5 Ways to Help Your Body Stay Young

Keep Your Cells Healthy Like a Baby’s Cells

Every day in your body 432 billion cells die and are replaced with new cells. This is the key to regenerating your body and staying young. Because of this you could have a better functioning body next year if you want, skinnier, with less pains and more energy ….if you take the right steps.

That 432 billion number is a just a scientific guess by the way. Cells are so small and there are so many in your body (somewhere between 60 -100 trillion) that no one could ever count them individually. This is also why you don’t notice your body renewing itself all the time….but it is.

Examples of a New Body:

• Cells in our digestive system, from the stomach to the large bowel are replaced every 5 minutes.
• The liver is replaced every five months.
• A new covering of skin happens every four weeks.
• Our heart is replaced every six to nine months.
• Your liver is capable of renewing and repairing from as little as 25% of its tissue.

Regeneration is all in the Balance!

We know that we will be getting a new body; the question is whether our new body will be a healthier or an unhealthy one?  The quality of the new cells is dependent on the raw material and environment, on the balance of food and energy  when the replacement cells were being formed.  If you balance these factors properly we call this regeneration. If you feed the body poorly; the result will be cells of an inferior quality this is degeneration.

The Big 5 Regenerators (Good Guys):

1. Fresh Vegetables are filled with vitamins & minerals and are good sources of phytochemicals that protect the body from disease & aging. Eat LOTS. They are the ‘heavy weights’ in regeneration. This includes the powerfoods like spinach, lettuce, asparagus, cabbage and carrots.
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2. Fresh Fruit are filled with vitamins & minerals, and are a good source of phytochemicals that protect the body.  This includes the powerfoods like lemons, apples, bananas, mangos and watermelon.  Each of these fruits has a host of health benefits.
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3. Whole Grains (brown Rice, oats, buckwheat, barley, millet, quinoa) are great source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and some protein.
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4. Drink lots of pure water as it is needed for digestion, circulation of body fluids and  joint lubrication.
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5. Exercise. Nourishing Friendships. Being in Nature. Sleep. They are important in regeneration too and each one is a subject on its own.
   

As you body starts functioning on a healthier basis you might naturally tend to slow down on those things that can interfere with the balance of the body.  Your body can also better handle the imbalance . These regenerators are what I teach people to plan and cook in my healthy online classes 2-5-30 Healthy Diet

The Big 5 Degenerators (Bad Guys):

1. Processed Foods are dead food with calories but almost no nutrients!  All processed food is deficient in enzymes that are necessary for digestion.  It fills your body, especially your liver, with chemicals that are used to create a long shelf life for the products. Research by the London University College team, suggests that a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression.

2. Sugar is known as the ‘white death’ for many reasons.  It depresses the immune system. Just one teaspoon of sugar depresses the immune system for two hours.  It depletes calcium. And we wonder why there is so much osteoporosis!  Sugar overworks the pancreas creating a roller coaster effect.  When our blood sugars are high we are high and when blood sugars are low then we are totally run down and exhausted. It’s also highly addictive (as many of us know).  Sugar does not contain any vitamins or minerals, just lots of fat-building calories.

3. Alcohol is toxic to the liver, depletes B Vitamins, depresses the nervous system, and inhibits the role of bone marrows job of regenerating blood cells.

Nerve connections between brain cells are affected by alcohol which inhibits communication signals, slowing down mental processing.  The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) revealed: “Two studies compared brain shrinkage in alcoholic men and women and reported that male and female alcoholics both showed significantly greater brain shrinkage than control subjects. Studies also showed that both men and women have similar learning and memory problems as a result of heavy drinking.”  You can have fun and be silly without alcohol; I do.

4. Caffeine (highly addictive) – puts stress on the adrenal glands, negatively affects the nervous system, as a diuretic depleting calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous, increases blood pressure.

5. Rancid Fats and Oils (deep fried foods, baked goods) – create free radicals which injure cell membranes, enzymes and DNA.  They stress the digestive system and the liver and raise blood cholesterol. Fats and oils also contain 120 calories per tablespoon.

You might notice that the big 5 actually cost a lot less than the degenerators  and some are entirely free.

The great thing about regeneration is that you don’t have to think about what your body is doing.  All you have to do is set up the proper conditions and your body will take care of everything else.  A healthy body has the  ability to heal itself of all (or almost all) problems if properly nourished.

Note:

This article is an excerpt from the life transforming e-book – Green means Lean.   Check it out!

Learn new habits and how to prepare regenerating meals in my healthy online classes 2-5-30 Healthy Diet

Copyright © Diana Herrington  You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com  or the direct link to this post.

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