Do you know the tomato is native to South America? Early evidence shows tomatoes were originally planted in the highlands of Peru. One species was then transported to Mexico where it was grown and consumed by the Aztecs people in 500 BC. But heck, does anyone really care where tomatoes are originated from! What we know is today, tomatoes are eaten throughout the world!

I know tomatoes as an antioxidant power house. I read that tomatoes are one of the richest sources of lycopene. And lycopene has long been regarded as one of the most powerful natural antioxidants around. Lycopene is a bright red carotenoid commonly found in tomatoes, carrots, papayas, watermelons and other red fruits and vegetables. What lycopene does? Lycopene helps to prevent some types of cancers, particularly prostate cancer. Other studies suggest lycopene can also help in preventing breast, colon and lung cancers. Besides, lycopene also improves the skin’s ability to protect against harmful ultraviolet rays, thus helpful in slowing down skin aging process. Other antioxidants present in tomatoes are anthocyanin, glutathione and many others. These antioxidants help to boost our immune system and thus stay away from cancers and other diseases.

Research shows that cooked tomato products can provide as many as 6 times the lycopene than equal amount of fresh tomatoes. This is because heat allows more antioxidants in tomatoes to be made available to the body. Seeing this, I would not hesitate to introduce to you one of my all time favorite tomato recipes in my next post. Stay tuned!

Antioxidants have long been used to maintain human health and prevent diseases. Besides, antioxidants are also widely used as ingredients in dietary supplements to slow down the aging process. To understand more on antioxidants, one must first know what oxidation is.

Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Free radicals are produced during oxidation and damage our cells. Cell damaging is always associated with the aging process and you would start to contract one or more of the aging symptoms.

Antioxidants, as the name suggests, are able to slow down if not preventing, the oxidation of our cells. Antioxidants act by removing free radicals, thus inhibit the oxidation process itself. In another word, taking dietary supplements containing antioxidants would slow down one’s aging process.

There are plenty of foods, thankfully, that contain antioxidant ingredients. One of such foods is eggs. Eggs are considered a good source of protein and choline. While not many of us aware of how choline contributes toward anti aging process, but protein does play an important role. You need protein to build up, maintain and replace the tissues in our body. Your muscle, organs and immune system are made up mostly of protein. Without sufficient protein, your physique would not look firm and is out of shape and your skin would never look supple and full with wrinkles. You would suffer from premature aging!

Choline is water soluble nutrient important for development and regulation of the brain. Choline is also important in the regulation of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. The egg yolk contains all of the choline of an egg, and it is approximately half of the recommended daily intake.

The egg is also one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D. Deficiency in Vitamin D can cause bones to become thin, brittle or misshapen because Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium. This leads to bone softening diseases such as osteoporosis which in turn speeds up the aging process. Of course, one could also get sufficient Vitamin D with sunlight exposure.

Besides the protein, choline and Vitamin D above, eggs also supply the 9 essential amino acids for humans as well as several vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, riboflavin, folic acid, iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. Eggs also contain lutein and zeaxanthin; both are carotenoids important for eyes and skin health as well as reduce the risk of developing age related macular degeneration (AMD).

In short, add eggs to your diet to slow down the aging process. Stay tuned for some anti aging recipes brought to you next only at Anti Aging Tips.

Aging is an inevitable process. The pace of aging process is varied from individual to individual depending on their lifestyle and genetics. However, not only once, but often I hear that women age faster than men. Women tend to age faster but live longer than men. Well, I am not sure about the existence of scientific proof for this one, but here I compile a list of why do women age faster than men based on what I read on the web.

Many women suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS). PMS is a syndrome that occurs in many women during the last week before the onset of their monthly menstruation cycle. Women who suffer from PMS will develop physical symptoms such as abdominal bloating, headache and sore, tender breasts as well as mental symptoms such as fatigue, mood swings, irritability and social withdrawal. It is generally believed that these sufferings made women aging faster.

The fact that women have to go through 9 months of pregnancy and eventually giving birth to their babies also makes women aging faster than men. Offspring reproduction is the mightiest of all human projects. Can you imagine the hardship of carrying babies around for 9 months? Plus, we men certainly are not able to bear the pain our mother and wife could bear during giving birth!

