Slow aging with the right foods
The term “anti-oxidant” has become increasingly prevalent in the mainstream media in recent years. It is a big selling point for food marketers looking to capture the growing health-conscious market.
We have claims of near-magic healing powers from foods ranging from berries to chocolate. This sounds like great news, but we must be ever vigilant in choosing where to spend our limited food dollar. Like other purchases, we wish to get the maximum benefit for the money we invest in our health and longevity. To that end, it is worth taking a close look at the topic of free-radical cell damage versus anti-oxidant foods that are reputed to protect and heal such assaults on our beloved cells of which we are all made.
First let’s define our terms so we know what we are talking about. Free radicals are oxygen molecules that have lost an electron, so they are actively looking to replace it because they are imbalanced electrically. Why are they dangerous to us? Because they literally attack our healthy cells, and our DNA, which effectively has the effect of “aging us from within” (credit to Jonny Bowden C.N.S.). In fact, the damage is called oxidation, which is the equivalent of rust! This is the same process that makes cut fruit turn brown. The sobering truth is that our bodies are aging inside well before we see the results show on the outside, so it is in our interest to act on “faith” and take preventive measures as early in our life as we can.
Some of you surely are thinking, “I wish someone told me about this 20 years ago!” Well, here is your chance to help your children, or your nieces and nephews get an earlier start than you were able to. I’d call that an outstanding opportunity to add to your list of why your life stood for something great! Furthermore, no matter what age you are, you can improve your condition, and slow the aging process by choosing to eat anti-oxidants, and avoid oxidants (free radicals).
The danger of free radicals may be even more hideous when it affects your DNA than when it attacks individual cells. Listen to what anti-aging expert Dr. Ron Rothenberg has to say about DNA damage of these free-radicals:
“If the DNA is damaged when the (damaged) cell divides to make new cells, the copies will be wrong and whatever function that cell performs will not be done correctly.”
If that does not alarm you, go back and read it again until it does! Your body replicates the problem on its own…yikes! Now, like almost any topic these days, you can certainly do a search on the topic and get a boat load of information to read on further, and I suggest you do if you have the time, for your sake and for your family. Knowledge is indeed power in regard to your health.
So what sorts of foods are known to be at the top of the list of the damaging sort? For starters, chemical pesticides. In fact, pesticides kill the intended target by in fact creating free radicals! So it follows directly that consuming food with pesticide residue will bring in a load of damage every time. Foods that have been tested by the FDA in recent years to have significant levels of pesticide residue include fresh vegetables and fruits (73 percent), processed vegetables and fruits (61 percent), soybeans (22 percent), wheat (75 percent), milk and cream (99 percent – wow), and bottled water (16 percent) – really, bottled water! In a nutshell, eating organic, or local (where you can be assured by the farmer no pesticides are used), or best of all, growing the food yourself, is the best defense. Look up the “dirty dozen” and “clean 15” for the consistently dirtiest and cleanest foods tested for chemical residues. Other food-ish substances known to do similar cell and DNA damage are refined sugar (including high-fructose corn syrup), and trans fatty acids (trans fats) found in all processed vegetable oils.
So what should we eat? Well, the trend on every level comes back to food as provided by nature: organic berries, including blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, Acai berries, etc. Apples, it turns out, are one of the very best ant-oxidant fruits. Prunes are loaded. So are organic green leafy veggies (daily), cruciferous veggies such as red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kale. Many herbs are high in anti-oxidant powers; cilantro is one of my favorites because it removes heavy metals from the body. You can easily search for a list of rankings of anti-oxidant power. A popular ranking in the health field is the ORAC ranking, which stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity. Topping the list are prunes; also included in the top 10 are blueberries, kale, and yellow squash. In fact, the bright color of food, especially blue and red, is often a guarantee it is an anti-oxidant superstar.
For those interested in further reading, I recommend the book “The Most Effective Ways To Live Longer” by Jonny Bowden. Until next time, do your best, and remember it takes time, time, time to re-train your habits that you may have taken half a lifetime to instill. Be gentle with yourself.