5 THE AGE-FIX DIET
Wouldn’t it be nice if looking younger were as easy as what you choose to put on your plate? Actually, to a large extent, this is true. What you eat actually alters the look and health of your skin, not just on your face but all over your body. The foods you choose can contribute to water weight gain, swelling, redness, acne, and the development of wrinkles, and can also affect skin tightness and elasticity, tissue firmness, and even how likely you are to get a sunburn.
Eating for a more youthful appearance isn’t the same as eating for weight loss. Many diets will leave you looking thinner but older—more shrunken, wrinkled, droopy, or sallow. The dietary guidelines in this chapter, however, will do just the opposite. While you might very well lose a few extra pounds eating this way, you will definitely plump up your skin with hydration and moisture, strengthen and firm yourself all over with protein and collagen-building nutrients, and infuse your skin and body with antioxidants that fight the effects of aging and create a youthful bloom in your complexion. I’ll urge you off the things that make you look older sooner: sugar, saturated fat, and simple carbohydrates. I’ll also share with you tips on other lifestyle factors that may be making you look older, as well as those that could be helping you look younger.
For some of you, the suggestions in this chapter may represent a sea change in the way you look at food, eating, and maintaining your youth and health. It doesn’t help that dietary recommendations over the past few decades have been very confusing. Are fats good or bad for you? What about carbohydrates? How about drinking wine?
I sympathize. I grew up in small-town America, where I was surrounded by fast-food restaurants and lots of processed food. As a kid, I remember riding my bike to the store and buying four candy bars for $1, then proceeding to plow through them over the following two days. In high school my friends and I would binge on oatmeal cream pies, French fries, and hamburgers. This contrasted severely with my parents’ traditional Korean diet, which consisted of fish, vegetables, garlic, and white rice. Once I hit college, pizza and beer became new staples in my dietary routine. After marrying my wife and going through medical school, I began to reassess my diet. I reduced my visits to fast-food restaurants, limited the amount of red meat I ate, and almost completely cut out soft drinks in exchange for ice water.
Today, I’m aware that what I eat affects my health, my skin, and my youth more than ever. I’ve learned a lot from nutritionists, dietitians, and dermatologists, and yes, even some other surgeons (many surgeons have little nutritional training, but others make it an area of interest) about what foods can help us live longer, look better, and lead healthier lives. So please read on, as the suggestions in this chapter can make you look younger in as little as two weeks.
EATING FOR YOUTH
Those youthful-looking teenagers may survive on a diet of sugar and fast food, but if they keep it up, they won’t be looking youthful for long. Young bodies can withstand a host of insults and still manage to look good for a few years, even a decade or so, but once you approach thirty, all that changes. You can’t get away with the same dietary transgressions you used to take for granted, and the younger you are when you start eating for youth, the longer you will retain your youthful qualities.
As a general rule, the foods you already know are good for you, like vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein, are the foods that also tend to promote antiaging and keep you looking younger longer. The foods you already know are bad for you, like sugar, saturated and trans fats, and processed junk foods, are the foods that actually cause accelerated skin aging. (I’ll explain how this works later in this chapter.) However, you probably want more specifics, and indeed, there are very specific bad guys that are particularly likely to age you quickly, and some very specific good guys with super antiaging powers. Let’s explore.
The Bad Guys: Foods That Age You
It’s hard to give up your decadent favorites, but understanding what they do to you and your appearance may help, so let’s start with the Most Wanted list of Youth-and-Beauty Bad Guys.
BAD GUY #1: SUGAR
Who can resist a warm chocolate chip cookie, a handful of candy from the candy jar, or a slice of cake with just the right thickness of frosting? You can, and should, because sugar is just about the worst thing you can eat when it comes to your skin. If there is one thing I would like you to take from this chapter, it’s this:
Sugar = Wrinkles.
Let’s look at why.
Just about everything you eat gets broken down into sugar. The process is complex, but to simplify, cookies, mashed potatoes, carrots, a sandwich, even a steak dinner, gets converted into glucose (a type of simple sugar) for your body to use as energy. Anything you don’t need right away gets stored in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen, which your body can use later when it needs more energy. Foods with more carbohydrates are more readily turned into sugar to fuel the body than foods with more protein and/or fat (this is why athletes sometimes “carb-load” before a race or competition). If you take in excessive calories and your liver and muscles have all the glycogen you need, anything left over gets stored in your fat cells. The more sugar you eat, the more likely you will have significant stores of body fat, because your body has to put that excess sugar somewhere.
