Mariah Carey's anti-aging diet
Mariah Carey is known for her unusual diets. Case in point: just this past winter she shed a surprising number of pounds by consisting on a diet of plain fish and soup. Certainly that was odd enough. But with word now coming out about the most recent change in her eating habits, one has to wonder, has she finally stumbled upon her most oddball diet yet?
Along with her nutritionist, Carey has reportedly created a diet plan that includes eating purple foods three times a week. That's right. And before you start scratching your head and wondering how on earth eating purple foods can help you lose weight, you should know, that weight loss is not the goal of this particular diet. Instead, Carey is munching on the likes of grapes and plums in the hopes that they will help to prevent signs of aging. But don't roll your eyes just yet. According to research, this purple food diet may just be the smartest one Mariah Carey has ever tried.
In fact, according to Dr. James Joseph, Chief of the Neuroscience Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center for Aging, purple and blue hued foods actually do contain anti-aging properties, though he prefers the use of a different term. "We call it healthy aging," he explained. This same line of thinking extends far beyond blue and purple foods and includes any fruit or vegetable that is bright in color. So what is behind this anti-wrinkle cure?
"As you age," Dr. Joseph explained, "you are less able to deal with free radicals, which destroy cells. When you're young, you have defenses against these. As you get older, you are less able to repair these cells." Based on the free radical theory, proposed by Denham Harman in the 1950s, this concept holds that antioxidants are able to prevent the formation of these free radicals responsible for aging. Dr. Joseph warned that if you are not getting enough antioxidants, meaning fruits and veggies, than the evidence will speak for itself. "If you are not defending yourself, the wrinkles are evident."
These same types of antioxidants may also be protecting you against something much more serious than a recent laugh line, they could be protecting you against disease. Free radical damage within cells has been linked to a range of diseases that include cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes.
Dr. Joseph has even written a book on the subject. Entitled The Color Code, this how-to book is designed to help everyone mix their colors and get the maximum amount of benefits from fruits and veggies. And while you can get these antioxidants from different supplement tablets, Dr. Joseph advises that nothing compares to the benefits you will receive from eating the fruits and vegetables themselves. "Antioxidants are better if obtained in the food matrix. There are a lot more there," he explained.
So forget that long line at the beauty counter for the latest wrinkle banishing face lotion and rush to the grocery store, where you can stock up on a number of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and for a lot less, too. It may just make the difference of a few wrinkles. (AOL Black Voices - Mariah Daily)
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