Two important Anti-Aging Tips

When talking about anti-aging, most people immediately think about looks. Instead, I want to emphasize on the aspects of feeling young, energized and revitalized! We all know that nutrition and lifestyle are some of the biggest influences on aging, so let’s dive into what could be some causes of aging and how we can avoid premature aging.

Inflammation & Nutrition

Inflammation is a major culprit in premature aging. In order to avoid excess inflammation in the body, which can lead to a multitude of other health issues and diseases, one should try their best to avoid inflammatory foods such as sugar, white processed flour, excess alcohol, processed foods, food additives, high-fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated fats. When I say "“try their best to avoid,” I mean it on a day to day basis because of course we are all humans and I believe that moderation is key. Instead, I suggest focusing on incorporating anti-inflammatory foods into one’s diet such as olive oil, nuts, seeds such as chia and flax, fatty fishes rich in omega 3s, grass-fed meats, cruciferous vegetables and fruits.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle choices have a huge impact on the prevention of premature aging such as sleep, stress, exercise, and spirituality or community. Sleep is required for repair of body functions and proper signaling of all our hormones. If one does not get proper adequate levels of sleep, it becomes a vicious cycle of making poor food choices, a lack of exercise, and higher levels of stress. Speaking of stress, with its constant rise and fall of cortisol levels leading to the body feeling in flight or fight mode too often, stress is known as one of the biggest culprits in aging and inflammation. As for exercise, we all are aware that it improves your mood due to the rise of endorphins, as well as improves oxygen delivery to your whole body, therefore preventing oxidative stress. And lastly having spirituality or a strong sense of community leads to connection, and studies have shown how it supports the happiness of your brain.

Takeaways

The main takeaways of these tips to prevent premature aging are:

• To focus on incorporating anti-inflammatory foods when it comes to nutrition

• Avoiding processed or highly inflammatory foods on a day to day basis

• Focus on exercise

• Lower stress levels

• Improve quality of sleep

• Connect with something higher, whether its spirituality, religion or community