Nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining your health and wellness in older years. As we age, our nutritional needs change. Eating nutrient dense foods with essential nutrients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals can help preserve muscle mass, bone density, and immune function. Proper nutrition can also reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and mental decline. Overall, good nutrition can make a difference in your quality of life and wellbeing.

Nutrition Needs for Older Adults

• Calories: As you grow older, your body does not require as much energy to go about daily life. Therefore, total calories needed in a day decreases. If you are interested in learning how many calories you need in a day, visit this website and click “start” on the picture.
• Calcium: Bones tend to lose strength as you age. Calcium is an important factor in bone density to keep good strong bones to support you. Eating at least 3 servings of calcium rich foods, such as dairy, is recommended.
• Protein: Eating quality protein is important because you are more likely to lose muscle mass in your later years. Eating enough protein and regularly engaging in muscle strengthening activities are a must. Also, eating enough protein can improve bone health.
  • Eat different types of protein. If you consume strictly fatty meats, you put yourself at risk of heart disease. It is important to consume seafood, beans, peas, lentils, and dairy products as a source of protein, rather than red meats or processed deli meats.
• Nutrients: Other nutrients that you are likely to need more of as you age are potassium, vitamin D, dietary fiber, and vitamin B12. These nutrients are essential to keep your body functioning properly.

Tips to a Healthy Lifestyle Later in Life

Consume fruits and vegetables as much as possible.

• The ideal serving is 5 vegetables and 3 fruits each day. It can be challenging to prep fruits and vegetables; therefore, the best options would ben, canned, and ready-prepared.
• When shopping for frozen, canned, and ready-prepared fruits and vegetables, opt for “no added salt” and “no sugar added” options. If these options are not available, shop for “reduced salt” and “reduce sugar” options.

Make Eating a Social Activity

• It is common to lose your appetite and joy for eating as you grow older. People tend to eat better when around others; therefore, it is important to turn eating into a social opportunity. Participating in meals at senior centers is a great option. To find a senior center near you, click here.

Be active as much as possible.

• Being physically active can help improve your quality of life. Prioritizing activities will make it easier to do everyday tasks, keep up with your grandkids, and stay independent.
• It is recommended to get at least 150 minutes a week (or about 30 minutes a day) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and at least 2 days a week of muscle-strengthening activity.
• Look into fitness programs available such as the silver sneakers program and those offered at your local YMCA.

Eat Mindfully

Mindfulness is the act of bringing awareness and attention to the experiences, thoughts, and emotions of each moment lived, in an open and non-judgmental way.

Applying this mental state while eating has demonstrated effectiveness in controlling undesirable behaviors such as binge eating (eating excessive amounts of food and losing control overeating), emotional eating (overeating food due to an emotional state), and external feeding (eating due to external reactions or triggers related to food).

Some ways to practice mindfulness while eating are:

• Paying attention to the eating experience, noticing the texture, flavor, and smell of the food.
• Be aware when it comes to portion sizes. When eating snacks (cookies, chips, nuts, etc.), try not to eat them out of a bag but rather pour them into a small bowl.
• Eat more slowly, chewing more often
• Recognize responses to food (like, dislike, or neutral) without offering judgments
• Become aware of the physical responses that your body gives when it is hungry and when it is satisfied so at that moment, you can decide when to start and stop eating.

Look at the Nutrition Facts Labels

• Learning how to read and understand a nutrition label will help you make more informed food choices.
• Refer to the guide Using the Nutrition Facts Label: For Older Adults for more information.

Choose Healthier Types of Fat

• The two main fats are saturated and unsaturated fats (also known as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats). It is recommended to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats.
• Many cooking oils, such as olive, nut, some fish, and avocado, are high in unsaturated fats and low in saturated fats.
• Fats that are solid at room temperature such as butter, milk fat, or fat around meats, are types of saturated fats. Other foods that are high in saturated fats are whole milk, coconut oil, and palm oil.
• Avoid trans fats such and partially hydrogenated oils. This type of fat can raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol. Eating trans fats will increase your risk of developing heart disease and stroke.
• For some helpful tips, check out the Rethink Fats tip sheet.

Limit sodium

• The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 mg of sodium a day and moving toward an ideal limit of no more than 1,500 mg per day for most adults.
• Diets that are high in sodium put you at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure which can lead to stroke or heart disease, as well as kidney disease.
• Most of the sodium in our diet comes from packaged and prepared foods.
• Add flavor to your foods with herbs and spices instead of salt. Refer to this website to learn more about acceptable substitutions to salt.
• Using the nutrition facts label is a great way to make better food choices that are lower in sodium.
• To learn more about sodium, click here.
• If you are actively trying to reduce sodium, click here.
• Learn about the DASH Eating Plan (dietary approaches to stop hypertension).  

Practice Food Safety

• Adults ages 65 and older are more likely to be hospitalized or die from foodborne illness.
• Learn why you’re more susceptible to foodborne illness here.
• Some general food safety tips include:
• Always discard food that has an “off” smell or look. Use the “sell by”, “use by”, and “best by” dates for a standard of freshness.
• Do not leave raw foods out of the refrigerator for long periods (over an hour). Frozen foods and canned foods are great options to avoid unsafe foods.
• Do not thaw food out of the refrigerator.
• Wash all produce in fresh, running water for at least 20 seconds before eating.
• Frozen vegetables and fruits are good options because they have less transit time to the grocery store and are fresher because the freezing process is on the grounds of the farm where they are harvested.
• Remember to establish a monthly routine of cleaning out your fridge, freezer, and pantry to avoid consuming foods that have gone bad.
• Click here for a handout on food safety.

Food Resources

Use the links below to help you find food resources in your community.

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Senior market fresh (locally grown produce)
• Double-up food bucks
• Meals on Wheels Program
• Open hands food bank
• Farmer’s markets
• General list of programs/assistance

Older Adult Nutrition Resources

• MyPlate Older Adult Life Stages
• Nutrition as We Age: Healthy Eating with the Dietary Guidelines
• Healthy Meal Planning: Tips for Older Adults
• Healthy Eating Habits for Older Adults
• USDA: Older Adults