I have done extensive research on anti-aging over the years, for selfish reasons. If you want to be young and beautiful here are specific steps that can help in summary form.
- Caloric restriction – Scientific fact, if you reduce your calorie intake you will slow down the aging process. From fruit flies to primates science confirms this. See the research by Dr. Roy Walford. There are some real advantages of being a skinny girl or even a few pounds underweight. centurions are universally underweight. Your DNA will get cross linked if you eat too much. You will age. I question how much DNA can repair itself once damaged. Your cells do not have a calendar, rather they mark the passing of every hour by the rate of calories consumed. As long as you are not deficient in macro or micro nutrients and live a semi-active lifestyle this seems to be the key to longevity. If you want to stay young, slim and beautiful for your peers to admire and be jealous of, consume not in excess.
- Anti-oxidants – My favorite anti-aging supplements are nothing exotic (because of the cost effectiveness), rather, grape (reversital, proanthodyn grape seed extract) and blueberry extracts ( not only flavonoids, polyphenols but increases glucose tolerance), but all antioxidants are good.
- Quality multivitamins including trace elements like chromium (again excess blood glucose is almost synonymous with accelerated aging, diabetics for example experience faster degeneration).
- Exercise helps – But do not get crazy and damage your joints like I did. Do things like yoga and swimming and walking. Excess of anything is an imbalance.
- Get married and stay married – Divorce or a least being single shortens life expectancy. Also have physical relations often (within the context of marriage), it seems to be natures way of keeping the juices flowing. I know it is hard, but try to do it a few times a week or day. It is a hard task, but I know you are up to it. Really, science confirms this.
- External influences – Avoid smoking and pollution. I lived in Krakow the most polluted city in Europe and it aged me. I moved there with a baby face and now look a little older than my age. Staying in traffic even does that. Move to a clean place. Use water filters and air filters if you can afford it if you do not. Sun exposure only ages the skin, not your whole organism. But if you want to look good, avoid the sun.
- Get pregnant stay relaxed hormones – Stay relaxed and easy as stress and negative emotions bring on profound hormonal changes like the release of cortisone that can create imbalances and accelerated aging. On the other hand, with all the stress on the body, pregnancy somehow seems protect females. Women if you desire to live long and stay beautiful, get pregnant, a lot. It is better than any Hollywood plastic surgeon. My mother smoked heavy for 65 years, but after five kids she is in her 80s and still fine, God bless her.
- Be as natural as possible – Use natural conditioners and facial creams and not too many chemicals around the house or perfume and deodorants that have things you do not know. Read my lips, read the ingredients. What is wrong with trying some things or shopping at a health food store? I make my own creams for a fraction of the price. You can mix coconut oil which mixes with most substances. Remember all the there is an anti-aging is an industry. Do not get ed up into the expensive fancy marketing of it. Be cheap and simple and eat less, but quality natural foods.
- Future of anti-aging – Telomerase reactivation and adult stem cell repair. Harvard University seems to lead the charge with this type of anti-aging research but it will be the future.
- Living forever – Not a chance, we all have to shed our moral coil. Even the Universe is expanding in entropy towards a cold energy less state. Then time will stop. One second will be the same as billion years. Vampire fantasies are popular, as these are sensual creatures who are immortal. Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest written story on the planet. About a king who would use all his power to stay young, where is he now? Think about all the Ancient Romans ad Greeks who lived in natural air and with a natural diet. They are all gone. Ponce de Leon when I spoke to him last five centuries ago, did not found an effective way to slow down aging and live longer (he died at the hands of Native Americans). My point is use my tips to improve the quality of your life not to get neurotic about.
- Solution for biological entropy – I do not want to preach or freak you out here but. Take a look around you and be aware, does not the world seem surreal if you start to penetrate the depths of reality? Ask yourself what is the meaning of life. Are we not all connected? There is a reason we are here on this earth. Our temporary existence here is only an airport where we have to change planes on our journey to a greater reality. Do you want to stay forever in a crowded chaotic airport forever?
What to eat (less)?
I advise you to do you own research. I think generally, food that is high in water content and bulky like vegetables, fish or beans are good for a high quality/low-calorie regime. You do not need to go hungry, just eat a lot of vegetables and calorie restriction will kick in naturally. Basically if you can train your metabolism to survive on about 1/3 less than conventional wisdom tells you to eat you can increase your lifespan (feel better longer) by 50%. CR to reduce atherosclerosis risk factors, improves memory, immune system and basically resets your genetic clock.
Try a ‘salmon and salad diet’, take a good multivitamin and antioxidants (I drink blueberry smoothies) and enjoy your life and do not think in terms of caloric restriction (basically anything a polar bear would eat). This will extend life based on the glycation theory and reduction of free radicals (blueberries and resveratrol activates Sir2/SIRT1 ).
In summary calorie restriction (knows as CR) is the key to being slim and beautiful and feeling healthy longer. Follow caloric restriction and your temporal length of existence will be protracted. If you want data to back it up research, the CRON-diet or the Okinawa diet, some more work by and Clive McCay and Mary Crowell from Cornell University. Also as mentioned anything by Dr. Roy Walford and Weindruch for example, their book, The Retardation of Aging and Disease by Dietary Restriction or The book 120 Diet. Or any research paper on caloric restriction by a rejected university, the conclusions will all be the same. If you like historical more read about two Renaissance Florentine Italian scientist that tried the cron diet on themselves and lived to be over 100 years old, and that was back in the 16th century.
