Staying At Home Is Not Always Equal To Staying Young

Staying At Home Is Not Always Equal To Staying Young

Exposing At-Home Dangers to Your Skin and Well-Being

It’s hard to imagine aging when you’re always in your home. No sun, no wrinkles. No free radicals, no need for antioxidants. However, if you’re still feeling grumpy; grumpy like you’re aging and you can’t do anything about it, you can use some at-home tips to do wonders.

DE-STRESS YOUR HOME

Look around you. If there’s so much clutter, dust, dirty laundry, these can really ignite your temper. Clean your home and fill it with soothing scents. Ever wonder why a sunset on a really clean bay with the sun glistening on the clear water looks so relaxing? That’s it, cleanliness = good mood.

Save yourself from some self-nagging. Start picking the broom up and clean your surroundings.  Classify the things that you need and not need in your desk. Your working area should also be clean so you can focus on your work faster and focus on your rest longer.

Speaking of rest, try putting lavender or chamomile powder on your sheets just before you sleep. These scents induce sleep-sanctifying hormones to help you get the sleep you deserve. You can also add candles, apply scented oil on your wrists and have feel-good books by the bedside table. Stay away from stressing self-help books. Experts advise love/happiness poetry, fast food fictions or even a diary. Keeping a diary is like befriending yourself. You can use an extra friend, right?

CHECK YOUR VENTILATION

Your pores fluctuate depending on the humidity of the area. If it’s cold, your pores will close. If it’s warm, your pores will open. The ventilation in your home should be just right so your pores will not be very overworked. Notice that when it’s too cold, your skin will also lack the moisture it needs. If your skin lacks moisture, when you get out of that cold area, your skin will overcompensate by producing more oil than usual. Yes, cold weather can breed unhealthy skin too.

If it’s also hot, your natural oils (moisture) will mix with your sweat. And that’s dangerous. Sweat is dirt. Oil WILL become dirt. The equation to acne is actually dead cells/dirt + oil. There are different ways to look young, but to fake teenage acne is surely not the way to go.

USE THE “MOST ORGANIC” TOILETRIES

Your skin is like a sponge. It absorbs all the things that is placed and applied into it.

It is important that you take note of the chemicals that you put on your skin. Read and analyze very carefully. Let’s say you use a facial wash, a toner, a moisturizer and a face powder every day. Let’s also assume that each of these things contain 20 chemicals. (Actually, that’s a conservative approximate.

Take a peek at the pack of your facial wash and toners; they contain compounds which you almost cannot read.) So every day, excluding the chemicals that may get to your skin when you go out, you take in at least 80 kinds of chemicals on your skin. It sounds glaring, right? However, the effects are not seen abruptly.

The best that you can do is to choose your toiletries right. Choose the most “organic” cosmetics, soaps, lotions, etc. There are a lot of cosmetic / toiletry product lines in the market which swear to be hypo-allergenic, non-comedogenic (won’t clog your pores) and were not tested on animals. They may be a tad more expensive but trust me, they’re worth it.

Staying young involves more than just taking care of your skin and your body. Remember to also keep a happy and optimistic state-of-mind to compliment the glow you have on your face!

Keeping Your Brain Young

Keeping Your Brain Young

One good telltale of our real age is our mental capacity. We expect that as we become grandmas and grandpas, our intellectual performance can never be the same with its prime years. But why does this happen? And what can we do to avoid thinking like we are old-aged already?

THE PROCESS OF AGING

Our neurons are non-regenerative. That means they do not divide to reproduce more of its kind. Once they die, they can’t be replaced with another one. As we age, these brain cells of ours start to reduce in size and in number. This reduces our ability to call to mind some things that we have learned, including those in school, and even those details when we were younger. 

A neurotransmitter called acetylcholine also declines as we age. This neurotransmitter is directly involved in memory and conveying of messages from a cell to another one. Moreover, because of the stresses that we have, the hippocampus, our memory bank, diminish in function. 

As we get old also, we develop plaques and tangles that accumulate between and within neurons, respectively. Plaques are proteins that mount up in between neurons while tangles are fibers that grow within the brain cells. Too much of these two are thought to kill nerve cells, like in Alzheimer’s Disease, an age-related disease. 

