Tips for Healthy Eating & Healthy Aging
Healthy eating begins with you! Getting the right nutrients in your body can help you stay active and independent. You’ll also spend less time and money at the doctor. This is especially true if you have a chronic condition such as diabetes or heart disease.
A healthy diet and lifestyle are your best weapons against age-related diseases. The key to healthy eating is the balance, variety, and moderation. That means eating a wide variety of foods without getting too many calories or too much of any one nutrient is very important. These tips can help you follow that advice, while still enjoying the foods you eat.
Live an Active Life
Regular exercise is one of the greatest keys to physical and mental well-being. Living an active life will help you stay fit enough to maintain your independence, to go where you want to, and perform your own activities. Regular exercise may stop or even furnish comfort from many common long-term conditions including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and arthritis to name a few.
Eat a Variety of Foods
You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Food must be selected that includes choices of vegetables, dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, and other protein foods.
Nuts
Eating nuts, as part of a balanced diet, can add years to your life by helping prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline. Nuts carry both mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and both compounds have been associated with reducing heart diseases and type 2 diabetes risk. Because all vascular factors have been related to cognition, nuts may have the potential to slow cognitive decline in older adults.
Exercise and Aging Well
As we age, exercise becomes more important than ever. It gives us energy, helps to maintain independence, and can benefit already-existing diseases and pain. Exercise is good for both the body and brain. It enhances memory and mood, maintains or helps with weight loss, and strengthens mobility, flexibility, and balance. Regular exercise can also help with sleep, reduce the impact of illnesses, manages pain, and builds self-confidence. Regardless of your current health condition, there are exercise that can benefit everyone.
Figs
Figs are wealthy with flavonoids and polyphenols, which have strong antioxidant properties that can help prevent various oxidation stress-related medical conditions such as hepatic and neuro-degeneration issues.
Aim for Balance and Variety
Your body needs a variety of nutrients to function at its best including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. A healthy diet offers a balance of these nutrients. Each day, try to consume a combination of:
- A Variety of Vegetables
- A Variety of Fruits
- Whole Grains
- Plant Oils
- A Variety of Proteins
- Water
Concentrate on Calcium
Getting enough calcium and vitamin D can help prevent osteoporosis, the leading cause of bone fractures in older adults. If you’re 50 or older, you need 1,200 mg of calcium. Good origins of calcium include low-fat dairy products, calcium-fortified soy milk and orange juice, and fish with edible bones, like canned salmon or sardines. Other food sources of calcium include dark green vegetables such as kale, broccoli, and okra.
Eat Three Meals Daily
Older adults may be eating alone, with a spouse at home, or in their retirement or long-term care home. Wherever their meals take place, it is crucial to ensure they are receiving three meals daily. Regularity in meals helps to ensure that we are receiving adequate nourishment. Be sure to avoid skipping meals, even if you have a low appetite. Ideally, try not to go longer than 4-6 hours without having something to eat.
Healthy eating is a key factor for healthy aging. Remember to treat your body well and nourish it according to your age and health status. What you do today will help to make your future a healthy one!