Human beings begin aging right from the time that the body stops growing and maturing. The period of growing takes place throughout childhood and into early adulthood. Individuals in their twenties stop developing and will not grow any more. From this time onwards, the body begins to show signs of aging. Initially, the signs of aging are gradual and may not even be noticed. However, changes over a period of time will indicate that the individual is growing older. Some typical signs of aging include the appearance of grey hair and wrinkles on the skin. Individuals may also experience different aches and pains that are associated with age. The process of aging accelerates after the individual has turned 40. Aging also involves several different medical conditions including age related diseases and degenerative diseases.

Aging is a natural and inevitable process. However, it is possible for individuals to influence the way in which they age. People who are careful about their health and their diet may be able to slow the process of aging. There are obviously genetic factors that are beyond the control of the individual. However, a good diet and fitness will help to slow the process of aging. This is very simply explained by the logic that a good diet and fitness keeps the body well nourished. Good nourishment and good blood circulation ensures that all parts of the body receive the required nutrients. Diet and fitness are also important when it comes to repair of damaged cells and tissues. In most cases, damage is small and often not noticed by the individual. When this is taken care of effectively, it will have less of a long term effect on the individual.

Healthy diet

When it comes to an anti aging diet, one should realize that this is actually just a program to help the body be healthy. In this way, aging is slowed down, not reversed. Individuals should also ignore advertisements for miracle anti aging diets as these often have strange and potentially dangerous practices associated with them. A good anti aging diet is one that focuses on some basic known facts about nutrition. The body requires certain quantities of nutrients. A good anti aging diet is one that provides the body with all these nutrients in proper quantities without neglecting or over stressing any of these factors. A generally good diet is one aspect to an anti aging diet. More specifically, individuals can focus on antioxidants in their diets. Antioxidants form an important part of any anti aging diet. Free radicals are known to be responsible for many diseases and are also responsible for aging in the human body. Antioxidants tend to catch these free radicals, thus improving the health of the individual and also the individual’s disease prognosis.

Apart from antioxidants, an anti aging diet should focus on all types of foods that inhibit inflammation. For those who are overweight an calorie restriction diet plan would work well. Inflammation causes cell level damage and, in some cases, is caused by cell level damage. While this is not a short term problem to the patient, it does take its toll over a period of time. There are some types of foods that promote inflammation while others are classified as foods that fight inflammation. Foods may also have no effect on the condition as well. Foods that fight inflammation are always preferable, even if the individual has no obvious inflammation. Cell level inflammations may occur without the knowledge of the individual. Diversity of the diet is one of the key factors in this case. Fruits and vegetables are varied in the nutrients that they provide to the body. Every different fruit or vegetable has some specific nutritional advantage over other fruits and vegetables. This means that a large variety of fruits and vegetables should be consumed by the individual.

By increasing the variety of the diet, the individual exposes the body to many different unique ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, different types of fiber, carbohydrates and proteins. When it comes to anti ageing vitamins also play an equally important role. Some research also suggests that different colored fruits are the best anti aging foods. These should be consumed as these provide the variety that is essential for good health. Fish is another type of food that is considered to be good for the health of the individual. Fish contains omega 3 fatty acids along with other nutrients. The use of fish in Asian cuisine may explain why Asians tend to have a longer life expectancy than others and also tend to appear more youthful. There is, as mentioned above, a genetic link to aging which cannot be affected by the individual. However, diet and fitness do play a very important role in this process.