Health and Fitness: What Foods Fight Ageing?

Live a long and healthy life is a goal that most people want to achieve. What are some ways that you can achieve that? Fortunately, it is possible by eating certain foods. In this blog, I will be informing you some the best foods that can prevent you from ageing and help you live longer. 

According to Central Intelligence Agency, the top three countries in the world with the highest life expectancies are Monaco, Japan, and Singapore. What do they eat that made them live so long? "There are certain foods that are more nutritious than others, and many that, as research has shown, have a protective effect against a range of diseases," according to Medical News Today.

1. Soybeans
Soybeans have been a staple food for the Chinese and Japanese culture for generations. Tofu, a super delicious food, is made from soybeans. Japanese people eat a lot of tofu, like tofu with miso soup or Japanese egg tofu. You may be wondering, what makes soybeans healthy? Soybeans contain a rich amount of isoflavones, a type of phytoestrogen that has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and antimicrobial properties. "Thus, they can help to regulate the inflammatory response of the body, slow down cellular ageing, fight microbes, as well as, reportedly, protect against certain types of cancer," according to Medical News Today.

2. Carrots
One of my favourite vegetables, carrots, also made the list. Carrots contain beta-carotene, the pigment that makes carrots orange. Our bodies convert beta-carotene into vitamin A. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), vitamin A "is involved in immune function, vision, reproduction, and cellular communication." Our bodies cannot produce vitamin A, so we must acquire it from our diet. Just like phytoestrogen, beta-carotene is an antioxidant so it can protect the cells in our bodies from ageing.

3. Citrus Fruits
If you don't know what citrus fruits are, they are fruits like citrons, lemons, limes, oranges, mandarins, and grapefruits. Citrus fruits are famous for their abundant amount of vitamin C, which, like the other two foods, have antioxidant properties. Vitamin C also reduces inflammatory damage, and fend off infections, which are connected to helping you live longer.

According to Medical News Today, "citrus fruits contain even more organic compounds — such as flavonoids, coumarins, and carotenoids — that have been said to have protective effects against cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases." Research has shown that flavonoids can "prevent or delay chronic diseases caused by obesity." The Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, known to have one of the longest-living populations of the world, regularly eats shikuwasa, a citrus fruit typical of the region, which contains more flavonoids than most other citrus fruits.
Fun fact: The only places in the world that have skikuwasa is Okinawa and Taiwan.

There is no food that can make you immortal, but you can try to live longer by following a healthy diet and exercising regularly. I hope this blog has helped you understand or at least gave you an idea of the foods that can help fight ageing. Good luck!