[UPDATED!]
With all due respect to previous queen, Helen Mirren and her fabulous rack, I think we have a new winner here.
It is always a thrill to see someone out there with that Dick Clark Immortality-Factor who is living everything this site hopes to be about.
And as a 59-year-old mother of 2, grandmother of 2, and a girl who Started modeling at 28!, instead of being mid-career, she’s a case-study in good habits meet good genetics.
SO, Takeaways: What can we tease out of what she says in the source-articles about her secrets to eternal youth that are good tips for civilians mortals other people?
-SPOILER!: She says she’s secretly the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, and keeps young by bathing in the blood of 30 virgin girls every Halloween.
All kidding aside, her routine seems both simple and intuitive.
Yazemeenah says she’s eaten Exclusively-Organic food for a very long time, way before it was ever hip to do so. So her body’s pesticide-load might be much lower than a normal person’s.
The jury may still be out on any benefits of Canola Oil (or rapeseed as she calls it, being French) for either hair or skin she applies it to. The only possibilities seem to be its concentrations of Vitamins E, K, and Beta-Sitosterol.
And as far as I’ve read, even the improved-version we now use still has more Omega-6 than any of us need; -at best.
At-Worst, it sounds a little scary, unnaturally-processed, and may often be rancid. I hope Yazemeenah at-least gets the cold-expeller-pressed variety.
UPDATE-10/30/15!: Both J. Oliver below and Yazemeenah on Facebook note that it’s Grapeseed, not Canola (or rapeseed) oil that she uses (old internet typo). -That sounds much better.
Note, that as a Seed-Derived-Oil, Grapeseed has many of the same exact cautions as Canola.
Unless it is Cold/Expeller-Pressed, it will very likely have the same processing problems with heat, solvents & rancidity. BUT!:She also notes on Facebook that she puts her oils in the fridge and probably gets the Organic version.
And while several sources say many beneficial components in wine are not in the oil, many others cite a certain magic about it.
Everything from bringing a very light-but-persistent moisture, to dark-circle reduction, to increased fading of scars & blemishes has been associated with Grapeseed oil.
This might be just the high-ish Vitamin E content, but maybe some other beneficial stuff really does make it in there… (Even Emma Stone agrees.)
–Either way, it is packed with unhealthy Omega-6s and Polyunsaturated Fats so whatever you do, don’t ever eat the stuff!!!
On Other Skin Issues:
It sounds like she keeps her skin looking young and well-hydrated by Exfoliating with fine Sugar and Olive-Oil every week.
It’s probably better than Canola Oil, Vitamins E&K in olive oil, along with natural antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, & 30 different phenols may help her skin, too. Although there is at least one study that debates this.
The Avocado she eats every day sounds like a fantastic way to get tons of healthy Omega-3 fats, fiber, and micronutrients. Dr. Joel Fuhrman would probably be ecstatic to hear of her doing this. She would also be getting plenty of potassium, magnesium & Vitamin C, all in a very slow-release/high-absorption format, due to all the fat in the fruit.
Another thing she said in her comments was interesting: She said she exercised a little, but not a ton; and by-inference, she emphasized her total caloric intake much more.
By that score, she might be what nutritionists call a “Natural Eater”, someone who is a little better at knowing what to eat, and more-importantly, When To Stop.
Because, as it’s been said many times, your ability to overeat MASSIVELY outweighs your body’s ability to burn off the calories, short of Christian Bale-levels of exercise.
Again, it’s hard to tell from the short excerpts, but Yazemeenah also mentions getting lean protein via organic meat & fish.
-Which, if she ate frequently-enough might help keep what muscle-mass she has in better stead than a girl who overdoes the yogurt and salad routine.
This is especially-important, as women carry 30% less muscle mass than men, and muscle is Key to maintaining a high metabolism to burn off the calories, and holding the convexities of your shape together over time.
No word on what her carbohydrate, alcohol, or even fast-carbohydrate intake is like. Let’s assume all three are probably very low.
One final point she mentions is along the lines of not taking any OTC or Prescription Drugs if she can help it. She likes to let her own body sort things out as much as possible.
Whether or not this idea is wise, depending on how broadly she applies it, may be questionable. But on the other hand, she might end up with fewer consequential side-effects in hormones/biochemistry than someone who doesn’t adopt this policy.
Who knows if there are any other factors to her prolonged-youth that have been overlooked. Maybe she’s a fantastic sleeper? Maybe her hormones have never been out-of-balance because she’s never been fat?
UPDATE: Wrong! On the other Facebook thread, She says she gained almost 60lbs in at-least one pregnancy and was once 2x her current weight. So again after pregnancy, the Instinctive-Eater part seems to have taken-over.
The rest would be interesting to speculate, because philosophically, she seems to have a fair bit in-common with many people who don’t manage to have her black-magic-youth at-all.
-Or maybe (btw, JUMP BONUS!) it really is something like Countess Bathory after all…
Check out the details at the Links:
Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Yazemeenah Rossi
Links:
• Source: Bored Panda
• More Coverage: DailyMail | Yazemeenah on Facebook 1 | Yazemeenah on Facebook 2 | Emma Stone Digs The Grapeseed Oil, Too
Just a couple of corrections to the above article from Yasmina (who now goes by the name “Yazemeenah Rossi”): she started modeling at the age of 28, not 20, and she uses Grapeseed oil (with a “G”; not canola “rapeseed oil”; that’s from a typo long ago) on her hair and skin.
Thanks very much for the notes, J.Oliver!
I’ll mark those corrections in.
The -G-rapeseed oil one is a particularly good note, as Livestrong makes it sound pretty great.
Great notes!