Love Natural Health

Here are the top 7 anti-aging foods that you to include in your diet eveyday:

1.  Organic fresh fruits and vegetables.  Fresh food gives you the most vitamins, minerals, fiber and enzymes.  Enzyme rich foods are the key to feeding your cells to give you stamina, vitality and energy!

2.  Sea greens.  Spirulina, blue green algae, chorella all contain every nutrient to sustain life; proteins, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, chlorophyll, enzymes and fiber.  The is the best source of natural iodine to support the thyroid from common deficiencies.  Greens also PH balance the body..




3.  Whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans.  These are great sources of protein, fiber, minerals, and essentail fatty acids.

4.  Cultured food.  Yogurt, kefir, miso, and tamari are freindly digestive flora that protect the intestinal walls from any bacteria, virus or fungus.  Remeber that almost 40% of your immunity is in your colon and the flora will help to keep it that way.

5.  Six to Eight glasses of bottled water everyday.  Keep your body hydrated and clean.  Try to stay away from plastic bottles and NEVER put your water in the heat or freezer because the plastic excretes toxins into the water.

6.  Two to three tablespoons of healthy, unsaturated fats and oils.  High-quality, protective fats (such as extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, fish oils, nuts, seeds and avocados) can aid in keeping blood sugar levels stable. So you actually feel fuller longer. Translation: You get full by eating less food, which inhibits food cravings and prevents overeating. In addition, some of the healthy fats can trigger fat burning rather than fat storage. And that boosts your body’s natural fat-burning ability. 

7.  Fish and seafoods.  The essential oils in wild fish allow the cells to communicate with one another and protects cells from free radicals.  Seafood also contain a high amount of zinc, crucial for immunity and fertillity.  BE CAUTIOUS… eat small amounts of fish known to be contaminated with mercury (tuna, swordfish, and shark).

Essential Fatty Acids are the primary ingredients in fish oil.  In my opinion, ,they are one of the most important supplements that almost everyone should be taking on a daily basis. The benefits include:

• They protect our body from degenerative diseases like osteoperosis.

• They are integral to a good metabolism (they can actually help burn fat).

• They soften and smooth the skin.

• They help balance cholesterol.

• They help form lipoproteins, the organic compounds that make up our bodies.

• They are instrumental in energy production.

• They aid in circulation.

• They contribute to cell membrane health.

• They are vital to the body’s oxidation process.

• And on, and on, and on…the benefits are endless.

Even if you eat lots of fish and other foods that contain EFAs, your body still might not get the full benefit of the EFAs because the conversion requires that you have optimum levels of zinc, magnesium and other vitamins. Diets high in saturated fats or hydrogenated oils also makes the conversion process difficult.

There is an amazing amount of research out there confirming the benefits of EFAs. You can Google “Benefits of EFAs” to see a sliver of the research out there, but my favorite articles include the Science Advisory, “Fish Consumption, Fish Oil, Lipids and Coronary Heart Disease.” , and the Jama Article on Risks vs. Benefits including some great graphs.

Quality Matters

Be careful! The processing and packaging of the EFAs and fish oil are crucial in determining its quality. Low quality fish oils may contain significant amounts of mercury, pesticides, PCBs and undesirable oxidation products. Thankfully, there are independent research organizations that test EFA and fish oil quality levels.   This one talks about the effects of storage temperature on quality levels and this women’s magazine article talks about which fish are used to create high (and low) quality fish oil.

Recommendations

Clearly, EFAs have numerous positive characteristics. I recommend the consumption of 1.5 grams of fish oil daily, but again, the quality is critical, so be sure to look into the ingredients, processing and packaging of any supplement you consider. Based on my research, I believe fish oil supplements to be the most effective and reliable sources of EFAs. My family has been taking Xymogen brand for years now. Per 1g softgel, it contains more than twice the amount of EPA and DHA (450mg and 350mg vs. 180mg and 120mg) than the typical drug or health store supplements. Contact me if you want to order some….and start taking at least 1g of high-quality fish oil today!