What Makes Us Look Older?

What makes us look older? Genes play a very important role in our appearance: the color of our hair, our nose, hands and even feet. But as we grow older, our genes also play a crucial role on how well and how fast we age. We've all met or seen people who just seem to have the genes for "slow aging". However, our behavior is also a big factor. Habits such as smoking, drinking, bad eating have great influence on how early those aging signs come around.

According to the results of a recent study by Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, non-genetic factors are the villains for wrinkles, lines and blotches. Stress, jobs, or even family problems can also contribute to the lines in your forehead.

According to Richard Winer, MD, an Atlanta psychiatrist, "When people are depressed, there is a tendency not to take care of yourself, and maybe to smoke and drink more," he tells WebMD. "Generally speaking, when people are happier, they tend to look younger. Colleagues have noticed the same thing."

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Anti-Aging Benefits Strength Training

As our bodies grow older, our metabolism gets much slower, increasing our body fat. According to American Institute for Cancer Research, Winter 2000 newsletter, "the average 25 year old woman has 25% body fat, while the average 65 year old woman has 43% body fat."

Strength training is an important factor to our aging bodies. It helps keep us healthy and slows down the aging process. As the years go by, we tend to be less active, gain more weight and lose muscle mass. Therefore our body fat increases as we age.


Benefits of strength training include:

- A better body
- Tighter skin
- Increased functional strength for our daily activities and sports.
- Help relieve and manage arthritic symptoms by strengthening the supporting muscles that surround our joints.
- Increased bone density.

So, make sure to make time for strength training, for a healthier and a younger looking you!

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Aging and Weight Gain

Most of us believe that weight gain may be relevant to age. That as we all grow older, the probability of gaining more weight also increases.

As we age, our muscle mass tends to decrease, and our body fat percentage tends to increase. Our bone mass also decreases as we age. Genetics is also another factor for weight gain.

Exercising is one of the most important things you can do to offset aging-related weight gain .

Diet is also as important as exercise. As we get older, there is a need for us to change our diet. Because your metabolism tends to slow down, eating too much and eating the wrong kind of foods will have bigger consequences as we age.

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Importance of Anti-oxidants

Our body is open to harmful bacterias, that can cause diseases to our bodies. Anti-oxidants are the natural defense of our body that help battle against that harmful particles from pollution, plastics and pesticides. These particles can cause cellular damage to our body that may lead to other degenerative illnesses.

Our body naturally produces anti-oxidants that can fight off the bad bacterias. However, we need to supply our body with foods that also produces anti-oxidants. Fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the major source. Fruits and vegetables help prevent the spread of free radicals inside our body. Regular intake of fruits and veggies can help prevent formation of cancer cells inside our body.

A recent study at Harvard University found that men who ate the most tomato based foods (rich in antioxidants) had a 35% lower risk of developing prostate cancer than those who ate the least amount of tomato based foods.

Aside from that, anti-oxidants can slow the effects of aging, and slow the loss of muscular elasticity.

So start filling up your fridge with fruits and veggies. Increase the anti-oxidants inside your body. This is an effective shield against the Big C!

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