Impact of healthy eating on the health of older people

A healthy and balanced diet is essential to keep seniors in shape. It is even the secret of longevity. To do this, it is sufficient to know which foods are good for you, and which are best avoided, in order to add a touch of energy to the lives of seniors. Hippocrates said: "Let food be your first medicine. It is simply a matter of finding the right balance to avoid deficiencies so that the diet provides the body with everything it needs. Various studies have examined the diets of the regions of the world with the most centenarians. The conclusion is always the same: they eat neither too much nor too little, and above all they eat a variety of foods. A sort of supervised freedom, where the only real prohibitions are excess and its opposite, deficiency. Not eating enough can be just as bad as eating too much. The ideal is therefore balance. Unless, of course, you are obliged to follow a particular diet for reasons of illness or prevention. A balanced diet has its rule of three: fats, proteins and carbohydrates must be included in a balanced diet. Lipids, or fats, serve as an energy reserve. They are transformed into fatty tissue under the skin or in the muscles. They have a vital role, they are used to make our cells. 70% of our brain is made of lipids and all our cells are surrounded by lipid membranes. There are two types of lipids. Saturated fatty acids (SFAs), which are very present in the diet and which increase the level of cholesterol in the blood, should not represent more than 8% of the fatty acids consumed per day. Unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), polyunsaturated or monounsaturated, known as essential fatty acids, because the body does not produce them and they are essential to the body. These are the famous omega 3 and omega 6, and eating five fruits and vegetables a day is impossible to ignore. They concentrate a greater or lesser quantity of the vitamins, minerals and trace elements that our body needs to function properly. Vitamins are the keys to our energy. Without them, the body cannot assimilate nutrients: fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Make sure you are well hydrated, drink before you are thirsty, in small quantities spread out over the day.