At some point in our later years we start to think about looking and feeling younger. We scour the internet looking for magical pills, serums and potions to restore our youthful appearance.

There are some foods and simple techniques, many cost little or nothing to help you feel and look younger. I myself was surprised at a few of these foods, techniques or practices and will certainly be adding them to my arsenal.

• Beet Juice

Beet juice boosts nitric oxide which helps lower blood pressure and increases blood flow. The combination of drinking beet juice and exercise also enhances your brain health. Beet juice is high in natural sugar so drink it in moderation or add beet roots to your morning smoothies.

• Sunflower Seed Oil

Sunflower oil is rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that can ward off damage done by overexposure to the sun. It also contains linoleic acid which has skin barrier enhancing properties. Be sure to only use products containing USDA Certified Organic sunflower seed oil.

• Watercress

Watercress sandwich anyone? Watercress is actually in the super food category. It is a cruciferous vegetable like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Eating 3/4 cup daily may reduce DNA damage in your body while boosting antioxidants. Watercress also improves skin tone and texture as well as reduces wrinkles and brown spots.

• Replace your razor and keep it dry

A poor quality shave causes an inflammatory response in your skin leading to soreness and inflammation. Don’t store your razor in the shower, a habit I have to break. That creates an environment for bacteria to build up in the crevices of the razor, which leads to infection. Prolonged moisture creates microscopic rusting and corrosion on the blade. Rinse your razor well after shaving and dry it on a towel. Then store it in a cool dry place with the blade up.

• Jump on a trampoline

Trampoline jumping makes you feel like a kid again! It builds cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength, and balance while burning calories. Beyond that jumping boosts your lymphatic health. Enhancing circulation of your lymph system increases function and detoxification.

You don’t have to jump with the Gbabies, try one of the low to the floor models and get jumping!

• Exfoliate

Accumulated dead skin cells on the surface of your skin, gives you a dull appearance. Exfoliation removes dead surface cells and stimulates your skins deeper levels to create new surface cells. This gives you a smoother more youthful complexion.

Try making your own products at home using sugar, oats, salt, or baking soda to get rid of dead cells. Apple cider vinegar is also good for exfoliation.

• Camu Camu

Camu, camu is a low growing shrub that grows near rivers in the central Amazon basin in South America. The berries of this shrub have more nutrition than acai berries. The berries have a high phenolic and vitamin C content bursting with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power.

Because of that it provides antiaging benefits such as lightening dark spots, smoothing wrinkles and improves your complexion. Vitamin C stimulates collagen production and protects against photodamage from the sun.

Aside from reducing inflammation camu camu also helps with weight loss, protects the liver from disease, and prevents immune related disease. It can be ingested orally or applied topically to the skin. USDA certified organic camu camu products may be ordered from Purity Woods.

• Take Cool or Cold Showers

I did a double take on this one, cold or cool showers? It turns out that cold water immersion triggers multiple benefits. Briefly being exposed to the cold reduces uric acid levels. High levels of uric acid is linked to kidney disease, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and fatty liver disease.

This practice also increases glutathione, an antioxidant that is involved in DNA production and immune function. Exposure to cool showers is also a good stress reducer.

• Drink Coffee

The debate continues if coffee is good or bad for you. Coffee is a large source of dietary antioxidants and has more than 1,000 different polyphenols as well as other compounds excellent for your health.

Coffee is associated with longer telomere length. Telomeres are the structures at the end of chromosomes and as we age they shorten. Coffee has a number of anti-aging effects which includes reducing mortality from heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and respiratory disease.

Researchers in PLOS Biology June 21,2018, explained the old heart is improved by the use of caffeine to that of the young adult heart. Studies vary on how much coffee has to be consumed to reap its benefits. The researchers of the PLOS Biology studies suggested four to five cups of expresso. However if you are sensitive to caffeine consider two or three cups.

• Sleep on Your Back

When we were young we slept face down but our faces easily bounced back from sleep pressure. As we age collagen and the elasticity of your skin decreases and sleep lines do not disappear. This can lead to crow’s feet, lines around your mouth and flattening of your forehead.

Sleeping on your back is the perfect resolution to that. If you are a side sleeper like me try placing rolled towels on each side to prevent rolling over.

• Use a Sauna

Like cold when your body is exposed to sauna heat, it leads to stress reduction, reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, and fatal cardiovascular disease.

The high temperature of the sauna increases your heart rate to the level reached with physical exercise. Sweating from sitting in a sauna helps remove skin toxins, and increases skin circulation, which leads to healthier looking skin.

• Eat Porcini Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the leading dietary source of the antioxidants, ergothioneine and glutathione. The porcini mushroom, called the “piglet” mushroom has the highest levels.

Eating 3/4 cup of cooked mushrooms more than twice weekly has been linked to lower rates of cognitive impairment.

• Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is full of vitamins and enzymes that when applied to your skin have anti-inflammatory, soothing effects for burns and acne. Ingesting the gel inside the plant improves wrinkles and elasticity in human skin. Consuming aloe gel also leads to an increase in collagen production.

Take note; ingesting aloe gel can have a laxative effect so start with a small amount.

• Use Essential Oils

Last week I discussed the benefits of peppermint oil. It is one of many essential oils. Lavender in a diffuser creates a calm, stress free effect or lavender based skin products fight wrinkles and age spots.

Rose hip oil is high in vitamin C which helps collagen formation. It reverses age related changes in your skin.

Frankincense oil is useful in removing stretch marks and skin scars and argan oil improves skin elasticity.

Pomegranate oil rich is in the polyphenol, ellagic acid. It eliminates wrinkles and inflammation related to overexposure to the sun.

Just remember when applying essential oils to your skin combine them with a therapeutic carrier oil. Jojoba oil is an excellent carrier oil and has anti-inflammatory and anti-aging on skin.

Make sure to invest in quality essential oils to assure that you are getting what you pay for. You may ask any company producing essential oils for a report showing what is in the oil. As well always look for USDA Certified Organic seal on product packaging. Many products list organic in their name but may or may not contain anything organic.

I have already implemented some of these suggestions and will be adding more. After all it may well be worth the effort to keep my youthful appearance.