Has Debi Mazar’s recent weight loss caused her to look older in the past year? Fitness consultant, Edward Jackowski, said in Star Magazine that

“She looks haggard, probably because she lost the weight through diet only.”

The 43 year old Entourage star says she engages in regular workouts while avoiding fast food, refined sugar, and caffeine. Mr Jackowski speculates she lost about 30 lbs and weighs about 120 pounds. He adds, “when you diet only, you lose muscle tone – and it shows. She looks ancient.”

I personally think that women with some “baby fat” look younger because the extra subcutaneous tissue helps fill out the face, making fine lines and wrinkles less noticeable. A good example of this is Star Jones who lost a tremendous amount of weight through gastric bypass and has looked noticeable older. I disagree that exercise reduces the aging affect weight loss has on the face. People who exercise as they diet are just as likely to have loss of subcutaneous tissue in the face. While exercise will help tone the rest of the body resulting in a more youthful appearance, unfortunately the same cannot be said of the face.

Certified as the oldest man in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records, Tomoji Tanabe, celebrates his 112 birthday.  He lives in Japan and his birthday wish is “I want to live indefinitely. I don’t want to die.”

The Oldest Man Diet

• Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup and seaweed.
• attributes his long life to avoiding alcohol.

Japan has the largest population of centenarians in the world, and this figure is expected to top 30,000 by the end of this month according to the health minister.  Btw, the oldest person in the world is a woman by the name of Yone Minagawa.  She is also Japanese and is 114 years old.

The reason for this burgeoning “over 100″ crowd in Japan is their diet.  It’s low in saturated fats and high in Omega-3 fatty acids.  The diet is also low in refined carbs and sugar.  This is the exact opposite of our Western diet which is high in animal fats, sugar, white flour products and low in veggies and fruits.

Some non-refined food for thought…

My mom was always dishing out the nutritional advice during dinner. I was never sure if she really meant it, or it was some ploy to get me, my brother and sister to finish our plates. One popular refrain included, “Eat your broccoli. It’s good for you”.

It turns out that mom was right.

Broccoli belongs to the cruciferous family of vegetables which also includes arugula, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, collards, kohlrabi, mustard, turnip, red radish and watercress. Cruciferous vegetables are known cancer fighters because they contain powerful antioxidants called organosulfur compounds. Notice the wonderful pepper taste when you eat cruciferous vegetables? These are the organosulfur compounds that are so good for you. Women with the highest levels of these organosulfur compounds had a 50% reduced risk of developing breast cancer. Similarly, men who consume just three or more servings of cruciferous veggies per week had a 41% decreased risk of developing prostate cancer.

So listen to your mom, and eat your broccoli!