Senior Living Communities

Increased mental acuteness, resistance to illness and disease, higher energy levels, a more robust immune system, faster recuperation times, and better management of chronic senior health problems. Have I got your attention? Want to know what makes all these things possible? Eat healthier!

That’s right. By slightly changing around your senior lifestyle eating habits, you can add years onto your mental and physical health by giving your body what it needs to protect itself from diseases brought on by aging. Your senior diet is an important part in staying healthy during retirement.

A lot of the times making a better senior diet is easier said than done. Some people just chalk it up to being lazy or not having the will power. However, as we age, there are outside factors that affect our senior diet. Emotional, physical and lifestyle changes that crop up as we age can really affect our eating habits. Below are some of the most common reasons along with ways you can avoid them.

• Lifestyle changes - Newly single seniors may not know how to cook or may not feel like cooking for one. People on limited budgets might have trouble affording a balanced, healthy diet.
• Activity level – Seniors often cut back on activity for physical and medical reasons. Weight gain can result from the decrease in calories burned.
• Metabolism - Every year over the age of forty, our metabolism slows down. This means that even if you continue to eat the same amount and kinds of food as when you were younger, you’re likely to gain weight because you’re burning fewer calories.
• Taste and appetite - Your senses of taste and smell diminish, so you may be inclined to season your food more heavily than before—even though seniors need less salt than younger people.
• Health issues – Physical ailments and prescription medications often negatively influence appetite. Talk to your doctor about overcoming side effects of medication or specific physical conditions.
• Digestion – Due to changes in your digestive system, you generate less saliva and stomach acids as you get older, making it more difficult for your body to process certain vitamins and minerals that are necessary to maintain mental alertness, a keen memory and good circulation.
• Emotional factors – Emotional factors such as loneliness and depression can affect your diet. For some, feeling down leads to not eating and in others it may trigger overeating. If emotional problems are affecting your diet, it is important to talk to your doctor or a therapist.

The saying ‘knowing is half the battle’ is very appropriate in this setting. If you know what ailments are preventing you from eating healthy, it is easier to stop them from happening, as well as easier to talk to someone to see how you can make your situation better.

Now that you know what’s stopping you and you have a plan on how to get around it, how do you make sure you are actually eating healthy? There are a few basic key points that need to be addressed in a senior lifestyle.

• Focus on good carbs – Opt for whole grain nutrition (brown rice, whole wheat bread, rolled oats, barley, millet), not refined “white” products, such as white bread, white rice, or products made with white flour.
• Raw equals roughage – Aim to eat at least one daily serving of your fruits and vegetables raw. This not only preserves their nutritional value, it’s an easy way to eliminate constipation.
• Steaming – Steaming is the best way to cook vegetables; it preserves nutrients. Light sautéing is next. Boiling leeches nutrients—but you can use the leftover cooking water as soup stock!
• Go lean on protein - Fish, poultry, eggs, beans, peas, nuts and tofu all count as protein, so it’s easy to vary your healthy protein choices. Try skinless turkey or chicken, or fish, baked, broiled, grilled, steamed or poached, and you’ll savor the flavor while adding healthy, low-fat, low cholesterol nutrition to your diet.
• Bone up on calcium – As part of a healthy senior diet, choose fat-free or low fat dairy products.
• Choose first-rate fats – Get your “good” fats from oils such as olive oil and sunflower oil, avocados and avocado oil, nuts and seeds.
• Keep it moist - In addition to drinking enough water each day, aim to consume foods with high water content. Staying properly hydrated flushes toxins from your body, relieves constipation, helps keep your joints flexible and your mind clear.