Important nutrients over for over 50s: What you should be eating
Throughout your life your body needs a whole host of different nutrients and as you grow older, some become more essential than others.
While you’re still likely to be very active and in the prime of your life, your 50s is the perfect time to start paying attention to good food and sensible choices.
Learn more about the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy and happy once you reach your 50s and see if you can make a few small changes to your diet that will have a big impact.
Eating well in your 50s
As you grow older, your metabolic rate slows down, making it harder to lose weight. This means that lots of people may choose this as a time to start cutting down on what they eat, but an important diet tip to remember is the fact that not all fats are bad.
In fact, a balanced diet should always contain fat, the trick it to make sure it’s the right kind. You should be looking to include monounsaturated fat from avocados or olive oil and polyunsaturated fats from nuts and certain oily fish. What you don’t want are the kind of saturated fats that you find in fried foods and pre-packaged snacks and ready meals.
There are other nutrients you’ll want to make sure you include in your diet, such as zinc, which is found in oysters, shellfish, whole grains and beans, and vitamin E, which you’ll get in sweet potatoes, spinach and asparagus. Blackmore’s has a useful list of nutrients to look out for. You’ll also find some good information about the way your age can affect your diet from the NIDirect site, which has a good healthy eating for the over 50s guide and Dr Oz has five tips for eating your way to a strong and healthy body as you grow older.
Best Nutrients for Men and Women
There are some nutrients that happen to be particularly beneficial for one sex or the other. For example, calcium is essential for older women as the menopause and aging can have an effect on bone density. Vitamin D can also help keep bones strong and healthy and you’ll find it in fatty fish or specially fortified cereals and juices. For more tips on eating well for your age if you’re a women, check out WebMD’s guide to over 50s health.
Older men may want to start thinking about their prostate and bowel health more seriously than they have before. To help improve digestion, high fibre foods such as wholegrain bread and cereals or fruit and vegetables can be an excellent addition to your diet.
Give your diet an overhaul and see what you can do to ensure you get the nutrients you need.
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