Key Strategies for Healthy Aging: Diet, Activity and Purpose

What Do We Know About Healthy Aging?

Taking care of your physical, mental, and cognitive health is important for healthy aging. People are living longer than ever. This is certainly great news. However, what we all agree is a goal as we age is not just to keep living, but to live healthy and well.

It’s a simple fact of life that those over the age of 65 will usually develop at least one chronic condition over the course of the rest of their lives. Conditions such as cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, COPD, and arthritis are very common among the elderly and often what leads to end of life scenarios. In addition to the burden these diseases can put on individuals and their families, the Centers for Disease Control shows that the burden on the health care system is tremendous.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to go this way. According to SeniorCare.com, a third of seniors will not need long-term care. Those who do, with the right approach, can minimize the amount of care they need and maximize their independence. Here are some tips on how to make chronic illnesses more manageable, or how to avoid them entirely when you get older.

Physical Activity and a Healthy Diet

You’ve heard this many times before, but there’s a reason for that: it’s true. The right diet and the right amount of exercise is unarguably linked to better health both right now and as you grow older. In many ways, the typical American diet is still quite terrible. For the best chance of avoiding or managing chronic illnesses as you get older, it’s wise to cut out fast food and junk food entirely. These foods are high in calories and low in nutrients, and they fill you with things you don’t need like sodium and sugar, which can result in obesity, high insulin levels and diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

While you’re managing what you eat, don’t forget to stay active. You need to keep your muscles working and healthy, so they can take care of you as the years go by. Regular physical activity and exercise can result in lower weight, lower blood sugar, higher energy, and reduced joint pain and stiffness. It can even help you control breathing-related issues like asthma and sleep apnea.

Are Nutritional Supplement Drinks Good for Seniors?

If you care for or help to care for a senior loved one, you have probably heard a lot about the benefits of popular nutritional supplements such as Boost, Ensure or Pedialyte. But are they really good for your loved one? Can they possibly do any harm? Here’s what you need to know about these nutritional supplements for seniors.

Choosing Wisely, a society of medical professionals dedicated to helping people make better health choices, says most seniors do not need these supplements. According to the group, supplements like Boost are little more than liquid candy, and sugar and water provide few health benefits. For an older person with dangerously low weight, however, they may be able to help put on some extra pounds. They are also a good solution for people who are having trouble chewing or recovering from illness or surgery. But for your average senior, there is no reason to take these products consistently.

So most seniors may not need to take these supplements, but is there any harm in it? According to dietitian Stacey Nelson from Massachusetts General Hospital, the answer is that sadly, for some seniors, these drinks may do more harm than good. Because they contain so much sugar, consuming too many of these beverages can put a senior at risk of excessive weight gain and related conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. There is also a concern that seniors may get in the habit of substituting these drinks for the nutrition they actually need. While these drinks do contain nutrients and are okay as a single-meal replacement from time to time, they are not a true substitute for well-balanced meals. Finally, some seniors may have a bad reaction to such drinks, such as nausea and indigestion.

A Better Alternative for Seniors Who Are Not Eating Well

Undernutrition and malnutrition are very serious problems for seniors, and should not be ignored. So, what can you do to protect them and help them stay healthy? First, it’s important to remember that Ensure and products like them are usually not unhealthy when used as directed. If your senior needs to gain weight fast and can tolerate them, using them in moderation is okay. However, they are not a long-term solution.

The best approach is to find out why your senior is not gaining or is losing weight. If there is a medical reason, naturally it should be addressed right away. However, if it is simply lack of appetite, try to find foods that your senior will like and find tolerable. It’s okay if this includes some foods that are not necessarily considered the healthiest choices, like butter or whole eggs. What’s important is that you get your senior eating again, and up to a healthy weight.

If eating balanced meals remains a problem, a great substitute for these traditional nutritional supplements is a smoothie. You can control exactly what you put in a smoothie, and simultaneously make sure it is full of natural and nutrient-rich ingredients. You can also control the flavors to make sure your senior is getting something he or she really likes to drink.

Bone Care

As we get older, our bones get more brittle, and when they break, it can be quite hazardous. You can help avoid this by cutting out smoking, cutting down drinking alcohol and soda, doing weight-bearing exercises like water aerobics, and getting the recommended daily allowances of Vitamin D and calcium.

Mental Stimulation: Embrace Lifelong Learning

Just as physical activity can keep your body healthy, mental activity can do the same for your mind. Do puzzles, play games, and engage in lively conversations with your peers. Find ways of managing stress, and give your brain plenty of rest by getting adequate sleep every night. While some age-related brain diseases are genetic, their progress can still be slowed by brain exercise, and other diseases may be possible to avoid entirely.

Finding a Sense of Purpose in Creativity

If you’ve got a senior loved one in an elder care facility, then chances are good that you may have heard some people encouraging seniors to participate in painting and other creative activities. But is there any science behind the idea that creative activities can actually help seniors thrive?

The science, in a word, says yes. According to a Journal of Aging Studies analysis of subjects ranging from age 60 to 93, there are six features of successful aging. These include: having a sense of purpose, personal growth, self-acceptance, interactions with others, autonomy, and health. The reason that creative activities like painting are so helpful in promoting health and wellness is because creative activities hit many of these areas: purpose, growth, autonomy, as well as encouraging a sense of competence. Many people may have spent most of their younger years raising children, working most of the time to support the household, or both. When those pursuits and activities go away, instilling a new sense of purpose becomes critical. Being able to produce something through art, especially something they can share with others, often helps fill that void.

Many seniors are reluctant to pick up a paintbrush, get their hands in a lump of clay, or sit at a keyboard because they feel they do not have enough artistic skill. Once they get started though, many find they had more talent than they might have thought. VeryWellHealth notes several studies that support the conclusion that seniors who make art are happier and healthier. Dr. Joseph LeDoux, a behavioral neuroscientist at NYU, showed that new learning experiences can improve information processing and memory storage in older people, and a study of 300 seniors at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. found that seniors who attended an arts program had improved health after a year, as well as being less depressed, feeling less lonely, being more socially active, and taking fewer medications.

When should your senior start making art? Right now! Virtually everyone can benefit from making some kind of art, whether young or old. For seniors who often have a great deal of time on their hands, making art can be especially rewarding and may help them to live longer, healthier lives.

Mental Health Care: Stay Connected and Seek Support

It’s easy to become stressed and depressed as you get older. Be sure to surround yourself with friendly, supportive people and don’t isolate yourself. Try to relax and cut as much stress out of your life as possible. When you are feeling anxious or depressed, reach out to family, friends, or health care professionals for support.

Doctor’s Visits: Manage Existing Conditions and Be Proactive

None of us like to go to the doctor, but it’s important to do it on a regular basis in order to stay healthy, especially as we get older. Doctors can advise us on what we’re doing right and wrong with respect to taking care of ourselves so that we can stay on the right track in the future.

Key Takeaways

It’s not always easy to do the healthiest things for ourselves, but the rewards are great. If you are going to live longer, you might as well be healthy doing it so you can enjoy all the great things life has to offer as much as possible. Do it for your family, your friends, and yourself. And if you have an elderly loved one who isn’t taking care of themselves the way they should, don’t hesitate to reach out and offer a helping hand.

Talk to your doctor about a comprehensive approach that addresses both environmental and physical factors. By taking proactive steps and seeking professional assistance when needed, families can significantly improve the lives of their senior loved ones. Another very important factor for senior health is being in a warm, supportive environment where they can interact with others and their health needs can be met.

Resources to Help Mom and Dad

• Vitamins for Seniors
• Oregon defines and describes ADLs here: Long Term Care
• Golden Placements resources to find care services
• Senior Living Near Me: Adult Home Placement
• Explore residential care homes for elderly loved ones

Golden Placement Services helps you manage resources and takes care of the leg work for finding the best living situation for your loved one, with a wide range of care needs and budgets, at no cost to families. Call us at 503-723-7145 or contact Golden Placements today to learn more.