Why do some people age faster than others? It could be down to genetics, exposure to sun, smoking, the amount of sleep we get but the most important factor in trying to hold back the clock is what we eat. You really are what you eat when it comes to aging.
There is no lotion, potion, pill or surgery as powerful as eating the right foods for controlling the aging process. A few small changes in food choices can dramatically swing the balance in your favour. It really isn’t hard to do. All you need to do is put back a little more than you take out and counter balance with the right foods and nutritional supplements. Unfortunately most of us take out an awful lot more than we put in!
What you eat can control how young you look, how young you feel, your energy, how strong your mind stays, your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and indeed all your aging inside and outside. So if you are looking for more get up and go, smoother glowing skin, a firmer tighter body, better sleep, an improved sex drive, to control sagging, to shift stubborn pockets of fat and cellulite, indeed to look and feel how you did 5 or 10 years ago then there are certain foods that you should avoid and others that you should embrace!
The body has an amazing ability to rejuvenate itself, beyond what you could ever imagine. All it desperately needs is the right nutrients to do so. I have selected here 5 of the best foods for fighting aging and 5 foods that you must dramatically reduce or avoid because of their aging effects.
5 of the Best Anti-Aging Foods
Berries
If you want to glow think – berries! Blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are incredible for keeping not just your skin but the whole body younger inside and outside. They contain huge amounts of protective nutrients that help prevent wrinkling and sagging, give you lots of energy and dramatically reduce the risk of serious illness and disease. One cup of berries can provide the protection of 8 or 9 pieces of other fruit!
Oily Fish
Salmon and Mackerel in particular are rich in the omega 3 essential fats EPA and DHA which are miracle workers for the skin, keeping it moist, smooth and supple. These fats have countless other protective and anti-aging functions especially for your bones, brain, heart, kidneys and other vital organs too. We are desperately deficient in these essential fats not to mention even having enough for turning back the hands of time. You need to make sure to eat 4 oz of oily fish at least twice weekly and also get a good supplement with strong levels of omega 3 in it.
Green Leafy Vegetables
Kale, Cabbage, Lettuce, Brocolli and Spinach and other green leafy vegetables are really powerful foods for keeping you younger. Full of water and other protective nutrients their real strength from an anti-aging point comes from their vitamin B content especially B9 or folic acid. B vitamins especially B2, B6 and B9 are vital for the proper function of anti-aging mechanisms. For best effect eat it raw or lightly steamed so that it keeps the properties that keep you young
Green Tea
As more research gets done the incredible benefits of drinking green tea get better. It is one of the very few genuine weight loss aids, helps detox the body, helps to kill certain types of cancer cells and has very powerful skin and body protecting nutrients called catechins. Drinking 2 to 3 cups a day will dramatically help in your battle with aging but if you are not a fan of the taste you can now get it in supplement form where 1 capsule is the equivalent of 2 cups of the tea. Make sure to read the label however and that the supplement contains 80% or more catechins to be of any real benefit.
Water
This is the absolute king when it comes to getting a younger face and body! Adequate water is vital for every single body function from head to toe. No other anti-aging measures will work without having a proper water level, so this has to be your first step in staying younger. Filtering your water makes it even more powerful and can literally mean you have a fountain of youth at your tap. Remember to drink 1L for every 100 lbs you weigh and spread it throughout the day ideally between your meals.
5 Foods that Accelerate Aging
Sugar (includes artificial sweeteners!)
Your number 1 enemy of staying young has to be excess sugar intake. High blood sugar levels dramatically age everything in your body especially your skin. There are the obvious sugars like honey and maple syrup but don’t forget most of our breads, cereals, pizza’s and pasta’s are from refined carbohydrate which is almost the same as sugar. To make matters worse artificial sweeteners are now proving to be as bad as if not worse than real sugar. Juicing fruit also gives you a very high dose of sugar in one go! To stay young start switching to 100% wholegrain/meal carbohydrates in your cereals, breads and grains, every little helps! Go back to eating the whole fruit and nothing but the whole fruit whenever possible and only use juicing as an occasional treat or else take vegetable juices.
Fried Food
Yes your lovely Irish breakfast might taste great but the saturated fats add years to you over time. The same goes for fast foods of course. Saturated fats are bad enough but the trans-fats and hydrogenated fats that are now being placed in ‘low-fat’ products like butters, margarines, vegetable oils and many other products to replace saturated fats are even more poisonous. These fats have been banned in many countries they are so toxic. Fried food should strictly be only used as an occasional treat and you need to read labels carefully and avoid the trans-fats and hydrogenated fats at all costs!
Alcohol
A few beers are okay but if only we stopped at that! It increase your blood sugar, depletes your B vitamins, it dehydrates you and it beats up your liver one of your most critical anti-aging organs. Too much alcohol triggers and hastens every aging mechanism in the body. It is very hard to counter balance the damaging effects of excess alcohol. Men should ideally not exceed 10 units weekly and women 6 units. A pint is about 2 units, a bottle of beer or a medium sized glass of wine about 1.5 units and a 30ml shot of spirits is about 1 unit.
Caffeine
Up to 2 cups of coffee a day is pretty okay and can be beneficial but once you go beyond that level the effect becomes harmful. If you consume large amounts of coffee or other caffeinated products, then you are greatly accelerating the aging of your skin and body. If there is sugar or artificial sweeteners in with this then it is of the scale disruptive. Switch to decaf if you can and even better still try some decaf herbal teas that help to turn back the clock including chamomile tea (great for stress), fennel and peppermint tea (great for digestion) and of course the king green tea mentioned above.
Wheat Products
A properly working digestive system is one of your most powerful weapons for staying young. Everything begins with digestion. There is no doubt at all that we over-eat wheat based products – breads, cereals, cakes, biscuits, pizza’s, pasta’s etc and that this greatly hinders our digestion and absorption of key anti-aging nutrients and also creates toxic products that increases aging. To look and stay younger you need to cut down on wheat products and start using more wheat free grains like oats, rye, barley, spelt and wheat and gluten free grains like rice, millet, quinoa and buckwheat (yes it is wheat and gluten free despite the name!)