However, the problem when it comes to health, as well as beauty, isn’t so much about fat as it is about insulin. Normally, when you eat food and your body turns it into glucose, your blood sugar goes up. In response, your body releases just enough insulin to help shuttle that extra sugar into the liver, muscles, and fat cells. When you eat too much sugar, however (and that can mean too many calories, especially carbohydrate calories made of starchy and sugary foods), your body can’t keep up. A large amount of sugar (including the sugar from refined carbohydrates like white bread) triggers the body to release a flood of insulin to get that blood sugar down before it hurts you. This in turn can push blood sugar too low. Too much of this up-and-down blood sugar and insulin instability can lead to diabetes and many other related issues, including obesity and system-wide inflammation. Chronic inflammation damages your skin and impedes your body’s natural processes, which can lead to compromised health over time. As you probably already know, glowing health looks younger. Ill health looks (and feels!) older. As a final insult, spiking insulin levels can also result in increased levels of androgenic hormones and excess oil, worsening acne.
SUGAR SPIKES
But perhaps the most direct link between sugar and aging is glycation. High levels of sugar in the bloodstream cause a chain reaction of accelerated aging when sugar molecules bond to protein and fat molecules in the body, deforming and stiffening them. This happens with glucose, and at an even higher rate with fructose (high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener that’s very common in processed foods, is one of the worst “foods” in terms of premature skin aging—avoid it like poison!). The molecules that are impacted by glycation include collagen and elastin, which are the building blocks of your skin. Collagen and elastin give skin its firmness and elasticity, but when sugar molecules attach to them, they get stiff, bent out of shape, and drained of color. They become sugar-protein hybrids, called advanced glycation end products or (appropriately) AGEs. And they aren’t pretty.
GLYCATION
Glycation is a natural process and some AGEs are inevitable, but the more AGEs you have, the more your skin will be affected, even overwhelmed. The equation is simple: Too much sugar = too many AGEs. This can result in premature wrinkles, sagging, stiffness, slower cell turnover, and a loss of circulation to the skin. It can cause unattractive distribution of fat pockets and a loss of that youthful bloom. All skin ages eventually, but AGEs have a definite accelerating effect that becomes most noticeable after the age of thirty-five.
This is all some people need to know to cut out the sweet stuff, but sugar and simple carbohydrates are hard to resist. Overeating, which creates a flood of glucose, and especially overeating high-sugar and high-starch foods (from candy to white rice), is the quickest way to age due to too many AGEs, so the next time you are tempted to eat too many carbohydrates, just picture your skin and the damage you could cause by eating that extra slice of cake.
Another aging effect of sugar is inflammation. Many studies have linked high blood sugar and also the high insulin that inevitably follows to system-wide chronic inflammation, which can cause chronic disease but can also have a negative effect on a youthful appearance. Chronic inflammation can worsen rosacea and rashes, can increase skin oiliness, and may also weaken the collagen and elastin in your skin over time.
While inflammation can be useful in skin-care treatments (for example, chemical peels create an “injury,” and the healing of the skin improves the skin’s appearance via rejuvenation), chronic inflammation can impair the skin’s natural healing ability, slowly degrading skin quality and accelerating aging. Antioxidants can be an effective treatment for inflammation. I’ll talk about these later in this chapter.
Even if you weren’t at all worried about wrinkles, sugar has also been linked to acne. When high blood sugar spikes trigger insulin spikes, insulin triggers insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Both insulin and IGF-1 increase the production of androgens, which are hormones that can trigger acne.17 The short version: Sugar accelerates aging and causes breakouts—two strong reasons to pass on the sweet stuff.
If you follow the diet industry at all, you have probably heard of the glycemic index, or GI. This is a measure of how quickly a particular food gets converted into glucose in your bloodstream after you eat it, and it can help you to choose the best carbohydrates. The GI scale goes from 0 to 100. Pure glucose has a GI of 100. A bagel has a GI of 72, an apple has a GI of 39, chickpeas have a GI of 10, and peanuts have a GI of 7. The GI of foods can also be influenced by ripeness and cooking method, as well as what you eat them with. A high-GI food eaten with fat, for example, will not be absorbed as quickly.
