Remember the studies on the Mediterranean Diet that were so beneficial to the subjects? The diet worked because the food they ate allowed all the mechanisms inside their cells to operate at an optimal level. Over time, eating like this adds up to feeling better, looking better, and aging less. So when you want to make a healthier choice—starting with once a day or even once a week—pick a food that will do some good at the cellular level and, therefore, help you age less and live more.
Eating to age well should be enjoyable. No one wants to go through life not enjoying or appreciating their food (that’s why it’s such a chore to go on a diet!). But it is possible to get more antiaging foods into your diet pretty easily, and even like it!
In this chapter, you learn what makes fruits and vegetables matter so much, how different sources of protein pack a punch, and how little things, like which oil you use to cook with, make a big difference. When you’re eating to cheat the clock, there’s no broken diet or bad decision. The goal is choosing foods that will make a difference in the long term. So if you don’t eat the right foods at lunch, or at any time today, you can make a better choice at your next meal, or tomorrow. It takes time to change, and that’s okay. If you make bad decisions for a day, or even a week, don’t give up—it won’t make a difference to how well you’ll age. What does make a difference is adding up positive changes over time.
To be more mindful of your choices, you need to know what you’re looking for, and why. Eating the right foods can keep your cells, your organs, your muscles, your skin, your brain, and your energy level youthful for years to come. So to start, here are the basic building blocks your body needs to maintain its performance and ability:
Vitamins are natural chemical compounds used in small amounts in your body to perform specific, essential jobs. Vitamins interact with proteins and enzymes to govern your most basic cellular functions, including generating energy, developing and replicating correctly, and fighting infections and abnormal growth (cancer).
Minerals come from nonliving sources, such as rocks and metals. Plants absorb minerals from the soil, and the animals or people who eat the plants reap the benefits. Minerals are generally essential for more structural functions, including the formation of bones, teeth, cell membranes, the brain, blood cells, and hormones. Their roles are exceedingly widespread, complex, and not always well understood.
Protein is essential to life. When digested, it’s broken down into its basic structure of amino acids, which then perform thousands of critical functions in your body. Your body makes some amino acids on its own, but it must obtain many required amino acids from plant- or animal-based protein-rich foods.
Fiber is the part of plants, legumes, or nuts that your body cannot digest, but even so, it performs several important functions when consumed. Fiber comes in two forms:
Insoluble fiber, found in many vegetables, nuts, and whole grains, does not dissolve in water and moves through your body largely intact, gathering up the by-products of digestion and creating a constant movement of stool through the colon.
Soluble fiber, found in oats, lentils, nuts, and fruits and vegetables, dissolves in water to become gel-like in your body. This gel slows down how quickly your stomach empties, so you feel fuller longer, and also slows the digestion of sugar, leading to better insulin regulation. This kind of fiber also interferes with the absorption of dietary cholesterol, so it can help lower your “bad” cholesterol.
Healthy fats and phytochemicals are less well understood, but the science is getting clearer that certain types of fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids, help your cells perform better in a variety of ways. Meanwhile, myriad chemical compounds found in fruits and vegetables also are emerging as critical parts of your diet. They help your body maintain peak physical and mental functions by acting as antioxidants and interacting with the body’s own defenses to improve their function.
For long-term health and slower aging, the food choices you make should flow from these building blocks. Yes, you want to eat less of the bad stuff (or maybe less in general, which I get to later), but eating foods that are good for you can go a long way toward helping your body handle the damage caused by other poor habits. The best part is that the more healthy foods you eat, the better you feel, so the more you will end up wanting them. Eventually, you’ll find you won’t want to reach for greasy, sugary, empty calories nearly as much, if at all.
Everyone knows they need a certain amount of vitamins and minerals, but few people really understand what these nutrients do in the body or why they’re so essential. People figure if they aren’t sick, they’re probably getting enough vitamins and minerals.
But learning the role micronutrients play at the microscopic level is eye-opening and highly motivating: it truly makes you want to get enough of them. Although vitamins and minerals have been studied for decades, and an enormous amount of information about them exists, scientists are still discovering new ways they’re involved in keeping us healthy and, in particular, keeping us young.
One such researcher is Dr. Bruce Ames, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has spent much of his career trying to figure out why our bodies are able to put up with so much when we’re young but when we get older, we start to fall apart. If we can stay healthy and vigorous throughout our youth, what changes? Why can’t we stay that way?
13 Essential Vitamins
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 13 vitamins are essential for human health: vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins folate, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12.
Dr. Ames’ extensive research points to the possibility that many people—even those who seem to have adequate diets—are slightly, but chronically, deficient in a host of essential vitamins and minerals. They may be getting enough vitamin C to avoid scurvy and enough vitamin D to prevent rickets, but they are deficient enough that it’s wreaking long-term havoc on their health and vitality.
When you get just slightly less of the essential micronutrients you need by not eating enough fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods, Ames says, “you pay a price for it in long-term health.”
Government data suggests he might be right. The following table shows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), how the typical American female, age 31 to 50, falls short in the consumption of these micronutrients.
In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Ames reviewed years of scientific studies assessing the diseases and illnesses that have been associated with chronic deficiencies in various vitamins and minerals. The conditions and diseases mentioned are almost all ones we commonly associate with aging, such as:
Ames offers his research on vitamin K as a good example of how slight vitamin deficiencies can add up to premature aging and age-related disease.
Vitamin K? Who worries about vitamin K? That’s exactly Ames’ point. Found primarily in green, leafy vegetables, vitamin K isn’t one many people think about, but it has multiple tasks in the body, including a critical role in blood clotting, both during fetal development and throughout life. When Ames bred mice that couldn’t process vitamin K for blood coagulation, they quickly died, illustrating how critical the vitamin is for some bodily functions. But vitamin K plays a secondary role in increasing bone density and in the prevention of arterial calcification—jobs that are critical to good health later in life.
Going Green
Vitamin K is found in chlorophyll, the chemical that gives plants a dark green color. In your diet, you can get vitamin K from dark greens like spinach or kale, but also from other green foods, including cabbage, broccoli, and even green tea.
Scientists have discovered a range of proteins in the body that bind to calcium in the bloodstream. But it turns out they must have vitamin K to do their jobs. If you don’t have enough vitamin K circulating in your blood, these proteins can’t assume the right molecular structure to pick up calcium. That means loose calcium molecules that should have been carried away by these specialized calcium-cleaners are instead left circulating in your body. Some of this excess calcium ends up sticking to the walls of your arteries. This buildup of calcium in your vascular system can play a significant role in the development of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, one of the most common health problems in aging.
“How do you prevent the calcification of your arteries? From vitamin K. Where does this vitamin K come from? Fruits and vegetables,” says Dr. Maret Traber, nutritional biochemist at the Linus Pauling Institute, the micronutrient research center at Oregon State University.
How big a deal is this? Possibly huge. According to government data, men in particular are chronically, moderately deficient in vitamin K. Between the ages of 30 and 50, men get an average of about 106 micrograms a day of vitamin K, according to the USDA, but 120 micrograms is considered adequate. This slight deficit won’t cause problems today, but over the long term, scientists believe, it is contributing to cardiovascular disease, the number-one cause of death in the United States.
For every vitamin K story like this, there are dozens of others related to other specific vitamins and minerals. For example, Dr. Ames is on a crusade to get people to eat enough magnesium, which it turns out is critical to more than 300 metabolic processes in your body, including energy production and enzyme creation. Magnesium is found primarily in whole grains, nuts, and green leafy vegetables. The typical American adult gets about 80 percent of the recommended amount of magnesium a day.
“ATP [the chemical energy used by cells] has magnesium in it; all the DNA repair enzymes have magnesium in them,” Ames said. “But the whole country is starving for magnesium.”
To slow the aging process, it’s important to get enough of all the recommended vitamins and minerals—even the ones you haven’t heard of. To find out how much you should be getting, look at the government’s Dietary Reference Intakes, which are based on decades of scientific testing. Log on to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Information Center website at fnic.nal.usda.gov/dietary-guidance to learn more.
According to the FDA, your body requires these minerals: calcium, chromium*, copper*, iodine*, iron*, magnesium, manganese*, molybdenum*, phosphorus, potassium, selenium*, sodium (chloride), and zinc.* (*Needed only in trace quantities.)
The best way to boost your intake of vitamins and minerals is to eat more fruits and vegetables. That simple act alone slows the aging process. Taking a multivitamin can also be helpful, of course, but plant-based foods do so much more than any pill ever could. The vitamins and minerals found in food come in exactly the right chemical form your body can use, which is not true of many supplement versions. As the foundation of human diets for millennia, fruits and vegetables are uniquely powerful in your body and provide the best support for your cells to stay healthy and age less.
In fact, when looking at the different nutrient building blocks your body needs, it’s pretty obvious that plant-based foods give you the biggest bang for your buck. A varied diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts can provide all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, fats, and protein your body needs. Nothing else you eat can do that.
“A varied diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts can provide all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, fats, and protein your body needs. Nothing else you eat can do that.”
That doesn’t mean you should become a vegetarian. But it does mean that when fruits and vegetables play a major role in your diet, you will be healthier and probably live longer. Many studies have shown marked improvement in the health and mortality in numerous measurable ways in people who have boosted the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed.
Of course, the opposite is also true. If you do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, you’re doing more long-term damage than you may think: just as Dr. Ames says, you’re slowly robbing your body of the natural chemical and molecular compounds it must have to remain healthy and strong as you age.
Phytochemical Phenoms
It’s not just the fiber, vitamins, and minerals that make fruits and vegetables so powerful, though. The huge number of less-well-known phytochemicals (phyto comes from the Greek word for “plant”) also have important and beneficial physiological effects. Known more commonly as antioxidants, these chemicals, although not as well understood as vitamins and minerals, are also emerging as critical for their healthful effects.
A few years ago, only the super-committed health nuts among us knew about antioxidants. Now they’re everywhere. Drink pomegranate juice! Eat blueberries! Antioxidants have become the latest healthy food buzzword among marketers, who have succeeded in letting many people know that antioxidants are something they should consume freely and often.
But many of the same people who are buying antioxidant-laden food still don’t know what an antioxidant actually is, or what one does. You might know they fight free radicals. But do you know what a free radical is? Could you explain it to, say, your mother? So here you go: a free radical is a molecule—often an oxygen molecule—that’s lost one electron, which makes it unstable and causes it to bounce around inside a cell and damage its internal structures. An antioxidant is a compound or molecule that binds to a free radical, making it stable again.
Scientists haven’t yet finished unraveling the secrets of these magic molecules, and they may never fully understand the complexities involved. But they are learning more every day about how these powerful compounds act as nature’s cell purifiers, ridding them of pollution, repairing damage, and generally keeping them in tip-top shape. You can’t see or feel the effects of antioxidants when they’re actually working, but they add up. Over time, cells that have been nourished with high doses of antioxidants are healthier and younger-looking. If your cells are healthier and younger-looking, it just makes sense that you will be, too.
“These powerful compounds act as nature’s cell purifiers, ridding them of pollution, repairing damage, and generally keeping them in tip-top shape.”
Antioxidants have scientific names such as polyphenols, turpenoids, and carotenoids—some of which you may have seen written about or mentioned on food packaging. There are thousands of antioxidants, and more are being discovered all the time. Many of them contribute the color to fruits and vegetables, so they tend to be found in especially high concentrations in the skin of fruit such as apples and grapes.
