Dr Fredric Brandt — of Botox fame — says that just by eliminating sugar from your diet, you can look ten years younger in ten days.

And it isn’t just by losing weight : “In a nutshell, sugar hastens the degradation of elastin and collagen, both key skin proteins. In other words, it actively ages you,” he claims.

In a new book, 10 Minutes/Ten Years: Your Definitive Guide to a Better and Youthful Appearance, Brandt says he saw a remarkable change in his own skin when he dropped sugar from his diet. He lost 20lb in weight, but also gained a new “glow, radiance and elasticity” in his face. Within a year, his body had changed as well.

“I’m really lean and have the body of a teenager, although I’m in my 40s. … Believe me, it’s cheaper than a facelift.”

He continues, “The sugar triggers a process in the body called glycation. This is where the sugar molecules bind to your protein fibres — those wonderfully springy and resilient collagen and elastin fibres — which are the building blocks of skin.”

However, just by overheating starchy foods or grilling them, the sugar content mutates producing Advanced Glycation End products, AGEs, which do immense harm to the skin.

This is quite a complex book, so if you’re really interested in its message, we suggest you read it in detail.

A recent study at Tel Aviv University in Israel, tested 60 volunteers using a brain exercising computer program, MindFit, for 30 minutes, three times a week, and compared them with another 60 playing sophisticated computer games.

The results showed that although all benefited from playing on the computer, those on MindFit had better improvement in short-term learning, visual and spatial learning and focused attention.

These findings are especially relevant to those of a certain age and show that exercise can stave off the reduction of mental faculties. It seems that very few golden agers realize that giving the brain a workout is just as important as physical exercise.

Susan Greenfield, a neurologist and Director of the Royal Institution, is supporting the use of computer brain games to tackle mental decline.

She believes that with no cure for Alzheimer’s disease on the horizon, these exercises are a good way of staving off dementia and keeping the mind alert.

Baronness Greenfield will launch MindFit in the House of Lords in October. She says, “There is now good scientific evidence to show that exercising the brain can slow, delay and protect against age related decline”.

Nintendo, the computer console company, is behind another product, the Brain Training computer game. The Brain-Master keeps the mind agile by testing logical analysis, memory retention, coordination and concentration.

The developer of the software, Professor Ryuta Hawashima of Japan’s Tohonu University, said the games increase the delivery of oxygen, blood and amino acids to the brain, leading to the creation of connections between brain cells.

MindFit is a new rival, developed in Israel and already available in the U.S. Baroness Greenfield is involved with the company producing the software and her name will be used to promote it in Britain, where it will cost £70 ($140).

The software claims to improve short-term memory by 18 percent, eye-hand co-ordination by 16.5 percent, memory recall by 14 percent and reaction time by 12.5 percent.

How to Boost Your Immune System — Part 6

Fresh vegetable and fruit juices are known to boost the immune system. They are packed with super-antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that nourish all parts of the body. They also help in detoxing the body tissues.

Naturopaths recommend different recipes, but here’s a good one that isn’t overloaded with sugars that may disrupt your blood sugar.

Juice equal quantities of :

Carrots
Celery
Winter cabbage or broccoli
Apples
Add ginger to taste.

Consume the juice as soon as it’s made for extra goodness and flavor.

Investing in a good quality juicer, such as the Intojuicer, available from www.intojuice.com, is definitely worthwhile.

Many elderly people believe they are no longer taken seriously as they get older. At times it feels as if they are being treated like children. When that person is the 81 year-old Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, it’s not so easy to patronize her.

ITN is reporting today that the Queen abruptly left a photoshoot at Buckingham Palace when a commissioned photographer, American Annie Leibovitz, asked her to remove her “crown”.

This minor moment of exasperation is now a big story across the media after the BBC released the footage to advertise its autumn schedules.

In the footage, the Queen walks into a room wearing a tiara — not a crown — and the very heavy Order of the Garter robes. Leibovitz then demands, “I think it will look better without the crown because the garter robe is so dressy.”

The astonished Queen icily replied, “Less dressy, what do you think this is?”.

TV cameras apparently follow the Queen leaving the room with an official lifting the enormous train of her blue velvet cape off the floor. The Queen then tells her lady-in-waiting, “I’m not changing anything. I’ve had enough dressing like this thank you very much.”

Leibovitz is famous for taking bizarre pictures of her subjects. She once had Kate Winslet repeatedly dunked in a tank of water, and photographed Clint Eastwood after he had been tied up with ropes.

One hardly dares to imagine what Her Majesty would have replied to either of those requests.

Annie Liebovitz said “She entered the room at a surprisingly fast pace, as fast as the regalia would allow her. “She muttered, ‘Why am I wearing these heavy robes in the middle of the day?’

“She doesn’t really want to get dressed up any more. She just couldn’t be bothered and I admire her for that. When you get to that age you have a right to have those kinds of feelings.”

The Queen was quite right to refuse being “uncrowned” by a photographer, but … oops … the BBC got it totally wrong.

The shot apparently showing the Queen “storming out” was really a shot of her coming in. The storming never happened.

The BBC has since apologized to the Queen. However, the true story is how an elderly lady was treated more like a child than the Monarch she is.