Anti Aging Diet:
What Is a Good One?

Before asking what a good anti aging diet is, let's first look at what one is. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of diets available. There's one to fit just about every little quirk in "diet philosophy" imaginable. If you know how you want to eat, good or bad, you can find a diet to support it.

Since we do not yet have a diet that will truly stop aging, an anti aging diet generally refers to a diet that allows you to live longer (and healthier) than you would have with a "non-antiaging diet." Some might consider that they slow aging.

"The body is made up of billions of cells, each with the ability to replicate itself when it dies. Cells are constantly dying and regenerating but the quality of the new cells is dependent on the quality of the nutritional values they draw from to be born. An anti aging diet can help supply the proper nutrition to make new cells even stronger than the dead ones." ¹

Dr. Michael Lam² states that an "anti-aging diet is not a diet in the sense that its objective is to make you lose weight. [An] anti-aging diet is actually a lifestyle of dietary habits that will lead you to longevity." ³

As I tried to categorize the different anti aging diets I was checking out, I realized that exactly categorizing them was not going to happen. Almost all---perhaps just plain all---diets can fit into two or more categories. I forged ahead, however, and made a list of categories, and will discuss various diets within the category that appears to describe it most fully.

The categories I came up with are definitely not to be considered exhaustive or scientific---simply useful for our purposes. In most of the following categories we will be looking at several different diets and evaluating them in regards to:

• What is the basis for the anti aging diet?

• Does it accomplish what it promises?

• Is it easy to follow?

• Is it a diet you can stick to in the long haul?

• Is it a diet rich in nutrients?

• What are the drawbacks of the diet?

First we will want to take notice of the effects of fad diets. What is a fad diet? Are all fad diets bad?

Next, how do you go about choosing a diet? Each of the seeming thousands of diets seems to claim that it is the best anti aging diet---it will deliver the results you are looking for better than any other diet. Some are free, some cost just a little bit, others are out of reach for many people.

Seniors Diets – These diets are based on the premise that the amounts of certain nutrients that you needed when you were younger may be needed at different amounts as you grow older. This is because of changes in your body's ability to absorb various nutrients.

Alkaline Diets – Proponents of these diets believe that our bodies get more and more acid as we age and that through proper diet this can be reversed. This qualifies the diet as an anti aging diet.

Anti-Inflammatory Diets – Inflammation is the painful component of arthritis. It is also a part of a number of other chronic diseases that increase with aging, such as heart disease and strokes. An anti-inflammatory diet focuses on eating foods that discourage inflammation and avoiding those that don't.

Antioxidant Diets – Our body collects free radicals daily. Although there are many benefits of these free radicals, they can get out of hand and cause damage to healthy cells. A diet that is high in anti-oxidants fights aging by neutralizing free radicals.

Calorie Restricted Diets – A calorie restricted diet is the only diet that has a lot of scientific evidence supporting it as being truly an anti aging diet.

Detoxification Diets – Folks that practice detoxification diets state that much disease, especially degenerative disease, comes from "congestion and stagnation in the body (in the organs, tissues, circulation, lymph, and the cells), and that this congestion/ stagnation disease can be cleared from our body"⁴ through diet and other helps.

Fasting Diets – This is the more extreme type of detoxification diet.

Low Carb Diets – Those who advocate a low carb diet as an anti aging diet believe that if you severely reduce carbohydrates in your diet you will lose weight, have increased energy, lower your blood pressure, and increase your good cholesterol---all increasing problems with aging.

Low Fat Diets – These diets are just like the low carb diets, except that instead of limiting your carbohydrates, you limit your fats. The benefits are reported as much the same.

Low Glycemic Diets – When we eat carbohydrates our body converts them into glucose, which is a simple sugar. The glucose gets into the blood stream and gives us energy for our daily activities. The Glycemic Index is a standardized system of ranking foods based on their effect on blood glucose levels for a 2-3 hour period. According to the Low Glycemic diet approach, you need to eat foods that take longer to digest and get into the blood stream so the energy will be sustained over a period of time instead of just in a quick burst.

Macrobiotic Diets – A macrobiotic diet is part of the Far Eastern philosophy of macrobiotics, a philosophy which reportedly provides a means for comprehending the order of nature and our place in it. It is essentially a vegetarian diet. All vegetarian diets claim to be anti aging diets.

Natural Diets – There are several viewpoints as to what constitutes a natural diet. One is that your nutrition all should come from organically raised food (usually with no supplements added). Another view is vegetarian, but all raw food. The last one we will discuss is defined as food that is minimally processed.

Vegetarian Diets – I'm sure you're well aware that a true vegetarian eats no meat or meat products. There are, however, several different approaches to vegetarianism, some of which allow certain animal related products (e.g., eggs) in the diet.

Weight Loss Diets – Probably the biggest money maker in the world of nutrition! It seems like we all want to lose weight. We'll discuss several of the leading weight loss diets.

I saved three diets "for the end," for further discussion. This is because of a fundamental belief they have in common and because of the outstanding results they each have.

They all believe that both conventional and alternative medicine operate on the symptom/disease paradigm, which is known as allopathic medicine. They all feel that rather than treat symptoms, you should give the body the nutrition it needs and the body will take care of the symptoms. All three have been highly successful in seeing many folks with very serious diseases---often these folks were given up by conventional medical doctors---completely cured. However, it is to be emphasized again, these diets and supplements do not treat the diseases. Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made, and when they are given the right nutritional tools there is very little they cannot overcome.

These three diets are:

Carey Reams Diet – Based on Dr. Reams' Biological Theory of Ionization. Dr. Reams was both a physician and an agronomist. Facts he learned from research as an agronomist translated into his plan of what our diet should be like. I followed his plan a number of years ago, and I have to admit I have never felt better in my life. I'll tell you on the Carey Reams Diet page why I quit doing the program.

Metabolic Typing Diet – This diet is based on the persuasion that no diet works for everyone. They believe that the way to find the best diet for you is to identify your metabolic type.

Advanced Scientific Health Diet - This diet could be included in the Alkalinizing Diet programs, but it is much more than that and it's supplements (which are more important than its diet) are so unique that I felt it deserved a spotlight of its own. It is based on the works of a number of Nobel Prize winners, and falls under the heading of Orthomolecular Medicine. Don't let the word "medicine" throw you. It is probably more accurate to label it Orthomolecular Science. Advanced Scientific Health states that through the study and implementation of orthomolecular science, diseases from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinsons, to the common cold can be prevented simply by giving the body the nutrients it needs.

Each of the above 17 types of diets, and each of the individual diets within each of them, is considered by its proponents to be, among other things, an anti aging diet. I encourage you to look through all of them, and then decide which one is the best one for you. I must confess I am biased towards the last three---especially Advanced Scientific Health, but you need to come to your own decision.

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Footnotes:

¹Lorraine V. (n.d.) "AntiAging Diet: Eating Right to Stay Looking Young." Retrieved on 21 April 2008 from Gens4Friends.com Website: Anti Aging Diet.

²Dr. Lam is a Medical Doctor, Master of Public Health, American Board of Anti Aging Medicine, and a Certified Nutritional Consultant. See his bio at the bottom of Anti-aging Strategies.

³Lam, Michael (2004). "The Five Proven Secrets to Longevity." Retrieved on 27 September 2008 from Chapter 9 of Dr. Lam's online book: The Five Proven Secrets to Longevity.

⁴Haas, Elson, M., M.D. (2006) "Nutritional Programs for Detoxification," excerpted from Haas' Staying Healthy with Nutrition. Retrieved on 21 April 2008 from the Health World Website: Nutrition for Detoxification.

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