Aging is a topic that everyone cannot escape. As early as ancient times, people began to explore ways of immortality.
From the ancient people's "Bo food" health to today's anti-aging diet, most of them emphasize the concept of "eating less". A new study has found that anti-aging dietary patterns are not once and for all.
"Life Times" (search for "LT0385" in WeChat can be followed) combined with research to interpret 6 anti-aging diet patterns, and interviewed experts to recommend you a set of age-reducing recipes.
Experts interviewed
Fan Zhihong, Associate Professor, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University
Yu Renwen, director of Beijing Dietitians Association and registered nutritionist in China
Liu Dequan, former director of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Beijing Geriatric Hospital
Does the "anti-aging diet" really work?
Aging is the body's degenerative lesions and functional decline, adaptability, resistance to the performance of decline, in short, the skin aging is an external manifestation, the gradual degeneration of organs, often sick is one of the internal manifestations.
A study published in science, a top international journal, by scientists from the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington, evaluated six popular anti-aging diet patterns, explored the commonalities of these dietary mechanisms, and analyzed their links with anti-aging.
The anti-aging diets involved in the study were:
Calorie restriction: Diet is generally required to reduce total calories by 30 to 40%, but it is usually necessary to supplement nutrients to maintain overall health.
Intermittent fasting: Periodically maintain zero calories or very low caloric intake for a certain period of time, fasting for no more than 24 hours.
Simulated fasting diet: Refers to a low-calorie, simulated fasting state of eating, with medium carb, low protein, high fat diet.
Ketogenic diet: refers to a diet with very low carbohydrate content, moderate protein content, and high fat content, designed to induce ketosis or the production of ketone bodies.
Time-limited diet: There is no need to limit the type of food, the amount of food (reasonable diet range), as long as the eating time of the day is controlled within a certain time (such as 12 hours), and the rest of the time is not eaten at all.
Protein restriction and essential amino acid restriction: Refers to reducing the total intake of protein, or reducing the proportion of protein in the diet if the total food intake is unchanged; limiting the intake of a specific amino acid or a specific amino acid.
These diets are mainly divided into two categories: calorie restriction and equal caloric nutrient restriction.
The first graph from the left is clockwise: calorie restriction, time-limited diet, protein restriction, and ketogenic diet
Among them, ketogenic diets, intermittent fasting, and simulated fasting diets are calorie restrictions; time-limited diets, protein restrictions or amino acid restrictions can relatively guarantee the same calorie intake.
The effects of these diets can be attributed in part to calorie restriction, and while they can help with weight loss, the study did not find whether they were effective in fighting aging, and the effects varied from person to person.
Studies have shown that the effect of calorie restriction on longevity is highly genotype-dependent and in some cases leads to reduced individual survival. As of now, it is impossible to determine whether the above-mentioned similar calorie-restricted diet will affect a person's aging.
In addition, the researchers analyzed the laboratory environment, genetic background and other factors of the experiment and deduced that it is difficult for humans to maintain a calorie-restricted diet uniformly and continuously throughout the year.
Self-test: Is your diet anti-aging?
Three meals a day can not only supplement the basic energy for life, but also help fight aging under the premise of reasonable nutritional intake.
Answer the questions below and test yourself whether your daily diet is good for anti-aging.
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1. Can you eat 200 grams of dark green vegetables (such as spinach, rape, oilseed rape) every day?
2. Will you find a way to eat vegetables for three meals?
3. In addition to white rice and white noodles, do you have half of your staple food, mixed beans or potatoes (such as potatoes, yams, taro, etc.)?
4. Can you eat enough half a pound of fruit every day?
5. Do you eat a tablespoon of nut kernels every day, or oil seeds such as sesame seeds or flaxseeds?
6. Do you drink 1 to 2 small cups of live yogurt (excluding milk drinks and yogurt drinks) every day?
7. Do you eat soy products such as tofu and dried tofu more than 4 times a week?
8. Does the meat or fish you eat every day add up to no less than 50 grams and not more than 150 grams?
9. Are you guaranteed to eat three types of foods: staple foods, vegetables and high-quality protein at every meal?
10. Can you do three meals at regular intervals, and the breakfast is also nutritious and delicious?
11. Can you eat more than 12 kinds of ingredients every day (excluding condiments and cooking oils)?
12. Do you replace a meal with cookies, frozen dumplings, instant noodles and hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. less than twice a week?
13. Do you always keep yourself 70% or 80% full, don't overstretch, and don't make yourself feel particularly hungry?
14. Do you have a low cooking temperature for your dishes, like cold mixes, stews and steamers, and there is very little extra oil on the plate?
15. Do you drink more than 6 cups of water or light tea a day and don't drink sweet drinks?
Questions 1 to 5 are scored
It indicates that adequate intake of antioxidants helps to fight the aging of skin and body tissues. Aging in the human body often begins with fat oxidation.
Adequate dietary fiber intake helps to remove waste products from the body in a timely manner. Insoluble fiber can promote intestinal peristalsis and prevent constipation, and soluble fiber can be combined with fat and cholesterol to reduce the risk of hyperlipidemia and fatty liver.
Score questions 1, 6, and 7
It represents an adequate intake of calcium, which helps maintain a straight posture and prevent osteoporosis.
Questions 6 to 9 are scored
It indicates that adequate protein intake maintains the body's ability to repair and prevent hypomyopathy. As we age, the body's ability to synthesize declines and catabolism becomes dominant.
