Eating healthy is important at any age, but it becomes even more essential to nourish our bodies properly as we age. According to the National Council on Aging, “Giving your body the right nutrients and maintaining a healthy weight can help you stay active and independent.”
A healthy diet is also essential for those who suffer from chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease.
But even those who are active and already eating a healthy diet may need to pay closer attention to what they eat as they age. The aging process causes metabolism to slow down, so we need fewer calories to maintain a healthy weight. Older adults also require an abundance of specific nutrients to maintain health and vitality and stay active and independent.
So what should you eat? How do you ensure you get the vitamins and minerals that support a healthy and active life? We’ve put together some great tips that make it simple to make smarter choices that support a healthy, active lifestyle long into your golden years.
Eat the Right Portions
Before considering what to eat, focusing on portion sizes is important. Visualize each meal as a dinner plate. Properly portioning your meals helps ensure you receive the necessary protein, fiber, and nutrients in balanced amounts.
Half of your plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables, with a variety of colors to provide a range of nutrients. The more color, the better! A colorful selection of fruits and vegetables ensures you get essential nutrients like potassium, vitamins C, D, and B12, and more. These nutrients are more effectively absorbed from food rather than supplements. Great options include avocados, peppers, carrots, spinach, romaine lettuce, and peas.
The other half of your plate should be divided into two quarters. One quarter should contain sources of protein and healthy fats, such as lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy, beans, or legumes. The remaining quarter should include whole grains that offer fiber and other important nutrients, like brown rice.
Remember, a portion of protein is about the size of a deck of playing cards. Keeping portion sizes in mind supports healthy eating habits, maintaining a healthy weight, and overall well-being for older adults.
Avoid Foods That Are Less Nutrient Dense
Now that you know what should be on your plate, let’s discuss foods to limit for maintaining a healthy diet. It’s important to be mindful of the amount of salt, saturated fats, added sugars, and hydrogenated oils in your meals. Many processed foods, such as cookies, cakes, candy, highly processed frozen meals, and fast food, tend to have fewer nutrients and higher amounts of these ingredients.
Consider incorporating more lean turkey, chicken, or fish into your diet while reducing your intake of beef, bacon, and fatty pork products. These choices can contribute to a balanced diet and help manage health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
When purchasing processed foods, take the time to read food labels. This will help you be aware of the levels of hidden sugars, salt, or saturated fats in the foods you consume most often. Staying informed can support healthy eating for seniors and ensure you make nutrient-dense choices to stay active and independent.
Make Healthy Substitutions to Continue Enjoying the Foods You Love
Eating a more nutrient-dense and healthier diet doesn’t have to mean giving up every food you love. Having a piece of cake or a cup of ice cream every now and then isn’t likely to affect your diet that much. It’s more important to consume healthier meals daily. You can often modify many of your favorite dishes to make them healthier.
Video: Adapting Comfort Foods for Health
Love fried chicken? Try removing the skin containing most of the fat, then season the chicken and bake it instead to satisfy your chicken craving with less saturated fats. Love beef tacos with sour cream? Replace the sour cream with low-fat yogurt and the ground beef with ground turkey for a dish with similar flavors and a better variety of nutrients.
You can also cut salt in many of your favorite dishes by adding garlic and other salt-free spices that add plenty of flavor. Cooking with olive oil instead of butter can also help you get the good fats you need in your diet. Try desserts and drinks with sugar substitutes or with no sugar added to cut down on sugar.
The key is to get creative so you can still enjoy many foods you love, while maintaining your health and weight.
Drink Plenty of Water
Water regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, transports vital nutrients that provide energy, and even helps our brains function better. Still, as we age, our bodies actually hold less water than they used to. This is one of the reasons that seniors are much more susceptible to dehydration. Older adults may also not notice thirst as readily as they did when they were younger. Some medications also deplete water in the body.
So, drinking plenty of water is just as crucial a part of healthy eating for seniors as other things, like adding more nutrient-dense foods to your diet. Limit caffeinated beverages whenever possible, as caffeine can contribute to dehydration.
Let Us Help You Navigate Healthy Eating for Seniors
Eating healthy as we age doesn’t have to be difficult. Paying more attention to our portions, eating the right foods, substituting healthier choices for unhealthy ones, and drinking plenty of water can help keep us strong, healthy, and independent for years to come.
Interested in living an active and independent lifestyle, surrounded by a community that feels like home? Check out the Independent Living opportunities at Calvary Homes, where you’ll find well-appointed accommodations, a friendly atmosphere, and delicious food designed with people like you in mind! Contact us today to learn more.