One admonition, if you have a tendency towards eating disorders do not try this until you are over it or working with a nutritionist, I am not promoting anorexia here nor malnutrition, which is something that can shorten maximum lifespan. It is not an expostulation, for I like it when girls are thin, just use your common sense.
If you would like to know more about staying young and beautiful forever and caloric restriction, just ask, I am kind of an expert on these things and my wife worked in a lab for a decade and went to a medical school in Europe. I an encyclopedia knowledge on the subject of youth and attraction. I will give you clear, crisp no-nonsense answers because I am offering you only he truth.
The problem is as soon as you start thinking in terms of restricting yourself, you start to obsessing about food.
I am thin girl naturally because my frame is tall and ectomorph. People say I could be a model. However, I love to eat. So I try not to consciously restrict or deny myself of any pleasures in life and although I might not live as long, I will be happy.
I do not practice calorie restriction diet myself. I mean since I moved back to the USA I gained 15 lbs. I think it is the meat here has corpulent producing hormones. I do think that if you basically have a vegetarian diet, maybe a little meat, you will have a calorie restriction diet naturally. Think about it you can eat all the salad you want until you are blue in the face and never gain an OZ.
I am hoping the antioxidants I take will mitigate some of this weight gain regarding adverse health effects until I get it under control. My back certainly hurts more.
I am six feet tall and 195 lbs. People say I look great and like a man, with some meat on me. I think I should be like 160 lbs at most to be healthy, 155 lbs would be ideal for longevity. So although I am the author of the article, it does not mean I am a saint. I like to eat and enjoy my life too much. I have to get into shape.
My soul will be beautiful forever, and I dont care less about being slim and beautiful forever.
As long as Ihave lived a good life in front of God’s eyes, thats all that matters in the end of this life on Earth.
That picture of your sister is amazing. She looks 30. How much calorie restriction? Supposedly, people are supposed to eat 2,000 calories a day, but I rarely go over 1,500 or 1,600. Is that too much?
That picture does not do her justice even, if I can get a close up of her face again, she has zero wrinkles and she has had a few kids but her body retains the same shape she always has. Now she does not practice calorie restriction, she just never was an eater. I can ask her more about her level of intake.
As long as I knew her she did not eat much. She is a funny girl. She just got graduate degree in Math from Columbia and is a classical pianist by hobby and speaks French perfectly fluently. She is a good example of someone who focused on mental development and friendships over just eating junk food. I do not know if she ever had a TV and for many years never owned a car. I mean she is a smart girl and travels around the world as she works for a European (German based) Telecommunications company using her mathematics background, but she like me, prefers to drive only if she has to. Her and I ride bikes everywhere (I look more my age. I moved to Europe with a baby face, but after about 10 years in a city that as the air pollution level four times that of LA, it normalized me back to my chronological age).
Basically she eats salads and seafood and things like that. Maybe some Ice cream now and then but for some reason she was not an eater.
I do know she does not eat junk, just high quality. I personally do not count calories, but I think I read the average American is about 2,700 to 3,200 per day, while people in Africa or India or even Europe is like under 2,000. I think she is like 1,500 at most. I think I now eat like 1,700 and I like to eat. I just eat a lot of vegetable and soups. My wife love-making beet soup, you know borscht (Its Russian). It has no calories and you can eat or drink it all day.
I think a rule of thumb is you need 10 calories per pound of body weight to maintain. So me at 190 lbs needs about 1,900 calories a day as long as the food is high quality and I get macro nutrients of essential corpulent and proteins and micro nutrients (basically a good vitamins supplement program can cover you on most the corpulent and micronutrients and you just eat some protein and things that taste good.
If you are nursing or pregnant it does not apply. Daria, has a few kids and got huge, but lost it fast via running after her pregnancies were over. She was really like a balloon and had big kids.
So if you like ladyen soup, salads, borscht, garlic bread and vegetable and fish you can pack yourself until you can not eat any more, and still look great.
Sadly being skinny is about your genetics more than anything else. Some people just stay the same size regardless of what they eat or with little effort put into it. Luckily I’m one of them, I could eat non stop for a week and gain a half a pound, mostly because of low blood sugar. Which I am very thankful for. I do walk quite a lot but it is way to little to burn all those calories.
If you have a tendency to be overweight life might get hard as you get older. I don’t know what it is like but I can only imagine how difficult it is to stay on a diet for many years, especially for a woman. There are times when a salad won’t do and you just have to have fried sausage (if you are Polish ;)) or a piece of shwarzwald cake and there is no stopping you. There are some pills that can help, I believe taking zinc keeps you from wanting to eat sweets, but it wasn’t very effective on me.
How to stay in shape when visiting America?
