Saturday, June 20, 2009

The Indefinable Fountain Of Youth From Diet

By Karen Lynch

For centuries, people have been searching for an obscure therapy to something that happens to all of us - aging. Could it be that the fountain of youth has been with us all along?

To bring to an end the standard declines related with aging, one may have to look no further than the local supermarket, health food store or farmers market. Research now indicates that as much as 85% of all age-related illnesses can be avoided through exceptional diet and a healthy diet. A vastly healthful diet can check the predictable degeneration that is linked with aging.

Many of the top superfoods that can decelerate the regression of aging are foods that people have been eating for millennia. Some of these foods have been staple items in parts of the world and one of these foods has such a unusual history that at one time it was nearly entirely avoided because it was believed to be lethal.

Berries are one of the healthiest foods found in nature. Berries are high in a plant-based flavonoid called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins is actually the deep purple pigment that makes blueberries blue, blackberries black, and even strawberries and cranberries that deep red. One of the healthiest foods ever found in the world is the tiny acai berry, which has long been a staple food for the population of the Brazilian rainforest where it is grown. The acai berry provides as much as 45% of their food intake.

Tomatoes are loaded in a powerful antioxidant called lycopene. This powerful substance helps to avert heart disease by protecting the blood vessels against oxidative damage. It has also been shown to offer protection against many different types of cancer, including lung and prostate. The tomato is one of the few foods that is in fact better in a processed state rather than a raw state. The concentration of lycopene is supreme when tomatoes are heated such as in spaghetti sauce and since it is fat soluble, the nutritional benefit is increased if you add in a beneficial fat, such as olive oil.

Back in the 1500's most Europeans believed that the tomato was lethal. Most of the flatware of the time was made from pewter. Pewter at that time had a high-lead content and since tomatoes are high-acid, eating tomatoes with this flatware caused the lead to leech out into the food. This resulted in lead poisoning and death. The poorer people of the time still ate tomatoes because their flatware was made of wood and they did not have the predicament of lead poisoning.

Look for colors when you look for anti-aging foods. Greens, such as spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, Swiss chard and more are especially nutritious. Orange foods like pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes should be incorporated. And beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, Tea, red wine and dark chocolate are also wonderful foods to avert the problems of aging.

It turns out that the fountain of youth is something that has been obtainable to us all along. We just need to take better advantage of it and take in more natural, whole foods in our diet and get rid of the faux foods that have become profuse in our society.

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