There are many good ways to shed extra pounds, but there are only a handful of good ways to lose weight and reverse aging. Many people don’t understand the amount of stresses extra weight places on their bodies. Excess weight significantly increases your chances of having illness and disease, such as Diabetes, Cancer, heart attack, and high blood pressure. It also stresses your joints and can cause lifelong joint damage.

One of the best ways to lose weight and fight the aging battle is to consume more raw, fresh foods and juices. The raw food diet has been considered one of the best ways to look more youthful and stay healthy longer. A typical American however, only eats an average of three salads a week. It’s simply not enough to get the benefits that raw foods can provide.

Consuming 50% of your diet from raw food is a good starting point. Eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fresh juices and include them daily. Raw foods contain enzymes that are needed in every cell of your body. When your body doesn’t have the enzymes it needs, it borrows them from the rest of your body. That leaves your body depleted. Eating lots of raw foods helps maintain your healthy body and by keeping plenty of extra enzymes on hand.

Besides eating only raw foods, there are also a variety of other things you can do to reverse aging and get rid of excess weight. Increase the amounts of gel forming fiber in your diet by boosting your intake of flax seeds, oats, whole grains, and brown rice. If you need even more fiber, take a fiber supplement. Increased fiber promotes regular elimination, which helps remove waste products, including fats and toxins, from your body. Removing toxins from your body also helps clarify your skin and reduce wrinkles.

Drinking plenty of fresh water is also vital to any weight loss plan. Water helps remove fat cells from your body. When you don’t get enough water, your body holds onto the water it has, which only increases your chance of having stubborn fat that’s hard to get rid of. It also increases edema and puffy eyes. Water also helps keep your skin soft and plump.

Avoid sugars and refined products that include cookies, ice creams, and candy bars. Sugar is highly addictive and makes you crave more once you’ve given into it. If you can take sugar out of your diet completely for one week, that’s a good start, then only use sugar substitutes sparingly.

Consume more cabbage and yogurt. Both have digestive enzymes called probiotics, which help with elimination. You should also consume Olive Oil regularly. Cold pressed olive oils are plentiful in essential Omega fats that your body needs to function properly. Cold pressed olive oil also assists in better circulation and helps relieve constipation in many cases. You might also consider taking fish oil or cod liver oil gel caps, which also have Omega fatty acids. Fatty acids are essential to healthy hair, skin, and nails.

These are just a few ideas to lose weight and reverse aging. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so do one or two things everyday to make it a better day than the day before. Food habits happen over a lifetime and take some time to change. Give yourself the time and love you deserve, so you’ll be healthier and look younger!