What does the body needs to stay healthy? Anyone interested in healthy aging wants to know the answer to that question.
Over the years the caloric need of the body decrease due to reduced muscular and cardiovascular performance. If dietary intake does not match the lower needs one becomes overweight. The body does not need energy alone, but also certain compounds which the body can not form or produce. Due to the high quality of most foodstuffs in our diet, few problems are caused by the lack of essential components. However, the number of diseases caused by over consumption of calories ordinarily burned when younger is tremendous. However an uncontrolled dietary cut in the caloric intake or other nutrients as seen in some diets, for example, during low carbs or no fat diets, might result in a lack of essential or beneficial components. Since the need for these components stays mainly the same during the process of aging, a diet with a reduced intake of calories and a steady, sufficient supply of certain functional components is recommended. So elderly face the challenging situation of addressing the reduced need of energy and adjusting the diet without omitting essential and beneficial components. The food choices in the United States seem to be infinite and do not require magic to eat healthy and give your body what it needs. Nevertheless proper choice and dietary discipline with variability and moderation is required. To be able to choose the right food, the table is helpful by listing some basic information about the function of food components and recommended sources of nutrients.
The human body receives energy from several sources. The main carrier of energy should be carbohydrates and grains, such as wheat, rice and oats, and constitutes the basis of a healthy diet. Another carrier of energy is fat, but the intake of fat in industrialized civilization is too high. Also the caloric load of alcoholic beverages is often underestimated and a reduction of both helps to maintain a healthy body weight. More functional components are vitamins, trace elements, dietary fiber, essential fatty, amino acids and many more. They do not contribute much energy to the diet but are essential for the human body and do have a beneficial effect.
Carbohydrates from unprocessed food deliver more fiber, vitamins and minerals than highly processed carbohydrates like sugar or white flour. Nearly all beneficial components aside from the energy are lost during the process of refining these nutrients. Grains or comparable vegetables sources of carbohydrates are complex foods and contain not only energy in a healthy form, but also over 100 different types of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytocomponents that are beneficial to the human body. Because they are from plant origin they contain many beneficial compounds that can not be produced by the human body or found in animal food sources.
Healthy choice involves limiting the intake of large amounts of pure sugar as found in sweets and soft drinks. Natural fruit and vegetable juices are a better choice and you might even dilute them with water so they are not so rich and satisfy one’s thirst better.
In comparison to carbohydrates, fat contains double the amount of calories. Therefore, it should only be eaten in moderate amounts and account for only a third of daily calories. Besides being an energy source, fat also carries functions. For instance so-called Omega-3-fatty acids from fish sources are beneficial, and can’t be produced by the human body. Fat is also necessary for the intake of certain Vitamins. Trans-fat delivers no energy for the body, and the usefulness of this artificial fat mainly found in diet foods such as “light” salad dressing is unclear. Recommended fat sources are olive and vegetable oils, nuts, avocados and lean meat or fish. Try to avoid chips and fries and substitute salad dressings with a good variety that comes from an olive-oil based vinaigrette.
The human body uses proteins mainly as a functional or structural component. Only 10-15% of the daily energy intake should be delivered by proteins and mainly to replace lost proteins. You normally receive a sufficient intake of protein as long you include protein sources such as egg white or dairy products in your diet. Red meat for the elderly is especially not beneficial. It delivers a redundant amount of protein and increases the intake of unhealthy fats. The balance between caloric intake and contribution of beneficial compounds is therefore easier to hold with a diet containing fish or lean white meat. It also helps to choose smaller portions and to use meat as a side dish rather than the focus of the meal. Other excellent protein sources are beans. They contribute many vitamins, minerals and fiber to your diet and are a low-fat, high protein alternative to meat.
Exercise is also of great importance in maintaining a healthy weight and will support a well balanced diet. Even a minimal exercise level will help to increase your base energy need and support the muscles. It is very easy to involve physical activity in your daily rhythm. Instead of taking the car, you could walk to friends or ride a bike. Just be careful not to expose your body to performances it is not used to. Try to be physically active on a regular basis and keep it at a controlled level. As we all know, you can harm your body when you expose it to activities it is not used to. Your body should be worth the time and you will be rewarded later on.
To provide a healthy diet it helps to focus on variety and to moderate the amounts of food consumed. A recommended balanced diet contains:
· Include vegetables and fruit at every meal and for snacks.
· Eat a variety of vegetables and fruits.
· Limit french fries, chips and other fried products.
· Drink only 100% juice of vegetable or fruit juices and dilute it with water if possible.
· Choose whole grain bread and cereals or natural rice.
· Limit consumption of refined carbohydrates, which are dominating in pastries, sweetened cereals, soft drinks and sugars.
· Replace beef, pork and lamb with fish, poultry or soy instead.
· Select lean cuts and smaller portions.
· Prepare your food by baking or broiling rather than frying or charbroiling.
Using this guide should make for healthy aging.
Good sources of energy and functional components:
Carbohydrates
Long chain sugars, fibers,
Un- or mildly processed grains, dark bread, potatoes, fruits
Protein
Essential amino acids
Eggs, soy, beans, lean meat
Fat
Unsaturated and essential fatty acids
Olive oil and other vegetable oils, fish
Vitamins
A, D, E, K
Yellow/orange vegetables, meat, orange juice with supplemented vitamine D, green vegetables, cheese
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