Why Is Nutrition Important?

By Juliette Crane

As your body ages, it undergoes a number of changes such as slowed metabolism and a greater tendency to gain weight. Your taste and smell deteriorate slightly, making it easier to eat foods you may once have disliked. Your ability to digest food is also affected because less stomach acid and saliva is produced as we age. This can affect your body's ability to absorb nutrients and vitamin and mineral deficiency can result. The body's ability to produce enzymes and coenzymes also declines as we age. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to improve or maintain your good health.

Firstly, if you want the stamina to live well, it is important to eat a good breakfast. Many people are fully aware of the importance of breakfast and have in the past made sure their families ate properly before they started their day. You may not do the same thing for yourself once the children have grown up and left home. Breakfast can be easy and healthy. The combination of fruit, oatmeal, toast and juice or a hot drink, can provide an excellent and balanced start to the day.

For a mid-morning snack, enjoy more fruit perhaps alongside some cheese. If you want to get creative you can create a kebab made of strawberries, cheese and grapes. As you get older, your digestion will thank you if you eat smaller meals more frequently. This not only increases metabolism and helps the absorption of nutrition, it also evens out blood sugar and stops you from getting hungry.

A good, healthy lunch can include salads, healthy wraps, or soups. However, it might be a good idea to avoid creamy soups since milk products can cause flatulence as we age. The reason for this is likely to be because of a reduction in the production of lactase as we age so we are less able to digest milk sugar. Undigested lactose can cause diarrhea as well as flatulence. When cheese is aged more than sixty days, it contains very little lactose, so you may be able to tolerate it and obtain needed calcium if you otherwise cannot consume dairy products.

As you age, if you begin to show signs of food allergies that you never had before, they may not be food allergies at all. If your body is not able to properly digest certain foods, the symptoms can mimic those of some allergies. For example, gluten intolerance can cause real health problems that can often go undetected unless a physician asks the right questions. Wheat and many grain products contain gluten.

To make sure your body is supplied with all the essential vitamins and minerals it needs to properly function, it is important to take a good quality daily supplement. Many companies sell combination of vitamins and minerals designed specifically for older people. Capsules are more easily absorbed than tablets. You can also purchase enzymes and coenzymes. CoQ10 is a coenzyme that is usually made by the human body and has been found to benefit people with damaged hearts, the onset of Alzheimer's or taking cholesterol lowering medication.

Keep your processed sugar intake down as each year passes. When you ingest sweets, make them healthy and in the form of fruit. When you eat right, your body tells you with increased vigor and stamina. Add a bit of exercise, whether it be walking, biking, yoga, swimming or anything else to grease the joints and you find that you feel a lot fitter.

More than anything, it is important to be positive, happy and enjoy life. Maintain an active life and stay interested in people and life in general. By simply changing your approach to eating, you can develop a new outlook to life. You can learn new healthier recipes, create interesting healthy menus and begin to enjoy food in a different way. Your generation changed the way youth was viewed and experienced. Are you ready to change the future of aging? - 30414

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