In a world in which healthy aging (or to put it in the Anglo-Saxon healthy aging) is the new must for over 65s, nutrition plays a role of fundamental importance.
A little like the elixir of life, the diet, evidently combined with the correct lifestyle, is at the center of a heated scientific debate. It is certainly not the search for immortality, but the desire to better live a phase of life, which is now increasingly longer, that animates international scientific literature.
The numerous studies conducted on the longest-lived populations show, in fact, how certain dietary habits significantly affect the duration but above all the quality of life of the most distant decades.
And being able to count on a performing body, able to withstand physical fatigue, still responsive to the numerous stresses that everyday life dictates, certainly acts as a solid support for the psychic and nervous balance.
For this reason we will propose 7 dietary cornerstones that can support healthy aging.
, the metabolic efficiency, the cellular turgor and the thermogenic capacity of the organism.Therefore, preserving the adequate state of hydration is the first anti-aging action to be implemented.
It will benefit the cardiovascular, nervous, skin and above all muscular systems.
is the key word in the great chapter of aging.
Sarcopenia describes the progressive loss of muscle mass and strength, generally dependent on age and unfortunately responsible for a rapid decline in the quality of life.
The spotlight on this condition and the many studies that have followed in recent years, have shown how the adequate intake of dietary proteins effectively contrasts the progressive aging of muscle tissue.
The minimum protein amounts currently recommended, evidently in the absence of pathologies such as kidney diseases, are 1.1 g per kg of body weight. Need that tends to grow in proportion to the level of physical activity present.
Experts agree that it is useful to consume noble proteins with a high biological value, which are therefore able to adequately nourish the muscle, such as lean white meats, lean fish and egg whites.
Even legumes have proved to be valuable in supporting muscle function in aging.
, in this sense, to constitute the most precious fuel, which should remain the nutrients however most represented in the diet of an elderly subject.
Whole grains should be the first choice, useful both to energetically replenish the system and to preserve an adequate intestinal order.
On the other hand, fruit, taken according to appropriate criteria, would provide the quantity of sugars necessary above all for the nervous system to respond well to stressful events.
.Fats are actively involved in hormonal synthesis, in the structuring and proper functioning of the nervous system, and provide, in certain circumstances, particularly valuable energy. The important thing is to choose the best fats.
Epidemiological studies show how a high consumption of animal fats can negatively influence the course of aging, compromising the health of the nervous system, as well as cardiovascular; on the contrary, instead of what fats from extra virgin olive oil, rather than fruit, do. dry or oil-seeded. Indeed, the cocktail of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins and antioxidants, makes these foods a real anti-aging drug.
Combined with the fatty acids of the omega 3 series present in oily fish, they would help defend the body from inflammatory events.
it is inhabited by a myriad of microorganisms, bacteria, fungi and viruses, whose balance is able to direct the state of health.Aging undermines this balance, allowing potentially pathogenic bacteria to override those with protective functionality.
The fibers present in vegetables, whole grains and fruit, in addition to providing nutritional substrate for protective microorganisms disseminated in the alimentary canal, could, in association with pigments with antioxidant activity, help to restore an "adequate intestinal structure, thus improving its" barrier.
And a healthy intestine is generally the mirror of a healthy and active organism.
than extra-bony.
The most recent scientific evidence sees it actively engaged in supporting the functionality of the immune system, especially in the most fragile subjects, such as those over 65, and in actively assisting the functionality and structure of muscle tissue.
Mainly produced by our body through a complex series of biochemical reactions, triggered by the sun's rays, Vitamin D is still present, albeit in small quantities, in various foods. To maintain a good balance, it is therefore suggested an "adequate exposure to sunlight for 20-40 minutes.
yellow-orange, red-purple and green.Anthocyanins, catechins, flavonones, isoflavones but also the most famous vitamins A, C and E are just some of the protagonists of the antioxidant action of the diet.
Capacity measurable through a parameter known as O.R.A.C., able to define the protective strength of a diet against oxygen free radicals.
An adequately balanced diet in this sense, would therefore be able to burden the nervous system, the cardiovascular system but also the musculoskeletal system from the damaging and aging action of free radicals.
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