Healthy life for over 60s
Healthy life for over 60s:
What is health? Health is what includes physical and mental wellbeing. But is it that alone?
As we get older, maintaining physical, mental along with social wellbeing is important to help us stay healthy.
As we age, we witness internal changes to our mind and external changes in our body. Also, those internal change to the mind, lead to behavioral changes in our social life, generally lifestyle.
And that’s why a combination of good food and regular physical activity are important to hold onto, as we age.
To stay healthy, we should:
- eat healthy diet
- stay smiling
- stay active
- get social
There is a beautiful saying in Tamil, “Unave Marunthu., Marunthe Unavu” meaning, “Our food is medicine and medicine is food”
So, what to start with?
We have to fill up our plate with the following main part of our meals:
- vegetables
- fruit
- grains
- nuts and seeds
So, why should we have all these on our plates in our everyday meal? It’s because, each one contains the following sources that our body should have as we age.
Fibre
Fruits and vegetables give our body with a great source of fibre to help maintain healthy and regular bowels. Not only fibre, fruit and vegetables contain a range of vitamins and minerals.
Next to fruits and vegetables, the following big source of fibre is whole grain breads and cereals. Protein, vitamins and minerals are indigenous in grains.
Calcium
Our bone density can weaken, as we get older. Calcium is essential for keeping bones strong and immune. In this, women should be concentrating on increasing their calcium intake 20 years earlier than men, as women are highly vulnerable to bone fractures. Drinking milk and milk products everyday will help us meet the increased dietary requirements for protein, riboflavin, vitamin B6, vitamin D and calcium as we get older.
Milk and milk products are the richest sources of calcium however we can take other sources also, such as broccoli, dried fruit, fish and nuts.
Protein
Red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts are rich in protein content. They help provide amino acids, fats, vitamins and minerals to maintain lean muscle mass. If we are not able to take non vegetarian foods daily, we should try taking nuts and seeds along with our daily meals.
Tips for good and happy health:
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day
- Underweight? Then eat nutritious snacks that give you energy and good nutrition
- Four Ss you should remember by heart – Salt, Sugar, Saturated fat and SOCIAL
- Eat with others to share cooking as well as to get some social interaction and support
Along with all these, physical activity/exercise plays an important role in maintaining smooth health. Other benefits of regular exercise include improved appetite, carbohydrate metabolism and bowel function in women, decreased heart disease risk and reduced rate of weak muscle.
Along with all these, physical activity/exercise plays an important role in maintaining smooth health. Other benefits of regular exercise include improved appetite, carbohydrate metabolism and bowel function in women, decreased heart disease risk and reduced rate of weak muscle.
Older people should try to do 30 minutes of aerobic physical activity every day under the guidance of an instructor. Some of these activities include:
- speed walking
- stretching
- cycling
- swimming (if possible)
Looking after our health in our aged time helps improve our quality of life and prolongs our independence. Taking a well-balanced diet with high-fibre foods and exercising daily are definitely the helpers. And of course, we shouldn’t forget the fourth ‘S’ – Social. Spending more time with our family.
