Protandim

Young children routinely wake up at 6:00 A.M., pop out of bed, and are ready for their day. But as an adult, we are can be groggy or sluggish. However, most of us have discovered the benefits of coffee and caffeine. Caffeine is a mild stimulant that many people worry increases how fast you age. There is evidence suggesting that caffeine makes us older quicker, but there is also evidence showing it will keep us younger longer.

Caffeine has been shown to increase our ability to focus on monotonous tasks. It also can help us stay awake when we are reading or working. Also, it can help us exercise harder and longer. Caffeine provides us with a little boost of energy to help get through the day. Drinking it in moderation has shown little negative side effects, and may even keep us younger and smarter because it is a workout and study aid.

However, some research has come out that drinking caffeine in excess has some very negative side effects. First, many people say that coffee and caffeine are addictive, and trying to cut back or quit will give you withdrawals. It can leave us shaky and jittery. Also, some people say that caffeine induces chronic stress, which is a huge factor in terms of aging. Some say it also decreases mineral absorption, and when we get older we need those minerals to survive and fight the effects of aging. The key to drinking coffee is to simply drink it in moderation.

Healthy eating can be as easy as crossing items off a list. When most people hear the term ‘eating healthy,’ they immediately get a bad taste in their mouth—no pun intended. They imagine abstaining from their favorite foods, eating tasteless, bland meals and being hungry all the time. The fact is you don’t have to suffer through any of those things to eat healthy. The following guidelines can help you develop healthy eating habits without wanting to pull your hair out.

1. Eat high-fiber foods. These include fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains. These contain the good carbohydrates that are nutritious and are low in calories. Fiber helps slow the absorption of carbohydrates so there’s less effect on insulin and blood sugar. These foods also provide essential vitamins and minerals.

2. Control your sugars! Sugar is the most popular additive. In some way we add it to every meal we consume. Bread products that contain refined grain such as white bread and salty snack foods block the absorption of vitamins and minerals if consumed in excess.

3. Portion control is key. We all have our guilty pleasures that are usually high in calories and low in nutrition. It’s acceptable to eat these, but in moderation. With the advent of super-sized meal, Americans believe, more and more, that bigger is better.

4. Focus on getting your vitamins and minerals from foods and not from supplements. It is easier for the body to absorb vitamins and minerals from healthy foods and from powders and pills.

5. Control your fats. Cutting down on animal fat that his high in saturated fat can help lower cholesterol levels. Instead choose lean meats like skinless poultry and low or non-fat dairy products. Trans-fats are also a trouble area. By cutting back on trans-fats, which are supplied by hydrogenated vegetable oils used in processed foods, you can lower you cholesterol and blood pressure. Eating foods that contain healthy unsaturated fats can aid in healthy living. Foods such as fish and nuts contain the good kind of fat and can help you on your healthy eating journey.

6. Give yourself some variety. Don’t eat the same foods everyday or you won’t get very far on your path to healthy eating. Try new foods or new food combinations. This will help keep meals exciting and not let your pallet get bored.

7. Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol. Moderation is the key when consuming alcohol. There is a lot of hype about the health benefits of red wine, but the benefits come from the grapes, not the alcohol. One glass of wine per day is the recommended amount.

Vitamin K is not well-known compared to others like Vitamin C and A, but it is proven to have a lot of health benefits. Vitamin K is an antioxidant that fights harmful free radicals that work slowly to break down the body. Some view aging as a collection of free radicals that have built up in the body which become too much for the immune system to deal with. Vitamin K is a leader in the battle against anti-aging and perhaps one of the most effective supplements to work against the aging process.

What does this vitamin do? For starters, it helps blood coagulate in the body and helps against the deterioration of the body. The K vitamin is a relatively new subject, since it was thought previously that we had enough K in our bodies to fight disease. We know now that this is not the case for most people, who actually suffer from a certain level of K deficiency. Researchers believe that as we grow old, we experience inflammation in our organs. To deal with this, the body increases and decreases its use of certain hormones accordingly. One of those hormones that increases during the time of need is Interleukin 6, which eventually leads to increased inflammation. Vitamin K is shown to reduce the affects of Interleukin 6.

How does inflammation lead to aging? When we age we experience such inflammation in the body that it leads to disease. The inflammation has been shown to lead to other things that eventually lead to heart disease and osteoporosis. Damages experienced by both the heart and lungs have been reduced with the introduction of Vitamin K. Furthermore, the vitamin has been linked to positively affecting blood sugar levels, Alzheimer’s Disease, and risk of stroke. Foods that are rich in K are leafy green vegetables and other vegetables, and some cheeses. The consumption of hydrogenated oils can stop the health benefits of Vitamin K from occurring in the body also, as it serves as a blocker.