Holistic approaches to anti-aging are not new. For thousands of years people in Eastern cultures have viewed lifestyle and self-care to be essential in facilitating a healthy aging process.
Today, it is very much worth your while to consider holistic approaches for various reasons. Unlike conventional anti-aging approaches, which involve the use of anti-aging creams, serums, or even drastic measures such as cosmetic surgery, holistic approaches aim to target and heal the problem that is at the root of the aging process. This contrasts with traditional anti-aging approaches, in which it is usually just the symptoms of the aging process that are treated.
This is consistent with the approach holistic medicine takes towards treating any illness, and that is to evaluate the entire and treat the entire person, including body, mind, and spirit.
Basically, holistic approaches to anti-aging involve slowing down the repercussions of aging in the human body by addressing key elements believed to play a significant role in unhealthy aging and ensuring the person is returned to or kept at an optimal state of health and wellness.
Holistic approaches to anti-aging are based on various facts. According to holism, it is not possible to remove the evidence of aging by focusing on just one of the areas of your body on which aging has evidently taken its toll. To eliminate the effects of aging you must analyze your entire body’s condition, and consider the health of mind, body, and spirit.
Factors That Cause You To Age
Stress, diet and sleep all affect your appearance and the rate at which you age. These factors may cause your skin to look unhealthy.
Free Radicals
Free radicals are an indirect cause of aging. This is because they cause inflammation in the human body, which, in turn, may lead to accelerated and unhealthy aging.
In order to prevent free radicals from damaging the body, you must consume foods that contain large amounts of antioxidants, which are nutrients that fight the effects of free radicals.
Whole Foods Highest In Antioxidants:
- Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries
- Kidney, pinto and black beans
- Cranberries
- Artichokes
- Prunes
- Apples: Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Gala
- Pecans
- Sweet cherries
- Black plums
- Potatoes
- Plums
You could also combat the damage caused by free radicals by supplementing your diet with vitamins B, C, zinc, and magnesium.
To maintain a youthful appearance it is highly recommended to drink large quantities of water. By drinking water, you are not only re-hydrating your body. Water also improves skin elasticity, and reinforces healing collagen, which will slow the manifestation of wrinkles, and sagging.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
In order to function correctly, your body needs essential fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These are fats that are healthy for you, and they aid the cells to function correctly and support heart health. Heart disease is the #1 killer of American men and women, and it is a leading cause of death in other countries around the world.
Prevention is key to remain healthy and keep heart disease at bay through our older years. Furthermore, fatty acids support skin health.
Foods Highest In Fatty Acids:
 Grains and Nuts
- Bread
- Cereal
- Flaxseed
- Peanut butter
- Oatmeal
- Pumpkin seeds
- Walnuts
Fresh Produce
- Parsley
- Kale
- Spinach
- Brussels sprouts
- Mint
- Watercress
Fatty Fish
- Halibut
- Herring
- Trout
- Fresh Tuna
- Mackerel
- Oysters
- Salmon
- Sardines
Foods Fortified With Omega-3’s
- Eggs
- Milk
- Juice
- Soy milk
- Yogurt
Oils
- Flaxseed oil
- Soybean oil
- Walnut oil
- Canola oil
- Cod liver oil
Poor Blood Circulation
Poor blood circulation is another factor that causes you to age. Practitioners of holistic medicine often recommend cayenne pepper to boost circulation. Cayenne pepper enables blood to circulate more freely by dilating the blood vessels, thus carrying necessary oxygen and nutrients through the body.
Cayenne pepper has additional benefits as well: it strengthens your immune system and thins blood, reinforces the heart and regulates blood pressure and palpitations.
Stress Reduction
One of the most important elements in holistic medicine is reducing stress. Stress affects the whole body and causes imbalance that leads to disease and overall ill health, and may greatly accelerate the aging process.
In holism, stress reduction is seen as central to healthy aging, and is considered a proactive effort.
Meditation, relaxation exercises, yoga, and aromatherapy are often recommended to get stress under control. All of these tactics help to provide healing to the mind, body, and spirit and offer a balanced state for those who seek to improve their overall mental and physical wellness through younger and aging years.
Exercise
Working out also helps to preserve general health, thus ensuring that you age slower and healthier. Peak physical fitness means the body is in its best shape and is able to keep you strong and healthy.
Physical exercise boosts the rate of your metabolism, which ensures healthy weight management through the aging years, something of utmost importance since metabolism naturally slows as we age and weight gain becomes more probable. Consequently, your body will not be strained by overweight and obesity, and the aging process will be slowed down.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, there are numerous holistic approaches to reducing the rate at which you age and to remain in optimal health through the aging years.
Holistic approaches never just address symptoms of specific health problems, but instead aim to return or keep the person in a state of balanced health between mind, body, and spirit. Holism targets overall wellness, and when we are well, we only get better with age.