Wrinkles, sun spots and dry, saggy skin can be signs of the march of time. Time has a way of imposing a mask on our once youthful-looking face. You only have to look at the sales of expensive lotions or the number of people willing to undergo surgery to realise that, for many people, ageing is a difficult process and many will do anything to reverse the tide. What most of us don’t realise, however, is that the fountain of youth is as close as the nearest organic grocery store.

Our mothers were onto something when they said, “You are what you eat.” The food you put in your body can be the most empowering weapon against the molecular mechanism behind cell degeneration that leads to ageing.

Equipped with keen knowledge of food choices, “Men and women have the power to stop, slow and even reverse the tide of ageing,” says Elizabeth Somer, author of Age-Proof Your Body. “When we analyse each component of ageing, from wrinkles and frail appearance to degenerative diseases, we repeatedly find that it is not age but years of abuse that wear down the body’s ability to regenerate itself.”

Luckily, you can stop the abuse and encourage the repair process with an arsenal of healing foods at your fingertips. There are dozens of “super foods” recommended, but here we will consider some of the least-acknowledged age-defying foods.

Garden variety

Capsicums, cherries, shiitake mushrooms and eggplants are some common foods that you could add to your anti-ageing diet. Fruits and vegetables flush with colourful pigments boost antioxidant levels in your skin to prevent wrinkles.

Antioxidants shield us from the damage inflicted by free radicals. Free radicals can be produced by a multitude of factors, including poor nutrition as well as environmental factors such as UV radiation, pollution, and pesticides — all of which lead to the breakdown of collagen and elastin, the protein structures that give the skin that youthful elasticity.

Ample research has shown that antioxidant super nutrients found in golden yellows, deep purples, dark emeralds and fiery reds neutralise the effects of free radicals and help preserve the skin’s youthful colour and fullness.

Monica Reinagel, nutritionist and author of The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan, agrees: “Stockpiling a strong antioxidant defence and minimising anything that generates free radicals helps slow or even halt free-radical damage to the tissues, thus helping prevent premature ageing and age-related diseases such as heart disease, cancer, arthritis and cataracts.”

Fruit of the sea: seaweed

The benefit of seaweed in your anti-ageing diet begins with the fact that the sea itself is a treasure trove of minerals. Deborah Enos, certified nutritionist and author of Weight a Minute! Transform Your Health in 60 Seconds a Day, says, “All these minerals lodge inside the seaweed, so when you consume it it’s like taking a great, highly available mineral pill.”

Abundant in iodine, calcium and zinc, and with antibiotic and antiviral effects, seaweed helps restore the skin’s youthful qualities by improving circulation and reducing the appearance of cellulite. You can also count on seaweed to alleviate respiratory problems and boost the immune system.

Seaweed as a form of nutrition dates back to prehistoric times. The anti-ageing and healing qualities of seaweed were widely acknowledged in Scandinavia and Japan and by our Mediterranean ancestors living on the coast. Seaweed has been used in Chinese medicine dating as far back as 300BC. Today, in Okinawa, Japan, there are 600 centenarians out of 1.3 million residents, the highest per capita in the world. Their diet is largely a combination of fresh local produce and seaweed. It looks like they are on to something.