There are many ways women go about looking younger than their years, from makeup methods to skin care secrets to hair hacks.
But as the saying goes, you are what you eat, and the importance of a healthy diet cannot be overlooked in the pursuit of turning back the clock. A celebrity nutrition and fitness expert has advised people who want to look younger to start consuming more dark chocolate.
JJ Virgin said on YouTube: "The secret to staying young can be found right in your kitchen.
"These are the nine anti-ageing foods you'll want to make sure you're eating every day to support your skin health and retain that youthful glow. The best news is, these are foods you're going to actually like."
Dark chocolate could be 'the secret to staying young'
GETTY IMAGESThe expert spoke all about the common kitchen staple that promises glowing skin, packed with omega-3 fatty acids.
She also shared the daily dessert to enjoy for an ageless complexion: dark chocolate - and ideally the organic variety.
JJ Virgin said: "The first thing, of course, with dark chocolate is you want one with a high cacao content - I'm looking for 85 per cent cacao or higher.
"I've actually found ones that are 90, 99 per cent, even 100 per cent cacao, so see what the highest is that you can actually still enjoy and tolerate and go for that."
"And you really want it sweetened - ideally - with allulose or stevia or erythritol or monk fruit, and if it does have sugar, the limit is five grams per serving."
Speaking about serving size, the nutrition expert confirmed that this should not be a whole bar.
Instead, she recommended consuming around one to two ounces per day (around 28.3 grams to 56.6 grams).
Top anti-ageing foods
- Proteins
- Fish
- Olive oil
- Blueberries
- Brocolli
- Green tea
- Turmeric
- Coffee
- Dark chocolate
- Bone broth
As for what makes dark chocolate so great for anti-ageing, the expert explained that they are packed full of antioxidants, particularly flavenols (a type of flavenoid). She explained that these can "protect against sun damage and wrinkles".
An article published in the National Library of Medicine corroborated this. In a piece called Nutritional protection against skin damage from sunlight, experts said flavonaoids, among others, provide "dietary protection" and contribute to "maintenance resistance as part of lifelong protection".
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The expert recommended consuming around one to two ounces per day
GETTY IMAGES
JJ added: "It can also improve blood flow to the top layer of the skin, which keeps it from drying out and getting wrinkles."
The experts at ZOE also pointed to the skin-boosting benefits of dark chocolate. They said: "Antioxidants are great skin defenders, and some studies suggest that eating dark chocolate that's rich in flavanols could help to protect your skin from UV light damage, as well as have a positive effect on wrinkles and skin elasticity."
One way JJ ensures she keeps up her cacao consumption is by adding a scoop of it to her morning coffee.
She said: "I have a dark chocolate mocha every day and I totally love it."
Women can also eat their way to fabulous hair. Ladies in their 50s can improve their locks by eating more of one food group - and it's "really simple to do".
