If you want to stay healthy, you need to control the things that cause cellular aging, DNA degeneration, disease and eventually death. Those things occur on a molecular level throughout our lives. We can't stop them completely, but we can keep them to a minimum. Here's what they are and how to control them.
Free Radical Damage
Most people have heard of free radicals, because there are thousands of antioxidant-rich supplements on the market. Vitamin C manufacturers speak of free radical damage as though it is the ultimate cause of every disease from the common cold to cancer.
The truth is free radicals cause oxidation. Oxidation is basically "rot". Everything on the planet must eventually rot; otherwise it would become overcrowded very quickly.
Your goal should be to keep oxidation to a minimum. You do that by avoiding things that are known to cause increased production and activity of free radicals. Those include overexposure to UV radiation from the sun, any exposure to cigarette smoke and tobacco, as well as other toxins.
Vitamin C is not the only antioxidant. In fact, it is not one of the most potent ones. You need plenty of vitamin C to stay healthy. But, you also need other, more potent, antioxidants.
You can get them by including more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Some of the most potent antioxidants are found in broccoli, kale, cauliflower, red grapes and spices, such as turmeric, ginger, garlic and chili peppers.
Inflammation
Researchers have found that inflammation plays a role in cancer, heart disease and arthritis and cellular aging, in general. They believe that natural anti-inflammatories are the keys to reducing inflammation throughout the body.
Many of the plant foods mentioned above have anti-inflammatory activity, as do the oils of fatty fish. The primary benefit of fish oils supplements, which are the best-selling supplement on the market, is due to the anti-inflammatory activity.
If you want to stay healthy, eat more fish and learn how to reduce inflammation throughout your body. Adding more plant foods to your diet could be the solution.
Glycation
Until recently, not too many people knew about the danger of glycation. We realized that simple carbs, which include white bread, white potatoes, white rice and processed sugars, were bad for our health, but the molecular activity was not well understood.
Now, we know that those foods cause spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels that start a chain reaction, which ends in the production of "advance glycation end-products" or AGEs. If we want to stay healthy, we need to keep the production of AGEs to a minimum.
In order to do that, we need to cut simple carbs out of our diets, at least as much possible. Not only will it help reduce our risk of some serious age-related diseases like Alzheimer's, it will help us maintain a healthier weight, relatively easily.
Of course, if you want to stay healthy for life, you need to be physically active, too. Nothing takes the place of a regular walk in the park.
