How should we eat as we age? Which foods are likely to keep us most healthy, and which ones should we limit? Is it possible to eat well and stay within a healthy weight? These and other questions are addressed in “Eating Well as You Get Older,” a topic added to NIH SeniorHealth, the health and wellness website developed by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), both part of the National Institutes of Health.
“Eating well is vital at any age, but as we become older,the daily food choices can make an important difference in our health. Good nutrition is one component of an overall strategy to stay healthy,” says Richard J. Hodes, MD, director of the NIA, which developed the content for the topic on NIHSenior Health.
Eating a well-planned, balanced mix of healthful foods every day may help prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, bone loss, some kinds of cancer, and anemia. Eating healthfully may not always be easy for us as we age. Changing appetites, slower metabolism, eating alone, buying ready-to-eat meals, and living on a fixed income can affect the quality of one’s food choices. Yet our need for nutritious foods does not diminish with age. In fact, as we age, our bodies require essential nutrients to help us maintain function, and most of those nutrients are found in foods. “It is important for older adults to select foods that provide them with the nutrients and energy they need for healthy, active living,” says Hodes.
In addition to learning how to make wise food choices, older adults will find information about food labels, food safety, meal planning and food shopping, and ways to enhance the enjoyment of eating at http://nihseniorhealth.gov/eatingwellasyougetolder/toc.html.
Older Americans (one of the fastest-growing groups using the Internet) increasingly turn to the web for health information. In fact, 68% of online seniors surf for health and medical information when they visit the web. NIHSeniorhealth, which is based on the latest research on cognition and aging, features short, easy-to-read segments of information that can be accessed in a variety of formats, including large print, open-captioned videos, and audio. Additional topics coming soon to the site include Parkinson’s Disease, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Leukemia.
Source: The National Institutes of Health
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That's so great that people are finally starting to focus on seniors and health. I mean, I'm sure there have been plenty of resources available always, but it's important to keep in mind how different seniors are and how they may not be able to understand, read, or access all the information out there. IT's good to know there are programs out there to help support them and to teach them the important life saving info they need!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to comment, Gina. I agree with you. It's a blessing to have these programs of support.
ReplyDeleteAnthony
great post Anthony, Seniors are so important and need Nutritional TLC
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rebecca. I appreciate your kindness. As for our seniors, we continue to learn so much from their well-seasoned years of living. I loved working in Long Term Care and hearing the many stories from the grandma's and grandpa's about their grandchildren and children. They added sunlight to cloudy days!. Our seniors touch so many lives, which they inspire beyond words. Thanks again, for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteAnthony