“I take lots of antioxidants. That’s why I am still on the first of my nine lives.”
How far will you go to attain the elixir of youth? Victoria Beckham goes for regular bird poop facials, Gwyneth Paltrow uses synthetic snake venom cream that acts like a topical Botox and Angelina Jolie, together with her sons, gets fish pedicures!
These A-star celebrities definitely know how to keep themselves looking good, but for the common person who takes home an average income, we won’t have the power to splurge on these one-of-a-kind treatments.
How can we keep ourselves looking youthful without burning our pockets?
You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on an expensive face cream or facial, but rather, control what you put into your mouth. “You are what you eat”. The good and bad things you put into your body affect your well-being, and in turn, your physical appearance.
Foods rich in antioxidants help us maintain our youth. Antioxidants protect our skin from free radicals, also known as bad cells. These cells are missing an electron and they steal an electron from a healthy cell, making the healthy cell unstable and thus cause damage to our body. Increasing our intake of antioxidants helps to repair these damaged cells and restore our youthful glow.
Fruits and vegetables that are purple in colour or have a tinge of purple are believed to contain more antioxidants than others. How so? Purple coloured foods get their colour from polyphenols, a potent antioxidant. Examples of these foods include purple grapes, plums, blackberries, purple cabbage, purple flesh potato and eggplant.
These fruits and vegetables are also packed with high amounts of vitamin C, A and E. These are the essential ingredients to maintaining our youth as they help to repair our body cells. And that’s not all. They also help to protect against some cancers, keep the heart healthy and improve one’s memory.
Vitamin C is another powerful form of antioxidant as it prevents our cells from oxidising. For example, when I cut an apple and leave it outside for a while, the apple turns brown. But if I dip the apple into a bowl of orange juice that is high in vitamin C, the apple will remain white. The same thing happens to our cells, once our cells oxidise, they start to go bad.
An alternative to obtaining antioxidants apart from eating fruits and vegetables is by drinking green tea. Little wonder that the Japanese are able to look youthful despite their old age.
Loading up on these natural elixirs of youth given to us by Mother Nature not only helps us to stay young and healthy, but also saves us the need to empty our pockets!
Written by: Veronica Tay
Sources:
http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/photos/bizarre-hollywood-beauty-secrets-slideshow/
http://www.fitsugar.com/5-Foods-Rich-Antioxidants-11186509
http://www.nutralegacy.com/blog/general-healthcare/benefits-of-antioxidants-for-skin/
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/health-benefits-of-antioxidants/
http://www.bee-young.com/purple_food_anti_aging.htm
http://www.fitsugar.com/5-Foods-Rich-Antioxidants-11186509
http://www.nutralegacy.com/blog/general-healthcare/benefits-of-antioxidants-for-skin/
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/health-benefits-of-antioxidants/
http://www.bee-young.com/purple_food_anti_aging.htm
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