Questionnaire: Are You Eating an Anti-ageing Diet?

You may think you eat a pretty healthy diet but are you sure that what you eat contains the right things to help fight the process of ageing? Nutrition plays an important role in the fight against the ravages of time. Nourishing your body from within can be as effective in combating ageing as using the latest anti-ageing treatments on the outside.

One of the biggest enemies which causes ageing is ‘free radicals’. These come from environmental pollution, smoking, UV radiation (sunlight) and other sources and they destroy a lot of cell structures, such as collagen in the skin which is responsible for giving your skin its elasticity and youthful appearance. So it is important to eat a diet high in anti-oxidants, which will combat these free radicals.

So take this quiz to see if your diet contains the right balance of antioxidants, which not only combat the causes of ageing but also replace the nutrients that naturally decrease with age…

QUESTIONS

1) Is your diet predominantly made up of:

• a) fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables
• b) ready-meals and tinned food
• c) takeaways and snacks

2) Your usual fruit intake includes:

• a) some apples, maybe a banana sometime
• b) some tinned fruit in deserts, not much fresh fruit
• c) a lot of berries, such as blueberries and strawberries, as well as grapefruits and oranges, plus the occasional apple or banana

3) How do you choose your vegetables?

• a) I just eat whatever happens to be in the takeaway or ready-meals
• b) I try to eat as many different colours as possible, especially dark, leafy greens such as spinach and broccoli, plus carrots, red peppers, squash and other brightly-coloured vegetables.
• c) I pretty much have the same vegetables all the time – green peas, carrots, sometimes a bit of salad.

4) How often do you eat oily fish, like salmon, herring, mackerel and trout?

• a) at least once a week
• b) occasionally, when I remember
• c) I hardly ever eat fish

5) Does your diet contain lots of Vitamin E?

• a) I take a Vitamin E supplement
• b) Don’t know – what things contain Vitamin E?
• c) Yes, I eat lots of nuts and I also use good oils, like wheat germ oil, rapeseed oil, soya oil

6) Which of the vitamins are good antioxidants?

• a) Vitamin K, B12 and C
• b) Vitamin A, E and C
• c) Vitamin C, E and K

7) How would you make sure that your diet is high in selenium?

• a) by eating lots of mixed raisins and nuts, tuna, sardines, scallops, squid and other fish like lemon sole and mullet.
• b) by taking a selenium supplement
• c) by eating lots of celery

8) A general good diet consist of:

• a) only vegetables and fruits, no meat or dairy
• b) only protein, very little or no carbohydrates
• c) wholemeal grains, protein from lean meat or poultry, fish and eggs, diary and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

ANSWERS

• 1) A
• 2) C
• 3) B
• 4) A
• 5) C
• 6) B
• 7) A
• 8) C

A balanced, healthy diet can play a huge role in helping to combat the signs of ageing. This means a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, together with carbohydrate from wholegrain sources and protein from lean poultry or meat and/or legumes, plus dairy, nuts, oily fish and eggs in sufficient quantities.

For the diet to have the most anti-ageing benefits, make sure to include certain foods high in antioxidants. These include:

• Vitamin C - blackcurrants, red peppers, strawberries, curly kale, brussel sprouts, papaya, kiwi, oranges, grapefruit, lemon, potatoes, broccoli
• Vitamin A -liver, carrots, sweet potato, red peppers, spinach, butternut squash, watercress
• Vitamin E - wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, palm oil, hazelnuts, almonds, rapeseed oil, soya oil
• essential fatty acids (eg. Omega-3, 6) - anchovies, canola oil, cod liver oil, egg yolk, flaxseed oil, hazelnuts, mackerel, oysters, prawns, salmon, sardines

Lastly, don’t forget to drink lots of fresh water daily, as hydration is important for maintaining a healthy internal system and for achieving that fresh, plumped out look of youthful skin!

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