“No food style will stop the aging process, however a well-managed and adapted diet is one of the essential tools to help us to aging well “, Immediately announces Florence Piquet, dietician-nutritionist. Balanced and of quality, our plate can slow down the harmful effects of time, just as it can accelerate it if it is poor in nutrients and other protective molecules. According to the specialist, the impact of diet on aging occurs at two levels:
Food quality: more and more studies confirm the benefits of a varied, balanced and healthy diet on the functioning of our body. We know that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and simple foods (whole grains, fish, vegetable oils first cold pressing …) preserves our physiology.
The amount :
An unbalanced and too abundant diet abuses our organism which, paradoxically, is undernourished although overfed. Our organs, overworked and malnourished at the same time, can no longer play their role properly.
Mechanisms in play
In the aging process, diet plays several roles. Thus, she:
Provides the body with the nutrients, vitamins, trace elements and minerals it needs for its physiological functioning
Participates in our immune system, the basic defense structure against disease
Is at the center of our detoxification mechanisms; it helps our body to get rid of toxins which, by clogging it, can accelerate its aging
Can promote or on the contrary counter chronic inflammation, accelerator of aging and a factor involved in many chronic pathologies
Provides protective substances which will help the body to fight against the phenomenon of oxidation which causes the aging of our cells.
Our behaviors at stake
From a certain age, our body’s self-repair systems are no longer as efficient. If there is a genetic part in this inevitable process, some of our behaviors can accelerate it: exposure to the sun, smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, stress, dietary errors.