What Are The Best Anti Aging Supplements?
1. Green superfood powders (No.1 Anti Aging Supplement)
Something that never fails to give you a glow if you need a fast fix for a hot date is green superfood powders, such as barley grass, spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algaes and moringa. They are just a wonderful, healthful boost of antioxidants, chlorophyl, and enzymes that will help take your health to the next level – and that includes your skin!
Some are so powerful in their antioxidant and energy boosting activity that you can feel them working within 20 minutes. They really do boost energy – so great to use when you feel like slumping over the office desk for a nap mid-afternoon. Or just use them whenever you would like to see a noticeable glow in your skin, or a cheeky sparkle in your eyes fast.
The power of superfood powders
Green superfood powders REALLY DO WORK! I’ve been using them to boost my beauty and health for years, and simply could not live without them like ever! They are not just great for your skin (that’s just a secondary but very welcomed side effect), but are also great for detoxifying and alkalising your body for a higher state of all round good health in general.
They also work wonders as a pre or post workout energy boost, plus their high anti inflammatory effects may help alleviate muscle aches and pains afterwards, making them an round winner.
Each different green powder has its own unique properties, which is why I just prefer to buy a blend and be done with it. You can check out these fantastic new products on the market to see what you think for yourself. Just be prepared to hold your nose and chug it back as most of them don’t taste great – nothing this healthy probably could. But personally, I’d do anything for stunning skin, making the taste TOTALLY worth it!
2. VITAMIN C
As a powerful antioxidant, vitamin C helps prevent skin from drying out, which in turn helps prevent wrinkles from forming. It also helps form collagen, repairs and firms the skin, and helps fight the free radicals in the body that attack DNA and break down collagen – something that we would ALL like to avoid where possible, I’m sure!
Vitamin C also helps greatly in the protection of skin against the sun’s ultra violet rays. You can supplement with 500mg to 1000mg (maximum dosage) depending on stomach tolerance. It’s important to take breaks from high doses of vitamin C due to possible kidneys problems, so you should do 6 weeks on and a few weeks off to stay on the safe side.
Source your vitamin C as close to nature as possible!
Taking organically sourced vitamin C that is derived straight from plant sources (such as the acerola berry) is by far more preferable and closer to nature than the laboratory made synthetic versions.
3. RESVERATROL
Resveratrol is a phenol containing an antioxidant that is mostly found in red wine, red grape skins, peanuts and raspberries. It helps alleviate the inflammation that leads to the aging of the inside of the body, and also helps to banish wrinkly skin on the outside too.
In supplement form (which is really the only way to get the dosage needed for therapeutic effect), you should look for trans-veratrol on the label, as this is the pure antioxidant extract and the form shown to be the most active.
As a powerful antioxidant, resveratrol has been found to maybe help negate, not only certain age related diseases, but also be an effective anti aging supplement for your skin care. Most premature aging damage done to your skin is inflicted through environmental factors such as UV rays and pollution; both of which resveratrol has been shown particulary effective against.
4.VITAMIN E
Vitamin E works closely together with vitamin C and is one of the most important antioxidants for the skin. It protects cell membranes from the free radical damage that causes you to age, so therefore this one really is essential.
The duo of vitamin C and E work together as a pair and are free radical neutralising superstars. Vitamin E stops free radicals from gaining entry into the cells, then hands them over to C for neutralisation.
Vitamin E can also boosts immune health, reduce insulin resistance, and in some studies has been shown to help negate cognitive decline.
Always look for natural vitamin E supplements with the prefix d-alpha as opposed to the synthetic dl-alpha version if you need them. Warning:- You must not take vitamin E supplements unless directed by a doctor or healthcare provider as it cannot be taken long term and may have contraindications. Instead, you should try and obtain it through these natural food sources.
5. GLUCOSAMINE
Glucosamine sulphate is a compound that can help reduce wrinkles, fine lines and liver spots; plus it helps keep the skin moisturised from the inside out. It does this by inducing your skin’s production of collagen (this is a good thing, as high collagen levels in skin keep it plump and youthful) which makes it an effective anti-ager.
Glucoamine with chondroitin is also extremely helpful for any creaky joints you may have. It has been shown to have the ability to help build the cartilage that gets worn away, not only as you age, but through over use of joints from any number of reasons – high impact sports being the most common. Ask any runner, and they will know what you’re talking about.
If you’re going to use this one as an anti ager specifically, then it is probably more cost efficient to only use it if you have other reasons to take it, like those listed above. It is primarily for the ease of joint pain, and I have used it myself as a supplement to help heal my knee joints after years of running on concrete (it really works well for this).
1200 mg per day is usually needed to see results, but do remember as it is derived from shellfish you should steer clear if you have allergies. It’s also not vegan.
6. CHROMIUM PICOLINATE
Chromium Picolinate may help decrease sugar cravings (sugar in itself promotes faster aging), and high blood sugar levels are a BIG FACTOR in the aging process. This is why it’s so important to find ways to cut out sugar and junk foods as much as possible from your diet for a myriad of other reasons unrelated to outer aging, such as the lower risk of many diseases associated with junk food and obesity.
It has become apparent in recent years, that sugar is the fastest accelerator of the aging process full stop. Which only goes to prove what we already know, that sugar is poisonous to the body in every way, shape and form and will age you (and probably make you sick) faster than anything else.
Sugar and aging
Sugar can come in many forms, and is often disguised on food labels under many pseudo names. Check out this list of the different names sugar is termed under.
In fact, most of the food in your kitchen cupboard probably has some kind of sugar in it. And most savory foods that don’t even taste sweet are often laden with sugar, which just goes to show how accustomed our taste buds have become to it.
