The science is clear: Eating the right foods leads to a longer, healthier life.
But some people find it difficult to eat right as they age, for a variety of reasons. Maybe they don’t have much of an appetite. Maybe they have trouble cooking or eating. Maybe they don’t know what is healthy. Or maybe they like but just don’t like kale.
“Did you know you can live a long and healthy life without even eating a piece of kale?
She’s all about finding healthy foods you love and building on them.
“If you’re eating foods you enjoy, you’re more likely to stick with it. You’re not going to force yourself to stick with it for four days and then go out and eat a double cheeseburger,” Rock says.
But it’s not just about finding the right food. You also need to eat them in moderation, notes Michelle Bellantoni of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
“This looks like the best calorie [for most older adults] will be 1,800 [a day],” she said. “To successfully age, we think about the entire body, not just specific organs. “
Many foods are particularly beneficial to certain parts of the body. Bellantoni recommends breaking down those 1,800 calories into protein for your muscles, calcium for your bones, and a basic diet for a healthy heart.
This approach can do a lot for you.
A basic heart-healthy diet can help you manage your weight. This is important because more than one-third of people aged 65 and older are obese. This can lead to diabetes, certain cancers, and heart disease.
A heart-healthy diet includes:
- fruits and vegetables
- whole grains
- Low-fat dairy products such as yogurt and cheese
- skinless poultry
- a lot of fish
- Nuts and legumes
- Non-tropical vegetable oils (olive, corn, peanut, and safflower)
Salmon and other fish, such as trout and herring, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce the chance of heart disease and may help treat high blood pressure, among other things. Aim for two servings per week.
The fiber in vegetables and whole grains can also help reduce your likelihood of cardiovascular disease. It aids digestion and may help maintain regularity, which can be a problem for some older adults.
No one food can help your heart. You need a complete, healthy diet.
“If you eat a lot of fish, but on top of that you’re living on ice cream and candy and stuff like that,” Locke said, “that’s not going to save you.”
Memory loss is a major concern for some older adults and has been linked to factors such as vitamin B12 deficiency. You can get it at:
- meat
- fish
- dairy
- some breakfast cereal
Alzheimer’s disease is associated with chronic inflammation, which can be caused by foods such as white bread, chips, red meat, sugary drinks and margarine.
Scientists are still studying the connection between certain foods and brain health.
“I don’t want to identify one specific food that will prevent memory loss. I might tell someone that if you want your body to function well, some fruit and antioxidants are going to be better for you than another piece of cake,” says University of Washington Nutritional Sciences said Dr. Adam Drewnowski, Program Director.
Antioxidants, found in many vegetables and fruits like blueberries, can help relieve inflammation. They can also help you eliminate some harmful substances called free radicals, which are produced when your body converts food into energy.
Again, it’s important to realize that good brain health may be as much about what you don’t eat as it is about what you do.
“Your brain runs on blood flow, just like your heart,” Locke said. “So if you eat a lot of saturated fat, you’re less likely to have those clean arteries to provide blood to brain tissue.”
Try including tomatoes, blueberries, green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, turmeric and nuts (especially walnuts) in your diet. The omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon and other oily fish also have anti-inflammatory properties.
They always break down and rebuild again – that’s how your body works. As you age, you need more protein for the rebuilding process.
“If you don’t get enough protein, you’ll be breaking it down more than you’re rebuilding it,” Rock says.
Low-fat or non-fat yogurt, cheese, milk, lean meats, fish, other seafood and legumes can help solve this problem. Eggs are also an excellent source of protein, and they don’t contain the saturated fat that meat does. Rock says there’s no need to worry about the cholesterol in eggs. Your body doesn’t absorb it well.
Older adults need calcium because it promotes healthy bone growth. Yogurt, low-fat cheese and milk are all good sources.
You have to be careful, though, as too much can cause constipation. Talk to your doctor or nutritionist about what’s best for you.
It’s also important to get enough vitamin D, as this helps your body use calcium. But it’s not always easy.
“The risk of low vitamin D in older adults is a challenge because not many foods are rich in vitamin D,” said Stephen Anton, Ph.D., of the Department of Aging and Geriatric Studies at New York University.
Calcium and vitamin D are found in fortified foods, fish such as salmon, and dairy products.
