Hey, guys.
Dr. Josh Axe here.
Welcome to "Ancient Medicine Today."
I'm going to be going over the top 10 superfoods that support anti-aging.
If you want to look younger, feel younger, if you want to have healthier skin, thicker
skin, hair, and nails, then I'm going to be going over, again, the top foods and herbs.
They're going to help you do just that.
And I'll tell you I notice a lot of people who start to age faster than they should.
Now a lot of that's emotional stress.
Some of it is due to not getting the right type of foods in your diet.
Have you ever seen anybody who was in their 60s but you could swear they were 20 years
younger and vice versa someone who are in their 40s that looks 60?
There are reasons for that.
A lot of it has to do with diet toxicity, the things you're eating on a daily basis.
And hey, help me spread the word.
Today's episode I'm going to be talking about how to use food as medicine for anti-aging.
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All right, I'm going to dive right in and start talking about these top 10 foods.
Number one are figs.
Now figs are incredible.
And figs in Greece and in Israel we're known to be an anti-aging food.
Now figs, specifically, you can see this reddish color in there.
Those are flavonoids and different types of antioxidants.
And the largest amount of antioxidants that are found in figs are actually on the skin,
okay?
On the skin area, figs are incredible for their health.
Even those little seeds you'll see in there are full of omega-3 fats.
But the biggest benefit of figs is that they contain a proteolytic enzyme called ficin.
And ficin actually reduces inflammation throughout the body and supports anti-aging.
It's good for so many things but it's loaded with antioxidants, some omegas in the seeds,
and also these proteolytic enzymes.
So figs, when you can get them fresh or dried, one of the best anti-aging foods out there
today.
And I'll mention, as well, another great fruit to go with figs to be pomegranates.
Pomegranates contain similar antioxidants and flavonoids which help with that anti-aging
process.
So again, get figs in your diet to support anti-aging.
The next thing in here is collagen protein.
You can take a collagen protein supplement or a bone broth collagen protein supplement
on a daily basis add a scoop to a smoothie and the benefits are tremendous.
We know when your skin starts to sag, it's because your body isn't producing as much
collagen.
As you age your body produces less collagen over time.
And remember this, collagen is the glue that holds your body together.
It's the glue.
It's that adhesive that tones and tightened your skin.
When your body produces less collagen and when you get less collagen in your diet, it's
what will start to cause premature wrinkles and sagging.
If you're getting sagging in different areas of your body, collagen can help that.
Collagen help support firmness and tonus in the body, and that's why two of my favorite
protein powders are a bone broth powdered protein and a collagen protein on a regular
basis.
So again, make sure you're getting plenty of straight collagen in your diet every single
day.
And you'll notice this in anti-aging creams.
Many of them contain collagen.
Some of them contain hyaluronic acid but they contain compounds that help tone, tighten,
and firm the skin.
You got to get collagen at least one to two servings in your diet every single day to
support anti-aging benefits.
Number three superfood is chaga.
Chaga is the prized medicinal mushroom from China.
Now there are many beneficial medicinal mushrooms.
Reishi would be the other one I would put on this list.
Now reishi is prized in Chinese medicine as being the mushroom of immortality.
It extends the life.
It does that because Reishi and chaga actually helped in working as adaptogen.
So they helped reduce stress on the body.
Also another key factor you'll find with a few of these is they actually support stem
cell production.
Another really advanced treatment people are using for anti-aging is getting stem cell
or PRP.
That's platelet-rich plasma done on the skin as a holistic treatment.
But listen, internally, chaga and reishi help your body produce more healthy amount of stem
cells.
They help reduce stress on the body.
So what I would recommend is drinking a chaga tea daily or supplementing with reishi mushrooms
but doing one of those or both in combination or alternating, an absolute must for anti-aging.
And also chaga actually helps support your body's own collagen production.
So not only can you get collagen in your diet, your body can produce more collagen with chaga
and with reishi mushroom.
Number four here, wild-caught salmon.
Salmon is loaded with fat soluble antioxidants that help protect the body from aging.
In fact, the antioxidant found in salmon, you'll see if you find that bright, like sockeye,
salmon or king salmon has this bright reddish orangish color, those antioxidants are called
astaxanthin.
They're actually really strong what are called carotenoids.
So they're fat soluble antioxidants that specifically help reduce aging in the body.
And remember this, you need both water soluble antioxidants and fat soluble.
You know a water soluble antioxidant would be something like a vitamin C or flavonoids
that are found in fruits.
Fat soluble antioxidants are going to be things like astaxanthin, is going to be a big one
or turmerone found in turmeric oil or different essential oils are going to have more of those
fat soluble antioxidants, like cinnamon is another good example of one.
But salmon contains astaxanthin, amazing producing aging.
And then the other big one is salmon is really high in the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
And I can tell you, the EPA and DHA are incredible for reducing inflammation in the body but
also for hydrating the skin.
Remember this, your cells are made up of mostly fat.
You've got to have healthy fats in your diet and omega-3 fats are the most fats, in terms
of clinical studies that have been shown, to increase lifespan and fight disease.
So get more of those omega-3s in your diet on a daily basis.
Now number five here are berries.
My favorite being blueberries.
I'd also throw raspberries up there.
Raspberries contain ellagic acid which has been shown to actually fight skin cancer and
help your body look more young.
And blueberries contain bioflavonoids and resveratrol.
The same antioxidant found in grape skins are also found in the skin of blueberries.
Blueberry's one of the ultimate superfoods because remember this, if you want to age
slower you need more collagen, you need more antioxidants, you need to reduce inflammation,
you need more stem cells.
Those are some of the key factors your body needs in aging slower.
Berries, one of the kings of antioxidants in terms of an overall fruit.
And let me mention this, wild and organic blueberries tend to have three times the antioxidants
as conventional blueberries.
So again when you're buying blueberries or buying fruit, going organic is actually definitely
worth the price of it as triple the amount of antioxidants in certain circumstances.
So again berries but especially blueberries followed by raspberries.
Blackberries are actually really great too in terms of their antioxidant content.
They can really slow the aging process.
You know one of the recipes I love to do every morning, I'll tell you even what I had for
breakfast this morning.
I had one cup of blueberries.
I had one scoop of bone broth powdered protein I put in a smoothie.
I also put in a scoop of collagen.
I did a little bit coconut milk, some cinnamon but I was getting all of these things in a
single smoothie.
So again berries are great.
Number six here is turmeric.
And turmeric actually contains two compounds, curcumin and turmerone.
Now curcumin is the one that is getting so much press today.
So curcumin is one of the top selling supplements in the world today.
And curcumin helps reduce inflammation in the body.
So that's a big benefit of turmeric.
Did you know though that turmeric essential oil or . . . turmeric has both but you can
also buy turmeric essential oil that actually has a compound called turmerone, as this turmeric,
and that's been shown to increase stem cells in the body and actually protect your body.
So whereas curcumin is a really strong anti-inflammatory, it also fights cancer--that's curcumin.
Turmerone helps more with tissue regeneration and with your body producing its own stem
cells--incredible.
So again when you're doing turmeric powder you're getting the best of both worlds.
Also turmeric oil is going to have more turmerone, but in general add turmeric to a burger meat,
add it to a taco mix, add it to some hummus.
Get more turmeric in your diet.
You can also get it in supplement form but again turmeric, one of the ultimate anti-aging
foods because of curcumin and turmerone.
Number seven here is bone broth.
I love doing bone broth.
In fact today for lunch, I'm going to be doing a turkey bone broth that I made at home in
my slow cooker at home.
I mean for breakfast I actually did two scoops of a chocolate bone broth powdered protein
that I had this morning.
So doing bone broth and powder form incredible as well.
But either way, here's all the benefits of bone broth for anti-aging looking younger.
Number one, it is your number one source of collagen.
And I want to mention this that there are many different types of collagen.
There's collagen Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 5, and Type 10.
The most important types of collagen for anti-aging are Type 1 and 3, all followed by Type 2,
Type 5, and type 10.
When you're buying a collagen or a collagen supplement, you want to look for one ideally
that comes from bone broth and that contains multiple times of collagen.
So Type 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10.
You want to get a collagen that has all of those but the same thing goes with bone broth.
Bone broth has multiple types of collagen which helps with the skin.
Also, bone broth contains hyaluronic acid and today there are anti-aging clinics that
actually go and inject hyaluronic acid into the skin to actually help people look younger.
They're even doing this in joints.
They're doing it knees that are arthritic.
Hyaluronic acid has so many benefits.
The number one food source in the world of hyaluronic acid is bone broth.
So again it's great whether you make it yourself at home, or order it, or take it in a powder
form, whether it's liquid or powder, bone broth has incredible benefits because of all
the collagen, all the hyaluronic acid, not to mention all of the other benefits from
having glucosamine, chondroitin, and a whole lot of other nutrients, and actually even
potassium which is great for toning and firming the body.
Number eight here is the adaptogenic powder, maca.
Now maca root is actually known, especially in certain areas of Asia, and in fact it's
typically stands for or is called the strength of the stallions.
So this is used as a libido booster over the years.
Also, maca is known to naturally increase your energy levels, but maca because it helps
work as an adaptogen which, again, helps lower those cortisol levels, helps reduce stress
on the body, is really powerful.
And I'll say this maca works great as a powder or a food because remember, I'm talking about
foods today.
Maca is typically used as a food.
I do want to mention though a couple herbs that are probably just as beneficial or more
than maca.
