By Cheryl Toner, MS, RDN | 2.6.2020
There are few things in life as comforting and nourishing as
food, but it can be controversial and confusing, too. It’s so essential to life
one would think common sense is the main ingredient in making food choices, and
common sense—along with personal heritage and beliefs—is an important
guidepost. Food cultures around the world can look very different from one
another, and each can be healthy. Rather than ignoring food customs and
preferences, let’s anchor them in the science of nutrition and aging.
Eating for health is often framed in a way that isolates
nutrients that are good for your bones, your heart, or your digestive system.
The result is a list of foods that will provide those nutrients, but ignores
the way nutrients work together. Calcium, for example, is essential for strong
bones, but it must partner with magnesium, vitamins D and K, and protein to get
the job done. In fact, all these nutrients together are optimized only with
weight-bearing exercise.
Tried and true tips
So how do we bring research know-how to the dinner table when
it’s so complex? Managing a health condition or nutrient deficiency is best
done with a registered dietitian, but these tips can ground your food choices
in decades of research and simplify eating well:
1.
Balance food group choices throughout
the day. That’s right—good old food groups. Fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy,
and protein. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables, about a quarter grains,
and a quarter protein. Not eating off of a plate? Think about balancing
throughout the day, but don’t get too technical.
2.
Make variety the spice of your life
and each food group. Try a new herb in cooking, reach for a rainbow of produce,
add barley or quinoa to the whole wheat bread and oatmeal rotation, and
alternate beans, fish, lean meats, and lentils as protein choices.
3.
Enjoy eating. Share a meal with a
friend or family. Seek out foods that you really like that are also good for
you and savor each bite.
In addition to eating well, keep exercising. If you don’t
exercise already, talk to your doctor about getting started. Doing both is good
for your health… and it simply feels good to be good to you.
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