Discover Delicious and Energizing Anti-Aging Tips

 Just because you’ve reached a mature age doesn’t mean you should feel or act old. Besides a positive attitude, regular medical checkups and taking prescribed medicine from a trusted Canada pharmacy, what else can you do? If you aren’t already dedicated to anti-aging practices, adopt some of these healthy habits now.

Protect Your Heart

Smoking, saturated fat, sodium and sugar can cause heart disease. Reduce your risk with these heart-smart tips.

• Fish. Dine on omega–3 fatty-acid-rich cold-water fish (haddock, mackerel, salmon and tuna) two or three times per week.
• Magnesium. Eat spinach and almonds.
• Red Wine. Reduce cholesterol and inflammation.
• Exercise. Bike riding, brisk walks and other enjoyable physical activities build stamina, strength and flexibility.

Be Good to Your Bones According to the , 55 percent of all Americans over 50 are at risk for osteoporosis, and women make up 80 percent of people with the disease. When women’s ovaries produce less estrogen in their 40s and none in their 50s, bone loss accelerates, increasing their osteoporosis risk significantly. So what can you do?

• Diet. Load up on fruits, vegetables and whole grains to strengthen bones and resist breakage.
• Weight control. Carrying around too many pounds can make osteoarthritis worse, which may limit your mobility and make exercising harder.
• Tai chi. This ancient Chinese discipline focuses on concentration, balance and flexibility; these body control techniques help prevent falls.
• Interval training. Alternate short bursts of extreme exercise with less intense recovery periods.
• Weight lifting. Resistance forces bone to rebuild itself while improving bone and muscle strength.

Preserve Your Skin

You don’t need expensive anti-aging creams or plastic surgery to . Treat yourself to these indulgent yet affordable suggestions instead.

• Tea face mask. White tea and green tea are rich in EGCG, an anti-aging antioxidant. Mix green tea powder into brewed white tea to create a face mask that helps fight wrinkles, plumps skin increases cell turnover.
• Hand scrub. If your hands’ skin has lost elasticity and fullness, make a sugar and lemon juice hand scrub. Sugar crystals exfoliate dull, dead skin. Lemon juice’s anti-aging alpha hydroxy acid peels away the dead skin cell layer. Moisturizers penetrate better after exfoliation.
• Ginger tea. Drink a mixture of shredded ginger, honey and hot water. Ginger’s gingerol antioxidant minimizes collagen breakdown. Honey provides natural anti-bacterial and inflammation-reducing advantages.
• Red wine. Darker wine’s resveratrol antioxidant offers anti-inflammatory benefits, protects cell membranes and soaks up damaging free radicals.
• Grape seed extract supplements. Boost your blood’s antioxidant levels while protecting your skin’s collagen and elastin that provide firmness and elasticity. A 50-mg grape seed extract supplement provides the benefits of eating over a pound of grapes.

Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Besides not smoking, try other tips to prevent cancer.

• Antioxidants. Eat half a plateful of brightly colored fruits and vegetables with each meal.
• Vitamin D. If you don’t get enough Vitamin D from sun explosion or your diet, add a daily supplement.
• Sunscreen. Apply SPF 30 or higher to your face and exposed body areas 30 minutes before going outdoors.
• Skin cancer exams. For early detection of skin cancer, schedule monthly self-exams and an annual doctor’s total-body screening. Look for mole and freckle color, size, thickness, shape and feel changes. Visit your doctor to examine a new mole or one that has irregular borders, variable colors or is larger than 1/4 inch in diameter.

Boost Your Immune System

Besides adequate exercise and sleep, the following healthy foods and beverages support your immune system better than supplements.

• Vitamin C. Load up on this essential nutrient and antioxidant by eating citrus fruits and juices, kiwi fruit, strawberries, broccoli and red and green peppers.
• Vitamin E. Benefit from foods rich in this powerful antioxidant like almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and wheat germ oil.
• Zinc. Get this essential mineral in baked beans, cashews, chickpeas, oysters and raisin bran cereal.
• Carotenoids. Enjoy this plant pigment antioxidant that converts into Vitamin A in apricots, carrots, kale, mango and papaya.
• Omega-3 fatty acids. Suppress inflammation and keep your immune system in check by eating oily fish (herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, trout and tuna), flaxseed and walnuts.
• Other foods. Consume garlic and high-probiotic sources like yogurt and kefir.
• Beverages. Enjoy antioxidant-rich green tea daily and a glass of red wine a few times a week.

Dedicate Yourself to Healthy Aging

You’ll enjoy a long, fulfilling life more if you follow an anti-aging regimen, see your doctors regularly, think young and have fun!   Men exercising image by Base Camp Baker Red wine toast image by Passive Income Dream.com from Flickr’s Creative Commons   About the Author: , M.D., is a contributing blogger who has been a medical practitioner since 1995.