Did you know that nutrition can have a huge impact on your overall wellbeing? A healthy and balanced diet is an important element to living a healthier and happier life. It helps you stay fit, reduces your risk of having chronic diseases, and boosts your overall wellbeing.
There has been plenty of research that shows how nutrient deficiencies and eating food that is too rich can contribute to the development of chronic diseases, such as obesity, strokes and cardiovascular disease, amongst other health problems. For example, inadequate vitamin D or calcium impacts bone maintenance, whereas insufficient vitamin K can result in blood coagulation.
Unfortunately, it's also very common to lose interest in food as we age. Research shows that we become hungry less often and our sense of smell and taste diminishes, making it even more important to choose food that is contributing to a healthy lifestyle.
At Wallacea Living, we believe in taking a proactive approach to your health and enjoyment of food – and that includes supporting you to relish nourishing food. Here are five, simple steps that we can all make to improving our diet.
1. Choose healthier fats.
Reducing saturated fat is good for your heart and we all need to keep our heart healthy, particularly as we head into our later years. Luckily, we can reduce our intake of saturated fats with some very simple lifestyle changes.
Using vegetable oils (such as rapeseed, olive, sunflower, soya, sesame oils) and fat spreads made from these oils are a much better alternative to butter, lard, ghee and palm oil. You could also try swapping whole milk to semi-skimmed, cream to plain yoghurt, replacing fried food with grilled and choosing lean mince over regular mince – all of which will have a positive impact on your heart and overall health.
Finally, try and include unsaturated fats called omega-3 fats in your diet each week. You’ll find these fats in oily fish, like mackerel, sardines, pilchards and salmon.
2. Get enough fibre.
Eating plenty of fibre-rich foods will improve your digestive health, as well as helping to lessen the impact of other health concerns such as constipation, high cholesterol levels, and protect your heart.
You can easily improve your fibre intake by increasing the amount of wholegrains in your diet. Choose wholegrain breads, wholegrain breakfast cereals, brown rice and wholemeal pasta.Don’t forget plenty of fruit and vegetables, as well as pulses, such as lentils, kidney beans and chickpeas, too.
3. Keep well hydrated.
Did you know that as we age, our thirst sensation decreases, making dehydration easier to go unnoticed? This makes it especially important to drink plenty of water.
The recommended water intake for adults is 1.2 to 1.5 litres per day, which equates to between six and eight glasses of water per day (cups of tea also count towards this).
Personally, I find it much easier to drink the recommended amount if I carry round a water bottle with me – it reminds me to keep drinking whilst I’m busy throughout the day.
4. Reduce salt intake.
As well as our thirst sensation decreasing, the number of fibres in our olfactory bulb in the brain, along with olfactory receptors (both of which are involved in our sense of smell), decrease noticeably as we age, reducing our sense of taste.
I often find that this encourages people to add more salt to their food, however adults should eat less than 6g of salt per day. Having more salt than is recommended can increase your blood pressure which is a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease so, make sure you go light on the salt. Instead, try to flavour your dishes with other seasonings such as herbs, spices and garlic.
5. Consume plenty of calcium.
Calcium is important for the maintenance of bones. We all lose bone mass as we age but after the menopause, women are at a higher risk of osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) and reduced bone density. This is because oestrogen has a protective effect over bone breakdown and after the menopause, less oestrogen is produced.
Thankfully, there are some very simple ways to improve our intake of calcium rich foods. Drink plenty of milk and choose meals that include cheese and yogurt. You can also choose fish with edible bones such as salmon and sardines, as well as some green leafy veg like kale and soy products.
Additionally, Vitamin D plays a key role in bone health as it helps the body to absorb calcium and supports muscle function. During autumn and winter, it is recommended to take a Vitamin D supplement.
At Wallacea Living we work with our homeowners to fix goals and create a workable strategy to attain them. At our on-site restaurant, our chefs will work alongside myself, and the rest of our wellbeing team, to ensure menus are tailor-made to benefit homeowners and their dietary needs. We want food to be an enjoyable way to contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Find out how else we take a proactive approach to your health here.
Finally, all that’s left for me to say is to enjoy your journey to eating well this spring!