In addition to this, substances are created as a result of our lifestyle and environmental pollution. These substances called free radicals can damage our DNA and impede the production of energy which can cause early cell death. 

STAY SHARP

To delay the signs of aging with regards to our mental capability, we should make a number of things a habit. 

As they say, stress is inevitable in everyday life because we need it to overcome large and small obstacles. But, of course, stress has a lot more negative effects than good ones. So, avoid too much stress. According to some studies, stress does not only make you look older, it also accelerates the degeneration of your brain.

Those who are easily stressed have higher risks to cognitive impairment than those who are not. You should examine yourself and determine the best ways in which you can cope with the obstacles of the day. Praying is one of the best examples. Planning ahead of time can reduce possible stress. An hour of it can even reduce two hours of your working time.

To stay sharp, one must also have adequate sleep. A new research in Massachussetes General Hospital shows that adequate sleep can help you think well. Adequate sleep helps the brain collect different bits of information and have correct interpretation of them. On the contrary, if you sleep less than the required number, you would most likely have a bad performance and mood problems. 

Another thing we should regularly do to preserve our brain functions is to meditate. Doing it actually improves attention, learning, and memory. Regular meditation can also help you slow down the shrinking of our gray matter. For the younger ones, a thought of it is quite ridiculous because meditating is just for the oldies. But a new study has shown that people who meditate earlier in life have better attention in their succeeding years.

One can’t end a roster of anti-aging recommendations without mentioning about eating right. It is true when the say that an apple a day can make you okay. Apples are rich in flavonoids that helps protect the brain cells from free radicals. These fruits also contain a good number of antioxidants that do not only make your skin look young, it also raise the levels of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine that diminishes as we age.

Just for review, this neurotransmitter is very important for our memory and the ability of the neurons to transport messages from one to another. 

Staying Young - the Japanese Way

Staying Young - the Japanese Way

The Land of the Rising Sun outweighs all other countries with regards to the proportion of the elderly. About 22% of the population in Japan is 65 or older. It has been estimated that by 2020, the ratio of the elderly to the children will be approximately 3 to 1. The Japanese are, in fact, the most long-lived people on this planet. With that said, Nihon jins must have placed a fountain of youth in their backyard. Well, at the dining table perhaps.

Healthy food

Despite the competitive lifestyle that they have, they still are among the healthiest people in the world- ‘coz after a hard work is a healthy meal. It is well-known that a Japanese meal is one of the healthiest among regional diets.  Meals include the kind of foods that Japanese eat everyday to stay slim, healthy, and youthful while epitomizing a successful, on-the-go lifestyle.

The Japanese have the pleasure of eating nutritious and satisfying foods without guilt, getting, fat, and looking old. Every day they eat at least seven servings of vegetables, including sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens, seaweed, onions, and bean sprouts; at least two servings of anti-oxidant rich fruits; and two or more servings of soy foods. The Japanese also sip several cups of tea every day. They eat a serving of fish, consumed at more than 150 pounds in a year. Who would look old with that kind of meal?

Less Disease

A research of double Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling pointed out that almost all diseases and the body’s ability to fight them can be directly or indirectly linked to what humans eat or not. Statistics about the Japanese and other nationalities can prove this right.

Only six in 100, 000 Japanese women acquire breast cancer. That’s about 20 times less than the British women.

96% fewer Japanese men have coronary heart disease than the British male populace. (Breast cancer and heart diseases can be attributed to eating lots of fatty foods.)

Statistics show that Japanese have less Western diseases like diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart diseases, atherosclerosis, etc. 

These are thruths about the relationship between diet and disease in Japan. 

Foods to Stay Young 

A Japanese diet is the amazing secret of the locals to stay young and become vigorous. Many nationalities even notice that Japanese women in their forties still look like they are in their twenties. Well, you may not need your anti-aging creams, just a discovery of the Japanese fountain of youth. 

