Dietary Recommendations for Seniors

Eating healthy and knowing that you are getting the right amount of essential nutrients and other important dietary components like fiber and phytochemicals is always a challenge. This challenge is even more difficult for adults over 50, as their physical activity and the total amount of food they eat decrease with age.

While eating less can result in fewer calories consumed and meeting your lower energy (calorie) requirement, it becomes more difficult to meet your vitamin requirement and minerals that remain the same as younger adults or, in some cases, as recent research shows, are actually higher. Therefore, it is more important that older adults choose primarily nutrient-dense foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, eggs, fish, and low-fat dairy products, and eat fewer foods such as cookies, candy, and potato chips.

As our bodies age, they have different needs, and certain nutrients become especially important for maintaining good health. Aging is associated with loss of bone (osteopenia or osteoporosis) and muscle (sarcopenia), as well as decreased function of blood vessels, kidneys, lungs, eyes, and other tissues.

Getting all the nutrients you need could help slow some of these changes. For example, older adults need more calcium and vitamin D to maintain bone health and more vitamin B6 to maintain carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism than younger people require.

These changes become even more marked in people older than 70 years. Additionally, due to age-associated declines in their stomach acidity, many older people are unable to easily absorb nutrients such as iron, folate, and vitamin B12 , essential nutrients important for many functions, including the support of healthy red blood cells.

Although not often considered a nutrient, water is essential for everyone, but as we age, thirst does not manifest itself as well when we become dehydrated, so special attention is needed to avoid this problem. Foods and drinks with a high water content, such as fruits, vegetable juices, and low-sodium soups, can be important for maintaining good hydration in older people.

If you are over 50, you can help yourself meet the challenge of meeting your nutrient needs and supporting bodily functions by choosing more fortified whole grains and cereals, brightly colored vegetables like carrots and broccoli, deep colored fruits like berries and cantaloupe, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products such as yogurt.

You should also try to get more “good fats” by eating fish, nuts, and seeds and by selecting high-quality protein sources like eggs, dried beans, and poultry.

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