5 Ways to Eat Healthy in 2019
It’s a new year and a lot of people are making it one of their 2019 resolutions to eat more healthy foods. Eating right matters no matter what your age, but those in their older years can especially benefit from a healthy diet.
And the best part? It doesn’t have to be confusing or hard work, and it is guaranteed to be delicious. Here are some healthy eating tips to get you on the right course.
Add Omega-3s through food like fatty fish and nuts
Omega-3 fatty acids are great for everyone, but their properties in helping preventing inflammation that can cause cancer, arthritis, and heart disease makes them especially important for older eaters.
Omega-3s can be found in fish like salmon, trout, sardines and mackerel, as well as nuts like flaxseed, walnuts and soybeans.
Reduce your saturated fat intake
Consuming too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in our blood, which in turn can increase your risk of heart disease. While eating some saturated fats is ok, it should be controlled to less than 30 grams a day for men and 20 grams for women.
Saturated fats are found in foods we all love, like hard cheese, cream, butter, pies, sausages and biscuits. Try to control your portions of these high-saturated fat foods and eating leaner cuts of meat. You can also consider substituting them for foods with unsaturated fats like fatty fish, avocados and vegetable oil.
Add more calcium to your diet
As we grow older we run the risk of not consuming enough calcium, which helps maintain healthy bones and can lower blood pressure. Unfortunately, many of us do not consume enough calcium-rich foods, which are essential for bone health as our body may re-absorb calcium from our bones if we do not consume enough, making bones fragile.
Good sources of calcium include milk, yogurt, and cheese, as well as leafy green vegetables. The average adult over 50 needs 1,200 mg of calcium each day, equalling four cups of milk, soy or almond milk, or even fortified orange juice.
Eat more vitamin C
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer and heart disease. This means it is especially good to include in your balanced diet. It can also help with skin health, mending of bones and help heal wounds.
Good sources of vitamin C include cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cantaloupe, strawberries and papaya.
Drink more water
It may seem odd to think of water as a health food, but it is! Not drinking enough water results in dehydration, which causes drowsiness and other side effects, even hospitalization.
As our bodies age our ability to conserve water goes down and our risk of dehydration up. We don’t feel thirsty, but we still need to drink water. Water also helps with fibre absorption too.
It’s recommended to drink six to eight glasses of water daily. Replacing sugar-heavy drinks like soda and even unsweetened fruit juice with water is an easy tweak with big results.