body from the inside out.
TOPICS: beauty supplements probiotic skincareThe post How Synbiotics Improved My Skin appeared first on Essence.
If I don’t get more shows like Heartstopper, my ticker will stop ticking. Netflix has yet to renew the heartwarming show for a fourth season, and unlike Celine Dion, I don’t think my heart can go on without more. What will I watch in the meantime? These 10 best shows like Heartstopper should do the trick.
10. Genera+ion
Despite only lasting for one season, Genera+ion is one of the best ensemble shows to tackle queer themes. It’s about a group of queer high schoolers who help each other survive in their conservative town. Like Heartstopper, it’s a show about the importance of queer friendships, and how sometimes family is the one you choose, not the people you’re related to by blood.
In celebration of the final episodes of The Rings of Power season two, Nerdist sat down with the director of the season’s final episodes, Charlotte Brändström. Brändström spoke to us about what it’s like to direct epic battles, how to inject character into long fight sequences, and the motivations and fates of some of our favorite Middle-earth figures. She also mentioned that Galadriel was in love with Halbrand. That might make some of you very happy.
You can read our full interview with Charlotte Brändström about The Rings of Power season two below.
Nerdist: I’d love to go back to season one for a minute and talk about the scene where Adar plants the seeds in the ground before the battle. To me, that was really formative for the character. What were your intentions with that moment when you directed it, and what do you think it revealed about Adar?
Charlotte Brändström: I always start, I mean, first of all, visually, I always like to start with a character moment and not with a geographic moment. I don’t like to find out where I am, but I want to know what it is about. So by starting on a very tight insert of the seeds, I make it mysterious, and I think it’s more gripping because you want to find out more, and it says something right away about the character. And then I cut to wide, and it’s a tendency that I’ve developed more and more, always starting small and going wide, because I feel you sort of grab the audience’s attention and you also, I mean, as I said, you create small character moments, and those are the moments that most important I think in the story.
Udûn also turned me into a big fan of the relationship between Galadriel and Adar, and I was thrilled that it came back into play this year. Can you talk a little bit more about directing the scenes between them throughout the seasons and their final one and what you wanted to convey about that connection?
Brändström: It was great because I think it’s about the fact that, I mean he gives her the ring back and he, in a way, I mean whoever they are, even the biggest villain, everybody has their reasons in life and they have the good side and bad side. You can’t say somebody is a hundred percent evil, and I feel like Adar has his terrible, very violent, very crazy moments. But his ultimate motivation is he’s the father of all the Orcs and he wants to create a home for them. So when he realizes he’s failed, he goes to Galadriel, and he tries to basically turn around and have her help him to do this. And then, obviously, he loses his life.
The moment where he turns around and he’s unscarred was a very intense moment, even just as a viewer. How did you work with Sam Hazeldine to perfect that scene?
Brändström: It was actually a lot of time because Sam’s prosthetic makeup for Adar takes four hours. I knew I could not shoot the scenes with them with and without makeup on the same day because I would lose four hours in the middle of the day, at least with him. So I had to go and do other things. So it’s really about shooting it one day and then trying to reshoot it again the next day for the transformation piece. And it was very hard for me and the DP, too, because we wanted the lighting to be the same.
So we tried to match the time when we shot it. So let’s say that I had done all the scenes Adar’s scarred face the previous day at 11 o’clock. I was trying to with the non-scarred face the next day at 11, and then I re-shot the whole scene twice with all the dialogue. Then, obviously, for the transformation, I needed some help from VFX, but a lot was done on camera.
And then, of course, Sauron kills Adar—what was built into that sequence?
Brändström: Well, I really wanted to, obviously it is about revenge. I mean, it was Sauron’s revenge on Adar. He basically tricked him, and he really took a lot of pleasure to have all the Orcs turn against him. And it was very important to me to create the same kind of top shot. This circle reminds us that everything is circular, just like the rings; it reminds us of the rings as well. And they were standing around him. So, obviously, we’re in episode eight, and it goes back to what I did in episode one.
When bonded characters reunite after separation, it’s always intense… Doubly, so if it’s Galadriel and Sauron, can you talk a bit about crafting their sword fight reunion and what you wanted them each to bring to that moment?
Brändström: Yeah, these are two very magnificent actors and also two extremely strong and magical characters in Middle Earth. And they were also the most powerful people there. So the fact that the two of them were fighting against each other, I wanted to be very epic. And when Sauron realizes that he’s not going to win, that’s when he starts to change shape to distract her. So he tricks her really. And he becomes Halbrand for a while because he knew the feelings Galadriel had for him. I also think that Sauron was almost disappointed in the end because I think he would have liked to have Galadriel as his queen.
And I think that even however malicious and dark Sauron is, he’s the Dark Lord, he also believes very strongly that he’s there to help Middle-earth. He’s going to heal it all. There’s a French film director from many years ago called Jean Renoir, and he always said in one of his films called The Rules of the Game that everybody has their reasons, always, and that’s what I go by. It’s like you always need to find what their motivation is and then the character becomes credible, too.
