Nutrition tips for anti-aging!
All the things we are terrified of, like wrinkles, saggy dry skin, stiff joints, and a reduced ability to bounce back, involve free radicals. Free radicals occur when cells oxidise due to inflammation, poor nutrition, processed foods, food chemicals, chronic high levels of circulating stress hormones or environmental toxins.
The integumentary system (hair skin & nails) are 3 aesthetic indicators of your inner health, nutritional profile and how well you are doing with your diet. There are some easy food-as-medicine principles you can implement into your daily diet to improve the health and appearance of your integumentary system. We want straight up collagen - think bone broths, animal fats like beef tallow, fish skin, chicken skin and slow cooked tougher cuts of meat. Plus we need nutrients that support the production of our own collagen, which are foods high in vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin E. We also need antioxidant rich foods that reduce free radical damage & help clear toxins.
Obviously, hydration is central to how hydrated your skin appears. Opt for filtered water mineralised with top notch salt (I love hydrogen water with Celtic sea salt). Ensure your water filter gets rid of fluoride, chlorine, and all the other nasties. Gelatinous bone broths, slow cooked meats, wild caught fish, organic whole roast chicken, eggs, cooked greens (gentler to digest than raw), soft-cooked orange root vegetables, avocados, walnuts, cold pressed nut oils, and sesame seeds are all go-to ways to get your integumentary system to defy gravity. And don't forget to choose organic, well-sourced everything.
marrow bone broth
As a topical treatment for keeping your skin in great condition, try applying beef tallow. It can be taken straight off a cooled batch of broth, or there are many available on the market now in various formulas with other ingredients.
beef tallow - or rendered beef fat
Phytonutrients in dark/deep coloured fruit & veg are loaded with antioxidants which scavenge free radicals & reduce the impact of oxidation that leads to aging. Resveratrol found in deep purple phytonutrients (think blueberries, blackberries, dark grapes), curcumin (in turmeric), beta-carotene (sweet potato carrots, mango, & dark leafy greens) & anthocyanins (in berries, cherries, eggplant skins, dark plums) are all powerful anti-aging antioxidants.
What’s also fundamental to antioxidant assimilation is how well we absorb nutrients in the gut. We need probiotic, live bioactive foods daily to support a healthy microbiome that can ensure optimal digestion and nutrient absorption. Natural (unsweetened) yoghurt, dairy kefir coconut yoghurt, water kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, apple cider vinegar (with the mother), bone broth & organic miso all contain beneficial bacteria that when consumed regularly promote a healthy intestinal microbiome. Raw (unpasteurised) cow milk is also a great way to boost probiotics and digestive enzymes if you have access to it.
Stress management tool #1, aka meditation, is also key as it is the most powerful tool we have in preserving the life our telomeres. Telomeres are little protective caps on the end of our chromosomes that protect our DNA… and damaged telomeres correlate with visible signs of aging such as integumentary decline. Keep stress under control and adopting a calm nature when the chips get you down is extremely helpful in keeping your mind and body fresh and youthful.
If you are enjoying all the foods mentioned above you are doing great, so well done! There is one more vital thing to remember… these foods are 10 x more powerful in the complete absence of anything that inflames your gut or allows existing inflammation to remain. If that sounds confusing, what I mean is this. Pizza, pasta, croissants, and chips will clearly inflame your gut. I know that doesn’t surprise you. What might come as a surprise is that raw salads or difficult to digest veg (e.g. raw kale) is a nightmare for your gut to break down, and if you have existing inflammation these ‘healthy’ foods can sustain damage and inflammation and prevent the healing capacity of all your nourishing foods from working their magic.
Every has a different health picture and our nutritional needs vary depending on what is going on inside each of us at a given time. I hope these general tips can help you feel and look as great as possible for as long as possible. For more personalized advice, please reach out to arrange a consult and discover easy nutritional methods to increase your vitality and boost your confidence for the long haul!