Anti- Aging Super foods

1. Anti-AgingSuperfoods

2. Great nutrition is essential to aging gracefully.  Energy, vitality and zest for life come from within - from a body and brain supplied with the essential nutrients needed for optimum performance.

3. So start now - put the best food choices up there on your weekly shopping list - very soon you'll find you enjoy what you eat, feel fantastic and look years younger!

4. Whether you eat them raw, as ketchup, paste or a sauce on your pizza, the health and anti-aging benefits of tomatoes simply cannot be denied. Tomatoes are one of nature's superfoods Tomatoes contain more lycopene, one of the most powerful antioxidant vitamins known to man, than any other food stuff. Lycopene

5. Lycopene belongs to the same family of chemicals as beta-carotene but is almost twice as powerful an antioxidant. Antioxidants are powerful neutralizers of the free radicals that often damage human cells, causing premature aging and many forms of cancer including lung, bladder, cervix and skin.

6. Lycopene also helps prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis lycopene in tomatoes can have a beneficial role in the fight against cancers of the digestive tract, breasts and prostate - and the results so far are looking very promising.

7. Tests have shown that the lycopene in tomatoes can be more readily absorbed into the body when the fruit is processed into sauce, pulped into juice, or pressed into paste and ketchup. Lycopene in all these forms is absorbed up to four times more efficiently than from raw tomatoes.

8. There is compelling evidence that lutein and zeaxanthin, nutrients found in green and yellow vegetables and egg yolks, may help protect against the development of age-related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts. Recent studies suggest that these nutrients may play other protective roles in the body as well, according to researchers who presented at the annual scientific meeting of the Gerontological Society of America • Lutein (loo' -teen) has become familiar to the public as an ingredient in vitamin supplements formulated for eye health. In foods it is usually found together with its cousin, zeaxanthin (zee-ah-zan'-thin). High cholesterol - eggs aren't as bad as we thought

9. The truth is that just because a food is high in cholesterol doesn't mean that it has a bad impact on your blood cholesterol. According to recent research people eating an egg a day are no more likely to suffer heart disease than those who eat them much less or not at all. So - go ahead include eggs in your diet. • Go to work on an egg if that's your breakfast of choice. As long as you eat a balanced diet and make healthy lifestyle choices you'll avoid high cholesterol levels.

10. It's a killer and it's in your food - so how do you spot trans fat and make sure you don't eat it? Reading labels is your only weapon in the fight against trans fat in your diet unless you find a trans fat free restaurant or supermarket you can trust. Reading food labels • How do you know whether food contains trans fat? Look for the words "partially hydrogenated" vegetable oil. That's another term for trans fat. The word "shortening" is also a clue: Shortening contains some trans fat. Becoming 'trans fatfree'

11. Watchoutwhenyou buy: • Bakedgoods (cookies, crackers, cakes, pies, muffins, somebreadssuch as hamburger buns). • Margarine (especiallystick margarine), vegetableshortening, andcommercialfryoils. • Pre-mixedproducts (cake, pancake, andchocolatedrinkmix; pizza dough). • Deep-friedandpre-friedfoods (doughnuts; frenchfries; friedchicken, fishsticks, andchickennuggets; tacoshells). • Snackfoods (potato, corn, andtortillachips; candy; packagedormicrowavepopcorn).

12. Doctors worry about trans fat because of its unhealthy effect on your cholesterol levels — increasing your LDL and decreasing your HDL cholesterol. And also ; Increases triglycerides Increases Lp(a) lipoprotein. Causes more inflammation. Trans fat - the anonymous killer

13. In the meantime - take action to protect yourself and your family and avoid trans fat wherever possible. Chances are you'll look younger, feel better and live longer for it.

14. Recently published research suggests that drinking apple juice may protect against the cell damage that contributes to brain aging and memory loss.  • Of course the full benefits of the goodness in apples comes from eating or juicing the whole fruit. Apple juice is one of the most simple and delicious natural juices to make and works in combination with just about any other fruit. An apple a day keeps memory loss at bay

15. If you really want to bump up the nutrient content - try combining one apple and two large carrots in a delicious juice with a great antioxidant kick.

