Are you looking to keep your body and mind in their prime in your older years? Here is a good read to give you an idea on what foods to eat and what to avoid.
We will discuss the healthy diet for men over 50s and why it matters for your longevity and vitality. Your dietary patterns have an impact on your health, mental sharpness, and lifespan, so you have to choose carefully what you eat on a daily basis. This article will serve as a guide rather than a rule.
Having a healthy diet alone is not enough to achieve vitality, but you will need it. The last thing you want when you are mentally sharp and agile is getting sick or developing a lifestyle disease.
Getting older means it is more important for you to have a healthy diet. Your life literally depends on it. You probably got by with an unhealthy diet when you were younger, but you shouldn’t push your luck.
Identify Your Goals
You probably have some sort of a goal, like wanting to be more active, be mentally sharp, or build more muscle. Some people might want to be healthier, resolve digestive issues such as constipation, or lose weight. Most of the time, those goals have some sort of a required dietary pattern. Choosing what to eat can be confusing. So first take a note and do some deep thinking on what you want to achieve in the future.
If you want to live well, you have to eat well. Of course, you want your meals to be tasty and satisfying. It does not have to be expensive. As the old saying says, ‘you are what you eat.’ But is there such a thing as an old-man’s diet? You probably wondered what to put on your plate. So here we will discuss the important things to keep in mind when doing groceries or stopping by farmer’s markets.
Love this article? We have more articles in Silver Athletes to help you live a prime and active life. Sleep is also important for vitality, and we have an article that might interest you on that matter.
Plan and Shop
The next step is do a massive revamp of your cupboard, removing undesired food items and replacing them. It is harder to transition to a healthy diet if you got unhealthy items in your cupboard; just consider that you are getting a step away from getting heart disease and diabetes. Consider giving them away or donating them to a food bank.
Eliminating foods in your fridge also removes the temptation of consuming unhealthy stuff. Remove sugary items, oily, and salty foods. That includes pizza, biscuits, processed meat, potato chips, crisps, soft drinks, energy drinks, candies, butter, cream, cooking margarine, and palm oil. You probably have a lot of stuff to put away, but just imagine the change it will do to your health and looks. Don’t shed a tear.
Now let’s proceed to the actual healthy diet part. The Australian Dietary Guidelines suggests that colourful vegetables and fruits should fill your plate, up to five and a half servings per day. Well, that means having salads and fruit as the main fare rather than sides. If you don’t like veggies, make them taste better by cooking methods such as sauteing and oven roasting. Make sliced or chopped fruits, or a hearty vegetable soup as your main meal.
Let’s talk about grains. For longevity, the only ones you can eat are whole grains: whole wheat pasta, oats, lentils, beans, and brown rice. They are filling and tasty and can help lower cholesterol levels and reduces risk of heart disease, according to a Harvard study. Limit consumption of refined flour and white rice.
You must have protein during meals,such as fish, poultry, eggs, tofu, nuts, legumes, and seeds. You can still consume red meat, with each serving should be around the size of the palm of your hand or 65 grams. Lean protein should be very low on salt and saturated fats. Limit or omit butter, vegetable oil, margarine, lard, sugar, and salt.
Dairy is an important part of diet in older men because its calcium and protein content staves off osteoporosis and maintains muscle mass. You want to maintain your body in a good shape so you can take on physical activities for years without hurting yourself.
We hope this article gives you an idea on what foods to eat and whats not. Determining your goals helps you become mindful on what you eat.