Healthy Eating Tips For Seniors

Remember the old saying, you are what you eat? Try to make it your motto. When you eat a variety of colorful fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins you’ll feel vibrant and healthy, inside and out.

For seniors, the benefits of a healthy eating habit include mental alertness, resistance to illness, increased energy levels and faster recuperation times. As we get older, eating healthy can also be the key to a positive attitude and keeping emotionally balanced. But healthy eating doesn’t have to be dieting and sacrificing. Eating well is all about fresh, colorful food and creativity in the kitchen:

Choose to eat whole fruits over fruit juices as they contain more fiber and vitamins. The darker the greens, the more antioxidants they contain. Greens such as kale, spinach and broccoli are excellent sources. Orange vegetables such as carrots, squash and yams are also very vitamin-rich. Try to eat 2 cups of veggies every day.

Calcium is imperative for maintaining healthy bones and warding off osteoporosis and bone fractures. Seniors need around 1200mg per day. Milk and dairy products such as yogurt and cheese are excellent sources. You can also get your daily calcium fix through non-dairy sources such as broccoli, almonds, kale and tofu.

When it comes to carbs, choose whole grains over processed white flour products for more fiber and nutrients. Try to add whole grain breads and pasta products to your diet.

Protein is very important for maintaining muscle mass. The human body starts to gradually lose muscle mass starting at the age of 30. Seniors need about 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. Simply divide your bodyweight in half to know how many grams you need.  Fish, beans, peas, nuts, eggs, milk, cheese, and seeds are all excellent sources of protein.

As we know, the human body is mainly composed of water. Seniors are prone to dehydration because our sense of thirst dulls as we age.  Add little sticky-notes to your apartment reminding you to sip on your water every hour to avoid chronic dehydration.  Drinking sufficient water is also important to avoid constipation and maintaining a healthy digestion.

Try to avoid hidden sugars. Many canned and processed products contain hidden sugars. Make yourself familiar and check the labels for different terms for sugar such as corn syrup, molasses, brown rice syrup, cane juice, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, or maltose.

Avoid too much salt: Often taste and smell diminishes as we age. Seniors tend to lose the ability to taste salty flavors and therefore tend to add too much salt to compensate. Try to use other spices, herbs and healthy oils such as olive oil to season your food.

Cook smart: The best way to prepare veggies is by steaming or sautéing in olive oil to preserve its nutrients.