As you journey over to your golden years, it is time to make some healthy changes in your food choices. Retire your old, unhealthy ways and start practicing a healthy and well-balanced diet to achieve a longer and happier life.
Moreover, it’s good to remember that aging comes with several consequences that hinder proper nutrition. This includes:
- Poor sensitivity to hunger and thirst
- Low appetite
- Dental problems
- Financial and transportation difficulties
- Medication side effect
- Physical limitations, like poor vision and frailty, hinder a senior’s ability to prepare and cook meals.
- Memory loss
- Depression and social isolation
Strengthen your overall health by learning the different healthy food options to include in your everyday meals. Here are the top ten foods that you can request to be included in the menu in your senior housing in Clinton Township.
1. Fatty Fishes
Health experts may disagree on many things, but they don’t when it comes to eating fatty fishes. Albacore tuna and farmed salmon are just two of the many oily fishes out there rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3s are the good fats that keep your heart healthy, improves your brain development, and ensures that your brain cells won’t wither with age. These fats also slow down the build-up of plaque in your arteries, preventing you from developing fatal heart diseases in the long run.
Eat oily fishes at least one to two times a week to refresh your body’s omega-3 reservoir.
2. Green, Leafy Veggies
Your dark, leafy vegetables always make it to any healthy food list for seniors, but for good reasons! They supply your body with plenty of nutrients like vitamins K, A, and C, antioxidants, folate, magnesium, potassium, and iron.
All of these vitamins and minerals work to strengthen your bones, promote blood clotting to help with injuries, and maintain your eye health.
Additionally, you can easily prepare and cook leafy veggies and eat them any time of the day. You can make a fresh salad, cook them as your side dish, or make them the main entree. Some of the best leafy vegetables to eat include spinach, kale, arugula, and broccoli.
3. Fresh Fruits
Meals are incomplete without some fresh fruits on the side. Load up on essential vitamins and minerals by eating some of the healthiest fruits, such as:
- Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries
- Apples
- Cherries
- Grapes
- Banana
Eat them together with your morning oatmeal or as a refreshing smoothie. Eat them fresh to ensure that you get all the nutrients that they have to offer.
4. Whole Grains
A diet rich in whole grains will help lower your bad cholesterol levels, reduce unwanted inflammations, and assist you in achieving a healthy weight for your age. Thus, helping you prevent severe diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, fatty heart, obesity, and some types of cancers.
5. Lean Protein
As you age, your body becomes less efficient in processing specific nutrients like proteins. That’s why seniors need more of it to maintain bone density, muscle mass, and body strength.
The best source of protein for seniors is lean meats, which are high in protein but low in fats. This type refers to meats that have their fatty parts trimmed off. Such examples include skinless chicken and turkey or the red meat of pork chops. Other sources of lean proteins include:
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Beans, lentils, and peas
- Lite tofu
- Cottage cheese
- Lean beef
6. Foods High in Calcium
Many seniors suffer from bone-related diseases, like osteoporosis and bone fragility. This is because age and health conditions affect your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
You need to fill your systems with dietary calcium and vitamin D to avoid calcium deficiency and the illnesses that come with it. Besides milk and dairy products, you can get calcium from veggies, soya drinks, and fish like sardines.
Senior housing in Clinton Township offers a diverse set of meals every day. Make sure to choose ones that satisfy your dietary needs.
7. Carbohydrate-Rich Products
Not all carbs can cause you to gain weight and belly fat.; the “good” kind of carbohydrates should be a staple part of your healthy diet because of their various benefits, like:
- Increasing your energy levels.
- Serving as fuel to your brain, kidneys, and heart muscles.
- Improving your digestion.
- Regulating blood cholesterol levels.
Some healthy carbohydrate sources to include in your diet are quinoa, barley, brown rice, sweet potatoes, carrots, low-fat dairy products, non-starchy vegetables, soy milk, tofu, and beans.
8. Water
Rather than sticking to your morning coffee and lunchtime soda ritual, why not hydrate yourself with water instead?
Water is also a nutrient that you need to include in your healthy eating practice to ensure your overall physical health. Every day, your body consumes water; that’s why you need to replenish it daily by drinking eight to ten glasses of water. Some other ways to healthily hydrate yourself include:
- Eating foods rich in water, like watermelon, cucumber, and tomatoes.
- Making a smoothie out of fresh fruits and healthy veggies.
- Including soups and broths in your meals.
- Drinking milk
9. Antioxidants
Antioxidants are not limited to capsules and supplements. They can also be found in the foods you eat, such as dark chocolate, pecans, berries, artichokes, kale, and grapes.
You need to load up your body with antioxidant-rich foods to improve your health and cognitive functions. In fact, research proved that antioxidants could help reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Plus, it slows down your brain cells’ aging and protects them from toxins and other harmful substances in the body called free radicals.
10. Include Nuts
Munching on a handful of nuts does not just make for a great afternoon snack. It actually has a lot of benefits to your aging body, such as:
- Maintaining the health of your heart.
- Slowing down cognitive decline
- Preventing inflammation
- Relieving joint pains and preventing their degeneration due to arthritis.
- Preventing weight gain
Moreover, nuts are known to prevent unwanted inflammation in the body. Thus, preventing you from developing diseases that stem from inflammation (like dementia, autoimmune diseases, and cancer).
Lounge at the outdoor area of your senior housing in Clinton Township while snacking on healthy nuts, like pistachios, almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts.
