16 anti-aging foods

Load up on cancer-fighting compounds
5. Soy. Soy products used to be limited to tofu, but today it's easy to enjoy a serving of soy a day. Most groceries carry soy-based veggie burgers, soy hot dogs and sausage, and calcium-fortified soy milk. These products lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels and are packed with cancer-fighting compounds -- fiber, antioxidants, calcium, and many anti-aging nutrients. Edamame (fresh soybeans out of the pod) make a terrific snack, and they're so easy to prepare -- just pop them into the microwave or boil them in water for a few minutes.

I recommend trying several brands of soy products because you may like some more than others. Years ago, when I first decided to try soy milk, I bought six brands at once, poured a glass of each, and taste-tested them until I found the one I liked best. A few were awful! None tasted like milk, and it took me some time to adjust to this fact. Then I tried my favorite brand with cereal, coffee, tea, and cocoa, until I was sure I'd found a combination I could enjoy daily. Now I drink a cup of soy milk every day. Even chocolate soy milk is a good choice, and although it has a few more calories than plain soy milk, it's a worthy dessert.

6. Whole grains. Whole grains such as barley, buckwheat, wild rice, quinoa, and oats are actually tastier than refined, processed grains, they're more natural, and they help prevent weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. When you follow the Ten Years Younger Diet, the fiber in whole grains (especially barley) blocks the blood sugar and insulin surge after a meal, so you'll stay satisfied for longer, too -- even though you've eaten fewer calories.

Detoxify your body
7. Cruciferous vegetables. Toxins -- poisonous foreign chemicals (such as heavy metals, industrial chemicals, pesticides, drugs, and various pollutants) -- enter your body through your skin and the air you breathe, but especially through your intestines. You also produce toxins in the form of free radicals when you metabolize hormones and drugs and burn calories for energy. As we've seen, these toxins accumulate in your body and can cause diseases, including cancer.

Fiber-rich cruciferous vegetables -- cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels spouts -- are high in chemicals that detoxify and remove cancer-causing compounds from your body. They're also great sources of vitamin C and calcium. You can eat these vegetables raw, steamed, or lightly sautéed, but be careful not to overcook them or they'll lose their valuable properties.

8. Berries. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, and bilberries, are among the brightly colored fruits and vegetables that have so many antioxidant benefits. They're also packed with fiber. Not only does sprinkling them over a salad or cereal make your meal visually more beautiful, but the colorful pigments found in berries are some of the most powerful anti-aging compounds known to science. Berry pigments seem especially important for protecting brain cells and the cells lining your arteries from free radical damage and consequential aging.

Go nuts for nuts
9. Nuts. Nuts are packed with protein, nutrients, anti-aging compounds, and fiber. They'll help you feel full, and while they do contain fats, they are mostly healthy fats that will lower your cholesterol. Recent research published in The Journal of Obesity Related Metabolic Disorders found that people who eat up to 3 ounces (2 to 3 handfuls) of almonds daily lose more weight than those who eat other complex carbohydrates. Nuts appear to benefit both your heart and your waistline -- every study to date has shown that eating nuts regularly decreases your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death.

10. Flaxseed. Ground flaxseed is an excellent source of omega-3 fats (one of the key elements of the Ten Years Younger Diet). Omega-3 fats are good for everyone, but they are especially important for women with perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms.

One tablespoon of ground flaxseed daily is an excellent nutritional supplement. (Flaxseed oil lacks fiber and can go rancid quickly and become packed with free radicals, so it's a poor choice, and whole flaxseed passes through your intestinal tract without being absorbed.) You can use a coffee mill to grind it, or buy it freshly ground. I keep the ground seed in an airtight container in the refrigerator so it's handy to sprinkle on my oatmeal, smoothies, or salads; it has a pleasant nutty flavor. If you eat eggs, then consider buying omega-3-enriched eggs commonly sold in grocery stores; the hens have usually been fed flaxseed. Though more expensive than ordinary eggs, they have half the saturated fat and a healthy dose (up to 300 mg) of omega-3 fats into the bargain.

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Excerpted from Ten Years Younger by Steven Masley, M.D. Copyright © 2007 by Steven Masley, M.D.. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.