Eating less sugar will help your skin to GLOW!
It can be a nightmare to give up sugar. I’ve tried, and fortunately succeeded to an extent. But for some, it’s a VERY hard thing to do. Cutting right back on refined sugars really made a huge difference to my skin, and I now glow to the extent that I probably get somebody comment on my skin almost every day. Of course, cutting out sugar isn’t the whole story, as you should also be eating lots of antioxidant rich food along with this as mentioned previously.
Can chromium picolinate reduce sugar cravings?
Using chromium picolinate may help to reduce those crazy sugar cravings (especially in the early stages of a sugar reduction in your diet), and it may be at least worth trying to see if it is effective for you. This supplement is also often used by people with type 2 diabetes due to its effects on blood glucose, though if you are using it for this purpose then you MUST always check with your doctor first as it may interact with other medications.
Chromium also helps protect against AGE’s (advanced glycation end-products, which speed up cell damage and cell death, and of which are encouraged by continually high sugar levels). Supplements of 200-400 mcg daily is the standard amount to take in supplement form, but it also should never be used long term without medical consent.
Do not take chromium supplements if you have the following conditions:-
- Kidney or liver disease
- Leather allergies
- Mental illness issues
- Thyroid disorder
- Some steroid medications (ask your pharmacist for more information)
- If you are pregnant
- Insulin dependent diabetes
7. TURMERIC
This antioxidant rich spice has been aiding beauty, among many other things, for literally thousands of years, so has well and truly stood the test of time. In fact, scientists are only just discovering the truly amazing benefits of turmeric, and due to its active compound curcumin it is one of the most powerful known anti aging spices out there.
Curcumin’s many other benefits include calming the chronic inflammation in the body that can lead to a variety of age related disorders. It’s also a powerful antioxidant that neutralises free-radicals, whilst helping to boost the body’s own antioxidant enzymes.
Free radicals, antioxidants and anti aging
Free radicals are unpaired electrons that scavenge the body looking to pair themselves up with your healthy cells, and in the process doing a lot of damage to your DNA and thus causing accelerated aging. The best way to stop this is to make doubly sure you consume LOTS of free radical scavenging antioxidants every day along with your anti aging supplements.
As mentioned earlier, these antioxidants are found in all colourful fruits and vegetables (the more brightly coloured the better), which is why it is so important we eat them in abundance. FYI – the curcumin found in turmeric is one of the most powerful antioxidants known to man, and the very reason I never skip on using it daily either in my food, or as a warm bedtime drink in some nut milk.
8. ASTRAGALUS
It can also be found in the form of astragalosides (the active compound extracted from the herb), which is probably the best form to take it if you wish to gain the highest anti-aging benefits.
9. L-ARGININE
This wonderful supplement can be great for your sex life (and sex in itself will keep you young – just saying!) because it improves blood circulation, which in turn can enhance your libido.
L-arginine is an amino acid that encourages the release of a growth hormone from the pituitary gland. These hormones help you to burn fat and increase lean muscle mass, all of which help you to look younger. It has also been shown to be a potential anti-ager in other areas, including improved immune system, improved erectile dysfunction, and it’s also heart friendly.
Before you think about supplementing with l-arginine, you must be sure that it is suitable for you as it can have side effects and certain people shouldn’t take it. For the sake of 100% safety, please find out more about whether l-arginine is right for you before you use it.
10. MILK THISTLE
Milk thistle helps your liver to make the powerful antioxidants that are needed to generate skin cells. These are what will give you that much sought after glowing complexion, making this a great anti aging herbal supplement.
It also works with the other antioxidants of vitamin C and E, both of which fight aging free-radical damage in their own right, therefore it would be good to take these in combination (but you should get your quota of vitamin E from vitamin E rich foods rather the supplement, as it’s just not suitable for long-term use and without the advice of a practitioner).
Which anti aging supplements should I take?
I know, I know, I’ve blown your mind as there are a lot to choose from and it can all get a little overwhelming, so lets break it down a bit to help you decide. Most of them have more than just the anti aging reason for you using them, as in the case of the vitamin E, vitamin C, turmeric, glucosamine, and of course those fantastic green powders. So my advice would be to find the ones that will suit you for other purposes as well, that way you are killing 2 or 3 birds with one stone.
If you’re a very healthy eater, and you already take in lots of antioxidants through your food, then you will unlikely need extra vitamin E and C, therefore you can stick with some of the other nutrients that you may not necessarily get enough of through your diet alone.
Make your supplements relevant to other problems:-
Myself, as I a plant based eater who already consumes many antioxidants, I just take my homemade turmeric paste (recipe here), omega 3 oils to keep my brain oiled up and help combat depression, glucosamine for my knees, and sometimes I take chromium at certain times of the month when I am having hormone fluctuations and those dreaded sugar cravings.
ALL of these are on the above list, and they happen to double up as fantastic anti aging supplements too, so I get the best of all worlds. This is how you too should tailor your own anti aging supplements to you specifically.
Everybody should use turmeric!
It has now been shown in respected studies that turmeric is such an amazing spice that it’s definitely worth incorporating it into your diet (providing you can tolerate it of course) and don’t have any other contradictory reasons not to.
It has so many potential uses, according to the study in the link above, turmeric (when used with black pepper for maximum absorption) has been shown to help with the managing of oxidative and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, anxiety, depression, and even metabolic syndrome, giving it anti obesity properties too.
WARNING: Don’t take turmeric continually. It is best to take breaks from it every now and then for a few weeks at a time as it has been associated with kidney stones in long term use. But don’t let this put you off unless you are especially at risk of kidney stones, as its benefits far outweigh its risks if you consume it sensibly.
SOURCE: ZESTFOREVER
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