Some others say women age faster due to all of the stress and family responsibilities they have. They have to take care of their kids. They take life more seriously than men. This makes women to worry more while men take it all in their stride. Their lifestyle contributes to them aging faster than men.

Another reason why women tend to age faster than men is the fact that they mature earlier. Girls typically begin the process of puberty at the age of 10 while boy at the age of 12. Do you realize that most girls in your class are taller than you during lower secondary? In addition, by the age of 50, most women’s bodies have dried up biologically speaking. On contrary, men can still father children into his 70s and 80s. Generally speaking, it is just nature at work!

Not all women age faster than men of course. Some do, some do not! There are no absolutes! One’s aging process is still very much depending on your genetics and lifestyle.

Every one of us, you and I fear aging! However, aging is an inevitable process. What we can only do is to slow down the aging process. This is called anti aging. Anti aging is also known as life extension. It refers to attempts to slow down or reverse the aging process so that people can live longer, healthier and happier. We, human beings have been looking out for the most effective anti aging strategies since many centuries ago. The most elaborated example being the seeking of elixir of life from Qin Shi Huang more than 2,200 years ago.

What is the much fabled elixir of life? Does it really exist? According to literature, elixir of life is a potion or drink that grants the drinker eternal youth. It actually appears in a lot of myths across the world. I do not believe in the existence of such elixir of life, at least for now. Qin Shi Huang was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 B.C. to 221 B.C. He became the first emperor to unify China. Later in his life, Qin Shi Huang started to fear of death and desperately sought the fabled elixir of life. The emperor had also built a city sized mausoleum guarded by a life sized Terracotta Army.

The tale of eternal youth is also frequently told in western myth and legend. The most common being the Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks its waters. There is this story in which Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was searching for the Fountain of Youth in present day Florida. Today, St. Augustine in Florida has even become home to the Fountain of Youth National Architecture Park. Many tourists visit the park each year to drink water from the fountain. But does the water bring back their youth?

Eternal youth is not possible. As I said, aging is inevitable. But looking and feeling old is optional! Step up your quest today to slow down or stop your aging process by using fitness program, facial exercise and anti aging recipes!

Admit it, we are all aging! From the very minute we were born, we age. How fast one ages varies from one individual to another. Some of us will develop wrinkles in their early 30s while others will remain looking young even approaching their 40s. Whether or not you are aging faster, one thing in common is virtually no one likes aging. In fact, majority of us would do everything we could to defy the aging process. If you plan to slow down or stop aging, understanding the aging process itself is the first step. We have to get to know why we are aging!

I would say that aging is a natural process and all of us are programmed to age at one point or another. There is a certain biological timeline our bodies follow. How fast we age simply depends on how fast each individual biological clock runs down over a lifetime. Genetics plays a major role in aging. What genes you have inherited determines how fast you age. There is specific longevity genes which help a person live longer. Those who suffer from telomere shortening would trigger faster cell aging and dying. Telomeres are DNA sequence that appears at the end of each chromosome. Telomeres get shorter every time our cells divide. Eventually the telomeres get so short that the cell can no longer divide, and thus the aging process begins.

Second factor that contributes to our aging process is the environment. Exposure to the sun contributes to skin aging because ultraviolet radiation from the sun can damage our skin. You will get sunburn if you are exposed under the sun for prolong period. The heat of the sun will result in dryness of your skin and will eventually result in wrinkles in long run. Besides, your chances of contracting skin cancer are also higher. The heat of the sun is not the only factor that speeds up aging process. Those exposed to extreme cold weather may also more likely to develop wrinkles on their skin.

I believe, perhaps one’s lifestyle has the most say on how fast you age. Those who work in office are more likely to age slower than those who work in construction site. Those living a slow pace life tend to age slower. This is because the faster an organism moves the more oxygen it uses and the shorter it lives! So, the more relaxing is your lifestyle, the more likely you would age slower. Your eating habits also play a major role. By eating foods rich with antioxidants, you can minimize cell damage caused by free radicals such as ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Exercising can limit bone and muscle loss and makes you look younger. In case if you do not know, smoking also speed up one’s aging process!