Foods with a high GI (baked potatoes, white rice, white bread, processed breakfast cereal, many processed packaged foods) create glucose quickly and are more likely to cause a blood sugar spike and then an insulin spike; they can also cause cellular inflammation, especially if you eat a lot of them. Refined grains are the worst offenders. The process of refining grains, such as wheat flour, involves removing the bran and germ. That takes away the fiber, as well as many essential nutrients, and fiber slows down the release of sugar from the grain. The result is a lighter, less bulky product (think white bread versus whole-grain bread), which is why white flour products like white bread, bagels, and croissants as well as other refined grains like white rice are high on the GI scale.
Foods with a low GI (beans, seeds, nuts, whole grains, and some fruits) take more time to digest and release glucose into your bloodstream more gradually. These keep blood sugar and insulin more even, because these foods contain a lot of fiber, protein, and/or fat. Several recent diets have encouraged a focus on low-GI foods as a method of weight loss, because blood sugar spikes and dips can encourage overeating. Because of the effect of sugar on the skin, I believe that paying attention to the GI of the foods you eat is also an excellent method for maintaining a youthful appearance.
Glycemic load (GL) is another useful term. While the GI measures how quickly a food is broken down into glucose in the liver, the GL takes into account how many carbohydrates are in an individual serving size. Some foods can have a high GI, but because there aren’t very many of those high-GI carbs in a serving of a particular food, it can have a low GL, and therefore not have that much of an impact on your blood sugar. For example, pancakes and sweet potatoes have a similar glycemic index, but a serving of sweet potatoes has a much lower glycemic load than a serving of white-flour pancakes with syrup.
For these reasons, one of the best ways to eat for youth is to choose moderate portions of low-GI foods and/or low-GL foods. These are digested more slowly and release sugar into the bloodstream more gradually. This gives the body a chance to keep up with the glucose coming in. There aren’t large sugar spikes, which means there aren’t large insulin spikes. The blood sugar / insulin waves stay nice and even, and that’s what you want. You want your body to use the glucose you take in, rather than flood it with more than it can handle.
Unfortunately, most foods don’t currently include GI or GL values on the package. You have to know them or look them up online. There are many GI and GL food lists out there, so you can always look them up, but most people aren’t going to do that regularly. Instead, take a good look once at a few lists to get a general idea of the kinds of foods that have high and low GI and GL values, and then you will get the basic idea. One good source is the Harvard Medical School’s list “Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load for 100+ Foods.” Check out their website.19 Also remember that fiber, protein, and fat always slow down the release of glucose, so never eat simple carbs alone. Add some almond butter to your bagel, some milk to your cereal, some chicken to your pasta, and a small handful of peanuts to go with that candy you grab from the office candy jar.
Caution!
Diet isn’t the only thing that can trigger accelerated aging. Consider these other controllable lifestyle factors:
Smoking: A study on twins by Case Western Reserve University found that smoking removes 2.5 years from your life for every decade you smoke.20 This number may be even higher if you smoke heavily and/or add other vices like heavy drinking, other drugs, and a lot of time in the sun.
Stress: Temporary stress can be a good thing. When your brain believes your body is under threat, it signals the release of hormones like adrenaline, cortisol, and other corticosteroids to make you faster and stronger, increase your reaction time, elevate your sensory perceptions, and help you respond effectively to emergencies. Chronic stress, however, has a more insidious effect. Those stress hormones aren’t meant to be circulating in your bloodstream all the time, and when they do, they can cause widespread inflammation that leads to premature aging, as well as putting you at greater risk for dangerous health issues like heart disease.
Sleep deprivation: Your body undergoes major repairs while you sleep, including repairs to your skin. If you skimp on sleep, not only will you be more susceptible to stress and more likely to crave sugar, but your skin will be less likely to repair itself from the damage of the previous day (from sun, dry air, and chemical assaults from without and within). Try to get at least seven hours of sleep every night—and remember to sleep on your back when you can, to minimize the time your face spends sagging from gravity and creased by your pillow.
Menopause: Okay, you can’t exactly control menopause, but the drop in estrogen that happens during this time in life reduces collagen, causing skin to thin and wrinkle. Hormonal changes can also increase dryness and shrink fat pockets under the skin, and this can all lead to sagging and wrinkles. These hormone changes can also cause an increase in spider veins, broken capillaries (called telangiectasias), and wrinkles. Fortunately, a good skin-care regimen and a diet rich in antioxidants and soy protein can help to combat some of these effects.
BAD GUY #2: SATURATED AND TRANS FATS
The next youth wreckers are saturated and trans fats. There is a lot in the media right now about fat and how it isn’t as bad as we thought, but there are different kinds of fats, and they have different kinds of effects on health and, especially, on aging. Saturated and trans fats in particular are more damaging to the skin than healthier fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
A study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that people who ate a lot of butter, margarine, and foods high in saturated fats (like fatty processed meat, cakes, and pastries) had more wrinkling than those who ate less.21 We also know that animal proteins that are also high in saturated fat increase inflammation in the body. These include fatty cuts of beef and pork, dark meat poultry, and high-fat cured meats like sausage, bacon, and bologna (cured meat also contains additional inflammation-causing substances).
Trans fat consumption puts you in another danger zone. Trans fats, or trans fatty acids, are industrially modified plant oils that are cheap and don’t tend to spoil quickly, so they are widely used in processed foods and fried fast food. You can spot them by the term partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on food packaging. Although they were once used widely, the FDA has now determined that these fats are not safe. We know they raise the bad (LDL) cholesterol and depress the good (HDL) cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. They are also pro-inflammatory and accelerate the aging process. I do not recommend you consume any amount at all. There is no safe minimum.
BAD GUY #3: SALT
Your body needs some salt, but most people eat way too much, which can cause your body to retain water. This results in puffy eyelids, bags under your eyes, and festoons (those saggy droopy folds and puffy areas that accumulate beneath your eyes, even down to your cheeks). Too much salt can also result in swollen legs, ankles, arms, and wrists. It’s not pretty and it’s not good for your blood pressure. The biggest source of salt in most people’s diets is from packaged, processed food (like canned soup) and restaurant food (especially fast food, but most restaurants go heavy on the salt). Eat at home more often and use just enough salt in your cooking to satisfy you. Salting your food isn’t nearly as bad as eating, for example, a bag of fast-food French fries or a can of chicken noodle soup.
The Good Guys: Foods That Fight Aging
Now that you understand the dietary culprits for premature aging and some of the foods to avoid, let’s look at all the dietary good guys. Because aren’t we all more interested in what we get to eat, rather than what we shouldn’t eat? Fortunately, there are many delicious and satisfying foods that not only can fill you up and make you feel good but also are full of antiaging compounds to keep you looking younger longer. These are your dietary superstars, and the meal plan at the end of the chapter includes the foods on this list.
GOOD GUY #1: ANTIOXIDANTS
You already know that topical antioxidants like vitamin C fight free radicals on the surface of your skin, but foods rich in antioxidants can do the same thing from the inside. Antioxidant-rich foods can even help protect you from the harmful UV rays of the sun and the free radicals they can generate. In fact, some doctors believe that eating antioxidants is even more effective in reducing free-radical damage created by UV rays than applying topical antioxidants.
Antioxidants are substances that prevent cell damage from free radicals. I explained how this worked in the previous chapter, but just as a reminder, free radicals are unstable molecules that are missing an electron. They seek to steal electrons from healthy cells, causing damage. They can be generated by natural metabolism in the body but can also come into the body via pollution, chemicals, and exposure to sunlight. They can also be generated in greater numbers when the body is under stress. Antioxidants are substances like vitamins C and E that carry an extra electron. They donate this to the free radical, neutralizing its scavenging and damaging action. Let’s look at some of the best ones for good eating.
Vitamin C: One of the great things about vitamin C, in addition to its free radical–fighting power, is its essential role in the production of collagen and elastin. That’s why vitamin C is so good for your skin, whether you eat it or apply it topically. Vitamin C is water soluble, so it is quickly excreted by your body. In other words, you don’t store it, so you should eat vitamin C–rich foods every day. A study from the UK found that women with a higher vitamin C intake had fewer wrinkles and less dry skin than women with average or low levels of vitamin C intake.22 While most people think of citrus fruits as the best source of vitamin C, many fruits and vegetables contain lots of it, especially when you eat them fresh. Vitamin C degrades quickly after harvest and with cooking, so eat these fruits and veggies as soon as you can after purchasing, and look for them in the farmers’ market, where they are more likely to be extremely fresh.
Try to eat at least two servings of vitamin C–rich food every day. That’s about a cup of berries or chopped raw vegetables.
Good sources include:
Blackberries
Blueberries
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Gooseberries
Grapefruit
Honeydew
Kale
Kiwifruit
Oranges
Papaya
Pineapple
Pomegranates
Raspberries
Red bell peppers
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes
Vitamin E: This antioxidant vitamin is excellent at protecting the skin from UV radiation as well as preventing free-radical damage. Unlike water-soluble vitamin C, vitamin E is fat soluble. That means your body can store it in fat tissue, so it isn’t as important to get some every day, and it is unusual for someone living in the United States to have a vitamin E deficiency. However, vitamin E has many benefits, so enjoy vitamin E–rich foods when you have the opportunity.
Some good choices include:
Almonds
Anchovies
Avocados
Broccoli
Butternut squash
Carrots
Dried apricots
Hazelnuts
Olive oil
Peanuts
Pine nuts
Pumpkin
Salmon (smoked salmon has even more)
Shrimp
Silken tofu
Spinach
Sunflower seeds
Wheat germ
Vitamin A: Vitamin A is another fat-soluble vitamin with antioxidant action, and many skin-care products contain a form of vitamin A (retinoids like retinol and tretinoin). Technically, vitamin A is actually a group of compounds, including both retinoids and carotenoids. Retinoids have anti-inflammatory effects but are often found in foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol, like egg yolks, shrimp, and liver.
Beta-carotene is a carotenoid that the body can convert to a usable form of vitamin A. Fruits and vegetables that are a deep yellow or orange color are typically rich in beta-carotene, and the effect in the body is most pronounced when those orange vegetables, like carrots and sweet potatoes, are cooked. Beta-carotene increases the production of collagen and glycosaminoglycans, which improve the skin’s ability to retain moisture. This can prevent dry, scaling, cracked skin. There is some evidence that beta-carotene supplements may have some hazardous effects, although this seems to be most pronounced in smokers. Just in case, get your beta-carotene from foods—it’s easy to do.
Try to get both retinoids and beta-carotene in your diet. Retinoids are more readily absorbed, and beta-carotene has to be converted, but beta-carotene also confers other antioxidant benefits, such as being particularly good for your eyes (which is why your mother told you to eat your carrots).
Good sources of retinoids include:
Cheese
Eggs
Fish (especially tuna, trout, herring, cod, salmon, and mackerel)
Liver
Milk (lower-fat varieties contain more retinol)
Shrimp
Good sources of beta-carotene include:
Apricots (especially dried)
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Dark green, leafy vegetables (like kale and spinach—not orange, but they contain a lot of beta-carotene)
Mangoes
Papaya
Peaches
Pumpkin (canned pumpkin is a great source)
Sweet potatoes
Winter squashes like butternut and acorn
Carotenoids: There are many different kinds of carotenoids, many of which do not convert to vitamin A like beta-carotene does, but that have profound antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. They include substances like lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Lycopene, found in red vegetables and fruits like watermelon, tomatoes, and red peppers, is perhaps one of the most potent of the free radical–destroying antioxidants, and cooked tomatoes are the best source. Canned tomato sauce and tomato paste are easy ways to get a good dose of lycopene, which is even better absorbed if you combine it with a little fat, because it is fat soluble—which also makes it more delicious. Add olive oil to your pasta sauce and extra sauce with your pizza—it’s good for your skin!
In fact, lycopene is especially effective in reversing damage to the skin. There is even some evidence that eating a lot of tomatoes and tomato products can prevent sunburn. A recent presentation of research at the Royal Society of Medicine in London24 revealed that participants who added 5 tablespoons of tomato paste per day to their normal diet showed a 33 percent reduced risk of sunburn after twelve weeks! Another recent study demonstrated that women who took lycopene, soy, and vitamin C supplements for six months showed significant improvement in fine lines, skin elasticity, and skin radiance.25
The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin have also been shown to help protect the skin from UV exposure. They are both antioxidants that can be found in the eye, where they filter out damaging blue waves and act to neutralize free radicals. They are essential to eye health, but the skin also contains lutein and zeaxanthin, where they also prevent damage and help to maintain the structural integrity of the skin. These carotenoids are most prevalent in cooked green, leafy vegetables but can also be found in some other foods.
