You may think that because you are a certain age, it’s either too early or too late to worry about eating healthy and exercising. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to take your health into your own hands and look after yourself properly, no matter what your age is.
Doctors and medicines are available to help treat you once you get sick; however, the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is absolutely true when it comes to health matters.
How Eating Healthy And Exercising Can Help At Any Age
See how taking care of your diet and weight can improve your life no matter what age you are.
1. Eating Well Helps You To Maintain A Healthy Weight
No matter what age you are, eating well makes it easier to keep your weight within a healthy range, which helps prevent a whole host of problems.
Choose a variety of foods every day, including fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean sources of protein like poultry, fish and meat with the fat trimmed off and low-fat dairy products.
Do include some fat in your diet, but stick to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These types of fats turn into liquid at room temperature, such as olive oil (use sparingly and never use olive oil to deep fry as this oil can release toxins at high temperatures). Nuts and seeds are also a source of healthy fats (walnuts, butternuts, sunflower seeds).
Sugary snacks should be saved for special occasions. Try to limit your intake of processed foods, since they are usually high in salt and contain preservatives.
2. Increasing The Fiber In Your Diet May Help To Prevent Certain Diseases, Such As Cancer
Research has shown that colon cancer is less common among people who eat a high-fiber diet. And this is an important factor especially for those of us who are older.
Increasing the amount of fiber you consume could help to protect against cancer in several ways, including:
- Fiber helps to promote regularity.
- It reduces the amount of contact time between the harmful chemicals in stools and the bowel.
- Fiber may also help the bacteria in the body produce chemicals that change the conditions in the bowel which will help to reduce the risk of cancer.
3. Regular Exercise Helps To Protect Against Joint Stiffness And Help To Prevent Falls
Your body was meant to move. Stretching exercises and strength conditioning, especially core and lower body strength exercises, can help to improve muscle tone, protect against joint stiffness and improve your balance. Together, they will lower the likelihood that you will fall.
If you do happen to become ill, following a healthy diet and getting regular exercise will help you to recover more quickly than a person who has not been taking as good of care of themselves.
Read More Of Our Healthy Living Blogs
Chief Operating Officer, The Compounding Pharmacy of America
Matthew Poteet, Pharm.D. graduated with Honors from Lee University with a Bachelors of Science in Biological Science. After his undergraduate training, he completed the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy, graduating in 2004. Dr. Poteet has spent much of his pharmacy career on staff at two of the most prestigious academic teaching hospitals in the Southeast; Emory University in Atlanta and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. At these institutions he received extensive experience and training in sterile products compounding.
He returned home to East Tennessee in 2010, where he has held the position of Pharmacy Director at two sterile products pharmacies in Knoxville. Matthew lives in Knoxville with his wife, Chris. Dr. Poteet is Tennessee’s first Board Certified Anti-Aging Pharmacist by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
