6 tips to create good nutritional habits for healthy aging

Eating right is an important part of aging gracefully. Not only does good nutrition keep your mind and body healthy, but it also has an impact on quality of life and longevity. It’s not just about living longer, but also living better. Seniors face new barriers with their evolving nutrition needs. Plus, with older age comes the management of common chronic illnesses with their own nutrition concerns. How can health-conscious seniors achieve optimal nutrition despite common barriers?

1) Maintain a Healthy Weight with Nutrition and Physical Activity

Physical activity plays an important role in maintaining muscle mass, which can be gradually lost with age. Maintaining a healthy weight includes both the avoidance of gaining excess, unwanted weight as well as the unintentional loss of weight. Both of these concerns come with challenges. Maintaining a regular eating routine can help keep you on track with consuming adequate calories and protein.

2) Maximize Your Appetite

Some older adults experience challenges with decreased appetite and getting full easily. Ensuring good nutrition despite these issues may require adjusting one’s eating habits. For example, those who feel most hungry early in the day with appetite decreasing in the afternoon and evening may do best with a larger breakfast and lunch and a lighter dinner. Those with smaller appetites can benefit from eating small meals and healthy snacks more frequently.

3) Focus on Balanced Meals

Although there are many fad diets touted for health and weight management benefits, older adults require balanced meals of lean protein, fiber-rich carbohydrates, plenty of vegetables and healthy fats. Unless a special diet is recommended to you by your healthcare provider, it’s most always best to steer away from restrictive diets that eliminate food groups.

4) Take Advantage of Technology and Resources

There’s no doubt that grocery shopping, meal preparation and clean-up can be a lot of work. The good news is that there are services to help lighten the load. From Instacart to AmazonFresh and many others, there are a variety of convenient and cost-effective grocery delivery and pick-up options available. For those interested in outsourcing the cooking too, meal-delivery services like Silver Cuisine, Mom’s Meals and Meals on Wheels offer pre-made meals that adhere to various special diets.

5) Incorporate Anti-Inflammatory Foods

A diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods can play an important role in healthy aging. Inflammation is a concern associated with many chronic conditions including arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and heart disease. Some examples of anti-inflammatory foods include fatty fish, walnuts, leafy green vegetables, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes and colorful fruit and berries.

6) Seek Individualized Nutrition Advice

There are many nutrition-related concerns that are potentially more prevalent with age including changes in taste and smell, appetite and thirst changes, dental issues, mental health concerns, chronic illness and nutrient deficiencies. Speak out to your healthcare provider about these concerns. It may be beneficial to meet with a registered dietitian who specializes in nutrition for older adults and can create an individualized plan to ensure you are optimizing your nutritional intake and troubleshooting any food challenges.

LeeAnn Weintraub, MPH, RD is a registered dietitian, providing nutrition counseling and consulting to individuals, families and organizations. She can be reached by email at RD@halfacup.com.