Live Longer with Anti Aging Diets

All the latest studies seem to prove that a healthy diet can add years to your life and make those extra years worth living. Eating an anti aging diet can help you feel younger almost immediately, and when you feel younger, your added confidence and enhanced self esteem automatically make you look younger.

When you consider the cost of cosmetic surgery, liposuction, wrinkle removing injections, micro-dermabrasion and other antiaging treatments, not to mention the health risks associated with all these procedures, an anti aging diet seems like a safe, natural way to prevent or slow down the aging process.

An Anti Aging Diet – Just What the Doctor Ordered

Doctors agree that making the right dietary choices can delay the onset of age-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, and cancer. Foods that contain phytonutrients – powerful antioxidant substances that hold the key to longevity – destroy harmful oxygen molecules that can cause these illnesses.

In addition to phytonutrient-rich foods, an anti aging diet should also contain foods that are anti-inflammatory. Look for colorful, natural, plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables that are deep orange, dark green, and red. Examples of foods that are both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, and therefore part of a healthy, anti aging diet, are carrots, broccoli, beets, red peppers, and tomatoes.

Foods to Avoid

Just as certain foods help inhibit the aging process and should be eaten regularly, foods that promote the aging process should be avoided or minimized. Foods that accelerate the aging process include saturated or trans fatty acids, starches, and sugars.

Foods to Include

You don't need the latest fad diet book or medical journal to eat an anti aging diet. Simply eat a balanced variety of healthy foods, including daily servings of these nutrients:

Fruits and Vegetables

Include at least five servings a day, and make it a variety of produce, not the same five bananas every day. Fruits and vegetables are such a vital part of an anti aging diet and such powerhouses of nutrition, you should always be thinking of ways to add them to your meals. Toss a handful of chopped carrots into a prepared salad or canned soup. Add a coarsely chopped zucchini to your favorite pasta sauce. Put raw vegetables out, instead of potato chips, with dip.

Whole Grains

Whole grains provide important fiber that can lower blood cholesterol levels. A high fiber diet improves your overall digestive system and wards off diseases of the colon, which often occur as we age. Eat at least three servings a day.

Legumes

Eat legumes at least three or four times a week. They are nutrient dense and have relatively few calories. An anti aging diet can really be flavorful and easy to prepare. Children, young people and seniors can all benefit from a healthy, plant-based diet.