In our last Aging Healthy post, we talked about physical activity, its benefits and how to be successful in your activity routine. In this post we will take a look at making smart food choices.

Do you ever get overwhelmed with all the different diets? Choosing what to eat for our health can be confusing. We know that making smart food choices can help protect us from certain health problems as we age. We also have learned that exercise and eating well is not just about weight. But, with so much conflicting information, where do you start? And what food plans are evidence based?

One tool you can rely on that is researched and evidence-based is the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, developed and published jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (download a PDF version).

The National Institutes of Health has examined and researched three healthy-eating patterns:

• Mediterranean style: focuses on fresh produce, whole grains, and healthy fats, with less dairy and more fish than a traditional American diet.
• Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH): a low-salt diet shown to have health benefits by lowering blood pressure, which, in turn, helps people lose weight and reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
• MIND diet: combines elements of the Mediterranean style and DASH (MIND is short for Mediterranean–DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay).

If you want to make healthier choices in your diet but don’t know where to start, visit the National Institute on Aging’s healthy eating webpage.  You can also find more information based on the Dietary Guidelines at the Department of Agriculture’s myplate.gov website

If you are interested in learning more about your health and healthy eating patterns, we offer an array of classes throughout the year in our Age Friendly series.

In the next post, we will discuss sleep and tips to help you achieve better rest. Visit the Aging Healthy blog series feed to find all current posts.

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