Stretch Marks
by Frank Health4life

Gravity, pregnancy and extreme weight loss can cause stretch marks on some people, and not on others. Why? Why do some people get them and others don't? Stretch marks result when elastin protein in the skin breaks or is damaged from stretching. Think of elastin as little rubber bands in the skin- in the tiny skin capillaries actually. It is elastin that normally snaps the skin back into place after it has been stretched.

Try it on skin. Pull the skin up between two fingers, hold it for a moment and let go suddenly. It will jump back, even against gravity. When they are stretched, they break. There is no cosmetic surgical treatment available to restore stretch-marked skin, save perhaps literally removing the patches of skin-not something I or anyone I know would recommend.

Researchers have found, however, that elastin is dependent upon certain precautions and nutrient for optimum elasticity, and if you take these precautions and target these nutrients, you wonâ€™t get, and perhaps can even erase, unsightly stretch marks.

The most important factor is the condition of the skin. With proper nutrition and exercise, skin is strong, supple and elastic. It will spring back into shape even after the expansion of pregnancy or weight gain.

If skin is in poor condition, thinned by sun and nutritionally deficient, stretching can result in breakage and damage to the skinâ€™s elatin.

Researchers have found the calcium/magnesium ration to be very important in maintaining the elastic quality of the skin.

Dr. Muller and colleagues at the institute of Pathology in Germany, examined the ligaments in the discs of spinal surgery patients, putting the patients in two groups: those with very elastic tissues, and those with non-elastic tissues. He found that among those with the most elasticity, a magnesium/calcium ratio in favor of magnesium was found.

Magnesium and calcium work in balance throughout our bodies. Without magnesium, calcium accumulates in places it should not, including I places it should not, including the skin. Because of the high absorption rate of minerals in solution, and deficiency of magnesium in the diet, the ration of magnesium and calcium in solution should be four to one, respectively.

Two more minerals to keep in mind are copper and zinc. Copper is noted as a nutrient important to the manufacture of elastin in the skin. It acts as a catalyst, forming certain enzymes involved in the cross-linking of collagen and elastin. Studies show when copper is low, changes in connective tissue occur.

Too much copper will deplete zinc stores; they must be equal for optimum usage.