Mom Hack—Cooking with this secret ingredient Will drastically Slow the way we aGE.
POV you’re worried you’re aging too fast. We feel ya!
As moms in our 40s, the signs of aging have made their big debut, and we figured it’s about time we lean into aging gracefully. Yes, we know—mustn't have ignored simple life habits in our 20s like hydrating and applying sunscreen. Alas here we are. Thankfully nutrition scientist and dietitian Dr. Michelle Davenport is too. Dr. Davenport teaches over 200,000 moms on Instagram how to slow the aging process with one simple (and free!) ingredient we all have at home—water! Using water-based cooking methods rooted in her own family recipes, Dr. Davenport merges the latest science on slow aging, also known as AGEs with the art of traditional cooking.
So, grab a glass of H2O and read on—your new anti-aging routine starts now.
Mother Knows Best // Slow-Aging with
Dr. Michelle Davenport
First things first—AGE KUs. What are they and why do they matter?
AGE kUs are short for advanced glycation end products (AGEs) measured in kilo units. I know it’s a mouthful. But it’s basically a way for scientists to measure how much of these aging compounds called AGEs exist in different things - our food, our skin, our blood. You can measure them in many places.
It is remarkably easy to better your health just by changing your cooking method - this is the motivation behind my work on Instagram and what keeps me going with my content.
There is no definitive number for AGE intake, but some studies have referenced 15,000 AGEs/day as an average. This number sprang up out of a study where they looked at the average consumption of AGEs in NYC. It is not a recommendation.
To give you context, you can consume over 17,000 AGEs just from eating a single Big Mac at McDonald's. Conversely, a beef stew contains less than 1,000 AGEs. Both beef, completely different numbers.
The goal is to be under 8,000 AGEs/day, but you don’t have to count to get there. I don’t even count most of the time. The best way to reach that goal is to opt for low AGE foods, like water-based cooking.
Ok so seriously, how much anti-aging we talking when it comes to swapping out high and dry heat cooking for water-based cooking? Tell us the science!
Switching from high, dry-heat cooking (like frying, roasting, or grilling) to water-based methods (like steaming, boiling, or braising) can significantly reduce advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in food, which are compounds that accelerate aging at the cellular level. Studies show that diets lower in AGEs improve insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, and enhance skin elasticity—all key factors in slowing down metabolic and structural aging. There is a long list of chronic diseases that are driven by AGEs such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, PCOS and others that we lower our risk for with this change. In fact, research on AGE-restricted diets has linked them to better glucose control, lower oxidative stress, and even potential longevity benefits. So while it won’t make you immortal, cutting back on AGEs through cooking is one of the most science-backed, practical slow aging (I’m not a fan of the term anti-aging) moves you can make.
Soooo are you saying Bacon and BBQs are out?
I’m married to a guy who loves barbecue! The way this man’s face lit up when I said sure, let’s go to a steakhouse for your bday! Lol There are so many hidden tricks for low AGE cooking that still taste great, like marinating with an acid before grilling, steam frying, going plant heavy—knowing about which foods make the least amount of AGEs with dry heat. As a wife to bbq man and mom of two very athletic kids, I want to make sure that everyone gets great nutrition. But I would say my main priority for my kids is that they cultivate a beautiful, healthy relationship with food. It’s more about adding to, not taking away.
You are a mom to 2 little ones. Do you cook differently for them?
What does a typical meal or snack look like?
A lot of our family meals lean toward an Asian palate, but you can cook this way no matter what kind of food you like. My kids also love soups, so that makes my low AGEs cooking pretty easy.
Breakfast: custard oatmeal with cacao dust and lots of berries
Lunch: Onigiri rice balls with tuna or meat inside, cucumber sticks, steamed broccolini and fruit.
Snack: Cut fruit and cheese
Dinner: Some kind of water based cooked meal, such as a beef noodle soup or chicken oyakodon with bok choy from my garden.
As your kids reach the era of junk food—birthday parties, post-game snacks and playdates, how do you protect the nutritional values you've worked so hard to instill while not making him feel left out or deprived of the "fun?"
Sometimes it’s unavoidable, and in those cases I say, oh well. But for the most part, my kids are pretty good about spotting which foods are good for them. Instead of just saying no, I try to teach them about why we should avoid certain foods. We have a lot of talks about food, what labels mean, how to read labels, the science behind things. They probably know more about nutrition than the average person at this point, whether they want to know it or not. Ha! I’m not always around to tell them what to eat so I want them to learn how to make good food choices.
Scroll to the bottom of article for full recipe
Not gonna to lie, it does feel just a little daunting changing up our cooking habits. Where is the best place to start? Do we need special tools? What is one meal we can cook today that kids, moms and dads alike will love?
The funny thing is, water-based cooking is the easiest thing in the world for me because it’s the way I grew up eating. So much of Vietnamese and Asian cuisine is rooted in a strong broth culture. There’s a broth for every occasion. Cooking with water is one of the oldest ways to cook, and if you look around the world practically every culture has its own way of doing it.
My entire Instagram is dedicated to helping people recenter their definitions of healthy eating through cooking.
For so long we've focused on what to eat and not how to cook. When I first started researching this topic over a decade ago (I am a dietitian and former scientist and no longer in the lab now), I was floored by how closely the recommendations for a low AGE diet matched with the cultural foods I grew up eating. Much of a traditional Vietnamese diet is rooted in water-based cooking, acid marination, lots of spices and a high anti-inflammatory assortment of plants. That's when I realized most traditional diets (the older the cuisine, the better), are rooted in this way of cooking! It is not a purely Asian diet phenomenon - it's just that I like to teach through cooking, and most of the recipes I know by heart are ones from my family. So I would encourage people to look deep into the foods that they love. Find the recipes that speak to your heart. Look inwards to find the old soups and stews and old ways of cooking that your grandmothers or great-grandmothers used to prepare. I don't think it's a matter of adopting new habits, but instead finding the old ones that we have forgotten. And for people who don't have this within their family, all is not lost - you can always adapt recipes to make them your own! This is the beauty of the internet.
“ Look inwards to find the old soups and stews and old ways of cooking that your grandmothers or great-grandmothers used to prepare. ”
For more recipes and tips from Dr. Michelle Davenport, hit up her Instagram @drmichelledavenport
Here is the most luscious and satisfying Matcha custard Oatmeal recipe. I make it for my kids at least once a week in a big batch and it disappears promptly within two days. It took me about a year to perfect this recipe, which is inspired by crème anglaise.
Ingredients
4 cups filtered water
1 cup rolled oats
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1 cup milk of your choice (I alternate between soy milk and regular milk)
Directions
1. Cook oatmeal until soft, about 20 minutes. (You can also make this in an instant pot or slow cooker overnight.)
2. Mix 3 eggs, milk and vanilla paste until smooth in a separate medium—sized bowl.
3. Add the hot oatmeal, 1 ladle at a time, to the egg mixture. Mix after each addition. You’re tempering the eggs here so it won’t overcook.
4. Once all the oatmeal has been mixed in, return the entire batch to the pot and cook on the stove for an additional minute.
5. Optional: Dust with matcha and top with berries before serving
xo
Dr. Michelle