The best sources of lutein and zeaxanthin include:
Collard greens
Corn
Egg yolks
Grapes
Kale
Kiwifruit
Orange peppers
Spinach
Turnip greens
Zucchini and other squashes26
The bottom line is that antioxidants are easy to get in your diet as long as you eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. Just taking an antioxidant supplement like vitamin C isn’t enough to fight the free-radical onslaught of modern life. Foods are much better sources of absorbable and usable antioxidants, as they contain many different beneficial antioxidants like polyphenols and flavonoids that also help to neutralize free radicals. (These are UV-protective antioxidants that inhibit inflammation and tissue damage, found in onions, dark chocolate, soy, cherries, red wine, green tea, and whole grains.) You can’t get that whole package in a supplement.
GOOD GUY #2: OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS
There is a lot of conflicting information out there about fats and which ones are good or bad for you and how much and what percentage you need of which ones. I won’t put myself in the center of the debate about whether saturated fats or polyunsaturated industrial seed oils are the true culprits of inflammation, but I will say this: Whenever you can, avoid saturated fats, trans fats, and highly processed industrial fats like corn oil and soybean oil, and eat more of the good natural fats we know for sure help elevate good cholesterol, moisturize the skin, reduce inflammation, and help you look younger:
Monounsaturated fats like those in olive oil, walnuts, and avocados.
The polyunsaturated fat known as omega-3 fatty acid, which can be further subdivided into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found in cold-water fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines; and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), found in flaxseed, chia seeds, canola oil, and soy products like tofu. The body converts ALA to the more usable EPA and DHA.
Whereas other types of fats tend to be inflammatory, monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fats tend to be anti-inflammatory. They soothe and calm inflamed, broken-out skin. They decrease the redness and damage associated with UV exposure. Even though they are not antioxidants, they fight free-radical damage. They also improve skin elasticity, resulting in fewer wrinkles.
The easiest ways to incorporate more omega-3s is to eat fish as your protein whenever you can—aim for fish as a dinner entrée two or three times per week. You could also take 1000 mg of fish oil per day in supplement form. For more ALAs, add ground flaxseed, chia seeds, or walnuts to your oatmeal or yogurt. For more monounsaturated fats, use olive oil instead of butter for flavoring your food. A good-quality extra-virgin olive oil tastes delicious on whole-grain toast (which has a lower GI value than white toast).
Good sources of monounsaturated fatty acids include:
Almond butter
Almond oil
Almonds
Canola oil (a source of both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids)
Hazelnut oil
Hazelnuts
Macadamia nuts
Olive oil
Olives
Peanut butter
Safflower oil
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, including EPA, DHA, and ALA, include:
Chia seeds
Cod
Flaxseed (ground) or flaxseed oil
Grass-fed beef
Halibut
Hemp seed oil
Mackerel
Oysters
Salmon (wild-caught only)
Sardines
Seaweed
Tofu
Trout
Tuna (fresh)
Walnuts
GOOD GUY #3: ZINC
Our last dietary superstar is zinc. Zinc is a mineral that helps to create more efficient collagen turnover and improves skin’s rejuvenation rate. It also acts as an antioxidant and boosts cell growth and repair. Many fish with high omega-3 fatty acids also contain zinc. Other good sources of zinc include:
Beef
Cashews
Cocoa powder
Crab
Garbanzo beans
Lamb
Lentils
Lobster
Oysters (cooked)
Pork (lean)
Pumpkin seeds
Quinoa
Sesame seeds
Shrimp
Spinach
Turkey
Wheat germ
WHAT TO EAT
You’ve got a lot of information, but how do you implement it? Here are some helpful strategies for increasing your intake of the Good Guys while decreasing your reliance on the Bad Guys:
Go whole grain. Whenever you have a choice, choose whole grains over refined grains. Change your white toast to whole-wheat toast. Change white rice to brown rice. Choose whole-grain cereals or oatmeal instead of refined sugary cereals. Try whole-grain pasta, including brown-rice pasta, instead of the white stuff. 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.
Use protein. 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.
Go green. 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.