Seeing Halbrand really affected Galadriel—what were her feelings for him?
Yeah. Galadriel obviously was in love with Halbrand. She was very attracted to him. So when Sauron changes shape… Sauron knows this because he gets into her head, so he knows what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling. So when he immediately takes Halbrand’s shape, he completely destabilizes her because that was her weakness. She had very strong feelings for the King, for Halbrand, obviously in the first season.
Was there a scene or character or actor that really surprised you while you were bringing them to life this season?
Brändström: Charlie Vickers, because Charlie is so normal and so lovely in real life, and when he gets these looks in his eyes, he really, in a very subtle manner, becomes so dangerous and so manipulative and so scary. So I said, wow, he’s a different, and it’s only in small nuances. He doesn’t need to do too much.
In previous, you’ve said you love to inject story into your battle scenes and give characters time to see one another and antagonize each other in the midst of a fight. What were your favorite battle meets story moments?
Brändström: I think there were several moments. Look, it is when Elrond’s horse dies, and then Elrond becomes a bloodthirsty, almost killer warrior, and he goes in for it 100%. So that moment has a lot of different aspects. And when they all killed the troll together, that was great.
And another character moment is when Elrond realizes that Durin has betrayed him. He realizes Durin is not going to come. And so Elrond sits down and can’t find any more fight. So he looks at all the elves getting slaughtered and he just sits there. He’s given up because that loss is at the heart of what he’s about; he’s about friendship and loyalty. And then obviously the sword fight. The sword fight has a lot of stop-and-go moments, and I think it’s really important in action to have a stop-and-go. Not just keep doing it continuously because you stop caring very quickly.
So, the choreography of the battle sequence was very well done. What really went into creating such a long elaborate battle scene?
Brändström: Well, we worked a lot in the beginning. I mean, we had the script, and then I worked a lot. Also, we have the second unit director, Vic Armstrong, who’s just an amazing person, and he was extremely helpful. So we were discussing the battle, and when I was busy on other things, he was really doing the design, helping to design it. But it was really about doing the advance piece by piece; I think it was about creating stakes constantly to understand why and where they were going. And it was working with models. I like to work with miniature models and move around an army and discuss with everybody and say, today, we are all going to be here, next to the wall, and this is what we’re doing.
You need to be like a general yourself, actually. You’re standing there and directing a battle. And directing the movie set with 500 people in it—it’s a bit like directing a battle, too.
The post THE RINGS OF POWER’s Charlotte Brändström Talks Galadriel Being in Love with Halbrand and the Final Episode appeared first on Nerdist.
The Tick is headed to Baltimore Comic Con! Check out the full press release below:
Two Brobdingnagian tales of Lilliputian action in an all-new, 16-page comic with a cover by The Tick’s creator, Ben Edlund!
Featuring The Tick in “Microbe Adventure” and “Dire Darkness”
16 Pages
Cover: Ben Edlund, Duane Redhead, Bob Polio
Writers: Benito Cereno, Jeff McClelland
Art: Ian Chase Nichols and Duane Redhead
Lettering: Bob Polio
Editor: George Suarez
Limited to 350 Numbered Copies
Deluxe Sketch Cover Stock with Blank Back Cover
Sample interior pages by Duane Redhead and Ian Chase Nichols
The Tick returns to comics for the first time since 2021 in an all-new issue for the Baltimore Comic Con! Celebrate 30 years of The Tick animated series and meet creators behind this new issue!
This exciting Special Edition comic book is published by Ian Chase Nichols and Jeff McClelland, partnering with long-time Tick publisher New England Comics Press to bring you a tale originally conceived by Ben Edlund himself! This comic features “The Microbe Adventure” from Benito Cereno (Invincible Presents, Tales from the Bully Pulpit), Nichols (TMNT, TMNT/Batman, Conan) and Duane Redhead (2000AD, Teddy and the Yeti), with a backup tale by McClelland (The Illustrated Al, Planet Comics).
Writer/producer Ben Edlund created The Tick in 1986 in New England Comics Newsletter 14. The character soon found a cult following in his eponymous 1988 comic book series, the beloved 1994 Fox Kids animated series, and two live-action series, in 2001 on Fox and 2016 on Amazon Prime. Edlund and The Tick are being celebrated by the 2024 Baltimore Comic Con, where Edlund is the show’s featured Guest of Honor.
Nichols and McClelland will also be guests of the Baltimore Comic Con, held September 20th-22nd, where copies of the new Limited Edition Comic will be available along with sketches, signatures, books, and more.
Pricing:
Books: $15 each or two for $25
Signatures: Free
Sketch Add-Ons from Ian Chase Nichols: Remark $20, Bust Sketch: $50, Full Figure Sketch: $100
For more on Ian Chase Nichols, check out our interview with him here
The post New Limited Edition Issue of The Tick for Baltimore Comic Con appeared first on The Nerd Element.