Let’s talk about anti-aging.
Who wants to stay young for a long time?
You must start young … but as is the case with savings, it’s never too late to begin.
So where do we start though? Through food!
THE RIGHT FOODS
Choose unprocessed foods, favouring healthy foods, recipes and simple choices. Use for example brown rice instead of white rice. People say to me “yes but I prefer basmati rice”, I say choose brown basmati rice instead! It is better to eat less grains, that is, less crackers, pasta, bowls of cereal or bread. Why not make your bread with almond flour! With as little baking powder as possible. Anything that is * leavening * (like baking powder or nutritional yeast) feeds bad bacteria. You know, our microbiota?!
We come into the world with a lot of good bacteria, but also bad bacteria. Some of these bad gut bacteria are important! They stimulate our immune system and live in symbiosis with our good bacteria. So, keeping these bacteria in balance is a priority, in order to help us from catching viruses and prevent autoimmune diseases.
Choose seeds, which are rich in fatty acids, important for nourishing the brain. Did you know that the brain is made up of fat and 80% water? So, the choice of the water we drink is important. (See the blogs on our site Article #1 Article #2 Article #3).
Where are fatty acids found? Mainly in flax seeds, chia, hemp, sunflower, pumpkin, and camelina, but also raw nuts, especially walnuts and pecans because they are rich in omega 3. All other fats or oils rich in omega 3 such as coconut oil, avocado fruit and oil, flaxseed oil, camelina oil and hemp oil are to be considered and used more often! Try using Ghee, (clarified butter. Let’s prioritize vegetable oils rich in omega 3 and use as little as possible omega 6, for example olive oil and omega 9 such as sunflower oil and grape seed oil.
These good fats will help nourish the brain and prevent memory loss, but also nourish the good bacteria in the gut, they are anti-inflammatory agents.
I could write pages and pages on this subject, there are so many encouraging new studies! The studies examine the effects of diets on various points including dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, cognitive functioning, constipation, and disease progression.
We are advised to avoid fats to lower cholesterol, but now we know that good fats feed the brain, and it’s the bad fats and stress that cause bad cholesterol to increase. It’s important to know that good fats lower cholesterol and lubricate our joints! So, arthritis and osteoarthritis, which cause so much pain and discomfort, can be prevented, and controlled.
STRESS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Which brings us to the next topic for preventing premature aging: stress! Cortisol made by our nervous system. Apply different forms of relaxation, like deep breathing, meditation (even as little as 5 minutes will make a difference) as well as cardiac coherence (see the free breathing exercise apps available). Choose the model that suits you. We haven’t learned to manage our emotions and feed our nervous system. Several great books on the subject exist.
Did you know that a brisk walk, 45 minutes, three times a week, helps increase the hippocampus, a gland in the brain that relates to memory?
What causes aging? Our telomeres which are shortening! What is the function of telomeres? Telomere comes from the Greek telos, the end, and meros, part of, therefore the part at the end of our DNA. Telomeres shorten with age, inflammation, and stress. Studies have shown that short telomeres are associated with a higher risk of age-related diseases.
Telomeres are these small pieces of DNA which form caps covering the end of our chromosomes. The discovery in the 1980s, of these strange structures called telomeres fascinated the public, well beyond molecular biologists! And for good reason, since we have come to understand that their shortening is synonymous with aging.
In the meantime, let’s take care of our telomeres with simple actions. For example, avoiding stress, which shortens them, pollution, which is also harmful to them, and doing physical activity, which has a positive effect. All things which, obviously and in general, benefit our health.
What I notice most often is that older people tend to eat less protein. I saw my own mother eat only a piece of toast, instead of a full meal, because she was bored, so she was less hungry, and she no longer had the courage to make herself a full meal. Eating three protein meals a day is especially important for energy and reproduction of our cells and collagen. Everything we are told about the need to eat more vegetables and healthy fats is key.
Eat simply but eat healthy, drink lots of alkaline water, maintain some physical activity and reduce stress! Basic rules to apply every day in order to age healthy and energetically!
To your good health!