Muscles need good synthetic function to ensure, if malnutrition occurs at this time, it is easy to lead to sarcopenia, which is an important indication of aging and low metabolic levels in the body.
Score on question 10
Instructions pay attention to the quality of breakfast, three meals regular. This can help prevent gallstones, cholecystitis and other problems, and is also conducive to preventing a variety of gastrointestinal diseases and delaying gastrointestinal aging.
Score questions 11 and 12
It indicates that the diet quality is higher and the degree of food diversification is better. This is good for preventing aging caused by nutrient deficiencies, avoiding unhealthy foods made from relying on a small number of refined white starch and oils, and reducing the risk of obesity and diabetes.
Excessive blood glucose and blood lipid levels after a meal can accelerate the aging of body tissues.
Score questions 12 to 15
It shows that the total calorie control of food is well controlled, which helps to maintain a good figure. U.S. studies have found that exercise and weight control can counteract the adverse effects of menopause.
There are 3 "shifts" for human aging
In life, you may hear someone describe the rate of aging with "suddenly getting older". In fact, the study published in the journal Nature Medicine by the Alzheimer's Research Center at Stanford University in the United States shows that there are 3 shifts in human aging.
He is about 34 years old
Although young people are in the stage of old age and strength, the number of cells and cell water in the human body begin to decrease continuously, and about 34 years old is the first turning point of the body's aging.
Nervous system and musculoskeletal aging: After the age of 30, blood circulation in the brain slows down and blood flow decreases, affecting memory, coordination and brain function.
The body's muscle mass peaks at the age of 25 to 30, and then gradually decreases with age, affecting the body's metabolic rate, and around the age of 35, bone mass begins to lose.
Heart and lung aging: Starting at the age of 30, the ventricular walls and valves of the heart will gradually thicken, and the heart conduction system will begin to age. At the same time, lung capacity began to decline slowly.
About 60 years old
People are at the end of menopause and are facing a change in the state of life of retirement, resulting in an accelerated rate of aging.
Circulation, digestion and immune system are characteristic of aging at this age. Around the age of 60, the heart conduction system continues to age, which can easily lead to problems such as insufficient blood supply and compensation disorders.
Oral, esophageal, gastrointestinal function gradually declines, and the aging of the endocrine system is mainly reflected in the level of various hormones and the sensitivity of target organs to it.
About 78 years old
All functions of the human body have entered a stage of rapid aging:
Nervous system: memory loss, easy fatigue, sluggishness to the outside world.
Urinary system: renal arteriosclerosis, decreased renal blood flow, resulting in decreased renal function.
Respiratory system: problems such as respiratory muscle weakness and tracheal calcification occur, resulting in increased airway resistance, decreased lung ventilation and lung ventilation, and gradual decline in sputum discharge.
Circulatory system: thickening of the ventricular wall, hardening of peripheral arteries, more likely to cause organ ischemia.
Cognitive function: A 2018 study published at the annual meeting of the American Population Society showed that brain aging has a partial cognitive impairment period of about 4 years from age 73, followed by Alzheimer's disease or similar cognitive disorders within a year and a half to two years.
6 types of foods to help the body "reduce age"
Sometimes environmental factors, diet or diseases will promote the aging process, if you can pay attention to the details of the diet, you can delay aging.
Antioxidant-rich vegetables, fruits, bacteria and algae
Fresh vegetables and fruits are rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C, carotene, anthocyanins, lutein and other nutrients, which can increase the elasticity of blood vessels, thereby delaying aging and disease.
Bacteria and algae foods are rich in polysaccharides, which have a positive effect on controlling the three highs and preventing cancer, and eating them regularly can also remove the intestinal metabolic "garbage" in time.
Deep-sea fish
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have a positive effect on the prevention of cancer and coronary heart disease, protect vision, and are rich in this precious but easily oxidized fatty acid in deep-sea fish (tuna, bonito, mackerel, sardines, salmon, mackerel, etc.).
It should be reminded that dry frying, grilling, long-term stewing, salting and drying and other ways of eating fish will cause oxidative loss of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Multigrains and potatoes are staple foods
Multigrains are rich in flavonoids and are important nutrients for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, which are more conducive to controlling blood sugar, protecting the cardiovascular system, and preventing the three highs and cancer compared to the white noodles of polished rice.
Foods rich in dietary fiber
Insoluble fiber can promote intestinal peristalsis and prevent constipation, and soluble fiber can be combined with fat and cholesterol to reduce the risk of hyperlipidemia and fatty liver. The former is found in vegetables and whole grains, while the latter is abundant in seaweed, mushrooms and beans.
Dairy and soy products
The intake of mineral-rich foods such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium has a positive effect on the prevention of osteoporosis and calcium deficiency in the elderly.
Soy products are also rich in soy sterols, which are beneficial for the prevention and control of high blood lipids, high blood pressure and diabetes. Milk is also rich in calcium and is one of the preferred foods for calcium supplementation.
Meat is rich in protein, but should not be consumed too much
Insufficient protein intake of middle-aged and elderly people will cause muscle atrophy, osteoporosis and decreased visceral function and other aging symptoms, in addition to eggs, milk, soy products, aquatic products, livestock meat is the basic guarantee, but should not be too much intake, otherwise it will increase the burden of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys. ▲
Editor of this issue: Zhang Yu
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