10 Food Rules For Glowing Skin At Any Age

Keeping that in mind, here are some practical tips that can slow down the aging of your skin and your entire body:

Be aware that many products will advertise themselves as “whole grain” or “multigrain” or “whole wheat” but will actually contain only a small amount of whole grain compared to refined grain. This is especially common with bread products, including bagels, English muffins, and hamburger buns. Read the label. The whole-grain ingredients should be listed first. Ideally, the product will contain 100 percent whole grains. Popcorn is a whole grain, so snack on that whenever you need something crunchy. Just don’t drown it in butter and salt.

If you decide to eat a food with a high glycemic index, such as something with sugar or white flour, always pair it with protein to slow down the release of glucose in your bloodstream. For example, have a hard-boiled egg with your waffle, put lean steak in your stir-fry, or have almonds with your raisins.

If you are a coffee drinker, try alternating a cup of coffee with a cup of green tea. You’ll still get the caffeine boost you crave, but you’ll also get powerful antioxidants. Coffee has antioxidants, too, but green tea has different ones that are particularly skin-friendly. Peppermint tea is another good option since it is also full of antioxidants that slow down aging of the skin.

Use herbs and spices liberally when cooking, sprinkle fresh herbs on salads or sandwiches, and add a shake of cinnamon to your coffee or tea to fight off wrinkles and aging!

Beware of so‑called healthy versions of your favorite snacks, too. Low-fat versions often contain an extra load of sugar (this can be especially true for peanut butter), and even whole-grain snacks may contain too much sugar, salt, and fat.

A plate of fruit every morning is a great way to load up on antioxidants without fat, salt, or added sugar. My father eats a plate of fruit every morning, and I suspect that man is going to live to be 100.

Hershey’s bars, chocolate kisses, and dark-chocolate versions of your favorite candy like Special Dark, dark-chocolate M&M’s, and dark chocolate Raisinets, as well as anything made of milk chocolate, don’t have enough raw cocoa to be beneficial, so skip them. They are mostly sugar.

The most antioxidant-rich foods are brightly colored.

Protein provides the building blocks of collagen, and your body needs it to repair and replace collagen that has degraded with age or that is damaged by free radicals. One study showed that women with lower protein intake had more wrinkles than women with higher protein intake. The USDA recommends 0.8 to 1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For example, a 150-pound (68.2 kg) woman would require about 68 grams of protein per day.

Water is extremely important for hydration. Everything in your body will work better when you are well-hydrated, and the more you drink, the more you will moisturize your skin from the inside. If you are chronically dehydrated (and many people are), drinking eight glasses of water a day can make you look younger almost immediately.