Published By: Puja Sinha

Best Eating Habits for the Fifties

The definitive guide to a healthy diet plan as you hit the fifties

Stepping in your fifties, you must have been gradually incorporating wise restructuring of diet—absolutely crucial for a healthy ageing process. The body is subjected to metabolic and hormonal changes and a careful diet smoothens the journey in the later decades. Besides being physically active, here are a few foods to swear by and others to bid a sad adieu.

Ditch Sodas for the Good

Soda and related sugary drinks that previously added the jazz and bling to your days get worse as you age. The predominant consequences are weight gain, cardiovascular ailments, high blood pressure, decay of teeth, inflammation and diabetes besides accumulating fat in liver, causing leptin resistance, increasing risks of cancer and leading to severe addiction to sugar.

As alternatives, unsweetened tea and water are a blessing for these drinks would never lead to a sugar crash by dehydrating your body. Opt for a gradual transition if you are hooked to sweet beverages. Instead of ditching all at once, cut back slowly and incorporate green tea which would work on your mental alertness sans the cons.

Prep Meals with Beans

Beans are an indispensable ingredient as you age for they are a rich source of nutrition and aids in metabolism. Replete with iron, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fibre and carbs, beans lower bad cholesterol, smoothens digestion and prevent diabetes and blood pressure. Research has also confirmed that beans do wonders in regulating haemoglobin and boosting immunity.

Post-fifties specifically, the nutrient-packed beans replenish your body with antioxidants, zinc and vitamins which reduces the risk of diseases.

Pack the Colourful Veggies and the Green Leaves 

Your diet should contain enough produces in greens, purples, oranges, yellows and reds for these ingredients are rich in antioxidants, fibre and minerals. Filling your plate with the colours of rainbow assures that you are well-shielded from chronic diseases, chronic inflammation, cardiovascular issues and risks of different types of cancer.

To mention a few tomatoes, apples, beets, blackberries, raisins, bananas, tangerines and pineapples are of higher pertinence.

Avoid Bingeing and Eat when Hungry

Mindless munching has its own pitfalls with ageing. Instead of eating in chunks, try eating in small amounts but frequently for this eating habit boosts metabolism. Mini-meals, apart from satiating your appetite, controls blood sugar levels and supplies nutrient to the body throughout the day while simultaneously keeping at bay unexpected turbulences related to digestion.