Making sense of the diet mumbo jumbo
In the information age, we are constantly bombarded with the latest and greatest in health and diet tips.
However, two-thirds of Australia’s over-50s say there is too much conflicting health information about diet and lifestyle, according to new research by Apia, the leading national insurer for over-50s.
Apia’s research found that roughly one in five older Australians are confused about what they should be eating to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
David Skapinker, Apia spokesperson, said that while living in the 24-hour news age, with information available at our fingertips, has undoubtedly improved the quality of life of many, the flipside is the necessity for people to be more selective in the information they use to help lead a healthy and full life.
“The media is a major source of information on health and nutrition and every other day there seems to be a new report about the latest diet for optimal health and superfoods for disease prevention, so it’s not surprising that there’s a lot of confusion regarding diet. Over 50s end up not knowing what to eat or what to avoid for their life stage, and it’s increasingly becoming a problem for many”, he commented.
Most health experts agree that the key to maintaining good health as we age is eating less, and as balanced and natural a diet as possible. There are many new fad diets promoting the promise of easy weight loss and optimal health, however there is no such think as a quick fix. The best thing you can do to maintain a healthy body weight is simply balance the amount of calories consumed through food and drink with the amount of energy your body uses.
A perennial issue for many of us is that we often eat more food than we need to, and don’t move enough to burn it off. This is a major health issue for Australians over 50 because as we grow older, our metabolism begins to slow down, making it easier to gain weight. When combined with increasing issues with mobility and health, we need to focus even more on maintaining a healthy regimen as we get older.
It’s worthwhile looking at the diets of some of the healthiest cultures for clues. There’s a lot of evidence that shows that the Mediterranean lifestyle is one of the healthiest. It boasts a diet rich in natural fats, carbohydrates and vegetables, with the biggest meal consumed at lunchtime, followed by a sleep and then hours of manual labour in the afternoon to burn up energy. This is starkly different from our modern way of life where we consume most of our food in the evening and then sit around watching television, when really we should be enjoying a sizeable breakfast and lunch, and having our smallest meal at the end of the day.
It’s worth having a good look at your eating habits in conjunction with your broader lifestyle. Maintaining a balanced healthy diet and good exercise habits not only minimises the risk of obesity, heart disease and other ailments, it also keeps the spring in your step and a positive outlook