Love Food Editors - 100 Best Foods to Stay Young

Good nutrition is the foundation of a youthful, vital body that is able to work to its full capacity. The right foods are the key to staying young, inside and out. The results show in how you look, in how you feel, and in your quality of life.

Staying young means helping your body constantly repair and renew, not only to recover from the stresses of the day, but also to supply the building blocks and nutrients that we need all the time to build new cells. Every part of your body is being continually replaced, and factors, such as stress, exercise, sunlight, junk food, computers, TVs, and pollution work to stop that from happening by depleting nutrients or damaging cells and tissues.

By eating to stay young, you can take the energy, weight, movement, strength, mental agility, and outlook that you had when younger into your senior years. It is natural to age, but we can avoid this happening prematurely by consuming the healthiest food possible. The foods with the most nutrients and the least damaging potential are unprocessed foods that come straight from nature. These are the foods we have evolved to live with, and which work with our bodies for optimal health.

This book identifies the different aspects of health that are needed to safeguard vitality and youthfulness. All of the recipes satisfy these categories to an extent, but each has been coded to indicate its particular potency.

S Skin, hair, and nails the health of the inside of your body is reflected on the outside. Poor health shows up as dull, blemished skin, wrinkles, and age spots. Maintaining your appearance is also a good incentive to stay motivated to eat well.

M Mobility and strength good posture, reactions, and pain-free movement keep you from feeling old and from being less able to enjoy the activities that keep you young at heart.

D Digestive/detoxification health these systems operate in tandem to use the nutritional elements you need to stay young, and eliminate harmful toxins and bacteria that can make you feel sluggish and bloated. The presence of beneficial, probiotic bacteria in the digestive system is key to staying young.

B Brain health your brain needs fuel and nutrients for you to stay happy and be able to concentrate and remember efficiently. Good mental health motivates you to look after yourself. Much of how young you feel comes down to perception.

H Heart health your heart keeps your blood pumping and circulating, taking oxygen and nutrients to every cell in the body in order to renew and rejuvenate.

I Immunity-supporting antioxidant antioxidants mop up harmful, unstable molecules that derive from factors, such as pollution and stress. These play a major part in enabling your immune system to protect you from invading elements and from becoming oversensitive, which leads to allergies. These substances also help reduce inflammation, the root cause of most diseases and premature aging.

The age-defying foods featured in this book work together, so make sure you benefit from a whole spectrum of nutrients by choosing a varied and colorful diet. Nutrition is crucial to staying young, but other factors are also important. Exercise, relaxation, laughter, socializing, sunlight, and breathing well in clean air all combine to help you feel happy and youthful for longer.

FRUITS

Fruits provide a wealth of rejuvenating nutrients and fiber. We have evolved to be drawn to their sweetness because our bodies need their abundant vitamin C. Two or three palm-size portions of fruit a day are all thats necessary to reap the benefits of natures healthy sweet treats.

S Skin, hair, and nails

M Mobility and strength

D Digestive/detoxification health

B Brain health

H Heart health

I Immunity-supporting antioxidant

AVOCADOS

The avocado is a true superfood. Its creamy flesh is packed with nutrients that keep the skin looking youthful and the heart strong.

Avocados often get a negative press because of their high fat content, but fat comes in many different forms and some is necessary for good health. This rich fruit contains healthy monounsaturated fats and fat-soluble nutrients, including vitamins A and E, that are essential for the health of our fatty body parts, such as the skin, eyes, heart, brain, and liver. For a fruit, avocados also have good protein content. This combines with the vitamin C, B vitamins, and copper in avocado to support the production of collagen, the substance from which all body tissues are made. Collagen is vital for skin, bone, and muscle rejuvenation, and helps reduce wrinkles.