Your mum probably used to tell you off for snacking between meals but not only is the odd snack here and there beneficial for weight loss and your general wellbeing, it can also help your anti-ageing wellness. It’s healthier to eat little and often, rather than three big meals a day, as it allows a steadier stream of nutrients, blood sugar, and energy to your body throughout the day, which is less taxing on your digestive and metabolic systems. So, which foods should you be snacking on to live for longer?
1. Nuts and Seeds: If you help yourself to a handful of nuts and seeds every day, it can help to improve your circulation and muscle tone. The key player in nuts and seeds is arginine; an amino acid that can fight off heart disease, impotence, infertility, and high blood pressure, while giving the healing process in your body a helping hand.
2. Apples: According to recent research, eating five or more apples a day gives you healthier lungs than those who eat no apples at all. Plus, as apples are rich in pectin, eating a few every day can reduce your cholesterol levels and prevent colon cancer.
3. Berries: Whether you go for red, purple or blue berries, they are bursting with antioxidants which can help fight the ageing damage of free radicals. However, as the bioflavonoids (antioxidant compounds) are in the skin, make sure you eat the whole fruit! For the best berry, you can’t go wrong with blueberries, as these protect your brain against memory loss, Alzheimer’s, and senility.
4. Avocado: There are many antioxidant nutrients, but glutathione is known as the “master antioxidant.” As well as being found in asparagus, walnuts, and fish, glutathione is found in abundance in avocados and can help to regulate your immune cells, protect you against cancer, and assist in detoxifying your body. In fact, a deficiency in glutathione has been linked to diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, low sperm count, and premature ageing.
5. Apricots: In the Hunza valley of the Himalayas, people are famous for living long and their secret? Apricots. According to evidence, these fruits beat all the others for carotenoid content and variety, and this can help to protect you against heart disease, cholesterol, and cancer.