Moving or traveling to America is a different story. If you are an European no matter how hard you try you will always gain some weight because of the hormones. Unless you become a vegeterian of course. You are also more likely to drink sodas or sweet tea, which tastes like liquid sugar to an average non-American. Be careful with the sodas, you will get hooked sooner than you think!
Here are some ways of staying skinny in America that I have tested:
– Drinking a lot of non-carbonated water. Obvious for everyone, but it is very important. It will also help you get rid of some toxins that you take in with American food.
– Smoking. I do not recommend this one. It does have some effect but it’s still not worth it.
– Stuffing yourself with lettuce, tomatoes or watermelon whenever you can. Those things cannot make you corpulent. When you eat lunch at a buffet always begin with some water and a few bites of something low-calorie. I like bell peppers if it is a pizza place, if it’s a Chinese restaurant it’s usually some fruit, and lettuce if it’s Italian food. Choose something that you like and that goes with your main course.
– Always have an apple with you in case if you get hungry, so that you won’t feel the urge to stop at a nearest McDonald’s for a big and tasty. I even bought a cute apple case especially for this purpose.
– Taking fiber. Not as good as getting your fiber in a natural old-fashioned way but not a bad idea either.
Great article, CR is great for you and will actually lead to an increased sense of well-being and an increase in energy.
I have been doing this for a while now and it has helped me acquire a body fit for athletic modeling (my job in college).
Another approach to this is intermittant fasting (google for more information).
Author- I am on a couple progressive bodybuilding sites that focus on the science of nutrition. There have been a couple of new studies that actually show anti-oxidants aren’t as good for you as people hype them up to be; actually, they may be harmful or even toxic.
I could email you the link to said studies if you would like.
Other than that, great read. -Chance
Antioxidants are good generally. I think something like resveratrol is pretty well establish to extend maximum lifespan. I think CR is the most powerful thing you can do. All health books and fads aside, eat less as long as you get what your body needs your aging process slows down or reverses. Beyond that it does not matter too much what you eat and what you do.
It’s physics, calories in, calories burned, then out-put.
I have been a little chubby for years and I like to tell myself that it’s genetics but that’s not true, when you measure how many calories you eat it’s simple physics.
Eat over your Base Metabolic rate and it will get stored as corpulent unless you burn it off. Period.
Caloric restriction works, but it doesn’t feel good. Intermittant fasting, something practiced in many cultures and religions, also works.
The brain consumes the most amount of calories so if you think a lot, read, learn new things your body will naturally burn more calories. Add to that walking an hour a day and moderateE exercise, but as they say “You cannot out-train a bad diet” – I have friends who are Vegan and eat all natural but guess what, they are corpulent. Why?
They eat between 2500 – 3000 calories a day and snack emotionally to feel good. It is natural and there is no blame, but if you want to be healthier and a little lighter you have to eat less.
There is a just right size for anyone, being too small just for style or fashion is stupid, so is being too large. Being just right is balance. Seek Balance.
Thank you for this nice article
You are right it is more a math equation than anything else. The less you eat the thinner you will be and the longer you will live in general. People, blame genetics after they destroy their bodies with packing food. Even me since I moved to the USA after ten years in Europe I gained weight from driving instead of walking and eating more processed American food. More calories in than burned off.
I have a little gut. I am not blaming my genetics. I eat too much and sit in front of the computer and work.
To lose this it takes mental stamina and honesty to be aware of the mathematical equation of weight loss and then follow though with it. It does not take changing my parents in most cases.
You just need to look at Christine Brinkley to know calorie restriction works, she consumes 900 calories a day.
Your sister looks amazing. I have traveled in Asia and Eastern Europe and I’m amazed how hard it is to tell if a woman is 35, 45 or sometimes 55 years old! Here in northern Europe most women loose their shape and femininity after 35 at latest. Men in their forties are often handsome but their wives look overweight and depressed and I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to stay attractive for my husband and I turn 30 this year. Is calorie restriction the answer?
I think it is a whole lifestyle. Calorie restriction is not something that should be consciously practiced. Rather just eating healthy will restrict your calories because of the water weight in food. So if you are eating a lot of salad and fruit in your diet this will by default give you less calories a day. Some fish and ladyen.
Also if you are in a northern place understand your genetics are not great when it comes to skin aging so you have to protect your fairer skin from the sun. But also the Ozone. The Ozone is thinner up north and basically the radiation will fry delicate skin. My sister has the genetics of a Northern European but has lived in southern California while always wearing sun glasses and a hat.
In fact Monks that rarely get sun exposure have skin that has almost no UV damage.
So if you want to look good forever:
Protect your face from the sun/ozone (thinner up North).
Eat less and higher quality
Take resveratrol – which slows down aging
Take vitamins
Use good skin cream
But I think radiation from the Ozone and sun is the most important combined with a good diet and keeping free radical activity under control with supplements or at least a good diet and reduced exposure from toxic things like cleaning supplies, pollution and common sense workplace things like to not have your cube near the copier or near huge electrical lines etc. European people where I am in Florida that do not lay on the beach in their 80s really have no wrinkles. The air is fresh and being closer to the equator, if you stay out of the sun, it seems the wrinkles do not accumulate as fast.
Lets be honest aging is really about facial beauty.