The #1 anti-aging foe

Oh, I have been so hesitant to write this post. Mostly because so many of us have nice and warm feelings towards our comfort food, the simple carb. In most of our households, they were a staple growing up and we would have most likely starved without them if you are a child of a baby boomer or a good ole boomer yourself. And everyone is so anti-carb out there these days. What if I told you; however, that moderation is key. I think that would make it a bit easier to swallow.

I am disappointed to say that I keep running into it in every anti-aging reference that I have. It's even more toxic than stress on the body, it seems, because our precious pastas and potatoes are wreaking havoc on our immune systems and our inner trash compactors (liver and other waste management organs) and assist with the functioning of various ailments. From heart disease to nutritional deficiencies and obesity. If you can think of it, they quite possibly play a vital role in the presence of disease due to the inflammation that they cause throughout our bodies.

Although I do not support just a ton of fad diets like Paleo and Atkins and Veganism; I do believe in moderation. It's that moderation though that gets us. Our US Food and Drug Administration decided years ago that carbs should be one of the biggest portions on our plate, mostly for big business. I know that most of us already know this, but I am almost certain that I am NOT the only one who is reluctant to believe it. Even before all of the chemicals were added, simple carbs like flour and sugar and potatoes were not the best option for the body. At the time though, they were the best option that we had, financially, for the masses.

Apparently, an abundance of simple carbs (which I will now call sugars since they equate to roughly the same thing) causes that leathery and wrinkly skin and is known by some dermatologists as "Sugar Face". Sounds sweet....looks sour. The resting bitch face has a more classy name (look at her go!). Not that all sugar faces embody the resting bitch, but they all have the look of a hard and hectic lifestyle that borders on unhealthy. I don't know about you, but healthy is what I find ultra beautiful and sexy in all people.

In his book, "The Longevity Code", Dr. Kris Verbergh indicates that there are SOME grains that we may eat such as Oatmeal and Quinoa that don't have adverse effects on the body. Yet, he does indicate that the best way to get your anti-aging carbs in is through veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds and fruit. I so love that he included fruit. So many health gurus out there are trying to omit fruit these days and I don't subscribe to that as a good idea. Omnivores should be able to eat a vast array of plants, albeit in moderation of course. The above mentioned author seems to think that the classic form of the Mediterranean diet is the most suitable. He further suggests that micro doses of inflammatory causing foods is somewhat good for the body. It kind of reminds me of how we never used to use so much hand sanitizer to challenge our immune system and keep it strong. So, Moderation IS key in his world.

There's that phrase again! So, what is this moderation that we speak of. To be completely honest, I think every BODY is different and so are its nutritional needs. I lean on the idea that getting in touch with the needs of your own body from day to day is the best way to keep healthy. Check in with yourself from time to time. Are you hungry because you haven't eaten or because you need H2o? Are you crabby because you have had too much caffeine or because your blood sugar spiked?

It is stated that, seeking out nutrient dense foods and staying hydrated will greatly impact your psycho-emotional state. In a recent hydration course that I attended, they indicated that hydrating the body actually reduces cravings. Which makes sense since we have heard for years that, often when we are reaching for that candy bar or delicious yet so naughty sweet treat, we are actually thirsty. In his book, "Quit without Feeling Shit", Patrick Holford and his co-authors suggest to add various supplements to the body and addictions will just fall away. Why not get that through our diet since it's fairly well known that supplements are often equivocal to expensive urine. Sometimes because the vitamins needed to support the assimilation of one is not included and the process is actually a lot more complex than what we like to think.

Yet, our foods magically give us the appropriate mixtures and doses as though they were actually made just for us and our bodies. 😀 since this post is mostly covering carbs, we can look at some very simple things that you can do to increase the nutritional value without uprooting your entire diet. Substituting white rice and pasta with riced cauliflower and other mashed veggies and actually using your vegetti in place of your noodles will go a long way to fight the carb crisis as well as add some better nutrition to your lovely body. Sprouting your grains as mentioned in a previous post adds life to your food and changes some of the chemical compositions within it to increase digestability. Let's start there...its not too big of an adjustment and we can always tweak our meal plans and strategies as we go along.

With all of this knowledge sitting on our plate, I think we owe it to ourselves to be a smidge more contentious about what we put into our bodies and try to incorporate as many nutrient rich foods and quality water (not the stuff from the unfiltered tap) as we possibly can and a lot of our constant underlying ache for whatever we are addicted to will just dissolve and leave behind a focused, highly capable, super human. I pretty much always claim to be super no matter what, but it would be awesome if my body would reflect that same thought. ;)

I hope this post resonates with all of you, beautiful anti-agers and you take steps to live a more youthful and nutrient rich life from here on out. From the words of Spok, "May you live long and Prosper!"