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Healthy diet: How to live longer
Antixoidants can stop you ageing
You have a defence against free radicals, which age you, in the form of natural food chemicals called antioxidants. These can 'mop up' and naturalise free radicals. Antioxidants 'donate' electrons to replace those that the free radicals have lost. And because antioxidants are stable, with or without the donated electron, they don't become harmful free radicals themselves. Antioxidants are found in a variety of healthy foods:
Hang onto your teeth
Research has shown that people with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without. So hang onto your teeth and protect against heart disease:
Research has shown that people with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without. So hang onto your teeth and protect against heart disease:
- Limit your sugar intake.
- Don't eat sugary foods between meals - the frequency of sugar eating is more important than the quantity in determining harm to your teeth.
- Clean your teeth at least twice a day and preferably after eating sugary foods as well.
- Avoid fizzy drinks, even sugar-free ones because they're still acidic and can erode your teeth.
- Floss daily.
- Have regular check ups.
- Change to low-sugar cereals, and reduced-sugar jams and baked beans. Products labelled lo-fat can contain more sugar than you expect to make them taste good.
- Try making your own cakes and biscuits using dried or fresh fruit to provide sweetness instead.
Eat for stronger bones
Bone thinning (osteoporosis) starts in your thirties but you can minimise it:
Eat diary products for calcium, which is needed for building bone. Other sources include tinned fish with bones, baked beans, tofu, sesame seeds, dried apricots and green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin D is needed for the body to use calcium. The body uses sunlight to make its own vitamin D so get up to 15-minutes of exposure to sunlight. Other sources are oily fish, meat, eggs and diary products.
Do weight-bearing exercise such as walking or running for 20 minutes.
Don't smoke.
Only drink alcohol and caffeine in moderation.
Avoid fizzy drinks because the phosphoric acid in them can stop you taking calcium from food.
For women, take a calcium supplement after the menopause.
Bone thinning (osteoporosis) starts in your thirties but you can minimise it:
Water is life
Chronic dehydration can cause dry skin, constipation and kidney stones so:
Drink a large glass of water in the morning.
Use up a two-litre bottle of mineral water for hot and cold drinks by the end of each day.
Carry water with you when you travel.
Chronic dehydration can cause dry skin, constipation and kidney stones so:
