Dr. Greger's Anti-Aging 8!

 

Holistic Habits by Cheryl A. Mothes, Ph.D. Natural Health Nutrition Counselor

Content is a daily radio script from my KHIS radio spot - tune in at 6:15 (CST) every morning to Justin and Meredith’s morning show on 89.9 FM.

 Each week, we'll share a recipe and a recommendation for your nutrition education. Here's a great "Cauliflower Scramble and Mexican Sweet Potato and Pepper Hash" recipe. 

And if you haven't seen this incredible series on a group of identical twins who change their diets and lifestyles for eight weeks to explore how foods impact the body in more ways than physical, it's excellent. You won't believe what you'll learn about our food sources, also. The title of the documentary is “We Are What We Eat.” 

The new year is still NEW and a perfect time to "reboot" your health goals and get started on them! Dr. Greger, whose superpower is reading, analyzing, validating, and simplifying health and nutrition studies, wrote "How Not to Die," "How Not to Diet," and recently released, "How Not to Age," which is all about living longer and living stronger. This week we'll share the years and years of research findings to not age, and you guessed it, Meatless Monday and Meatless Everyday are a big part of it. Have a great day everyone, and if you haven't read his first two books, they are epic! 

It's Transitional Tuesday, and how about rebooting your nutrition in this new year with the 8 things that help you age best? The staples of a healthy diet are vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. The more you eat of them, and the less of all other foods like meat, dairy, and junk food, the healthier you'll be. Few foods are shown to help more than nuts! Yes, they reduce the risk of death more than any other food, but we tend to eat them the wrong way - salted, roasted, and in too large a quantity. Raw, unsalted servings of 6 pecan or walnut halves and 12 almonds are the perfect amount. If we eat more than that, the calories and fat are too high, which can lead to health issues associated with the resulting weight gain. Be a health nut and eat very few every day, and here's a hack - if they are unsalted, you won't be as tempted to overeat them :) 

Yesterday we talked about the power of nuts in helping us live longer and live stronger, but which ones are healthiest? Walnuts. They have the highest antioxidants and omega 3's, and they are the only nut shown to improve artery function. Here's the big news - in a recent study, those eating walnuts cut their risk of dying from cancer by 50%! Remember to eat them raw, not cooked in muffins or toasted, and to eat only 6 walnut halves a day - on your greens is a great way to be a health nut! Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone! 

The compilation of thousands of studies shows there are "anti-aging 8" things that will slow your aging and improve your health in Dr. Greger's book, "How Not to Age." We already discussed nuts as number one, and vegetables overall are number two, but GREENS are as good as nuts if singled out, so they tie for number one! Eating greens every day can lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and some vision issues boost our immunity, and protect us from pollutants. Greens are magic for our gut microbiome and significantly boost detoxing in our liver. Nitrates are key in improving the efficiency of our DNA, boosting athletic performance, and combating muscle aging, and artery aging. Eight of the top 10 nitrate-rich foods are greens! Plantify your plates with arugula, cilantro, butter-leaf lettuce, spring greens, basil, and Swiss chard to live longer and live stronger! 

More today on the "anti-aging 8," and we started with walnuts then greens like arugula, broccoli, and butter-leaf lettuce. No surprise that today the focus is on berries. Not all fruits and vegetables are equal, just like greens are the superheroes of the veggie world, berries are the superheroes of the fruit universe! Those who eat a high number of berries live longer, healthier lives - they are filled with antioxidants. Berries should be our number one fruit, but they are not - apples, with only 60 units of antioxidant power, and bananas, with only 40 units, are the most common. Blackberries have an incredible 680 units, cranberries have 490, raspberries, have 430, blueberries, have 380, and strawberries have 310 - all WAY more than apples and bananas. Stay tuned next week to hear more of the anti-aging 8 and have a fantastic Friday everyone!