Natural and holistic approaches to anti-aging have been around for thousands of years. They are nothing new. People in Eastern cultures know that lifestyle and self-care are an essential part of a healthy aging process. In this article, we take a look at how you can slow down aging naturally so you can live a longer, healthier, and more beautiful life.Â
It is very much worth your time to consider holistic approaches to aging for various reasons. There is nothing wrong with wanting to preserve your youthful appearance with pure anti-aging creams, serums, or even cosmetic surgery, but a natural, holistic approach aims directly at the root of the aging process.
Traditional Anti-Aging Methods vs a Holistic Approach
Traditional anti-aging methods typically focus on just the symptoms of the aging process. The holistic approach evaluates and treats the entire person on every level.
Holistic approaches to anti-aging are based on various facts. According to holism, it is not possible to remove the evidence of aging by focusing on just one area of your body on which aging has evidently taken its toll.
To eliminate the effects of aging you must analyze your entire body's condition, and consider the health of mind, body, and spirit.
Factors That Cause You To Age
When most of us think about aging, we think about our skin. Stress, diet, and sleep all affect the appearance of your skin and may cause your skin to look unhealthy.
Throughout life, it's vital to care for your skin to prevent aging and stay healthy. There are unlimited choices when it comes to skin-care products. But, if you want healthy skin, you need natural, pure, holistic skin-care products that match your skin's needs.
How To Slow Down Aging Holistically
Free Radicals
Free radicals are an indirect cause of aging. This is because they cause inflammation in the human body. which leads to accelerated and unhealthy aging.
To prevent free radicals from damaging your body, you must eat foods that contain large amounts of antioxidants. When choosing good anti-aging foods, remember to eat a rainbow of colors. Every color in the produce section of your grocer has a specific benefit for your body.
- Deep red and purple – These fruits and vegetables reduce free radicals in your bloodstream and can help manage estrogen levels.
- Yellow and orange – Provide vitamin C and detoxify harmful carcinogens
- Green and light green – Provide folate and destroy cancer cells
- Blue and brown – Add fiber and attack carcinogens
These are the nutrients that fight the effects of free radicals.
Whole Foods Highest In Antioxidants:
Most Antioxidants
- Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, and Strawberries
- Kidney, pinto, and black beans
- Cranberries
- Artichokes
- Prunes
- Apples: Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Gala
- Pecans
- Sweet cherries
- Black plums
- Potatoes
- Plums
You could also combat the damage caused by free radicals by supplementing your diet with vitamins B, C, zinc, and magnesium, but it's always best to try to get your nutrition from whole food sources first.Â
The Importance of Water
To maintain a youthful appearance it is highly recommended to drink adequate quantities of water. By drinking water correctly, you are not only re-hydrating your body. Water also improves skin elasticity and reinforces healing collagen, which will slow the manifestation of wrinkles, and sagging.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
In order to function correctly, your body needs Omega 3 essential fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These are fats that are healthy for you, and they aid the cells to function correctly and support heart health. Heart disease is the #1 killer of American men and women, and it is a leading cause of death in other countries around the world.
Prevention is key to remain healthy and keep heart disease at bay through our older years. Furthermore, fatty acids support skin health.
Foods Highest In Fatty Acids:
- Grains and Nuts
- Bread
- Cereal
- Flaxseed
- Peanut butter
- Oatmeal
- Pumpkin seeds
- Walnuts
Fresh Produce
- Parsley
- Kale
- Spinach
- Brussels sprouts
- Mint
- Watercress
Fatty Fish
- Halibut
- Herring
- Trout
- Fresh Tuna
- Mackerel
- Oysters
- Salmon
- Sardines
Foods Fortified With Omega-3s
- Eggs
- Milk
- Juice
- Soy milk
- Yogurt
Oils
- Flaxseed oil
- Walnut oil
- Olive oil
- Avocado oil
- Cod liver oil
Gut Health & Digestion
Your gut health and how well you digest food are responsible for most of your overall health.
Did you know there are good and not-so-good things going on in your stomach? What and how you eat can contribute to your overall gut health and digestion. Focusing on improving digestion and adding prebiotic and probiotic foods can help you keep your gut healthy.
Prebiotic Foods – These are foods that the bacteria in your stomach use to thrive. They consume the foods you eat and that helps keep the healthy bacteria in your digestive system thriving and high enough in numbers to do their job. Too few healthy bacteria can lead to bowel disease, inflammation, and digestive disorders.
Probiotic Foods – These foods are live organisms that help keep your digestive system healthy. They come from live cultures and can be found in dairy products, kefir, kombucha, and sauerkraut. Routinely consuming these foods can help with issues like irritable bowel syndrome, aid in digestion, and reduce the intensity of common colds.
Water-dense foods stop the clock – Our bodies are mostly made of water. We need an extra amount of water consumed for our bodies to stay hydrated and function optimally. We can consume water by drinking it or eating it.
Thankfully, many foods are water-dense and contribute to the water we need to consume daily. Grapes, melon, cucumber, berries, and citrus fruits are all good sources of water-rich foods.
Poor Blood Circulation
Poor blood circulation is another factor that causes you to age. Practitioners of holistic living use natural ways to improve blood circulation. For instance, they often employ spices like cayenne pepper to boost circulation. Cayenne pepper enables blood to circulate more freely by dilating the blood vessels, thus carrying necessary oxygen and nutrients through the body.
Cayenne pepper has additional benefits as well: it strengthens your immune system and thins the blood, reinforces the heart, and regulates blood pressure and palpitations.
Exercise
Working out also helps to preserve general health, thus ensuring that you age slower and healthier. Peak physical fitness means the body is in its best shape and able to keep you strong and healthy.
Physical exercise boosts the rate of your metabolism, which ensures healthy weight management through the aging years, something of utmost importance since metabolism naturally slows as we age and weight gain becomes more probable. Consequently, your body will not be strained by overweight and obesity, and the aging process will be slowed down.
