Daily Perricone

Scientists long ago established that exercise greatly reduces both the incidence and severity of age-related degenerative diseases.  But we don’t just want to live longer; we want to extend the number of our healthy years.  We want to stay fit and active with the capacity to enjoy life to its fullest.  Gerontologists refer to this [...]

It’s summertime, and the grilling is easy. Once of the joys of summertime is the barbecue.  Nothing tastes better than food cooked outdoors over an open fire.  But cooking muscle meats and other protein foods at high heats can create carcinogenic chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs).  In addition, Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) are also [...]

The Muscle-Insulin Connection While this concept might sound alien, to protect from muscle loss we need to regulate our insulin levels.  As we age, this becomes a much great challenge because our insulin receptors do not work as well. If we can prevent wild swings in blood sugar, we can avoid an inflammatory response and [...]

Enter new First Lady Michelle Obama, an icon in the making and, in addition to her more serious endeavors, rapidly becoming the darling of the fashion world. Her every move (and clothing choice) is scrutinized under the microscope, photographed and chronicled by a rapt media who simply cannot seem to get enough. And this includes her penchant for going sleeveless.

As a dermatologist, when it comes to their skin, I know that women will invest great sums for topical products, procedures and so forth. If it is the right topical product, with high, efficacious levels of anti-inflammatory antioxidants, they will see beautiful and gratifying results.

There is a little beauty secret that is worth its weight in gold. If women understood that eating a simple inexpensive small can of sardines or salmon (essential to the anti-inflammatory diet) would give them unrivaled radiant skin, with softness and suppleness like nothing else in this world, these foods would fly off the supermarket shelves. You would see a stampede toward the fish aisle. While the extraordinary multi-organ benefits of sardines and wild salmon almost sounds like a fantasy, it is very real. Try the canned salmon and sardines that also contain both skin and bones to experience just a few of the skin, brain, mood, and health and energy benefits of these amazing omega 3, protein, and calcium rich fish.

• Decreased inflammation in all organ systems including skin
• Decreased body fat
• provides ample quantities of high quality fat and protein
• beautifies skin
• elevated mood
• improved brain function
• increased energy
• improve athletic ability
• decrease puffiness
• decrease fine lines and wrinkles
• decrease sagging
• increased radiance and glow
• dramatically improve acne and decrease acne scarring
• improved attention span
• stabilized blood sugar levels
• lowered insulin levels
• healthy serotonin levels
• decreased appetite
• Increased radiance to skin
• healthier immune system
• Increased energy levels
• decreased symptoms and severity of rheumatoid arthritis
• reduced symptoms and severity of chronic skin conditions such as eczema
• decreased stroke and cardiovascular risk
• decreased pain and inflammation in joints

It isn’t only plastic surgery that can give us that sculpted look. Adequate protein is vital, because without protein, we lose contours and definition in our faces. This is another reason why a diet rich in salmon is important for Madonna if she wants to maintain that chiseled look of high cheekbones, well defined jaw line, eye contours, etc.

Avoiding sugary, starchy foods is critical as these types of foods blur our contours, giving our faces a soft, doughy look. In fact, it is always easy to spot a person who is addicted to these type of carbs because they will not have attractive facial contours.

Protein cannot be stored in our bodies. For optimum health and cellular repair we need to have a good source of quality protein at each meal. Women, however, are notorious for not getting enough protein. Unfortunately this lack of protein will show in their faces first. Men, on the other hand, do tend to gravitate toward protein and are more likely to go for a burger or a steak while the women choose a salad—or even worse, a cookie. This is one reason (but not the only one) why men can appear to age better than women.

Wild salmon and other cold water fish are great sources of protein which is necessary to maintain and repair the body—including the skin, on a cellular level. The lack of protein is first visible in the face, even in a young person, but especially as we age.

As many of my readers and viewers know, I am probably the single greatest advocate for adding wild salmon and other omega-3 cold water fish (think sardines, anchovies, halibut, sablefish, trout, etc.) to your daily diet. While it is now widely accepted, with guru’s and experts all over the world writing books and visiting talk shows, the concept of inflammation and the anti-inflammatory diet was initially met with skepticism and ridicule. It all started with the publication of my first book and public television special, The Wrinkle Cure, almost a decade ago, where I introduced salmon as a superb source of anti-inflammatory, anti-aging nutrients, a recurring theme in all of my work.

Wild Salmon contains essential fatty acids and powerful antioxidants such as the carotenoid, astaxanthin, that have important anti-inflammatory properties. My decades of research show that chronic, sub-clinical inflammation is the single greatest precipitator of aging and age-related diseases. These include heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, certain forms of cancer, and wrinkled skin.

Salmon is also probably the world’s most heart healthy source of protein. It is rich in long-chain omega-3 essential fatty acids—the most beneficial kind—which protect heart health, inhibit inflammation, act as natural anti-depressants, increases feelings of well-being, and help keep skin young, supple and radiant.

With the average age of menopause at 51 here in the US, at the age of 50, Madonna, a fan of the anti-inflammatory diet, needs to be sure that her food choices are especially cardio-protective. This is because after menopause, the risk of heart disease in women becomes comparable to the incidence in men. As a physician, I was quite astonished to learn that heart disease kills 10 times as many women as breast cancer.

So eat salmon, be healthy, look great.