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Growing Young With Age

The body undergoes a lot of wear and tear with time.  The secret is to understand the changes and adopt measures to help faster repair of the body while slowing the damage. The life span of individuals is progressively increasing courtesy better medicines, health facilities and awareness. It would be quite depressing to live longer years while being restricted in activity. Aging healthy is important.

COMMON DISEASES: The common problems that come with  are Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, sleep disorders, eye problems, dental problems, cancer, parkinsonism, stroke, heart attach, arthritis, skin problems, prostatic problems and metabolic problems. The lack of a good medical insurance cover is also a problem. Malnutrition is a word that conjures up images of the starving and emaciated. It actually means not eating right. Nutritional requirements change depending on age, the level of physical and mental activity and individual needs.

WHAT TO EAT? Eating right into older age is a must.  A balanced and wholesome diet minimises the risk of disease and malnutrition.  Eliminate the fried goods.  Use cooking methods that require less fat.  Boil, grill, broil or roast food. Reach for low fat dairy products. Limit consumption of red meat.  Avoid the fatty gravy based foods, sauces and chocolates. Age is not determined by the number of candles on the birthday cake.  It is decided by the degree of physical fitness, mental alertness and most importantly, the zest for life. An individual can be old at twenty and young at seventy.

STAY FIT: Older people need to work at keeping their mental skills sharp.  The advantage of getting older is that one can think about retiring and taking things easy.  The offside is that the mental is stimulation in daily life decreases proportionately.  To stay physically active and mentally fit keep playing, keep those driving skills sharp, computer games or driving simulators keep one coordinated.  To stay mentally alert, do crosswords, games like Sudoku, taking a class or even playing cards with friends can keep the brain stimulated.Two or more servings of fruits and three or more vegetables should be consumed in the food form. Juicing them reduces the fiber content. Richly colored (red, orange, yellow, dark green) vegetables and fruits create a high nutrient value. The cabbage family broccoli, cauliflower contain cancer fighting nutrients. Proteins are required to boost immunity, help wound healing and importantly to maintain the muscle mass. Three or more servings of yogurt, cheese and milk and two or more of fish, poultry, meat, nuts, dried beans, eggs for their protein content are suggested. Prefer low fat variety dairy foods. Fish reduces cardiac risk. The dried beans contain fiber.  Reducing fat intake helps cancer prevention, as also the fight against cholesterol and triglyceride related problems. For those with a sweet tooth preferably avoid the fats, oils and sweets. They are nutrient poor and only add to the calories. Avoid the trans fats found in processed foods.