The ageing process has been criticised for many years, with society placing a huge amount of importance on staying youthful well into retirement. But recent studies suggest that your diet could indicate how you’ll age, with the Western diet potentially making it difficult to grow old gracefully. The inclusion of fats, carbohydrates and sugar all have a detrimental effect on your skin which accelerate the ageing process. The study consisted of gathering data from 3775 men and 1575 women from 1985 to 2009, in which researchers looked at the dietary factors to determine how healthily people age.
Scientists found that those who stuck with the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, or AHEI, were more likely to live for longer and be healthier throughout. This way of eating was originally developed to help reduce the impact of chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular complications. It consists of eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as rich sources of fish. It was noted that those who followed this form of diet not only had fewer cases of cardiovascular issues, but were also in better shape physically and mentally by middle age.
The Western diet is generally loaded with fried foods, fizzy drinks and sugary snacks. These processed foods have a negative impact on the skin, as they reduce the elasticity in the skin’s walls. It not only increases the ageing process but it also has a detrimental effect on your health, too. A diet packed with fats and sugars increases the chances of one developing heart problems, obesity, diabetes and joint complications. In order to lower the risk of this, you should attempt to increase the amount of exercise you do each week, as well as drinking plenty of water, and loading your diet with lean protein, fruit and vegetables. These will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy, as well as antioxidants to reduce ageing.