Some of these phytochemicals have molecular structures that give them antioxidant properties—that is, they can lend an electron to a free radical so it will become stable and stop bouncing around inside a cell, causing damage (called oxidative stress). But recent research has uncovered what may be an even more critical role for the antioxidants you eat: they induce your body to make more of its own antioxidants that are naturally more effective at stopping oxidative stress than antioxidants you eat.
“This is particularly true for some carotenoids and flavonoids—they’re not particularly good antioxidants in the traditional sense,” says Tufts antioxidant researcher Blumberg. Rather, many of these phytochemicals stimulate production of a natural enzyme, like superoxide dismutase, which “quenches free radicals and does a better job of it, and it’s generally right where you want it to be.”
This process happens in a millisecond, but it’s going on constantly, so the more you boost your antioxidant intake, the more free radical–fighting power your body has. The effect appears to be linear—that is, the more you consume, the more free radical–fighting compounds appear in your blood. One study in particular, performed at the USDA Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center and published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, measured the presence of free radical–absorbing compounds in the human bloodstream. Volunteers were asked to eat meals containing various fruits such as cherries, prunes, kiwi, red grapes, strawberries, and blueberries and then researchers measured the antioxidant levels in their blood. The results showed that several different kinds of fruit caused big spikes in the antioxidant capacity of the subjects’ blood, including blueberries, kiwi, and the tropical acai berry.
Clock-Cheater Tip
To boost your intake of antioxidants, wash your fruits and vegetables thoroughly and eat the skin with the flesh. The skin often has the highest concentration of phytochemicals.
By contrast, in a separate part of the study, the volunteers were also given a shake high in carbohydrates, protein, and fat, but no antioxidants. After drinking the shake, all the volunteers showed a measurable decline in the availability of antioxidants in their blood.
The study’s conclusion was simple: eat at least some antioxidant-rich foods with every meal.
But pinning down what or how much you should eat is incredibly tricky. Scientists are increasingly realizing that the human body responds best to a combination of different antioxidants, and there are so many, it’s impossible to tease out the relationships among them. These different phytochemicals interact with each other and with your body’s own antioxidant systems in ways that aren’t fully understood. The science of antioxidants, some scientists say, is about as developed today as it was for vitamins 100 years ago.
“There are thousands, maybe about 10,000, different phytochemicals, at least that we know about so far, and which ones are the most important ones? Well, I don’t know,” says Dr. Blumberg. “With 10,000 compounds, there’s no way to have an adequate placebo and no time or money to do a clinical study on each of these chemical compounds for 30 or 40 years to have the hard outcome evidence.”
Yet people want to know what to do and what to eat, so researchers are plugging away in labs, coming up with amazing results they can’t always fully explain. In one study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, old rats fed a diet boosted with the extracts of several fruits and vegetables not only stopped, but even reversed, the signs and symptoms of aging in their brains. A similar result was found in research on dogs published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
Blumberg believes that as humans evolved over tens of thousands of years, largely eating plant-based food, they developed systems that capitalized on the defense mechanisms used in plants themselves. In their original plant sources, antioxidant compounds perform such functions as protecting plants from ultraviolet radiation, pests, and fungi.
“As we ate these foods we started taking advantage of the protective effects they had in plants, to be protective in us,” Blumberg says. Lutein is a good example. This carotenoid antioxidant, found in egg yolks and also various fruits and vegetables, especially dark leafy greens such as kale and spinach, appears to help retard age-related macular degeneration, which causes progressive blindness in the elderly. In the eye, lutein filters out damaging blue wavelengths from light. “Well, guess what?” Blumberg says. “In the plant, it protects it from ultraviolet radiation.”
The breadth of research on dietary antioxidant consumption (that is, from foods as opposed to supplements) in humans is growing dramatically, and so are the promising discoveries.
