7 Anti-Aging Foods and Tips
These anti-aging foods and tips will decrease bad cholesterol, reduce stored fat, and fight disease -and help you achieve your health goals! Plus, these anti-aging foods actually fight physiological aging - which means you’ll look and feel younger.
Before the tips, a quip:
“A man ninety years old was asked to what he attributed his longevity. “I reckon,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “It’s because most nights I went to bed and slept when I should have sat up and worried.” ” - Dorothea Kent.
So we know one anti-aging food tip is to get enough sleep and not worry about things you can’t control. But there’s more! Click on Dr Vincent Giampapa’s book The Gene Makeover: The 21st Century Anti-Aging Breakthrough for more info, and read on for his seven anti-aging foods and tips…
7 Anti-Aging Foods and Tips
Focus on anti-aging eating, not a diet. Maintaining a healthy waist-to-hip ratio is more important than have a thin physique. Dr Giampapa says that anti-aging eating is a lifestyle choice that changes your body composition so you have more lean muscle than fat. What do you eat to stay young and energized? A healthy ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat — or foods to improve your mood.
Benefits of anti-aging foods:
- Reduced pain and inflammation.
- Increased antioxidant levels (here’s how antioxidants neutralize free radicals).
- Stabilized, balanced hormone levels.
- Improved quality of life.
- Decrease age-related diseases.
7 Anti-Aging Foods and Tips
1. Eat fat, but don’t go overboard. “Excess fat is the culprit for accelerated aging because fat cells cause hormonal imbalances that are bad for your health,” writes Dr Giampapa in The Gene Makeover. “The hormones produced by fat cells cause inflammation, excessive clogging of arteries, deterioration of the heart and vascular system, and accelerated aging.”
2. Balance your nutrients. An important anti-aging food tip includes balancing your diet into 40% carbohydrates, 35% protein, and 25% fat. Follow the common sense of a healthy, balanced diet - such as the Mediterranean Diet.
3. Remember that carbohydrates are whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, herbs, and spices. They have a low glycemic index, which means they won’t cause your blood sugar to spike. Avoiding refined sugars and processed foods is an important anti-aging food tip!
4. Savor phytonutrients, because they have disease-fighting power. Anti-aging foods include yellow/orange/red fruits and veggies for the cartenoids, green produce for the sulfur compounds, purple/blue/black/magenta fruits and veggies for the phenolics and flavonoids, tan veggies for the phytosterols, and white foods for the protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
5. Increase protein intake as you age to maintain muscle mass, reduce insulin resistance, and repair DNA. Dr Giampapa says that vegetables and legumes are excellent sources of protein - this anti-aging food tip will also keep your skin healthy.
6. Don’t be scared of fat - only huge amounts are harmful. I’m slowly getting over my fat phobia, so this anti-aging food tip is good for me to remember. “Essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 promote cellular membrane function, production of eicosonoids, blood pressure control, and better function of our blood platelets,” writes Dr Giampapa in The Gene Makeover.
7. Water, the last anti-aging food tip: “Drink plenty of liquids between meals, instead of with them.” Drinking water while eating hampers the digestive process — so avoid water with meals.
If you have any questions or thoughts about these anti-aging foods and tips, please comment below!