The Meal

The sticky, short-grained rice is the main carbohydrate food in Japan. But Japanese eat as much fish that are rich in fatty acids which provide a greater amount of calories for most.  Another main source of carbohydrates for the Japanese is the noodles, a quick, easy, and healthy snack. 

Consumption of brain foods like eggs and seaweeds is also great. Egg consumption in Japan, in the form of omelets, custards, and soups, is higher than in America (40lbs to 34 lbs). Seaweed used in soups and sushi provides a good amount of iodine that is very important for normal functioning of the thyroid gland, which is, in turn, vital for optimal brain function.

The Japanese are also fond of eating magic potatoes which have natural anti-aging, life-enhancing components. 

Tofu is also a distinguishing feature in the Japanese diet. Tofu is one of the best sources of protein with anti-cancer and health-boosting benefits.

Contrary to the usual belief, the Japanese have great consumption of milk. They even consume an average of 180 pounds per year.

Fruits are the popular dessert in Japan. In general, Japanese people don’t like sweet desserts. 

In addition, most Japanese shun fast, processed, and junk foods.

Madonna’s Secret

Aside from her active lifestyle, Madonna, who still looks young and hip in her 50’s, shared that she eats Japanese food most of the time. In fact, everywhere she goes, a Japanese chef is sure to cook healthy cuisine for her.

Keeping Your Brain Young

Keeping Your Brain Young

One good telltale of our real age is our mental capacity. We expect that as we become grandmas and grandpas, our intellectual performance can never be the same with its prime years. But why does this happen? And what can we do to avoid thinking like we are old-aged already?

THE PROCESS OF AGING

Our neurons are non-regenerative. That means they do not divide to reproduce more of its kind. Once they die, they can’t be replaced with another one. As we age, these brain cells of ours start to reduce in size and in number. This reduces our ability to call to mind some things that we have learned, including those in school, and even those details when we were younger. 

A neurotransmitter called acetylcholine also declines as we age. This neurotransmitter is directly involved in memory and conveying of messages from a cell to another one. Moreover, because of the stresses that we have, the hippocampus, our memory bank, diminish in function. 

As we get old also, we develop plaques and tangles that accumulate between and within neurons, respectively. Plaques are proteins that mount up in between neurons while tangles are fibers that grow within the brain cells. Too much of these two are thought to kill nerve cells, like in Alzheimer’s Disease, an age-related disease. 

In addition to this, substances are created as a result of our lifestyle and environmental pollution. These substances called free radicals can damage our DNA and impede the production of energy which can cause early cell death. 

STAY SHARP

To delay the signs of aging with regards to our mental capability, we should make a number of things a habit. 

As they say, stress is inevitable in everyday life because we need it to overcome large and small obstacles. But, of course, stress has a lot more negative effects than good ones. So, avoid too much stress. According to some studies, stress does not only make you look older, it also accelerates the degeneration of your brain.

Those who are easily stressed have higher risks to cognitive impairment than those who are not. You should examine yourself and determine the best ways in which you can cope with the obstacles of the day. Praying is one of the best examples. Planning ahead of time can reduce possible stress. An hour of it can even reduce two hours of your working time.

To stay sharp, one must also have adequate sleep. A new research in Massachussetes General Hospital shows that adequate sleep can help you think well. Adequate sleep helps the brain collect different bits of information and have correct interpretation of them. On the contrary, if you sleep less than the required number, you would most likely have a bad performance and mood problems. 

Another thing we should regularly do to preserve our brain functions is to meditate. Doing it actually improves attention, learning, and memory. Regular meditation can also help you slow down the shrinking of our gray matter. For the younger ones, a thought of it is quite ridiculous because meditating is just for the oldies. But a new study has shown that people who meditate earlier in life have better attention in their succeeding years.

One can’t end a roster of anti-aging recommendations without mentioning about eating right. It is true when the say that an apple a day can make you okay. Apples are rich in flavonoids that helps protect the brain cells from free radicals. These fruits also contain a good number of antioxidants that do not only make your skin look young, it also raise the levels of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine that diminishes as we age.

Just for review, this neurotransmitter is very important for our memory and the ability of the neurons to transport messages from one to another.