Eat yourself healthy in retirement

While there is nothing wrong with enjoying the good things in life, you should remember that a balanced diet is key to a healthy and long life.

Food and nutrition are an important part of looking after yourself as you age. An old body will never function well off poor nutrients and vitamins.

A bigger problem as you age can be reduced taste and smell, a decreased appetite, or the loss of skills to make yourself food.

Jane Freeman, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Spokesperson for Dietitians Australia, says that healthy eating when you are older can really help with reducing the likelihood of developing or exacerbating chronic health conditions.

“Good nutrition is important as you age and ageing obviously brings body changes with it. These can be health issues or high risk of heart disease, diabetes or things like arthritis and osteoporosis,” says Ms Freeman.

“A diet has to be quite nutrientdense, meaning the food you eat you need to aim to really pack it full of healthy food nutrients, particularly protein.

“Really focusing on the quality of the food that you are putting on the plate more so than the quantity.”

When reaching your 50s or 60s, more key health problems start to present and health becomes a bigger issue for older people. can support you when you have a chronic health issue. Ms Freeman says it’s a great way to be involved in managing the treatment of your health.

As you get older and frailer, you start to lose a lot of muscle, which can impact you in terms of mobility and strength. Protein intake needs to be increased compared to what a normal adult would need to eat.

The more mobile and healthy you are, the longer you can remain living an active and independent life. For more information about help in the home, see the Home Care Guide starting on 80D.

Fueling your body with the right food can assist in ‘eating yourself healthy’.

A good diet can reduce the likelihood of you developing chronic illnesses, keep your muscles and bones strong, and nurture your mental health.

◆ Eat a well-balanced diet ◆ Make sure you reach your five vegetables and two fruits a day, plus eat whole grains and lean meat. Gravitating towards a balanced diet is the best way to get the nutrients and vitamins you need to fuel a healthy body. Vegetables, fruit and whole grains are good fibre for your body that assists in moving cholesterol out of the body and promotes happy bowel health.

◆ Reduce your salt and sugar intake ◆ Salt can easily increase high blood pressure and heart disease. Many pre-packaged foods have large levels of sodium, and adding salt to flavour your food should be replaced with using different fresh herbs and spices. Additionally, many processed foods have hidden sugar crammed in, which means you may not be aware of how much sugar you are actually consuming. Sugar can result in chronic health conditions, like diabetes or heart diseases.

◆ Eat lots of protein ◆ Protein guidelines for older people are that they need around 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. This is quite a lot of protein. Muscle loss is a big problem for older adults, so you need to be mindful that you are eating lots of different protein through legumes, vegetables, yogurt and meat.

◆ Vitamin D and Calcium ◆ Older adults need Vitamin D to be able to ingest calcium properly, and of course, calcium is important for your bones. If you have a fall and break something, you will be more likely to bounce back if your bones are strong and healthy. Calcium also assists with arthritis and osteoporosis. ◆ Cut down on saturated fats ◆ Heart health is key when you are older, so cutting down your saturated fat consumption can be really important. Avoid highfat dairy or your discretionary foods/junk foods, like take away, as much as possible. Using healthy oils, such as olive oil, in your cooking can also help in reducing your saturated fat intake.

◆ Enjoy your wine and beer, but don’t overdo it ◆ Everyone can enjoy an alcoholic beverage occasionally, but it’s important to remember that alcohol doesn’t have any nutritional benefit and can be just empty calories. It has high amounts of sugar and the older body doesn’t respond well to alcohol. It’s recommended that men and women should not have more than two standard drinks a day.

Since your body requires fewer calories as you age, you need to make every bit of food you consume count.

It’s well known that malnutrition affects many older people in aged care facilities, but most don’t realise that malnutrition can occur before someone is even in a facility and may even be the cause for ending up in a nursing home.

Your body is less able to absorb the nutrients and vitamins you need when you are older, which is why you really need to focus on what you are putting in your body early on.

Having a basic meal plan for the week can keep you on top of your eating habits.

You should also complement healthy eating with exercise. For more information about keeping physically fit, see page 46.