Spice (and herb) it up. Many herbs, spices, and seasonings also contain potent antioxidants, so use them liberally, especially the spices cinnamon (skip the sugar), cloves, cumin, curry powder, turmeric, and saffron, and the herbs basil, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, peppermint, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and thyme. 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!
Pass on the processed food. Anything that comes in a package is suspect, but baked goods and snack foods are the worst—cupcakes, cookies, donuts, and kids’ cereals contain refined flour and too much sugar, which will spike your blood sugar and your insulin levels. Fried foods like chips and crackers are often loaded with salt and fat, and may contain trans fats. 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.
Start your day with fruit. 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 a hundred.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with dark chocolate. Chocolate is graded according to how much raw cocoa it contains. The higher the percentage of raw cocoa, the greater the antioxidant activity. Look for chocolate with at least 70 percent cocoa for maximum antioxidants and minimum added sugar. I like the 85 percent cocoa chocolate. Several brands make an 85 percent chocolate bar, including Lindt, Green and Black, Ghirardelli (86 percent), and Endangered Species (88 percent). 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.
Remember: green, yellow, orange, red. The most antioxidant-rich foods are brightly colored.
Eat more protein. 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.28 The USDA recommends 0.8–1.0 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.
Drink up! 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.
YOUR TWO-WEEK AGE-FIX MEAL PLAN
If you like a little more guidance in your diet, try this meal plan, which combines many of the suggestions in this chapter into a nutrient-dense, youth-enhancing, antiaging diet plan. This plan isn’t about weight loss, so I’m not giving you portion sizes. If you are trying to lose weight, keep your portions of starchy, sugary, and fatty foods smaller (½ cup of grains, 1 piece of sweet fruit, 3 or 4 ounces of meat), but load up on the vegetables and low-GI fruits (like berries), and you may be surprised at how quickly antiaging foods also turn into weight-loss foods.
Note that this meal plan includes two snacks. Snacks are helpful for keeping blood sugar and insulin on an even keel, which is one of our goals. If you get hungry between meals, have a snack. This can help you eat less during your main meals. Remember that eating large portions, even of low-GI foods, can spike blood sugar. If snacks help, go for it. If you find that snacks just keep you thinking about food more often and don’t impact how much you eat at a meal, then skip them.
WEEK ONE
MONDAY
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts, and nondairy milk (like almond or soy milk), green tea
Snack:
Mango slices and raw almonds
Lunch:
Lentil soup over brown rice
Snack:
Low-fat cottage cheese with pineapple cubes
Dinner:
Lean steak topped with sautéed bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions, romaine salad with olive-oil vinaigrette, baked sweet potato with olive oil
TUESDAY
Breakfast:
Two scrambled eggs with chopped onions, spinach or kale, and tomatoes, fruit smoothie made with blueberries or strawberries, orange juice, and crushed ice
Snack:
Carrots and hummus
Lunch:
Spinach salad with grilled chicken, oranges, and walnuts
Snack:
Greek yogurt with strawberries and cinnamon
Dinner:
Shrimp skewers over brown rice with olive oil, red wine (optional)
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast:
Whole-grain or sprouted-grain toast with almond butter, fresh orange or grapefruit, green tea
Snack:
Smoked salmon with capers on whole-grain crackers
Lunch:
Tuna salad on whole-grain toast, corn and black bean salad
Snack:
Popcorn without butter or added salt—or if you are really adventurous, try roasted seaweed like my mom makes! (Go easy on the salt.)
Dinner:
Taco salad with romaine lettuce, ground turkey, black beans, fresh tomato salsa, low-fat or nonfat sour cream, a sprinkle of low-fat cheese, and baked tortilla chips
THURSDAY
Breakfast:
Turkey sausage and poached egg on whole-grain English muffin with low-fat Swiss cheese, fruit smoothie made with half a banana, strawberries, crushed ice, and a little water or coconut water
Snack:
Olives and goat cheese
Lunch:
Homemade veggie chili made with tomato sauce, beans, lots of veggies, and garnished with avocado cubes
Snack:
Apple with peanut butter (I personally love peanut butter!)
