At the age of over 55, the aging process takes place rapidly, leading to a decline in the function of the digestive, cardiovascular, urinary systems… Therefore, a nutritious diet will help improve health. physically and mentally significant for older adults. Let’s learn about the groups of nutrients needed to make a menu suitable for parents’ golden age!

1. Water

Water is the main component of the human body, creating a pH-balanced environment for the internal organs to function properly. When the body lacks water, all organs in the body are affected, especially the digestive and excretory processes. In addition, the lack of water in the body also leads to temperature fluctuations, causing a state of dizziness, which can lead to fainting. Therefore, remind your parents to drink enough 2 liters of water every day.

2. Starch

Starch is the main source of energy for all activities of the body, organs as well as the brain. Therefore, make sure that your parents’ meals always have enough starch to maintain a healthy and flexible body. Starch can be supplemented with rice, bread, oats, corn or cereal.

3. Vegetables and fruits

Vegetables and fruits contain natural sugars, water, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Parents should be encouraged to eat about 5 different colored vegetables and fruits each day at meals. Vegetables contain less sugar and calories than fruits; Therefore, the ratio of 2/3 vegetables and 1/3 fruits should be maintained. When eating fruit, if possible, do not peel it because the peel is where the most nutrients are.

4. Protein-rich foods

The list of foods high in protein includes meat, fish (source of iron), dairy products (source of calcium), eggs and legumes (source of iron and calcium). Not only are they a rich source of protein, these foods also provide the body with many other nutrients, such as zinc, vitamin B12 from animal meat, fiber from legumes, Omega-3 from fish. In your parents’ daily meals, you should diversify and combine animal protein sources (meat, chicken, fish, milk, eggs) with plant protein sources (legumes such as lentils, soybeans, etc.) ). In particular, plant protein sources are very good for health because they are high in fiber to help reduce cholesterol in the body.

5. Get enough healthy fats

Be aware that fats (found in oily foods) are important for bones, joints, and cell membranes. We should supplement our parents’ meals with foods containing unsaturated fats, such as vegetable oils, avocados, mayonnaise, nuts, almonds, olives, margarine… instead foods rich in saturated fat from animals. However, no matter how beneficial the food is, it only needs to be provided in moderation, suitable for the body.

The principles of healthy nutrition for the golden age of parents:

• Skipping meals is one of the major causes of malnutrition in the elderly, so make sure your parents have three main meals a day. The most important meal for parents is breakfast. As you get older, your digestive system takes longer to absorb food. Therefore, if the parents’ breakfast is full of nutrients, the body will have more time later to digest the food.
• Diversify foods in parents’ meals. You should choose foods from all five groups of the nutritional pyramid – that is, starches, vegetables and fruits, protein, fat, sugar and salt. However, for the elderly, the priority is the food group that contains fiber, such as beans, vegetables and fruits. In addition, when processing dishes, limit the amount of salt, because eating too much salt will cause high blood pressure.
• Avoid adding added sugar to your parents’ dishes and drinks, especially limit soft drinks as much as possible.
• Abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages. If in family gatherings, you can give your parents a moderate amount of red wine.
• Balance calories from eating and burning calories with physical activity to control weight and strengthen the immune system