Three dietary hacks to ‘slow down ageing’

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Doctor William Li said “the answer is through food”, which can help to minimise the risk of “common health issues”, such as cardiovascular disease.

Activating stem cells

Dr Li began: “Eating foods that activate our stem cells can promote the regeneration of our body and slow down the effects of ageing. “These foods include apricots, coffee, seafood, green tea, kiwi, [and] spinach.”

Commenting further on stem cell regeneration is Dr Louis Cona, who said: “As we age, the quantities of circulating stem cells in the body begin to lower each year.”

Diet does, however, “impact regeneration”, with seafood being a “natural adult stem cell activator” due to its omega-3 fats, consisting of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Dr Cona explained: “EPA is usually found in cold-water fatty fish [salmon, mackerel, tuna, and herring].

“And various research studies have shown that fish oil is a powerful antioxidant that assists to lower the danger of developing heart problems.”

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Lowering inflammation

Dr Li added: “Eating foods that lower inflammation can help prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia.

“These foods include black raspberries, green tea, broccoli, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, [and] tree nuts.”

Also a fan of an anti-inflammatory diet is Dr Cona, who warned that an inflammatory diet – full of fat and sugar – is “toxic” to the body.

He explained: “An unbalanced diet means eating a lot of processed foods, which contain ingredients that can activate inflammatory processes directly.

“Foods that have high levels of fat, sugar and other refined carbohydrates are essentially toxic to our bodies.”

Dr Cona explains that such foods “trigger inflammatory pathways through a number of direct and indirect ways”.

To help prevent disease, people should avoid or limit the following foods:

  • Refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pastries
  • French fries and other fried foods
  • Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Red meat (burgers, steaks) and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage)
  • Margarine, shortening, and lard.

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Anti-inflammatory foods, on the other hand, contain antioxidants and polyphenols.

Plant foods, such as fruits and vegetables, tend to have anti-inflammatory effects.

Intermittent fasting

Dr Li is in favour of intermittent fasting, stating that “skipping breakfast or lunch a few times a week can speed up your metabolism and slow down ageing”.

Dr Cona added: “Intermittent fasting is also a stem cell activator and has been discovered to start quick cellular regrowth.”

Three dietary hacks

  1. Activating stem cells
  2. Anti-inflammatory foods
  3. Intermittent fasting

In addition to the three dietary hacks proposed by Dr Li and backed up by Dr Cona, other factors also contribute to healthy ageing.

These factors can include sleeping between seven to nine hours nightly, exercising frequently, and abstaining from unhealthy behaviours.

Unhealthy habits include consuming more than 14 units of alcohol weekly and smoking.

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