16. Polyphenols appear to be the source of the protection from alzheimer's. Polyphenols are organic antioxidants found in high concentrations in freshly juiced fruit and vegetables and sometimes responsible for the strong color of the juices.  • Juicing whole fruit and vegetables protects these powerful antioxidants and delivers them quickly to your bloodstream. Juicingprovidesalzheimer'sprotection

17. Juicing is a powerful anti-aging strategy as well.  Some of the most powerful anti-aging antioxidants are present in fresh, highly colored fruit and vegetables. Not only that but fresh juices taste fantastic and how often can you say that about something that's good for you?

18. Because they allow our bodies to function in the way they were designed to (way back when in caveman days), raw foods are one of the keys to a great anti-aging diet. • Whenever you cook vegetables you destroy between 50-80% of their nutrient value.  Cooking also alters the proteins in food to such an extent that they become difficult for the human gut to digest. Frying, high roasting and char-grilling are the worst - causing oxidization of  food leading  to the production of damaging free radicals which we then eat. Why eating like a caveman is the best anti-aging diet

19. Raw food on the other hand has powerful anti-aging properties. As we grow older, our bodies run out of natural enzymes so our cells stop dividing and renewing themselves. • This effects every organ in our bodies, from our internal organs to our skin, eyes and nails. Eating plenty of living foods replenishes these vital enzymes so your body is better equipped to continue the renewal process for much longer - keeping you looking and feeling younger.

20. it has the ability to increase the levels of antioxidants in your blood. Antioxidants are nature's fighters of disease and hugely important for their anti-aging effects • The antiseptic effects of honey have been something of a mystery to the science world - until recently. Now it is known that bees produce an enzyme - glucose oxidase. Its this enzyme in the honey that makes sure quantities of hydrogen peroxide (yes that's bleach) are constantly formed from the sugar in the honey. Hydrogen peroxide is well known as a strong antiseptic and this is what gives honey its wound healing qualities. Make honey your everyday antioxidant sweetener..

21. Studying a range of different colored honeys - all American produced - the researchers established that the antioxidant power of honey is equivalent to many fruit and vegetables.  Darker honeys were show to have the greatest antioxidant effect and the strongest antioxidant tested was buckwheat honey. 

22. Green tea contains hugely powerful polyphenols called catechins which have been shown to be more potent free radical scavengers than either vitamin E or vitamin C. That means if you care about looking younger for longer and staying healthy - you need to be drinking green tea or taking green tea in some form every single day. GreenTea

23. The most important of the catechins in green tea is EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) and it is this that experts believe is responsible for most of the health benefits linked to green tea. As well as being the most nutrient rich of the teas, green tea has the least caffeine - about half as much as coffee and considerably less than black tea. 

24. Recent studies have shown that green tea: Lowers blood pressure - 2 cups a day gives a 64% reduction in risk Prevents the spread of prostate cancer Protects against all forms of cancer including lung cancer Increases survival rates for ovarian cancer

25. Green foods are full of chlorophyll and magnesium which is vital for the nerves, muscles and for balancing hormones. • Yellow foods such as sweetcorn and yellow peppers (bell peppers) are rich in carotenoids - powerful antioxidants that protect you from damaging free radicals.  Mustard and the yellow spice turmeric are both rich in the pigment curcumin which is an especially powerful phytonutrient known to fight cancer and to reduce inflamation suffered by people with arthritis. Eat your way through a rainbow - every day..

26. Orange and red foods often derive their color from carotenoids such as beta-carotene.  Tomatoes and watermelon are rich in another carotenoid called lycopene.  All these carotenoids are extremely strong antioxidants which will help to keep you looking younger and in the best of health.  Best food sources are foods such as apricots, peaches, melons, watermelon, papaya, mango, carrots and tomatoes.

27. Beetroot, red grapes and berries get their red, blue and purple hues from a group of phytonutrients called flavonoids - hugely powerful antioxidants - some of them much more powerful than vitamin C.  The protective effect of red wine on cardiovascular disease is probably due to these flavonoids. • Among the most powerful flavonoids are anthocyanidins which give the purple color to blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrants and red grapes.