THE EASY WAY TO EAT YOURSELF YOUNGER

A STUDY this month found poor diets kill almost 90,000 people a year in Britain. As the study leader said: ‘We are what we eat.’

Among the most devastatingly ageing foods are refined sugars such as sweets, white bread, cakes and white rice. These promote glycation — excessive binding of glucose to protein in the presence of oxygen — which is linked to various forms of ageing.

For example, it causes proteins

in our bodies to stiffen. It can affect organ function and cause skin to wrinkle as collagen stiffens, breaking and collapsing. I advocate reducing your intake of all animal proteins, including meat, dairy and processed foods. Instead, eat a variety of fruits and vegetables — particularly green veggies, and include complex carbohydrates in whole foods such as shortgrain brown rice, sweet potatoes and quinoa, which are packed with vitamins and minerals.

Organic foods are richer in nutrients and antioxidants, which can combat so-called free radicals, molecules that can attack healthy cells.

The healthiest diet in the long term is a plant-based, wholefood one. Evidence overwhelmingly points to this as the best way to reduce chronic inflammation, so preventing premature ageing.