Natural Skin Care For Meat Eaters Part 1

So even though I love my raw food, I’m not a vegetarian. One of my favorite wraps is a raw collard green leaf stuffed with veggies and I lay a slice of ham dead center before I roll it up. In my defense, it was a free-range pig.

I’ve tried hard in the past to be a vegetarian. Even if I make it through the winter, summer is barbecue season. I have a Pavlovian response to the smell of charcoal briquettes. Southern culture is just not conducive to a vegetarian lifestyle.

I’ve prayed about it and asked for strength to forsake meat. At various times in my life I felt I was being led to make a decision for vegetables. Like the time the pig truck pulled up next to me at a red light. There was one pig in particular who looked at me with a very intense stare.

Did you know that pigs have blue eyes? From that day to this, I feel intense guilt and shame when I eat pork chops.

Lately I’ve come to terms with the fact that I may never be able to give up meat. That’s a hard pill to swallow because it messes with my self-perception as an eco chic, earth friendly, natural skin care maven.

To paraphrase Jay-Z, on to the next.

This article is actually about a great product I’ve been using. After workouts I use a cream for sore muscles, and I noticed the main ingredient was emu oil.

Emu oil has a lot of great properties, but it’s not for vegetarians. The oil has to be rendered from the rump of the animal after it has been slaughtered.

The oil has become very popular because of its health benefits — anti-inflammatory, stimulates cell production, boosts efficacy of other products, and is bacteria-static. Some claims say it can stimulate hair growth. It has become so popular that emu farms are cropping up to regularly supply meat and oil.

Basically you can use this anywhere you would use body oil — as a prepoo for your hair, a skin moisturizer, muscle rub, eczema remedy, soften cuticles, cracked heels, etc.

Emu oil is even in acne products. Many acne products can overly dry the skin and make it flaky and irritated. The added emu oil moisturizes and calms any irritation.

It works so well because it’s close to human sebum and contains several essential fatty acids: linolenic, linoleic, oleic, and palmitic. Linolenic (omega-3 EFA) and linoleic (omega-6 EFA).

There is a vegan alternative but since I’m fessing up to my meat-eating ways I’ll admit I haven’t tried it.

Have you tried emu oil? Let us know how you like it, and check back for the next in my meat eaters series.