Ever wonder how your diet can affect the way you age? Or if it indeed delays aging for even a bit?.. I have always believed that aging is inevitable and one way or another, we will all die. Well, that’s two of the most obvious things in life for me—given facts even. However, I would not like it a bit if I go all wrinkled up and hunched over just because I did not even dare do something about aging, say, keeping my body in tip-top shape and prevent it from having age-related diseases so yes, I still fall for “anti-aging” mumbo-jambo once in a while, as long as it doesn’t hurt me or my wallet.
Anti-aging diet, on the other hand, makes perfect sense to me. Also, I don’t see anything bad in following this very simple diet that somehow “fights” aging—not that I am giving myself false hopes. Well, if it won’t fight aging itself, I imagine it will certainly do my body some good, so why not?
It seems that the magic word for fighting the body’s natural process is anti-oxidant. By now, I am 100% certain that every senior—guys and girls alike—knows what the word “anti-oxidant” means. I mean, it’s pretty hard to miss the word if it’s all over the place—in soaps, vitamins and supplements, herbal preparations, food we eat and even in cosmetics! Take acai berry for example, this very potent, anti-aging berry which earliest roots were found in Brazil has been flying off the racks ever since its first introduction in the market. Young or old, healthy and sick, they all fell for acai berries despite its staggering price. As for me, I just doubled up on my berries, munching on them like there’s no tomorrow.
Anti-oxidants fight free radicals in your body. I say, free radicals are one thing in life that is for free but you wouldn’t want to mess with. They make the aging process go faster and do damage inside your body all at the same time. You get free radicals from the air you breathe everyday (which is polluted), the food you eat (which was treated with chemicals) and radiation (which you can get from multiple imaging tests requested by your doctors). We all have certain amount of free radicals inside our body, it only gets bad if this amount is more than your anti-oxidant reserves can handle.
Anti-oxidant, together with anti-inflammatory properties can defeat free radicals hands-down and keep them at a minimum. If you’re aiming for an anti-aging diet, choose foods that are rich in these two properties. For general guide:
•    Pro-inflammatory (foods seniors should avoid): sugary foods, starches, saturated fats, and trans fats
•    Anti-oxidants (foods seniors should load up): fruits and veggies, beans and nuts.
•    Anti-inflammatory (foods seniors should add to their diet):  allium vegetables like garlic and onion, grains, and seeds.