Foods that Influence Aging Processes

Aging is inevitable, but there are plenty of things you can do to slow down the aging process. Everything begins with what you choose to put into your body, and this means eating healthy and in moderation. After all, every calorie has a consequence, and the consequence can be good or bad for your body depending on what foods the calories come from. Of course, it’s not exactly easy to avoid eating all of the cupcakes and cookies in sight, but you will thank yourself later when you are 60 years old and only look 40.

Other factors that need to be considered besides what you eat are exercise, sleep and skincare products. By combining adequate rest, sleep and the use of skincare products, you can go a long way towards keeping your appearance youthful. But our focus for this article is on foods that influence the aging process, so here is a list of foods that you should both avoid and eat more of to minimize the effects of aging.

Foods That Cause Aging

1. Carbonated Drinks
Carbonated drinks contain large amounts of sugar, which is known for causing weight gain, and can even lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. The drinks that are known for boosting the number of wrinkles we see on our face are soft drinks, energy drinks and beer. Drinking these beverages on occasion probably won’t affect you much in the long-run; but if you consume them on the daily, you will have a hard time keeping your skin from aging. Furthermore, sodas are also said to leach the calcium from your bones, which causes bone loss, fractures, arthritis, scoliosis and osteoporosis.
2. Fried Foods
Fried foods are a staple comfort food for many of us, but unfortunately, the comfort stops at the taste buds. Fried foods cause your arteries to harden due to the plaque buildup, which is called atherosclerosis. You even run the risk of developing coronary heart disease because of the high levels of trans-fats found in many fried foods. Long story short, don’t let delicious fried treats lure you away from graceful aging.
3. White Grains
Commonly known as white bread or rice, these types of food offers very small amounts of fiber, which helps your body digest food; however, the downside is that white grains are also linked to aging-related diseases. The alternative to white grains is to choose foods rich in whole grains because they are both high in fiber and have a low glycemic index.
4. Red Meat
Red meat is okay to eat on occasion, like when you get a promotion or once a year for your birthday. But if you eat red meat too much, you run the risk of suffering from an inflammatory-related disease. Although red meats have a lot of good proteins, they also contain plenty of saturated fats that increase your odds of developing heart disease. It has even been suggested that when red meat is cooked, there are carcinogens released, thus causing concern about cancer risks.
5. Sugary Sweets
Not all sweets are bad for you – like yogurt – but when it comes to cakes, cookies and pie, you will be better off skipping them because you don’t need all that sugar! Of course, all things are okay in moderation, and this is completely true with sugary sweets. On the other hand, you wouldn’t want to develop diabetes, or overdo it on trans-fats or hydrogenated oils. Now that you know what to watch out for, here are a few foods to add into your diet or eat more of.

Foods that Slow Aging

1. Fruits
Of course eating fruit will help keep your skin healthy, which inevitably fights off aging. And there are two main fruits to keep in mind when you are at the grocery. One is avocados because they are rich in essential oils and B-complex vitamins that provide your skin with age-fighting ingredients from the inside. Mangoes are a great way to get a good dose of vitamin A, and vitamin A keeps your skin from being dry or flaky, while preventing free radicals from aging your skin prematurely.
2. Nuts
Nuts such as almonds are good to eat because one serving can give you a whole day’s worth of vitamin E, which keeps your complexion bright. Other nuts are good to snack on too, and don’t let nutrition labels scare you off with the fat content because nuts are a nice source of healthy fats. They are much better than a bag of potato chips anyways!
3. Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese can be teamed up with fruit for an ultra-healthy snack that is low in calories and rich in skin-boosting nutrients. Cottage cheese also contains a large amount of casein protein. Casein protein is digested at a slower rate than other proteins, and is the perfect nutrient to consume before bed or as a midnight snack because it feeds your muscles with amino acids while you are getting beauty rest.
4. Baked Potato
Instead of having French fries as a side, choose to have a baked potato instead! Don’t discard the potato’s skin either because it is nutritious, and gives your body a heavy dose of copper. The copper is especially key because, when combined with the vitamin C and zinc found in your body, it will produce elastin fibers that keep your skin firm.
5. Fish
Fish is known for having a low amount of fat, being a good source of omega 3 fatty acids, and offering a lot of protein. It has even been said that those with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and autoimmune disease all see relief of symptoms when they eat fish as part of their diet. If you are pregnant and eat fish regularly, you can reduce the probability of delivering a premature baby, and when you are breast feeding, you can improve your baby’s eyesight by eating more fish due to the omega 3 fatty acids in the breast milk.

When it comes to avoiding premature aging, watching what you eat is important because it’s the foundation of younger looking skin.