Anti-aging foods you should be eating now!
We love women that love food, good food, and Grace O epitomizes this through and through. Learning how to cook from her mother, she has been creating beautiful dishes since she could remember. When her mother died at age 19, she took over the family’s culinary school and went on to open three restaurants.
When she moved to America she began a career in healthcare which transpired into her food venture, FoodTrients. Between creating flavorful food and incorporating health boosting ingredients, she focuses on dishes that serve a nutritional purpose. Grace shares her go-to anti aging recipes, favorite beauty foods and remedies, and of course how she maintains the Balanced Babe lifestyle.
BB: What, or who, inspired you to create your website FoodTrients?
Grace O: The inspiration for my empowering FoodTrients program—the website, the cookbook, my board of advisors—really came from my father. He was a physician and he had a way of looking at food as though it could heal us. He understood the value of the vitamins and minerals found in fresh foods and how those elements could supplement our health. Foods like organic fruits and vegetables, wild fish, and humanely raised animals have so many good things in them: antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, anti-inflammatory agents, fiber and anti-bacterial compounds.
After I turned 50, I had my own health issues. I have struggled with my weight – working hard to lose it only to gain it back again. I have had problems with my knees, which have made it hard to exercise. I knew I had to do something and, believe it or not, all of the work I have done on FoodTrients has helped me stay healthy – my cholesterol is normal, all of my blood work is normal. I don’t take any medication, but I do make sure I have plenty of FoodTrients every day.
BB: Do you have any personal anti-aging favorites as far as natural beauty remedies, or a daily beauty regimen?
Grace O: Certain FoodTrients like omega-3 fatty acids and the Vitamins C & E are very good for building collagen, hydrating skin, keeping skin elastic, and helping to build strong nails and hair. Vitamin C also aids tissue regeneration, which is especially helpful after a facial, dermabrasion, or an acid peel. Citrus fruits, berries, melons, and peppers are all good sources. A spicy salsa with hot peppers and lime juice can be a real skin saver.
Some of my favorite beauty-enhancing recipes from my FoodTrients® cookbook are my Turmeric Orange Juice, and Papaya Salsa. I recently wrote a blog about foods that help you look younger if you’d like more suggestions.
Vitamin A boosts the production of collagen, which strengthens skin and hair. Orange and yellow fruits and veggies are rich sources of carotenoids. I love mangos, papayas, jackfruit, and sweet potatoes. My Sweet Potato and Jackfruit Delight and Mango Tapioca recipes help build collagen and keep your skin young. Kale, spinach, and moringa leaves are also good sources of carotenoids, which convert to Vitamin A in our bodies.
BB: What are your favorite power drinks or smoothies
Grace O: I like to drink raw coconut water if I don’t have time to make my own juice or smoothies. Good coconut water is very hydrating and that helps your skin. I also detox with cold pressed juices when I need to.
My recipe for Mind and Beauty Juice blend is specifically formulated to help the skin look young and beautiful while protecting the mind. I use my Blendtec® Tabletop Total Blender to pulverize the carrots, cantaloupe, and cucumber. Carrots and melons have carotenoids, an antioxidant that fights skin aging. Cucumbers have silica, a mineral that helps skin retain moisture. I add a raw egg white for its collagen-building strength and its choline which supports healthy brain function. And I stir in nutritious green tea because its catechins will help keep teeth cavity-free and brains sharp.
If you’re looking for an age-defying and delicious smoothie, you might want to try my Blueberry Hemp-Milk Smoothie. Hemp is the natural fiber from the stalk of a cannabis plant. Hemp seeds and the hemp milk made from them are beneficial to your skin. The Omega-3 fatty acids in hemp seeds help keep skin hydrated and reduce inflammation. Blueberries have tons of antioxidant power and contain protective anthocyanins.
BB: How do you maintain the Balanced Babe lifestyle?
Grace O: Friends and faith help get me through all of the big and small stresses in my life. I spend time every day meditating, praying and reflecting on all of the blessings I have in my life.
BB: Any exciting plans coming up that you’d like to share?
Grace O: After I finished the Age GRACEfully Cookbook, I had so many more ideas for age-defying recipes that I immediately started working on a new cookbook. It’s called the Age Beautifully Cookbook: Easy and Exotic Longevity Secrets from Around the World, and it will be out this spring.
(All photos sourced from FoodTrients)