Anti Aging Foods

Besides your daily phytoceramide pill, there are a number of superfoods which help reduce the physical signs of aging, such as wrinkles, fine lines, and older-looking skin. These 7 anti aging foods are the favorites of all of us here – they’re generally delicious, readily available, and don’t cost the earth.

As well as helping you look great, there are many more anti-aging benefits to be gained from these anti aging foods: they increase your immunity, improve your brain power, and strengthen your bones; It’s a great idea, therefore, to eat them once a day for maximum results.

Almonds

Almonds are full of Vitamin E, which helps protect our skin from the harmful effects of the sun, thereby preventing further wrinkling. In a recent test to find the efficacy of the vitamin in this area, volunteers who consumed the same amount of Vitamin E as eating 20 almonds a day, and were then exposed to UV light, burned less than volunteers who took no Vitamin E supplements at all.

What’s more, Vitamin E is an antioxidant, which works to keep your arteries clean; and it’s also rich in amino acids, which help muscle growth.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest foods on the planet. They contain the antioxidant glutathione, which helps to enhance your immune system, protect against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, liver disease, HIV, cancer, heart attack, and strokes. They also help counter the effects of second hand smoke, and work to prevent diabetes.

Sweet potatoes are also packed with Vitamin C, which stimulates the production of collagen and helps smooth out wrinkles.

A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that volunteers who consumed 4 milligrams of Vitamin C every day (that’s about half a small sweet potato) decreased the appearance of wrinkles by 11 per cent.

Green Tea

The Japanese, who have known about the powerful effects of phytoceramides for years, drink green tea as their main drink. They’re clearly on to something, as the drink releases catechin, an antioxidant that has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.

Scientific studies have found that drinking 2 or more cups of green tea each day helps to prevent skin cancer, and can reverse the aging-effects of sun damage to the skin.

Carrots

Remember your mother telling you that carrots were good for your eyes? Well, she was right! The Vitamin A in carrots helps to keep your eyeballs white and bright, taking away the slightly yellow-look we often associate with aging. The vitamin is also a great way to prevent overproduction of skin cells in the skin’s outer layer, which can lead to clogged pores, and dry flaky skin.

As well as all that, eating carrots every day – or drinking carrot juice – gives you the carotenoids to help reduce cancers, arthritis, and rheumatism.

Avocados

Avocados are packed with folate, a water-soluble Vitamin B which helps reduce the levels of homocysteine in your system, and thereby increases the blood flow to your skin, plumping it out for a firm, youthful look.

Avocados are also full of monosaturated fat, which blasts LDL cholesterol (that’s the kind you want blasted!). You can get all of these benefits by eating a few slices of avocado each day.

Tuna

This favourite salad and sandwich-filler contains selenium, a nutrient which helps preserve elastin. This is a protein which keeps your skin smooth and tight. It also helps protect your skin against the effects of the sun’s UV rays.

Dark chocolate

As if we need any excuse for chocolate!

It’s the dark variety you need to consume though, as the cocoa is loaded with flavonoids. These help improve the flow of blood to the brain, maintaining your brain’s cognitive functions as you age.

Dark chocolate also contains procyanidin, a tannin that keeps your arteries flexible, and your blood pressure low. For best effects, you’ll need to eat 1 ounce of dark chocolate every day.

What’s more, in a scientific study, women who drank a cup of cocoa that contained the equivalent of a dark chocolate bar’s worth of flavonoids each day, had better skin texture and better resistance to UV rays.