Incorporating Anti Aging Foods Into Your Diet

Making changes to your diet is sometimes easier said than done.  We are a society of extremely busy people who enjoy convenience, and unfortunately, plenty of convenient type foods are not very healthy for us.  Eating on the run does not have to mean eating food that is unhealthy, and it can be relatively simple to add in healthier foods or simply to substitute something that is a better choice for a food or meal that is not.

Fast food usually means fried or high fat and greasy foods that are high in saturated fats.  Saturated fats are the number one item you should eliminate from your diet.  These fats are a known cause of heart disease.  In fact, the United States and Canada are working on outlawing their use.  One fact that you may not consider is that eating foods that are fresh and closer to whole (not processed) are much more filling in addition to being much healthier for you overall.

Many fast food restaurants are moving toward adding in much healthier menu choices, which can make it much easier for people to make good choices.  Don’t automatically assume that a salad is healthy for you.  Some salad choices can be just as caloric or “bad” for you as French fries after you add in toppings and high fat salad dressing.  Basic salad dressings are a much better choice – ones that contain vinegar and less oil.  Creamy salad dressings are generally higher in fat and calories.  If you are thinking of having a salad, eliminate the “extras” and go for the basic choices to ensure that you are actually making a healthy choice.

Raw vegetables are always a great choice and can easily be added into your diet.  All you need to do is plan ahead a little bit and keep a supply of freshly chopped vegetables on hand for snacking.  Cruciferous vegetables are some of the best “anti aging” choices you can eat, and these include cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, watercress, turnips, cabbage, kale and brussel sprouts.  It has been well researched that these vegetables can help to eliminate toxins from the body and assist your body to fend off certain cancers.

Berries and dark colored grapes contain flavonoids which are a super anti aging antioxidant which are a super powerful tool to help your body to recover against the effects of free radicals.  It is simple to add a half cup of berries or grapes on top of cereal or as a quick on the go snack.  Cereal itself can be a good choice for breakfast.  You will need to find a cereal that contains whole grains and does not have much added sugar.  Other choices, such as cane sugar are much better than white or refined sugar.  Of course, oatmeal is an excellent alternative to cereal.  You can stock up on berries in the summertime, and freeze them into small serving sizes or baggies for use on your cereal or oatmeal in months when berries are out of season.  If you are in certain parts of the country where blackberries grow wild, you can pick several buckets full for freezing in this manner.

Garlic is an excellent anti aging tool, and it is very simple to add fresh garlic into many dishes when you cook at home.  If you find that you do not have much spare time to cook, you can plan ahead and cook large portions on the weekend, breaking them up into meal sized portions for eating throughout the week when you are on the go.

Choosing breads and pasta that are whole grain can make a massive difference in your diet, and you probably will not even notice much of a difference when you make the change.  Some people find that whole grain bread is “tasteless”; however, you can add a small amount of margarine and a flavorful jam or a small amount of peanut butter to eliminate that issue.  Pasta is usually covered with a tasty sauce, so it is far less noticeable to change to a whole grain pasta.  Eating more whole grains will help you to feel full longer, and give you more energy, so you won’t be reaching for those quick, processed snack foods.