We‘ve been enjoying organic foods since a month ago.
Because we care for our health and also organic foods taste more delicious than normal vegetables.
Recently, I really feel the famous quote
“ You are what you eat. “
is true.
Although healthy life comes from balance between mind, body, skin care, good night sleep and activities besides food life .
Health is a treasure.
Also I realized that “ good blood circulation” is one of the most important key to keep healthy and look young skin.
After being amazed to see Styx’s ageless Tommy Shaw on TV, I started searching about “secret of youth “.
He looks so much younger than his age.
Also, there was an interview with Styx on CNN in the morning about a week ago and they talked about what they think are the keys to longevity and a healthy life.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/04/23/exp-kyra-phillips-age-against-the-machine.cnn
It was interesting to see all the Styx members stories about how they keep their health.
Especially I was curious to know about Tommy Shaw’s secret of youth.
What he said is that he quit smoking, and also alcohol.
He eats organic foods.
They showed his wife and him planting vegetables, fruit trees in their garden near their house, and his cooking.
I think he said the fruit tree was a black fig tree . He talked about how he slowly, over time, quit all the junk foods and soda.
Maybe he is also making his original coffee beans ? I saw his original coffee somewhere in a photo, and it looked delicious.
Like some kind of creamy cappuccino.
Also the bass player Chuck Panozzo who had some health issues, including cancer, but still keeps playing music and touring with the band, as often as his health allows him.
He said he didn’t retire because music is his best medicine. He said it’s the reason he is still here.
Keep having happy feelings can create an illness free life.
I love seeing Styx member’s interview.
I suppose their life might be ideal for many musicians.
Success is not one big hit, then finish, but keep continuing with joy as long as possible.
There are also many stars who looks successful and achieved their dream but they don’t look happy.
When thinking about all these kinds of deep things, I think the Styx band members are knowing what is important in life, from their experience.
Their interviews are humble, funny and also calm, appreciating their position and nothing against anything.
So I feel comfortable watching them.
Wise.
Back to the story about healthy living,
Eating organic foods, doing what you love and avoiding alcohol and smoking are one of the common things for people who are aging well , keeping their healthy living and youthful look.
When they showed Tommy Shaw and his wife Jeanne ‘s garden where they are planting their vegetables, Tommy said they discovered new way to live healthy by eat these organic foods.
It reminded me of Ray’s grandfather who lived long and healthy and was gardening and planting organic vegetables and fruits.
He was eating these foods, and drinking root beer drink. Ray said he was the most healthy and lived longest among his relatives.
He seems didn’t have much wrinkles until at the age of 80.
I also found a site where there are many info about beautiful Japanese celebrities, their own beauty & health care.
Common things I found are, they all eat organic vegetables as a main dish, and not eating junk foods or snacks .
And they do exercise like Yoga, Pilate, or ballet every day.
Cosmetics they are using are variety, there is a platinum roller which seems good for aging issues like sagging skin & wrinkles.
The platinum roller is used by most of aging beautiful celebrities and is very popular.
Needless to say they also protect their skin from sun, by putting on sun screen , cover their face with hat, clothes, or black umbrellas.
I did notice that many American people don’t use an umbrella to protect their skin from strong sun , and UV blocking umbrellas also are not even sold anywhere here, unlike Japan.
Sun is one of the most dangerous and bad for skin, but everyone here seems to love getting sun tan , not only young people but senior people as well.
I think people need to note that too much sun causes many skin issues like - dark spots, freckles , and damaging their skin.
The more you get sun tan, the more it increases our skin age.
Especially our place Arizona is the sunniest place in the USA, so I often wear long sleeve black shirt which cover most of my skin, and putting on sun screen for my hands when I go out unless it’s too hot.
I started avoiding to get sun tan since I was around 26.
Because I’ve heard that later it influences our skin if we continue getting tan every year.
Celebrities and others who are keeping their skin young, the thing they have in common is that they are not getting sun tan after their late 20S.
My interest is mainly in celebrities who are keeping their age well from late 40S to 60S.
For cosmetics, I have super sensitive skin for my face so I can’t jump into test a new one easily even if the item has good reviews.
I’ve been looking for good cosmetics which work for my face skin, have tested from luxury cosmetics to affordable organic cosmetics, to organic oils ( such as extra virgin olive oil, etc.. ).
But finally I’m settling down with Burt’s Bees skin cream which has Royal Jelly and many other natural ingredients which are good for skin.
Thank you to my friend who told me about it.
This works like magic for my skin, which is super dry.
I also realized that women’s age between 50S to 60S maybe the most changeable season because of hormones.
My mother had been always too skinny with super flat belly and no extra or bit of meat.
So, as she got older, she had difficulty looking younger than her actual age and she developed sagging skin in her face though she didn’t have wrinkles.
Her gray hair started increasing since she was in her 30S.
I was seeing her everyday, so I didn’t notice the change of her age. However, for my relatives who I met once a year, or sometimes once every three or four years , it was clear .
They were all attractive ladies who cared about their looks until when they were in their 50‘s.
Then, upon reaching their 50’s, their skin, hair, body, everything, their look suddenly changed, and I was wondering why.
I’ve never paid attention for hormones until now and I ’m very interested in how hormones influences our health and look.
But depending on the person, it seems different, some didn’t get much change, but slowly to get old.
I understand we can delay our age depending on our life style.
To keep good hormone balance, and also for my healthy life, I take these natural supplements and herbs every day below,
Ginkgo, Lecithin, Fo ti, ( or sometimes Black Cohosh ), CoQ10.
These are my favorites !
Both my parents passed away, my father was from apoplexy and my mother was Parkinson’s disease , so I specially care for brain health. ( Ginkgo and Lecithin )
One of famous Japanese doctors who is 100 years old now ( 2012 ) ( Dr. Hinohara ), living healthy, seems also to recommend Lecithin for health, it also reduces high cholesterol.
Also Fo ti , this is our top favorite natural herb, because mentally it helps to balance our feeling, remove stress , fixing my hormone balance and calm down plus good for gray hair and hair loss.
This herb helped me to quit smoking. Its already past 1 year and half since I quite cigarettes.
Ray takes more natural herbs which can relieve his allergy and also herbs which are good for heart besides these herbs above.
Funny thing is he still has to show his ID to buy lottery tickets or alcohol. And whenever he shows his ID, the cashiers always look shocked when they found out how old Ray is.
For foods, what we often eat are below,
Broccoli, mushroom, green beans, onion, green onion, tomato, red pepper, asparagus, Grapes, Tofu, Spinach, Napa, orange ( or grapefruits ), apples, kiwi , lemon. Sometimes we eat strawberry. Seaweeds.
Extra Virgin Olive oil, Extra virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, basil leaf, sea salt, sesame seed, ginger, garlic , cinnamon, organic wild flower honey.
For meat, Chicken breast or turkey
For fish, Salmon, Tuna, Tilapia Fillet, ( I was eating many kind of fishes when I was in Japan, but it's not easy to get many other fishes here. )
We don’t eat certain foods which can be cause of disease , cancer or stroke or whatever, such as sausage, bacon, burned part , fat, or junk foods ( hamburgers ) anymore.
For exercise,
Walking, dancing, stretch or yoga ( sometimes swimming )
I will add almond or nuts , carrots , Vitamin C , E supplements.
And slowly to have all organic including shampoo and soap.