Fountain of youth

If you want to continue looking and feeling young and to age gracefully, the best way is to really start a healthy regimen at an early age. Eat smart, eat healthy and avoid ways that could possibly cause you to age faster than usual. Healthy lifestyle choices you could make would include not smoking, getting enough rest and sleep, cutting down on the consumption of alcoholic beverages, exercising regularly and eating foods that are rich in antioxidants. You may have heard of antioxidants, of course. These are substances that help neutralize free radicals which can actually speed up aging. The more you are aware of the right foods to eat, the lesser you would have to worry about premature aging.

The following are excellent food choices. These are called superfoods because not only do they help promote good health, they also help you look young too:

·         Crunchy Veggies

A person’s dental and oral hygiene says a lot about the condition of his overall health. Surprisingly, some dentists could even diagnose a number of diseases simply by just looking at your teeth. A pretty smile usually goes a long way, and it can seriously impact social and romantic relationships. Keep in mind that healthy relationships with people can also help keep you happy, and laughter helps keep you young.

For healthy gums and teeth, go for vegetables that are firm – those that give you the crunch as soon as you bite in them. Excellent examples are broccoli and celery. These help you scrub your teeth clean and keep your gums healthy too.

·         Yogurt

The unsweetened kind of yogurt is actually good for you. It contains lactic acid which helps kill the bacteria that is associated with periodontal diseases. Once again, a healthy mouth and a healthy set of teeth allows you to smile to strangers, talk to people easily without the fear of having breath and form meaningful relationships with people who matter. When choosing which yogurt to buy, remember to read the label. Skip those that contain high amounts of sugar because instead of warding off bacteria, it can actually promote bacterial growth inside your mouth because of it being too sweet.

·         Green Tea

Green tea is refreshing, we all know that. But did you know that it also provides you with a variety of health benefits? Green tea has been known to improve one’s physical stamina, promote weight loss, and it can also protect you from developing dementia, heart disease and cancer. What’s more is that all these claims are backed up by years of clinical research studies from various laboratories.

Green tea is power-packed with polyphenols called catechins. These are chemicals which has antioxidant properties. It is especially good for the skin because it exerts a protective effect against sun damage. Drinking about 2 cups of green tea per day can help you maximize its health benefits.

·         Pomegranate

The New York Times, medical periodicals and industry journals have dubbed pomegranate as the most powerful anti-aging food there is. Pomegranates are packed with antioxidant-containing compounds known as phytochemicals. These help maintain the integrity of our cells and protect them from the negative effects of free radicals. Free radicals are by-products of the oxidative processes inside our body, and these are blamed as the culprits for various diseases such as diabetes, heart ailments and cancer.

Pomegranates contain tannins, an active polyphenol that is said to be 3 times stronger than those found in green tea and red wine. If you wish to avail of the health benefits of pomegranates, you may simply utilize its juice.

·         Avocado

The avocado has been known as an anti-aging superfruit. Aside from its healthy oleic acid, avocadoes are also chock full of potent carotenoid antioxidants called vitamin E, zeaxanthin and lutein. These antioxidants help lessen oxidative stress and promote an environment that is healthy for cells. Avocadoes also contain folate and potassium necessary for the proper functioning of the heart. These elements help remove waste from the body which, when left to accumulate in the tissues and the blood stream, can be a source of different illnesses.

When looking to buy an avocado and you want it already ripe, try to feel its consistency. Do not merely rely on the color. Good, ripe avocadoes have a slight give to them when touched.

·         Grapefruit

Grapefruits help keep you young in three ways:

First, it slows down cell aging. The healthier your cells are, the healthier you will be. The spermidine in grapefruit helps our cells grown and mature, and it has also been found to slow down aging by inducing the regenerative processes in our cells.

Second, grapefruits contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that fights cell aging that is triggered by the effects of free radicals. Aside from its anti-aging effects, lycopene also helps lower ones risk of developing lung, colon and prostate cancer.

Third, grapefruit is packed with soluble fiber which helps remove cholesterol during the digestive process. When cholesterol is prevented from entering the bloodstream, high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases are prevented from forming as well.

·         Berries

Berries are excellent sources of antioxidants which help prevent free radicals from exerting its negative effects on our skin. This must be the reason why berries are considered as the best anti-wrinkle fruits. Also, these fruits contain fiber which is necessary in the elimination of toxic wastes in such a way that it promotes proper digestion.

