Foods that Fight Aging
As children, we often wanted to be a lot older than we really were. As adults, we want to be a lot younger that what we really are. Why is this? No matter how we look at it, living long equals getting older. Age is one thing that will continue to go up and never go down. It may stop, but age does not go down. Everyone is trying to give a different perspective on how to slow down or stop the aging process. Can this really be accomplished? Some people believe that it can be done and there are various wonder drugs and creams out there that seem to do the trick. But how long do these wonder drugs and creams hold down the fort or slow the aging process down.
Often, we don't really think about how fast we are actually aging until we meet up with the midlife crises. We then become more and more aware that our life is very limited. Once we are in the midlife stage of our lives, many of us begin eating healthier, exercising, drinking more water, and avoiding unhealthy food and beverages.
Finding healthy foods is the number one alternative that most of us resort to. We try to do everything to boost our body's ability to heal a lot faster. Nowadays, people read labels on foods and beverages more than ever. Calories, carbohydrates, saturated fat, unsaturated fats, and cholesterol, are all bad for our health if we consume too much of them.
Indeed, if your occupation is a nutritionist, you have your work cut out for you. Obesity is an ongoing problem and it is disease which will put us in the grave a lot faster than most of us care to think about.
Nevertheless, all is not lost and there are ways to fight the aging process. If your eating habits are really poor, you may find that some of the ways, which will be discussed, may not suit your particular eating habit. It really does matter what you consume, and how much.
Food for the Brain
Our brain requires tender loving care. We must exercise it and feed it the right things so that it will keep us on our toes. Memory loss is a sign of getting older. If our brain is not functioning properly, life is really not very exiting. Diets high in cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli reduce memory loss they also reduce the risk of cancer. Cancer can also attack the brain. Cruciferous, are plants in the mustard family. The flowers have four petals arranged like a cross.
Being that our brain is about 60% fats, we must give it healthy fats or it will get a hold of the nasty saturated fats. Our brain actually craves fat; so what can we do about these cravings? We eat oily fish, nuts, and berries in addition to the cruciferous veggies. Fatty fish is the best form of omega-3. These are polyunsaturated fatty acids found in salmon and mackerel. These fatty acids are capable of reducing your cholesterol levels and preventing blood clots. Cholesterol levels and blood clots are indirectly linked to the brain activity. Studies have shown that people that eat fish a few times a week will greatly reduce their chances of acquiring Alzheimer's disease or stroke.
Foods for the cardiovascular system and cancer prevention and diabetes
Foods rich in fiber, such as whole grains are excellent sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants are chemical compounds that promote healthy cells. Studies have shown that antioxidants may help the effectiveness of chemotherapy and slow down its adverse side effects. Although studies are not entirely conclusive, positive effects of antioxidants have been reported. Whole grains are digested much slower than processed grains. This slow digestion process prevents high blood sugar and diabetes Keep in mind that blueberries, cranberries and blackberries are also rich in antioxidants.
Olive oil instead of regular vegetable oils are also rich in antioxidants. It has been reported that olive oil is used a great deal in Mediterranean diets. Studies have shown that this could account for the lower rate of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diseases related to aging.
Green and White teas are one of the most powerful drinks which could lower your chances of acquiring heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Herbs and spices such as garlic and onions may also help prevent these diseases.
Food for your skin
Red fruits such as tomatoes contain Lycopene. Lycopene contains and antioxidant compound that that help keep the skin texture looking young. Tomatoes may also reduce certain types of cancer. Grapes also help promote a healthy heart and have anticoagulant properties.
Food for Healthy Hair
Eggs, poultry, whole grains, oysters, low fat dairy products and carrots are excellent choice of foods which promote healthy hair.
Food to Stop Osteoporosis
In order to maintain a high balance of calcium, lots of fruits, vegetables and nuts should be eaten. Drinking lemon juice and vinegar will help absorb calcium. Try eating beets, greens and spinach which will help in calcium been absorbed. By cutting back on meat and dairy products you will greatly increase urinary excretion of calcium. Refined sugar should be avoided all together. This type of sugar causes loss of calcium during urine excretion.
To prevent Osteoporosis, you really need to push the salt back from the table. Sodium also reduces the loss of calcium in the urine. Overall, we really need to strive to eat the correct foods in order to keep from aging so fast. Our lifestyle must change. Back in the days it seemed as if our parents and grandparents could eat just about anything yet they still live long prosperous lives. Well, long time ago, our world wasn't in as bad of shape as it is now. We are constantly damaging the world and stress is taking its toll on many of us. Stress ages us faster than just about anything. Fort this reason, we must strive to get it under control. The foods we eat are extremely important. They play a vital roll in controlling our emotions and much of the stressful tensions we get could very well be because we are not eating the right foods in order to maintain health brain activity, healthy cardiovascular systems. We really are what we eat, and age can just be another number.