For example, Dr. Trygve O. Tollefsbol, molecular biologist at the University of Alabama, was blown away by experiments he did in lab animals using sulforaphane, a powerful antioxidant found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage, as well as in soy and green tea. In a study on lab mice, published in 2011 in the journal Clinical Epigenetics, Dr. Tollefsbol found that a diet rich in sulforaphane showed epigenetic changes to their DNA structure that suppressed genes for cancer. How that translates to humans is unclear, but other research suggests the effects are playing out today in some populations. A 2006 study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that many Polish immigrants to the United States experienced far greater rates of breast cancer after just one generation of arriving here. The researchers concluded that the change was related to the decreased consumption of cabbage: Poles eat three times more cabbage than Americans.
Only in Okinawa
Compelling evidence of the beneficial effects of antioxidant consumption comes from a study of the island of Okinawa, Japan, where many men and women in their 70s, 80s, 90s, and older are physically fit, independent, strong, active, and disease free. A team of doctors from Okinawa International University found several identifiable behaviors that differ from the typical Western lifestyle—especially the fact that their diet is based largely on antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, and spices, along with seaweed, fish, and pork. The Okinawans’ carbohydrate consumption comes not from rice, as in the typical Japanese diet, but almost entirely from the antioxidant- and vitamin-rich sweet potato. As a result of their diets, Okinawans have a much higher antioxidant capacity in their blood than Westerners do, and even higher than people in the rest of Japan.
Based on his research, Dr. Tollefsbol recommends people eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, and cook them as minimally as possible. He has found similar epigenetic benefits from green tea and suggests that people drink 2 or 3 cups a day. There’s much more research to do, but the outlines of an “epigenetics diet” are starting to emerge, he says.
A Whole Lot of Help
In survey after survey, Americans say they want to eat more whole grains. In practice, though, only about 11 percent of the grains most Americans eat come from whole-grain sources. This is making them grow older, faster.
More and more research is proving how essential whole grains are in helping your body stave off the effects of aging. The fiber in whole grains slows your digestion and keeps blood sugar levels more stable. Antioxidants in whole grains fight the aging effects of oxidative stress. And whole grains contain many vitamins and minerals, which your cells must have if they are going to stay healthy for the long term.
Take a kernel of wheat as an example, which is used in its entirety in whole-wheat flour. The outer layer is called the bran, the seed is called the germ, and the endosperm is the rest of the plump interior. Where is most of the nutrition? In the bran and the seed—the parts that are discarded when making white flour. The bran contains fiber, minerals such as magnesium and selenium, as well as B vitamins. The germ, which is the embryo of a new wheat plant, has vitamins E, A, and K; more B vitamins; as well as protein, fiber, and healthy fats.
“Where is most of the nutrition [in a kernel of wheat]? In the bran and the seed—the parts that are discarded when making white flour.”
Studies have shown that boosting consumption of whole grains such as oats, popcorn, brown rice, rye, bulgur, and quinoa reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes and cools inflammation, among other benefits that can lead to healthier aging. Whole grains can even affect the way your genes work, according to a Finnish study published in 2007 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In the study, overweight individuals with metabolic syndrome were fed a diet that included whole-grain rye. After 12 weeks, the researchers found decreased activity in 71 genes related to cell death and insulin resistance.
Adding more whole grains to your diet is getting easier because more such products are being sold in supermarkets. When you find ones you like, be sure you eat them instead of refined grains. A study published in 2010 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that increasing whole-grain consumption reduced the amount of fat around people’s midsections, which is thought to be a trigger for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The effect was negated, though, in people who ate more whole grains but didn’t reduce their consumption of refined grains.
This simple substitution is an easy way to make your diet work for you and keep you healthier for years. It’s not about sacrifice; it’s about changing your habit. Take it a step at a time. If the last piece of whole-wheat bread you tried didn’t appeal to you, try a different brand. Start with just one substitution a day—use whole-wheat bread instead of white bread or brown rice instead of white rice, for example—and when you get used to it, you can add another. Every little bit helps.
