While exercising and staying active can be important for a healthy lifestyle, what's also really necessary is to eat healthily. And eating healthily isn't just something you need to do after one particular age; it's a habit that you need to follow throughout your life. It'll help ensure that you stay healthy and fit throughout. Here's how you can eat healthily from your teens to your seventies.
Teens and twenties: Your metabolism isn't always going to be fast. With time it is bound to slow down. Your teens and twenties are when you need to consume foods like red meat, leafy greens and whole grains. You should also eat more foods that are rich in calcium like milk, cheese and yoghurt, kale, pulses and fish. “The more calcium that’s deposited in the bones during childhood and adolescence, the stronger bones will be in later life,” says an expert.
Thirties: Stress is one of the most prominent contributing factors to gaining weight at this age since metabolism slows down significantly. This is also the age when most women are expecting so naturally they feel the need to eat tons of junk food, but doctors suggest they should do just the opposite. At this age, one should maintain healthy levels of fruit, fat and fibre.
Forties: This is the age which sees a “toxic mixture of sitting down all the time and having a lot of money to spend on food,” says an expert. “There’s a huge chunk of the population for whom diet-related illness is driven by lifestyle, and they make themselves most apparent” at a time when “the bounciness of youth” has departed. Not only people at this age need plenty of exercise, but they also need to team it with the right diet. Consume healthy fats like nuts, seeds and good quality oils including olive, coconut and avocado. Also, you should opt for more protein-based breakfasts instead of carbohydrate-based foods.
Fifties: By this age women often reach their menopause which can lead to multiple changes in hormones. At this age, women need to cut down on alcohol and caffeine and opt for more low-sodium options like stock cubes, baked beans and soy sauce. Green veggies are also a must at this age.
Sixties and seventies: Kale, spinach, broccoli, eggs and brightly coloured fruits and vegetables are the best options to be consumed at this age. A diet rich in calcium and protein is mandatory. At this age “you need to find a diet and exercise regime — it’s not one versus the other — that matches your age in life”, says an expert.
