by Catherine Leahy

Created on: June 27, 2008

Anti-aging diet: Is there such a thing?

Yes there is such a thing as an anti-aging diet, and it is really simple. An anti-aging diet is a healthy diet, varied, well-balanced with a mixture of the different food groups and, most importantly, moderation. Aging is something that happens from the inside out, expensive creams won't be effective if what you put into your body is aging, so eating healthy is the best option to fight against aging.

Obviously, limiting alcohol, cutting out caffeine, giving up smoking and regular exercise will greatly improve the effectiveness of any diet.

Here are the top tips for fighting the effects of aging:

The basics for each meal are:
Protein from lean fish, poultry, nuts, seeds or tofu
Essential fatty acid or Omega 3 or 6 from oily fish, flaxseeds or linseeds
A low glycemic carbohydrate from fruit and vegetables and wholegrains like quinoa, buckwheat, barley and oatmeal
Try and ensure that each meal you eat has each of these elements.

In addition:

1. Drink lots of water, 10-12 glasses of water a day is good for fighting the effects of aging. Drink water at room temperature and filtered water is best. Carry a bottle of water everywhere with you, this makes it easier to keep on drinking water.
2. Cut out processed and refined foods like white bread, rice, pasta, sweets, biscuits or cookies and cakes.
3. Sugar is one of the most aging things in food, even raw cane sugar, try to cut down entirely and substitute honey when you really, really must have sugar. Most fruit juices and lots of diet drinks have sugar added, read labels and anything with an "ose" at the end, like dextrose, fructose etc. means sugar.
4. Eat vegetables, leafy green vegetables are the best. High glycemic vegetables like potatoes, yam and carrots cause sugar imbalances and are aging, strong colored vegetables have anti-aging properties.
5. Eat fruit, especially apples and berries which have a low glycemic index. It is best to eat the fruit rather than drink fruit juices because fruit juices are high in sugar and low in fiber.
6. Avoid red meat as much as possible.
8. Use olive oil when preparing food, processed oils such as corn oil, sunflower oil etc. should be cut out. The worst kind of fat is trans-fat found in margarine, cookies and cakes so avoid at all costs.

There are a wealth of books on healthy eating available. I have found Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz's book, You the Owner's Manual to be an excellent book which is a total health manual as well as providing lots of sound, well-researched and verified information on defying the effects of aging. Because the authors are doctors they give a no-nonsense and comprehensive guide to living longer. There is also a website by the same experts www.realage.com which allows you to see how healthy you are and to monitor your progress, it provides daily tips as well as in-depth advice. You can also find more information from your local health centre, government health agency or clinic and there are simply lots of resources on the web for recipes, meal plans etc. so that it is really not at all difficult to follow a healthy anti-aging diet and look forward to not only living longer but to quality of life for longer.

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