16 anti-aging foods

A little garlic goes a long way
11. Fresh garlic. Believe it or not, fresh garlic lowers your total cholesterol about 7 to 9 percent, raises HDL slightly, decreases clotting, lowers blood pressure, and boosts your immune function. But do stick to the real thing! Deodorized garlic (in pills) doesn't reduce cholesterol effectively because allicin, the chemical that gives garlic its aroma, is also what gives it its cholesterol-lowering punch. To maximize allicin, smash the cloves with a wooden spoon or the flat side of a chef's knife. Let the juices in the garlic sit for a few minutes. At home, I serve 1 to 2 cloves of garlic per person every day.

Throw it into your salad dressing, stir-fry dishes, soups, and rice dishes. Just about any meal goes well with garlic.

But do be careful. While completing my chef internship at the Four Seasons restaurant in Seattle, I discovered that if you overcook garlic until it turns brown, it becomes bitter, and this also ruins its medicinal properties. So add crushed or finely chopped garlic during the last one or two minutes of cooking to give your meals the richest flavor and maximize their cholesterol-lowering benefits.

Spice it up
12. Fresh herbs and spices. Have you ever wondered why herbs smell so great? Think of that pasta sauce simmering on the stove. One whiff and you're salivating. Like a bee drawn to the scent of flowers, we're biochemically attracted to herbs. And by weight, they're the most densely packed anti-aging foods you can find.

I encourage you to splurge on a minimum of 1 teaspoon of dried or 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs daily. Thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, basil, cumin, mint, chives, dill, turmeric, and cilantro are all wonderful, heart-healthy choices. Not only do they make your food look, smell, and taste great, they're terrific for your health, too.

Also, don't be stingy with ginger. It adds a zesty, citrus-like tang and goes well with Indian curries, Asian stir-fries, desserts, and marmalades. It's also quite good for you. Two thousand years ago, the Chinese made ginger a staple in their diets, and we've recently learned that there is good reason for this. Ginger contains several potent antioxidants and, like garlic, it helps decrease blood stickiness, which prevents unwanted clots. Used regularly over weeks, it acts as an anti-inflammatory to relieve joint pain and arthritis without increasing the risk of stomach ulcers. (In fact, people use ginger to treat stomach ulcers.)

The simplest way to enjoy ginger with your meals is to grate fresh ginger directly into your food while it is cooking -- it's particularly fabulous when grated over stir-fries. It grates easily, and don't worry about the skin (although you may prefer removing it for aesthetic reasons).

Go green
13. Green tea. Green tea, a staple in the Asian diet, is loaded with antioxidants, and drinking green tea regularly has been associated with reduced cancer rates. Black tea, though good for you, doesn't quite measure up to its green cousin. It has only 20 to 50 percent of the flavonoids (antioxidant compounds found in many foods) of green tea. To make the latter, growers chop, roll, and quickly heat tea leaves. Heating traps the antioxidants, giving green tea its healthful properties.

Green tea is also rich in L-theonine, a chemical compound that enhances mental function and learning while heightening concentration (independently of caffeine). Studies have demonstrated that L-theonine also increases alpha brain waves, which provide a sense of calm while reducing some of the jitteriness caffeine can produce. Similarly, the catechins in green tea are chemical compounds that decrease cancer risk and enhance your metabolism, helping to prevent weight regain after weight loss. Quite a healthy punch from a little tea bag!

Green tea has a pleasant although slightly bitter flavor that I've learned to enjoy. Make a weak cup at first to appreciate the subtle flavor. If it still seems bitter, either make it weaker still, or add one packet of Splenda or 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 teaspoon of honey. I aim to drink a cup of green tea each afternoon. I also enjoy drinking a glass of iced decaffeinated green tea in the evening. And sometimes I add decaffeinated green tea to my dessert smoothies.

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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.