What is aging and what is anti-aging?
You know aging is happening when you see the traces of it in your skin, joints and face. But have ever gone a bit deeper to know Why do we age? Is it normal? What makes aging an acceptable norm? Can it change?
Many say you cannot really stop body from aging and its fate and the nature of how it behaves. And some others say aging is a disease and can be cured. But to be honest the truth is somewhere between those lines. It happens because our DNA is designed to be destructed in some certain situations. Free radicals in our cells and outside our cells are always destructing other molecules, basically because they are unstable forms of molecules. Free radicals interact with other molecules in the body as they are in blood and metabolism, they cause Oxidative Damage. Sources of oxidative damage can be inflammations inside our body or sources from outside like:
- Smoking (first or second hand)
- Excessive exposure to UV rays
- Air Pollution
- Eating an unhealthy diet
- Certain medications and/or treatments
- Excessive exercise or physical activities
Antioxidants Counteract Oxidative Stress and Free Radicals
Antioxidants that you have probably heard of them are important players in this game. Antioxidant foods or some may say Anti-aging foods are the one that are rich in anti-oxygen agents which we call antioxidant agents. The main thing that antioxidants do that help us with an anti-aging lifestyle is that they fight against the free radicals. Usually when free radicals quantity is more that antioxidants the aging goes faster and faster.
Our body knows what the main molecules are that it is in war with, the free radicals. And the strongest and the best antioxidants are made inside our body that are hundreds of times more effective than foods. Foods are mostly effective in the inside cell fight and the antioxidants from foods are mostly effective and working on outside cell fights against free radicals.
So the main two ways and factors to have a healthy anti-aging lifestyle is
- To activate and trigger the antioxidants made by our body
- To eat best antioxidant foods and (also skip the sugar…)
Activating the antioxidants within you
For triggering the intra antioxidants made in our body like glutathione which is the strongest antioxidant, exercise has been proven over and over that is the main thing that increase both brain BDNF and glutathione levels in our body. Both are some of the most important aging factors. Exercise Increases Brain plasticity and memory that leads to better learning. Brain plasticity is the main factor of brain aging. Basically plasticity means your brain has the capability of learning or not. Glutathione is also triggered by some foods like ginger and turmeric but.
Antioxidant foods in your diet
For The healthy foods and a diet full of antioxidant foods you should include some spices and foods in your diet like ginger, turmeric, clove and also eat some fruits daily like blueberries, cranberries, and acai berries.
Many other activities and strategies are associated with anti-aging lifestyle but the main two ones that can really lift up your mood and prevent fast aging and even stop it to some degrees are as mentioned Exercise and Antioxidant rich foods.