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Why you should eat well to age well

With more diet styles and plans trending at any given time, like the Raw Food Diet, Juice Diet, Keto, or Paleo, it all can be confusing to what is appropriate for a regular adult, let alone a Senior. But one thing in common in all of their intentions is for you to be happy and healthy in your golden years too. With the right eating habits, seniors can live a better life with lessening or slowing down problems such as being prone to illnesses, life expectancy, and other conditions resulting from muscle loss.1

What happens when a senior doesn’t eat Well?

When you age, you often attach problems in the heart, joints, appetite, and muscle weakness to it. And if you are not getting enough nutrition, the degradation of muscles in your body becomes faster, thus decreasing appetite (your stomach is a muscle too) again and worsening the conditions. It also weakens the immune system, wounds don’t repair well, vertigo-like symptoms and falls, extended hospitalization, and the worst of them all is a shorter life span or lesser quality of life. The way the muscle dynamic in your body works is the body first breaks down leucine (amino acid building block of protein), synthesized, and is built up again. All is happening throughout the day without you even noticing. If you see the mention of protein, what comes to mind? It is food of course!2

 If you eat well, you will…

  1. Have a better heart – Your heart is what keeps the blood flowing through you and that too is a muscle. You will easily notice that an extended round of guilty pleasure foods has you long winded or inflammations and joint pains. Because more than a third of seniors 65 and above are found to be overweight, starting early on as you hit 40 with good food is the way to go. Being overweight as a senior is just as bad for your skeletal muscle as being underweight. Both affect mobility and overall body composition. To improve the heart, have an eating plan with plenty of fruits, veggies, low fat dairy, skin off chicken, fish, nuts and legumes, and olive oil in moderation.3
  2. Help with Memory – Technically your brain isn’t a muscle, though it may have some features of muscles, supporting its health will improve a senior’s cognitive ability further down the line. In talking about memory, seniors often worry about having Alzheimer’s as they get older and wonder what they can do to stop or slow it down. Not only does this disease affect memory, it affects cognitive functions. This can be early onset if the aging adult does not get enough Vitamin B12 and often eats oily foods, bleach white bread, sugary sodas, and margarine in excess. Eat plenty of fruits rich in antioxidants like tomatoes, blueberries, leafy veggies, turmeric, enriched milk, fresh fish, and a few select servings of meat.4
  3. Of-course it will help with your muscles! – HMB (Hydroxymethylbutyrate) is naturally produced in small amounts when your body breaks down an essential amino acid called leucine, which you can get by eating protein foods like milk, yogurt, some fruits, beans, and supplements when needed. It is what a person needs to build muscle or upkeep it. HMB also helps perceive muscle mass and slows their breakdown, which is extremely important for seniors to maintain their mobility. But just like you who finds it hard to get a balanced diet, it is even harder for seniors when they lose their ability to chew as they age. For this it is a good suggestion to add a supplement with complete nutrition to the diet plan. Ensure Gold, available in powder form to make a customized serving or in ready made drink servings, seniors can get their daily recommended amount of the muscle repairing Protein +HMB. Enriched with 3x More Vitamin D, Omega 3 essential fatty acid, and a collection of 28 additional Vitamins and Minerals, a senior can live life strong and continue to do what they love. 3 , 4 , 5

  

Sources & References:

  1. https://abbottfamily.com.sg/articles/active-aging/eat-well#
  2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/caregivers/in-depth/senior-health/art-20044699
  3. https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/features/longevity-foods?print=true
  4. https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/longevity-diet?print=true
  5. https://www.ensure.abbott/za/nutrition/why-hmb-is-important-for-aging-muscles/