Dinner:
Whole-grain spaghetti with marinara sauce, a few turkey meatballs, roasted asparagus with olive oil and lemon juice, red wine (optional)
Breakfast:
Nonfat Greek yogurt with pumpkin puree or applesauce, chopped dried apricots, and hazelnuts, green tea
Snack:
Avocado on whole-grain toast
Lunch:
Romaine salad with salmon and sliced almonds, olive oil—based dressing
Snack:
Whole-grain tortilla with tomato sauce and low-fat mozzarella cheese, broiled
Dinner:
Butternut squash soup garnished with toasted pine nuts, whole-grain bread with olive oil
SATURDAY
Breakfast:
Whole-grain waffle topped with almond butter and sliced strawberries or peaches, green tea
Snack:
Peach or nectarine and sunflower seeds
Lunch:
Whole-grain bagel with hummus and lots of veggies, pear
Snack:
Whole-grain cereal with nondairy or nonfat milk
Dinner:
Roasted salmon, roasted Brussels sprouts, cubed winter squash with olive oil
SUNDAY
Breakfast:
Spinach mushroom omelet with crumbled goat cheese, mixed berries, green tea
Snack:
Greek yogurt with chia seeds and strawberries
Lunch:
Butternut squash soup topped with Greek yogurt, small spinach salad
Snack:
Cantaloupe with cottage cheese
Dinner:
Roast chicken (don’t eat the skin), mashed potatoes made with low-fat milk and olive oil, green salad with olive-oil vinaigrette
WEEK TWO
MONDAY
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with chopped dried apricots, almonds, and cinnamon, skim or nondairy milk, and green tea
Snack:
Blackberries with Greek yogurt
Lunch:
Tuna salad sandwich with lettuce and tomato
Snack:
Whole-grain crackers with almond butter
Dinner:
Shrimp stir-fry with all your favorite veggies over brown rice
Breakfast:
Omelet with goat cheese, sautéed red and green peppers, and onions, green tea
Snack:
Broccoli florets with hummus
Lunch:
Vegetable soup, hummus and whole-grain crackers
Snack:
Baked tortilla chips with fresh salsa
Dinner:
Roasted salmon, shredded cabbage and carrots with olive-oil vinaigrette, red wine (optional)
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast:
Smoothie made with nonfat Greek yogurt, pumpkin puree, pecans, flaxseed, and real maple syrup, green tea
Snack:
Leftover shredded cabbage and carrots with olive-oil vinaigrette
Lunch:
Tomato soup with grilled cheese on whole-grain bread
Snack:
Orange and pistachios
Dinner:
Tostadas or tacos with corn tortillas, mashed pinto beans, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, and salsa
THURSDAY
Breakfast:
Sweet potatoes sautéed with kale and onions, poached egg, green tea
Snack:
Dried apricots and raw almonds
Lunch:
Tabouli or other grain-based salad with chopped tomatoes and crumbled goat cheese
Snack:
Celery with peanut butter spread and raisins on top (my daughter’s favorite!)
Dinner:
Roasted lamb chops, cucumber salad made with Greek yogurt and mint, sautéed zucchini, red wine (optional)
FRIDAY
Breakfast:
Greek yogurt layered with berries and pumpkin seeds, green tea
Snack:
Poached shrimp wrapped in lettuce leaves
Lunch:
Lentil soup, small green salad with olive-oil vinaigrette
Snack:
Leftover cucumber salad
Dinner:
Roast chicken (don’t eat the skin), steamed broccoli, mashed sweet potatoes
Breakfast:
Orange and grapefruit slices over whole-grain pancakes or waffles, turkey bacon, green tea
Snack:
Edamame
Lunch:
Salad with leftover roast chicken, olive-oil vinaigrette
Snack:
Greek yogurt with blueberries and walnuts
Dinner:
Whole-grain pizza with lots of sauce and veggies, light on the cheese, green salad with olive-oil vinaigrette
SUNDAY
Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with sautéed spinach, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, chopped tomatoes, and low-fat Swiss cheese, all-fruit smoothie made with half a banana, a handful of blueberries, crushed ice, and a splash of water or coconut water
Snack:
Banana slices with chopped almonds and cinnamon
Lunch:
Turkey chili with black beans and lots of veggies
Snack:
Tofu slice fried in olive oil on whole-grain toast
Dinner:
Halibut, cod, or other fish, seaweed salad with rice wine vinegar and sesame oil, brown rice (my dad’s favorite dinner combination!)