Healthy fats will help to ensure that you age gracefully as you approach middle age. Nuts, seeds and nut and seed-based oils also contain high amounts of healthy fats that improve hormone function which will lend a more youthful appearance.
Sources of healthy fats include:
Coconut. Cook with coconut oil as often as possible. Its smoke point is the highest, which means you can use it to deep fry without the oil burning up and becoming carcinogenic. While some nutrition experts once advised weight-watchers to avoid coconut for its high-fat content, today’s experts now claim that a small amount of coconut is a healthy and beneficial addition to your diet which will keep you looking beautiful into your 40s and beyond.
Avocado. If you enjoy guacamole, eat up. Avocado is an excellent source of healthy fat which helps keep the skin soft and supple. It encourages healthy hormone production which is vital to maintaining a youthful appearance. Avocado also pairs well with fresh vegetables and fruits in salads, where the healthy fat increases absorption of the vitamin A in your green and orange veggies such as fresh spinach and carrots.
Nuts and seeds. It only takes a handful or two of nuts to feel full. Nuts and seeds do wonders for endocrine system function which means hormone balance. To get more nuts in your diet so you can preserve your youthful glow, balance hormones, and keep energy levels high in your 40s, find creative culinary uses for them. Take along a container of nuts to snack on when you’re out and about. Add nuts to salads or sprinkle them on yogurt in the morning or for a snack. Nuts and seeds, depending on which ones you eat, have phytoestrogenic properties or help to naturally raise progesterone levels. At 40, when hormone cycles often become erratic, this can be a key to longevity and a more youthful appearance.
Nut and seed oils. Cold-pressed, unrefined oils such as coconut, sesame, olive, and sunflower offer superior health benefits that contribute to your ability to look great at 40 and after. Their smoke point in cooking is fairly high. This makes them ideal for sautéing those green veggies which are also excellent for keeping you healthy and beautiful. It’s also said that if you can pair a healthy oil with an orange vegetable that’s high in fat-soluble Vitamin A, you’ll compound your body’s ability to absorb the nutrition in these veggies.
Fatty fish. If you’ve ever wondered what’s the secret of Japanese women for retaining their youthful glow into their 40s and after, it has a lot to do with diet. This tiny island in the Pacific Ocean features fish and seafood as a major food source. That means regular consumption of fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, mackerel, swordfish, and mahi-mahi. These fish are high in healthy fats that, coupled with life-giving minerals from the sea. These minerals include magnesium, selenium, calcium, zinc, and iodine. They serve as one of the greatest means of using diet to improve your health and your youthful appearance.
