The Truth About Food

Quickly following Supersize vs. Superskinny, I used the suggested links side bar to pick the next show I wanted to watch. The Truth About Food: How to Stay Young and Beautiful was my pick. This episode of The Truth About Food, "looks at the everyday foods and drinks we consume and how they can help fight the aging process". More details found at this site: BBC

The Truth About Food - How 2 Stay Young & Beautiful Part 1/6



SPOILER ALERT!!! (cutting to the chase about the answers within this video)

Tomato & Skin Protection: (EAT) The lycopene that makes up the rich red color of the tomato decreases UV damage to your skin -- especially good for those who burn easily.

Red Wine & Heart: (DRINK) So you know how people say you should drink one glass of wine a night to help prevent heart problems? The answer is in the polyphenol found in the skin and seed. Polyphenol makes the blood flow more easily by helping the blood vessels stay more flexible and by preventing fatty deposits from building up. Want to take this advice to the next level? Grapes grown at higher altitudes, Cabernet Sauvignon, and ternak grapes contain higher levels of polyphenol.
- Bonus: Truth behind eating before drinking
If  you do not eat, your alcoholic drink goes through your stomach too quickly ending up in your intestines where the alcohol is absorbed. The reason to eat while you eat is not so that the food absorbs the alcohol but so that it sits in your stomach longer, gets broken down, and is released in smaller increments. The pyloric valve located at the end of your stomach contracts when food enters the stomach and opens to allow broken down food (and wine) out in small amounts.

Water & Skin: (NO ADDED BONUS) If you have a healthy diet, you do not need to drink extra water on top of it. The prepared foods and drinks already contain an ample amount of water.

Berries & Memory: (EAT??) The anthocyanin that gives berries their vivid colors are also good antioxidants. People who eat a cup of berries a day show some improvements in memory...but, the improvements aren't large enough to be scientifically significant. I say, might as well eat it for health and the chance of memory improvement.

Spinach & Eyesight: (EAT) Your retina contains rods and cones which become damaged under UV and blue light. It's the macula, yellowish substance in your eye that absorbs excess harmful rays and acts as a natural sunblock for this area of the retina. Macular degeneration is an eye condition that results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field and can eventually result in blindness. Part of its yellow comes from lutein which can be found in Spinach! Yay! So, eating spinach and kale (egg yoke, kiwi, and corn have lutein as well, but a lower amount) will help you increase your yellow-ness (haha sounds like an asian joke...not)

Finally, Detox: For the annoyance you have to go through...it's not worth it. You're body naturally detox's on it's own.