Aging Diet ...

Protein, Carb, Fat ...

As you get older, good nutrition plays an increasingly important role in how well you age. Eating a low-salt, low-fat diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and fiber can actually reduce your age-related risks of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes,  and other aging diseases.
By eating a wide variety of foods, you can pretty easily get what your body needs.  It’s very important to take heed that your body will need protein to maintain and rebuild muscles. You can get low-fat and quality protein from poultry, fish, eggs, soy, and limited amounts of nuts and low-fat meat and dairy.

You also need carbohydrate,  which is the body's preferred source of energy. There are two main sources of dietary carbohydrates: simple sugars, such as sucrose (the refined white sugar added to sweets and desserts), fructose (the sugar contained in fruit), and lactose (milk sugar); and complex carbohydrates, which come from vegetables and grains.

Unlike refined sugars, fruits contain vitamins and fiber.   Dairy products contain nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D.   Complex carbohydrates contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Get most of your carbohydrate calories from vegetables, grains, and fruits.  And try to replace fat calories with complex carbohydrates in your diet.

Anyway, fat is needed as energy provider, too.  However, to help keep your blood cholesterol levels low, get most of your limited fat intake from the polyunsaturated fats as in liquid corn oil or soybean oil,  and monounsaturated fats as in olive oil, avocados, and nuts.  Try to limit saturated fats like beef, pork, veal, butter, shortening, and cheese. You can do this by eating these foods less often, having smaller servings, choosing less fatty cuts of meat, and by using stronger tasting cheeses so you can use just a little and still get the cheese flavor.

Try to avoid the trans fats (hydrogenated fats) found in stick margarine and in many processed foods such as crackers and cookies. Trans fats are now shown on the nutrition facts labels found on most packaged foods.

How about water?  Your body need it to replace water lost through activity.  Because your kidneys gradually become less efficient at keeping your body hydrated, make a conscious effort to get six to eight 8fl oz glasses of water a day.

As you take a look at your daily diet, remember that as you age  your body's daily energy needs slowly decrease. You therefore need fewer calories a day than when you were younger.   And natural hormone changes make your body prone to depositing more body fat and less muscle.  Eating a healthy balanced diet and limiting your intake of saturated fat, along with increased activity and muscle strengthening, can help you stay at a healthy weight.

As you age  your bones lose mineral content more rapidly than before, especially if you are a post-menopausal woman, because lower estrogen  increases bone loss.  As a result, you need to have calcium and Vitamin D in your diet, to help prevent osteoporosis.  Or,  you may want to take a calcium and vitamin D supplement.

Simply put, the best way to reach and stay at a healthy weight as you age is to take in fewer calories than you needed in your youth and to make sure that most of what you eat is nutritious and low in fat and processed sugar.

Limit saturated fats  and  trans fats.  These are harmful to your blood vessels and increase your risk for developing hardening of the arteries. And they can affect your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease. Saturated fats are found mostly in foods that come from animals, such as beef, pork, veal, butter, and cheese. Trans fats are found in the shortening in many cookies and crackers, in fried fast foods, and in stick margarine.  <>