Longevity Diet Health

A pro longevity diet is basically a diet that is, in a single word, healthy — because longevity and health go hand in hand. However, today, with the excess of information that we have, along with the variety of products claiming to be good for your body in a hundred ways, as well as all the foods we know are bad but are so tempted by, it is difficult to know exactly what is healthy and what is not.

Longevity diet
There is no diet that you can use to exclusively target a long life and slow down the aging process — what you need to do is ensure that your diet provides you with adequate nourishment, and not only avoids causing disease but helps prevent disease. This is what is meant by a healthy diet. However, to be more specific, these are the kind of guidelines any good anti aging diet should follow:
Balance: Ensure that your diet has a good balance of all the necessary nutrients.

Fats should be cut down as far as possible, but are also essential and should therefore never be cut out entirely. Carbohydrates should be obtained from natural foods such as potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat bread – these are complex carbohydrates, and are a much healthier fuel than the simple carbohydrates that are found in processed foods such as biscuits and pastries (which also often have harmful, processed fats). Protein is also very important for the body, and should be taken in adequate amounts depending on your lifestyle, but it is important to get it from healthy sources such as dairy, fish, and lean meat. Dietary fiber is also very important and is best obtained from fruits and vegetables, which will also provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals.
Antioxidants: Free radicals are chemicals that play a major role in causing illness and aging. A longevity diet with enough antioxidants can get rid of free radicals, thus preventing illness and slowing down the aging process. Good sources of antioxidants are dried fruits, nuts, red wine, and fleshy fruits such as strawberries, figs, peaches, oranges, and guavas.
Omega 3 fatty acids: Fish is one of the best sources of anti aging nutrition — specifically of these unsaturated fatty acids, which have been found to provide a wide range of health benefits. These fatty acids protect against heart disease, stroke, arthritis, high cholesterol, depression and stress, cancer, and possibly many other diseases. A good vegetarian source of omega 3 fatty acids is flaxseed or flaxseed oil.

Remember that ensuring longevity requires your whole lifestyle to be healthy — this involves regular exercise and rest, and avoiding stress. A longevity diet by itself will not be very effective if these factors are not controlled.

Submitted on January 16, 2014