24th June, 2015
By Sharon Jane Akinyemi
Imagine how you’ll feel when your joints stop aching, your energy levels skyrocket and you begin sleeping soundly and completely through the night… My mother had a simple test for establishing the true age of a person. She would tell you to pick up the skin on the back of your hand and pull it up taut, hold it for a few seconds and then let go. If your skin snapped back, my mother declares you to be young, regardless of your chronological years. If your skin “crawled” back you were old. Truly old skin may take a minute or more to return to normal. Mother, of course being a certified nurse, loved to show her patients how elastic her own beautiful skin was. Check yours. Compare your skin with younger and older friends.
There is the chronological age, which involves the celebrating of birthdays and passing of years,and the biological age, which reflects the rate at which you are getting older. Everybody ages at the same chronological rate, but people do not age at the same biological rate. You will find the skin-test comparison Interesting, especially if you smoke and drink alcohol. The goal of nearly everybody I know is to reduce the rate at which they age biologically. The 3 most harmful processes contributing to faster aging in your body…
GLYCATION
OXIDATION
INFLAMATION
Ageing is influenced by many factors, including genetics, lifestyle and what has been called “ageing clock”. This ageing clock regulates specific changes at various times throughout our lives. An example of this internal time clock would be where our bodies start producing hormones that control our growth and sexual development, a time called puberty. Another example of this internal time clock would relate to women and menopause. Women enter menopause at different ages, from early ’40s to mid-’50s.
At the time of mid-life, for both sexes, the body starts to wind down . A signal is sent by the level of hormones that we are past our prime. The body is now more vulnerable to various illnesses and degenerative diseases.
An important aspect of ageing is the decline of key physiological functions: vision impairment with cataracts , glaucoma, brittle bones and dowager humps (usually associated with osteoporosis or osteoarthritis ) weaker muscle and loss of strength, diseases that shorten life ( such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes,) a weakened immune system, senility or memory loss, and the list goes on
Many of the anti-ageing foods, teas, spices, herbs, secret supplements, and ingredients also help to BOOST your metabolism and increase fat-burning inside your body. This is a natural side effect you’ll experience from some of the powerful phytochemicals and other nutrients you’ll find inside some of these food. This occurs due to the robust effects these nutrients have in your body such as:
Powerful blood sugar control
Reduction of dangerous inflammation in your body
Balancing your hormones
Metabolism-boosting benefits
Fat Burning Becomes EASY
Increased Natural Energy
Natural Detox that wipes away years of toxins
So not only will you enjoy a more youthful and energetic body with improved joint health, skin health, and less risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases, but you’ll also enjoy a LEANER body!
You might already know from my previous articles that taking water melon or lemon juice before a meal can dramatically control your blood sugar levels from that meal…and lower blood sugar means less formation of AGEs, reduced appetite and cravings, and improved fat loss. There are also other powerful herbs, spices, and nutrients that are robust blood sugar controllers (these can help FIGHT diabetes!)
Eating too much trans fat can harm your cell membranes… but eating more healthy fats can help reverse that harm. Some of the healthiest (and delicious) fat sources can balance your hormones and protect your cell membranes.
Also tasty “fatty” foods to protect your skin and give it a more youthful appearance. And you’ll be surprised to know that even some saturated fat sources can be very beneficial for you!
80% of people are deficient in chromium, the mineral that aids in regulating carbohydrate metabolism by enhancing insulin function. One of the best sources of chromium is brewer’s yeast.
Garlic is an unusual herbal ingredient that most people have never heard of that is not only a strong anti-oxidant, but also helps you maintain lower blood sugar and thereby reduced formation of aging compounds in your body.
Spicing any meat with this natural herb before grilling can significantly reduce formation of exogenous AGEs in the meat. This means healthier meat helping to support your anti-aging goals.
Most important Vitamins and mineral (calcium) can help prevent accelerated aging. In fact, one study found that having adequate levels of calcium can make you equivalent to 5 years younger from a cellular level based on telomere length.
The good news is turning back the hands of time so you can look and feel years younger is actually pretty simple…
… All you have to do is follow these simple, easy, and scientifically PROVEN
NUTRITION and EXERCISE secrets.
Certain spices (ginger,thyme,cloves,pepper, bay leaf) protect your body from aging on a cellular level… and I bet you’re not currently using at least half of these anti-aging spices! Three of these unique spices can be used to help naturally lower your blood pressure. And at least FOUR of these spices have been found to exert potent metabolism-boosting effects! It also enhances your BRAIN function!
Amino acid (found in protein foods) can actually “counter-attacks” formation of AGEs in your body, thereby fighting one of the worst processeses that contribute to premature aging in your body.
Some types of meat (beef) accelerate aging, while other types of meat(poultry) can actually FIGHT aging…learn to choose the right meats and how to prepare meat to make any meat dish MUCH healthier!
Dana James in one of her article, suggested fruits like AVOCADO.
The green fruit that has fat. That’s right, it contains monounsaturated fat. This is a good thing. The fat is so tiny it can slip through membranes and protect cells from free radical damage. This enhances vitality and mental acuity, and improves skin texture. Avocados may also improve bone density thanks to the mineral boron, which helps absorb calcium, and a whole avocado contains 14 grams of fiber, which expedites the removal of toxins that can lead to aging.
Avocados are best served as an unadulterated raw food. (Does anyone like cooked avocados?) Make a cooling cucumber and avocado mix. Organic mixed green vegetables , lemon , macreal fish tomatoes, and peppers
GREEN VEGETABLE JUICE
If you juice, pat yourself on the back. Juicing green vegetables breaks down the plant’s cell walls so the nutrients can quickly be absorbed and assimilated into the body with very minimal digestive effort, making it the quickest way to infuse the body with antioxidants, phytonutrients, enzymes, oxygen, chlorophyll, vitamins, and minerals. About 230gram juice is equivalent to two large salads with no dressing.
Vegetable juice help PROTECT your joints and keep your skin youthful (beware: 95% of most store bought soups are terrible for you)
Vitamin C foods help rebuild your collagen.
EXERCISE CAN SLOW AGING
According to new research published in the American Journal of Physiology,1 the best way to stay young is to simply pick up your feet and start exercise training. The training triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, a decline of which is common in aging. This reverses significant age-associated declines in mitochondrial mass, and in effect, stops aging in its tracks.
This is not the first time researchers have linked exercise to mitochondrial changes. A 2011 review in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism2 points out that exercise induces changes in mitochondrial enzyme content and activity, which can increase your cellular energy production and in so doing decrease your risk of chronic disease.
Aside from impacting your skeletal muscle and fat tissue, researchers noted that exercise induces mitochondrial changes that may also benefit your liver, brain and kidneys. The mitochondria is the “power plant” of your cells, responsible for generating the energy that drives all metabolic functions.
Increasing mitochondrial activity is extremely important because free radicals, which are toxic byproducts of metabolism as well as exposures to chemicals, pollutants and other toxins, can overwhelm your body’s defenses, leading to oxidative damage to cells and tissues that can destroy cellular proteins, lipids and DNA; this process often leads directly to the loss of mitochondrial function. In the long-term, irreversible damage in the mitochondria can occur, leading to:
Impaired ability to utilize carbohydrates and fat for energy
Insulin resistance
Lower threshold for physical exercise
Excessive weight gain
Accelerated aging
At least two additional studies, one in the Journal of Applied Physiology3 and the other in Neuroscience,4 also showed that exercise induces mitochondrial biogenesis in the brain, with potential benefits such as reduction or reversal of age-associated declines in cognitive function and helping to repair brain damage following a stroke, respectively.
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