Proactive Protein
We’ve already looked at why reducing red meat in your diet can be a good way to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. But what should you eat instead? Many people eat a lot more protein than they need, and the trend has increased with the popularity of high-protein diets. According to the USDA, the typical man over age 30 needs 56 grams protein a day, and the typical woman that age needs 46 grams. There are lots of places to get that protein, and some are healthier than others.
Leaner choices such as chicken, fish, egg whites, beans, and fat-free dairy provide plenty of protein. They also often have other beneficial compounds linked to improving your health as you age.
A study recently published in the journal Stroke assessed the impact of dietary protein on the risk of stroke in a large population followed for 22 and 26 years. Not surprisingly, the study found that intake of red meat increased the risk of stroke. Then it looked at how that risk went down if just one serving of red meat a day was replaced with a different source of protein. It found that replacing one serving of red meat a day with poultry lowered the risk of stroke by 27 percent. Eating fish or nuts instead of red meat once a day lowered the risk by 17 percent.
“Replacing one serving of red meat a day with poultry lowered the risk of stroke by 27 percent.”
What this study shows is that your protein choice is a great place to start making minor changes to your diet that can have a big impact. To get the most benefit from this part of your plate, try to mix it up so you get the nutritional benefits of each kind of protein. It’s also a great way to figure out what you really like and can go on eating for years to come.
Poultry is a complete protein that provides all the different amino acids your cells need to create new proteins, and it’s low in fat and calories. But how you eat it matters: chicken is often prepared in cream sauces or fried, both of which cancel out its great qualities. Instead, grab a rotisserie chicken at the supermarket (but throw out the skin!). Or poach a whole chicken with lots of onions, carrots, and celery; it makes wonderful chicken stock you can use for soup and healthy cooking, and the tender, poached meat is great in soups, salads, and sandwiches. (Plus it’s very low in AGEs!) Or try the recipe for Quick Baked Lemon Chicken Breasts later in the book for another tasty, healthy option.
Seafood can be a great choice for complete protein that contains all the essential amino acids. But again, avoid deep-fried and pan-fried preparations to get the full benefits of the fish. Broiling and baking are great options. Oily fish such as salmon and mackerel also provide high levels of good fats such as omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are used for many normal bodily functions, including blood clotting. As essential fatty acids, omega-3s must come from the diet, and sources include fatty fish, walnuts, vegetable oil, flax, and dark leafy greens. Omega-3s (with specific names DHA, ALA, and EPA) have been shown in studies to reduce the risk of death, heart attacks, and stroke. They also may reduce inflammation and the risk of cancer. Few of us get enough omega-3s. Aim for one serving of an omega-3 fatty acid–rich food every day, or take a fish oil supplement.
Beans and legumes contain large quantities of fiber, vitamins, and minerals along with big servings of protein. Plus they are complex carbohydrates that release their energy in your body slowly over time, keeping you fuller longer. They won’t make your blood sugar levels gyrate, either. Adding beans into your diet is easy and inexpensive. At first, you can try eating a smaller portion of animal protein and supplementing with beans or lentils on the side. Or throw some chickpeas in your salad or pasta dish.
Because beans and legumes often lack at least one essential amino acid, if they’re your only protein source, you want to eat them with whole grains that will provide that missing nutrition. Black beans and brown rice, hummus and whole-wheat pitas, or peanut butter on whole-wheat bread are great combinations that provide a complete—and delicious!—source of protein.
Other good sources of healthy protein include low-fat and nonfat dairy products, such as yogurt and skim milk, and nuts. Most people wouldn’t eat nuts as a main source of protein, but they are a healthy choice if you don’t eat too many. Small servings are okay, though, because nuts are nutrient dense, packing lots of protein and healthy fats in a small package. Instead of eating higher-fat sources of protein, sprinkle nuts on your cereal, put them in your pasta, toss them with salads, or add them to stir-fries.
Remember that every small step you take in the direction of cell-boosting foods will add up to more time on the clock. You can do just a little bit here and there, and it can still mean real change.
“Every small step you take in the direction of cell-boosting foods will add up to more time on the clock.”