Healthy Eating Tips for Older Adults

Cooking Senior Couple Togetherness Concept

It’s a well-known fact that good nutrition and healthy eating habits can help prevent chronic diseases — such as heart disease and cancer — as well as health conditions related to changes in muscle and bone mass, such as osteoporosis. The good news is that it’s never too late to start eating healthy. 

 

For seniors, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy diet are critically important parts of health and wellness. Sometimes, knowing which foods to eat and which foods to avoid can seem challenging.

 

In one study completed by the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists followed roughly 74,000 people between the ages of 30 and 75 for over two decades. They analyzed their diets and lifestyle habits and tracked changes in what they ate. The researchers used several scoring systems to assess the quality of their diets. The index gives low scores to unhealthy foods and higher scores to healthier foods.

Healthy Foods with High Scores:

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Beans
  •  Whole grains
  • Foods rich in unsaturated fats and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, like fish, avocados and olive oil.

Unhealthy Food with Low Scores:

  • Red and processed meats
  • Foods high in sodium and added sugars, such as sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Pizza
  • Potato chips
  • Other junk foods

 

The more nutritious foods people ate, and the fewer junk foods they consumed, the higher their diet scores.

Little Changes Yield Big Rewards

To conclude the study, people who improved their eating habits saw big benefits. The researchers found that people who increased their diet scores by just 20 percent decreased their risk of heart disease. Achieving a 20 percent increase in your diet score could be as simple as replacing the sugary drinks in your diet with sparkling water and eating at least one handful of nuts or one serving of beans or lentils daily

Eating Healthy on a Budget

Some people think that healthy food has to be expensive. That isn’t true. Here’s a get started guide from the CDC all about eating healthy on a budget, and here are some more quick steps you can take to help you eat healthy without breaking the bank:

Step 1: See what you already have in your pantry or freezer - create a game plan and don’t go to the store hungry.

 

Step 2: When you get to the store - read labels, buy more generic brands, buy fruits and vegetables that are in season and focus on less expensive, nutrition-packed whole foods.

 

Step 3: Things to do at home - know what a healthy plate and serving looks like, have fun finding recipes to try, cook at home more often than not and get creative with leftovers.

Getting Started with Healthy Eating the Easy Way – Meal Delivery Services

Another very quick and easy option is to try a meal delivery service. There are many meal delivery services out there that will send you healthy recipes and all the ingredients that you need to create healthy delicious meals quickly and easily.

 

Most of these services also cater to different diets such as plant-based diets, vegan diets and so much more. Both Hungry Root and Hello Fresh are excellent choices that deliver to pretty much everywhere in the US. So even if you don’t live near a grocery store or if you find it difficult to drive to do a shop these meal delivery services can keep you well stocked with an amazing selection of healthy food – often at prices cheaper than you’d find in the grocery store.

 

Also, for a more affordable option the Meals on Wheels program offers nutritious meals for seniors as well as a friendly visit from the Meals on Wheels volunteer or staff member who shows up each day with a smile and a healthy meal.

 

Just remember that no matter what you do to improve your diet - simple changes can have big results! Nutrition is extremely important for older adults to live full and healthy lives.

  

Here are some additional helpful links and resources:

Related Links

Content contained on this page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult your health care provider before beginning any new fitness or dietary plan. References provided are for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources. Should you have any health-related questions, you should contact your health care provider.