Monthly Archives: May 2010

Vibrant Aging

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Ah the age old question, how to I prevent those wrinkles.  North America spends billions of dollars annually trying to tap into this fountain of youth through surgeries, creams, lotions, and health products.

Let’s find out what is in your own local grocery store that can help you age vibrantly, naturally!

Diet

This is not going to come as a surprise to many of you…but what you eat on a consistent basis will effect how your skin ages.

Studies are showing that eating a diet that is higher in fish, vegetables, fruits, legumes while consuming lower intakes of butter, sugar and meat can positively effect skin wrinkling.

So…eat those veggies

(Purba Exp Dermatol 2008)

Lycopene

We know that sun damages the skin. It has been found that increased intake of lycopene has been shown to be able to have UV protecting properties. This means rich lycopene based diets for 12 weeks have been shown to reduce UV induced redness when patients are exposed to the sun. Does this mean eat tomatoes, and don’t wear sunscreen? No, it just helps to further reduce the UV damage.  Also lycopene has been shown to help reduce the depth and severity of furrows and wrinkles in humans.

(Riediger J Am Diet Assoc 2009)

Cocoa

No, this doesn’t mean you can go out and eat unlimited amounts of O’Henry Bars!

But…pure cocoa has been show to contain antioxidants that reduce skin aging. Consumption of 325mg of cocoa flavonols per day for 3 months reduced UV redness, improved skin hydration and decreased roughness and scaling of the skin.

How much is this?  If you get raw cacao powder about 2 tsp will contain roughly this amount. Check out our recipe on the website for healthy hot chocolate.

(Neukam Eur J Nutr 2007)

Fish Oils

You have heard over and over to take your omegas, here is another reason why. Studies are showing that the EPA found in fish can provide internal protection against UV damage and improve skin elasticity. Make sure you take a fish oil supplement that has been tested for heavy metals and take the equivalent of 1000mg of combined EPA/DHA per day.

(Riediger J Am Diet Assoc 2009)

Proper Hydration

We know that drinking your water, and being well hydrated will lead to healthy skin with that glowing appearance. It has been shown that things like fermented dairy (yogurt, kefir), green tea and borage oil can improve hydration from the inside out.

So skip that second cup of coffee and donut and have some plain yogurt and green tea!

(Puch Exp Dermatol 2008)

Sodium In Fast Foods

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When we think of sodium and fast foods, many of us think of the burger joints like McDonalds and Burger King. Most people know that these foods are high in sodium, and that an increased intake of sodium over time can contribute to disease conditions like high blood pressure, osteoporosis, water retention and even increases your chances of stomach cancer.

How Much Salt Is Too Much?

New guidelines are suggesting that we consume no more thatn 1500mg per day, it is estimated that the average Canadian is consuming double this amount.

Just to put this number into perspective 1 tsp of salt contains 2400mg of sodium. However most of the salt we are eating is not coming from the table salt we are using to salt our foods or adding to our cooking. While we still want to limit this, most of the salt is lurking in the processed, packaged and fast foods we are eating.

We know that things like frozen dinners and canned soups are high in sodium, but take a look the next time at processed meats, or canned tomato sauce or even certain breads. It can all add up.

Lurking Sodium

Lets take a look at some of the sodium that is lurking in the fast foods that you are eating…

  • Tim Hortons 12 grain bagel – 590mg
  • Tim Hortons Chicken Snack Wrapper – 610mg
  • Starbucks Italian pesto, cheese and tomato sandwich – 900mg
  • Tim Hortons Soups (individual) – average 900mg
  • Kelseys veggie burger – 950mg
  • Kelseys broccoli and cheddar soup  – 1020mg
  • Manchu wok green bean chicken with mixed veggies – 1070mg
  • Tim Hortons Chicken Club Sandwich – 1070mg
  • Mr greek, greek salad with dressing – 1160mg
  • Boston pizza veggie pizza (individual) – 1160mg
  • Swiss chalet chicken soup – 1380mg
  • Starbucks egg and spinach and feta wrap  – 1140mg
  • Swiss chalet grilled chicken caeser salad with dressing – 1730mg
  • Montanas roasted salmon with rice and veggies – 1780mg
  • Swiss chalet ¼ chicken dinner with dipping sauce and rice – 2020mg
  • Swiss chalet chicken stirfry with rice – 2290mg
  • Montanas turkey club sandwich – 2320mg
  • Kelseys nachos and cheese – 3530mg

As you can see, some of these choices are actually the best ones on the menu but they still have increased sodium. It is not really their fault, they have to get their produce in bulk and when they do that it has to be preserved so it wont spoil and salt is an easy way to prevent the spoilage. Also – we demand that foods tastes good, and our plates like salt. The more we eat, the more we want.

In Conclusion

While all of these foods are great and fine occasionally, if you are eating lunch out everyday it is important to re-evaluate these choices and start making this stuff at home. It use to be that eating out was a luxury or social, so it really didn’t matter if a couple times  a month you were over your sodium intake. Now it seems that people are eating out 1-2x/day which as you can see can really add up and increase your risk factors for disease!

Male Menopause – What Is It?

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Sometimes can also be referred to as the “mid life crisis” this condition was once thought of as an excuse to buy a sports car, but know is being shown to be a true medical condition.

It makes sense really, if female hormones change then why can’t mens. This condition is referred to as Andropause and men that experience this will start to feel increased amount of depression, weight gain and fatigue over the age of 40.   Andropause is related to the decline in testosterone which begins after 25 years old. Usually this is a gradual decline, but the more rapidly the testosterone falls the faster a man ages and increases risk factors for heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis and dementia.

So, the key is to preserve the amount of testosterone that a man produces. 2 ways we can do this is are:

  1. exercise, especially weight lifting exercise
  2. reduce the belly fat

That visceral fat will produce an enzyme called aromatase which actually converts testosterone to estrogen.  So, sometimes we can take testosterone to help but it has been shown that in the bodies effort to control estrogen levels it actually binds free testosterone making it unavailable. Therefore if this aromatase enzyme is present, even taking testosterone doesn’t produce the desired effect.

What do we do?

Lose that belly fat! We know that high levels of insulin and stress hormone cortisol are the 2 driving forces for this unwanted waist line.

Insulin levels are controlled by reducing the amount of sugar and white carbohydrates you eat.  So, part of achieving optimal health in aging men is achieving a healthy body composition!!

Start making steps to lose that belly today…your health will thank you!

Nutrigenomics

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At one point we thought our genes were static, meaning that if your mom had arthritis…you were very likely to get it to. While this is still true, we now know that what we eat, how we think and move can actually influence our genes.

The good news…we can talk to our genes and influence which of these disease factors will be expressed.

One of the biggest ways that our lifestyle can influence this is through telomers. Telomers are basically protective caps on the end of our chromosomes and the longer our telomers the longer we live. Studies are now showing that 12 weeks on a healthy whole food lifestyle program (including reducing stress, improving sleep and exercise) can positively influence the length of the telomers.

New research is also showing that the omega 3 fats found in fish can also keep your telomers from shortening. Yet another reason to eat wild sources of fish and take your omega 3 supplement (that has been tested for heavy metals of course).