Now these are known more as pure herbs but ashwagandha is probably even higher up on
that list for anti-aging as are holy basil and rhodiola.
So those herbs are very powerful but maca is pretty powerful as well.
And maca is typically added to smoothies in powder form.
So again, get some maca in your diet to age slower.
Number nine, avocados.
The thing I love about avocados is, again remember, if you want to age slower, you need
to hydrate your skin, you need to get more fats, you need more antioxidants, you need
more collagen, and you need your body to produce more stem cells.
Those are the things your body needs to age slower.
Avocados, great source of healthy fat.
Also great source of minerals like magnesium and potassium.
Magnesium and potassium actually help your body with your fluid ratios.
Most of us today get way too much sodium in our diet.
When you get too much sodium that'll cause your body to hold excess fluid which can also
be inflammatory versus if your body can have the right amount of fluid in your cells, it
actually will cause you to look leaner and have more tight and toned skin.
Avocados, because of their high levels of potassium and magnesium which helps with muscle
tone, absolutely help do that.
So an avocado a day will keep the dermatologist away.
Remember that saying, all right?
So avocados, great for your skin, great for your cellular health.
One of the truly great anti-aging foods.
And number 10 here, this one might surprise you, animal fats.
Okay.
Now I'm not saying that you want to get a very large amount of animal fats in your diet,
but some animal fats, if it's from grass-fed organically raised animals.
Because remember this difference if a cow is eating grains, a lot of grains or GMO corn
or soy for instance, their fat tissue is full of more omega-6 fats and other different types
of fats so it changes their body.
So those fats, more omega-6s and others, those are going to become really inflammatory to
the body, okay?
So very inflammatory.
If a cow eats grasses, it has more CLA, more healthy saturated fats, more omega-3s, so
that's the important thing to remember is, you are what you eat, what they ate.
If cows are eating grasses and greens and things like that, they're healthy.
If they're eating a lot of grains or GMO, they're not healthy.
But that goes for animal fat.
If you have a healthy, healthy animal fats that come from grass-fed animals, they're
very high in the right types of saturated fat.
And here's how this can help you age slower.
A lot of you today are using oils on your skin that are plant-based.
Those plant-based oils don't necessarily match the exact same types of fats or oils that
are found in your skin.
Did you know that animal fats, if we're talking about chicken fat specifically or tallow,
a clean tallow, which is beef fat, if we're talking about chicken or beef fat, those oils
have the exact same type of membrane, the exact same type of fat ratios that your own
skin and body have?
Did you know that our ancient ancestors would have rarely used plant-based oils for moisturizers?
Now, yes they may have used some olive oil, so they may have used them some, but if you
look at the Indian tribes, for instance if you go to certain of the areas of the country
or look at our ancestors, they actually would use tallow and schmaltz or chicken fat.
They would actually use that to hydrate their skin.
They would mix those with essential oils and other things.
So actually animal fats are the ultimate body moisturizers.
If you really want to hydrate your skin perfectly with the exactly . . . really with the thing
that gives your skin the exact hydration it needs, you get those from animal fats.
So again, the place that I love to get animal fats is through bone broth.
If you're making bone broth that fat that settles at the top, that fat, if it's from
an organic animal, can be very, very healthy.
And again, I'm not saying you need a lot of this fat, but a small amount of animal fats
in your diet, from grass-fed animals, can actually give your body great health whether
you take them internally or even get some of that oil, a healthy clean tallow or schmaltz,
and rub it on your body topically as a natural moisturizer.
Now I know, I'm probably getting comments and that's surprising some of you, but I'm
telling you, it's the exact same fatty acid ratio that you have in your body, in your
skin that you're going to get from some of those animals.
And so guys these are the top anti-aging foods.
What I would encourage you to do this week is take this list, write it down right now
or type it out, and really focus on getting these foods in your diet.
You know maybe the first thing you change is your breakfast smoothie.
So I get it for breakfast.
What I would recommend is a scoop of bone broth powder, of a protein bone broth, maybe
a scoop of maca, a cup of berries, and you can do a little collagen protein in there
too.
But start making this healing smoothie for lunch.
Start doing a big superfood salad with salmon and avocado on it.
Get some more herbs in your diet like turmeric.
Do a chaga or a reishi tea for breakfast.
Implement these things into your diet this week.
I know it's going to help you get healthier and look and feel younger.
And if you want to learn more about these principles of anti-aging, also feel free to
check out my website.
Do a google search for Dr. Axe anti-aging foods.
I have a whole article on this that goes in-depth as well.
I want to hey, thanks so much guys for watching remember.
I'm here every Monday through Friday 10:30 a.m., Central Standard Time.
Have a great week, guys.
I'll see you tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
Hi.
Dr. Axe here.
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