Do We Really Have to Walk Down that Long Slow Path to Fragility and Cognitive Decline?

Most people do think of the aging process as the inevitable march toward physical and cognitive decline. But that doesn't have to be the case. Numerous studies find that people eating a largely plant based diet have lower rates of neurological impairment, heart disease, arthritis, and even cancer. This is due in part to these people having lower levels in inflammation throughout their bodies.

A cross sectional study of 1898 women aged 18-75 y from the Twins UK registry found that a diet high in flavanones, anthocyanins, and flavanols, led to a decrease in arterial stiffness, central blood pressure, and atherosclerosis. Where are these mysterious compound found? Flavanones are in parsley, peppers, apples and watermelon. Anthocyanins can be found in berries, bananas, pears, cabbage and garbanzo beans. There are flavanols in onions, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and quinoa.

Green smoothies are not a youth elixir, but a high fiber plant based diet does lead to better health. People who consume a lot of fiber carry fewer toxins. This is because toxins bind to fiber and the body is then able to excrete them.

 

 More fiber in your diet also feeds your microbiome. Fiber is considered a prebiotic. Prebiotics feed probiotics. The greater the variety of probiotics, or microbes in your microbiome the better your overall health will be.

Over the next few days we'll take a look at some strategies that can help keep our bodies in the best possible condition.