There is a large scientific literature on nutrition and today we know quite clearly what are the foods that harm us and which help us to live longer but above all better.
However, if we want to approach the topic in a scientific way, it is impossible to identify single foods that make us young or that help us stay young.
What we can say with certainty is that there are food and lifestyle habits in general that allow us to reduce the accumulation of damage caused by time on our bodies.
Similarly, it has been shown that the lifestyle and diet typical of the Western world acts as an accelerator of the aging process.
One of the main factors that induce this response is the ratio of calorie intake to consumption.
This relationship maintained stable for hundreds of thousands of years during our evolution, has now been transformed due to an excess of calorie foods associated with an increasingly widespread sedentary lifestyle.
Another fundamental aspect is the rather sudden transition from the industrial revolution onwards from simple, genuine and unrefined foods to an infinite number of processed, refined foods full of additional chemicals on which it is At least it is legitimate to have doubts.
Starting from these two big changes we can extrapolate some guidelines that help us eat healthily and that can slow down the aging process:
- Choose low-calorie and hyper-nutritious foods : avoid eating regularly industrial foods that are typically high in calories but low in nutrients. Industrial sweets, soft drinks, baked goods, savory snacks, pre-cooked meals, are some examples of foods that we should rarely eat.
- Use vegetables not as a side dish: One of the few things that all nutritionists agree on is that vegetables provide phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals that are essential to protect our body. Yet most people still see them as a simple side dish. Instead, they should be the main component of our meals.
- Use healthy fats: fats do not make you fat in themselves and are not harmful to the heart and blood vessels. Some of them should be taken in moderation, such as saturated fats of animal origin and polyunsaturated omega 6, others should be increased such as monounsaturated extra virgin olive oil and polyunsaturated omega 3. The only ones to be eliminated are hydrogenated synthetics, present in some industrial foods.
- Use whole grains : grains are a useful component of carbohydrate intake especially for people who play sports. However, an exaggerated use of bread, pasta, refined rice raises blood sugar and disturbs the metabolism of insulin in a way that is very similar to what sugar does. The full-grain versions, rich in fiber, do not create this kind of problem.
- Use lean proteins: proteins are a fundamental component of the diet because they help maintain the structure of our organism but also because they give a sense of greater satiety than other nutrients.Furthermore, proteins provide an excellent thermogenic effect: that is, for every 100 kilocalories of protein consumed, 25 are consumed in the metabolization process. That said, a steamed mackerel doesn’t have much to do with a burnt grilled sausage. It is necessary to choose fish, lean meats, eggs and pay attention to the cooking methods.
Foods that make wrinkles appear (anti-aging skin)
Some foods also have an important impact on our aesthetics as they also specifically damage the skin. After all, the mechanisms by which food affects our health are biochemical in nature and therefore the effects are potentially at the level of every cell in the body.
One of the mechanisms by which food can accelerate skin aging is that of glycation. The phenomenon occurs when sugars bind to proteins and damage them both structurally and functionally. The skin is rich in proteins including collagen and elastin on which the appearance of the skin itself directly depends.
The mechanism of glycation creates real toxins called AGE (advanced glycation end-products) that stiffen the skin making it lose tone and elasticity. AGEs are produced in the body but also in foods, in particular if they are rich in sugar or cooked at very high temperatures. The damage caused by EFAs are synergistically associated with those produced by smoking and alcohol abuse.
Research indicates that to age well it would be good to accumulate less than 1 million AGE per day. Just to get an idea, 100 grams of pasta provide 400,000, 100 grams of biscuits 425,000, grilled meat 720,000 and a mixed frying 950,000.
It is therefore clear that with some foods the maximum limit is reached quite easily. To keep AGEs low and to adopt an anti-aging diet, it is necessary to focus on wholesome foods, low in sugar and cooked in the least aggressive way possible.
The principles of an anti-aging diet
There are some principles to follow to set up an effective anti-aging diet that is also useful for slowing down the skin aging process:
- Reduce calorie intake
- Reduce your glycemic load
- Increase healthy fats and reduce harmful ones
- Increase the intake of fiber through vegetables, fruit and whole grains
- Making vegetables a central component of the diet
- Use lean protein
- Use non-aggressive cooking methods
These principles can be easily adopted using the Harvard single dish which is composed of 50% of the volume of vegetables, 25% of whole grains and 25% of healthy proteins, all using extra virgin olive oil. olive as the main condiment.
Some antiaging recipes
It is important to know which foods are harmful and which ones help us to live longer but above all better. Discover the course that teaches you how to improve your nutrition.