Now that you know the right foods to eat to help keep you look young, there is no excuse for you not to eat them.

What you don't know CAN hurt you

Children and obesity

No such things as a coincidence

It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish... All before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow learners...
God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body! God's Pharmacy! Amazing! 

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye.. And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes. 

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food. 

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. 

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function. 

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. 

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body. 

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them). 

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility. 

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. 

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries 

Oranges , Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts. 

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Grass Fed Beef

GRASS FED BEEF

Most people think that beef is just beef. It isn’t always so.  A cows diet can have a profound influence on the nutrient content of its products, be it milk or meat.

·         Grassfed products tend to be much lower in total fat than grainfed products. For example, a sirloin steak from a grassfed steer has about one half to one third the amount of fat as a similar cut from a grainfed steer. If you eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to grassfed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year—without requiring any willpower or change in eating habits.  If everything else in your diet remains constant, you'll lose about five to six pounds a year.

·         Although grassfed meat is low in "bad" fat (including saturated fat), it gives you from two to six times more of a type of "good" fat called "omega-3 fatty acids."  The health benefit of Omega are numerous and worthy of an entire blog itself. Stay tuned.

·         The meat and milk from grassfed ruminants are the richest known source of another type of good fat called "conjugated linoleic acid" or CLA.  When ruminants are raised on fresh pasture alone, their milk and meat contain as much as five times more CLA than products from animals fed conventional diets.  

            Health benefits of CLA:

·         Promoting fat loss

·         Fighting cancer

·         Increasing your metabolic rate

·         Promoting normal thyroid function

·         Delaying onset of diabetes, and improving management of adult-onset diabetes

·         Helping maintain normal cholesterol levels

·         Helping maintain healthful triglyceride levels

·         Enhancing your immune system

·         The meat from the pastured grassfed cattle is four times higher in vitamin E than the meat from the feedlot cattle and, interestingly, almost twice as high as the meat from the feedlot cattle given vitamin E supplements.

             In humans, vitamin E is linked with a lower risk of heart disease and cancer.  This potent antioxidant may also have anti-aging properties.  Most Americans are deficient in vitamin E.

Enjoy your beef but choose wisely.

Be smart , stay healthy

Just a sip of soda

Cancer food

According to breast cancer expert, author, and board certified surgeon Dr. Christine Horner:

"To me, sugar has no redeeming value at all, because they found that the more we consume it, the more we're fuelling every single chronic disease," Dr. Horner says. "In fact, there was a study done about a year ago… and the conclusion was that sugar is a universal mechanism for chronic disease. It kicks up inflammation. It kicks up oxygen free radicals. Those are the two main processes we see that underlie any single chronic disorder, including cancers. It fuels the growth of breast cancers, because glucose is cancer's favorite food. The more you consume, the faster it grows."

Easy tip to lose weight

Two recent studies have found that choosing certain sizes and colors of bowls and plates may help you eat less, without affecting satisfaction. In America, over several decades, the size of our waistlines has increased dramatically along with the size of our china. The average size of dinner plates, likewise, has increased by more than 20%. Worldwide obesity rates have doubled in the last three decades, according to USA Today.

To find out whether or not smaller plates make for less food consumption, researchers from Cornell University and Georgia Institute of Technology asked 255 participants to serve tomato soup in seven different sized bowls. Three of the bowls were smaller, three larger and one medium sized – which acted as a control.

The surprising result? Virtually all of the subjects served significantly less soup in the smaller bowls. A follow-up study revealed the same “bowl bias.”

Researchers believe, when viewing food on a small plate, the serving size looks relatively larger than it actually is, leading to less overall food consumption.

Another thing that helped people eat less was using dishes with high-contrast colors: Serving white pasta on a black plate, or green salad in a white bowl, for example, made the participants serve about 20% less overall food, the researchers noted.

Eating just 50 calories less per day can result in 5 pounds of weight loss over a year. While there’s no magic bullet for weight loss, buying smaller dishes may trick your mind into simply eating less.

References

Use Contrasting Colours And Smaller Plates To Lose Weight, Study Finds; Sara Nelson; Huffington Post UK; Accessed July 19, 2012

Change Plates to Lose Weight; Health.com; Accessed July 19, 2012

Global Obesity Rates Double Since 1980; USA Today; Accessed July 19, 2012