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Healthy eating as you age
Healthy eating as you age ByRuby Harfield
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RIGHT: DieticianTina Amblersays people often don’t needtomake drastic changestomake abig difference in their diets. BELOW: A visualofa balanced Mediterranean diet. Photos/Supplied
It’s importanttomaintaina healthy and balanced diet to help prevent age related diseases.
The ageing processcarries risksfor developinga number of conditions associated withgetting oldersuch as cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure andstroke, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, neurological diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer’sanda range of cancers.
Dietician Tina Ambler said there are a number of things youcan change to yourfood intake to assist with staying as healthy as youcan and possiblyreduce the development of some of these health conditions.
“We know that maintaining some physical activity anda well-balanced diet can be protective towards heart diseases, osteoporosis, diabetes and dementia and obesity.
These changes don’t needtobe drasticto make a difference, she said.
“Every small changecounts, it takes repetitiontomake a new behaviourstick, give it some time andreadjust if your goal needstweaking.
Amblerrecommends visiting your GPto make sure that everything is tracking along.
Checking your owneating behaviourscan shinea light on areas for improvement.
“It doesn’t mean you havetogive upyour favourite foods.
“Trylimiting eating out limit to once a week and if you dogoout think aboutwhat yourgoals are for healthyeating.
Social events and special occasionstend toencourage peopleto bakeor make high caloriefoods, she said.
It’simportanttoshop wisely, stickto a list andreadthelabel– budgetbrandsoften have the same if not better nutrition,for examplelower in sodium.
Low-saltfoods have less than 120 mg of sodiumper100g.
Moderate-saltfoods have 120–600 mg and high-saltfoods have more than 600mg.
Changes needtobe sustainable and sharinggoals withsomeoneelsecan make you more accountable.
“Plan out your journeyfor yourgoal, what will you need to put in placetomake youget there.
“Enjoy yourfood, sobecreative with g instead of salt.
“Lookatcooking methodstomake changeseasier; one pot recipescan ease the burden ofcooking.”
There aremanystudies that have looked into the types offoodtoinclude ina diet to attain optimal health, she said.
Caution with claims on nutritionfactsor fad diets. Theycan often be unbalanced and don’tcontain the fullrange of vitamins and mineralsa healthywell-balanced diet does.
“Research continuestopoint towards eatinga Mediterraneanstyle diet where good health,reduced incidence of disease and longevity have been observed.”
a ake recipes, start addingflavour
The Mediterranean diet:
The Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fatdairy products, lean meats and fish, nuts seeds and legumes limiting healthyfatsand oils and sweets and added sugars.
Instead of adding salt, tryadding herbs and spicesto yourfoods.
Therole of adequatedairy serves helpstopreventto onset of osteoporosis.
TOEAT EVERY DAY: • 6servings* of vegetables, including leafy greens • 5-8 servings* of whole grains (brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, crackers or bread, muesli,oats, Weetbix) • 3servings* of fruit • 3tablespoonsofolive oil as your main addedfat (or canola or sunfloweroil) • 2-3 servings* of low-fatdairy • 1.5tablespoons of unsalted nuts • Drink lotsofwater *Each serving is ½ cup. TOEAT WEEKLY: • Up to 6 eggs • 3-4 servings* of legumes (e.g., beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils) • 3-4 servings* of lean meat • 2-3 servings* of chicken • 1-2 servings* of salmon Not more than3 servings of“extras,” such as sweets, refined cereals, friedfood,fastfood, and processed meats. Also limitcondiments such as soy sauce,tomatosauce as they are very high in sodium. * Servings are 1/2 cup here too, but for meat, you can also use the size of your palm as serving size
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