"Age-Group" Nutrition
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Every age has its own eating plan, its own specific needs and therefore its own particular dietary requirements. Are we stating the obvious? Apparently not, especially if we consider people who, for a long time, even as their pace of life, circumstances and habits change and the years go by, keep on eating in exactly the same way.
Every stage of life, just like every period of greater or lesser activity, or of different kinds of activity, brings different needs to be met. We should take this into account and act accordingly as the years go by, building different habits and customs in nutrition too, just as we perhaps already do with the level and type of physical activity we do.
After 50-60 we are no longer youngsters; our capacity for recovery declines drastically after the age of 30, let alone later on. Not to mention our digestive capacity or the sensitivity we develop over time to certain foods or amounts of food, the different composition and quality of our hours of sleep at night, or simply the physical and mental influence that different hobbies can have at different ages.
A further distinction should be made between men and women: while in men the different ages may be much more regular and nutritional needs much more dependent on the level and type of daily activity, in women fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause certainly also come into play, potentially upsetting even the best-made plan.
A first general alarm bell should ring regarding minimum amounts of vitamins and mineral salts, with particular attention to Calcium intake. This mineral, certainly important at every stage of life, is exceptionally important in later life and, more specifically, in women who are past childbearing age and entering menopause. In this respect, drinking water comes to our aid; a correct level of hydration also ensures a high intake of highly bioavailable calcium.
Maintaining optimal levels of hydration and fluid and electrolyte replacement is fundamentally important specifically for women, especially in the face of heavy sweating in response to the hot flushes of the menopause, but not only then. Men too are at serious risk if their hydration levels drop: with age, the baseline level of tissue hydration falls considerably, and with it the risk of dehydration increases, not only in the hot season but at other times of the year too.
Among vitamins and trace elements, a key mention goes to vitamin D intake, in men and women alike, which is needed to maintain bone and joint well-being but also to support hormonal and neuronal aspects, as well as the support provided by Magnesiumsupplementation, here too much more specifically in women than in men.
Watch out for alcohol and sugars! Yes, the more the years go by, the greater the risk associated with the carcinogenic effect of alcohol, which builds up over the years and can show itself above all in adulthood, particularly in people who have been heavily exposed. Simple sugars in large quantities are never positive and, specifically in adulthood, frequent consumption could bring out certain latent conditions, such as dysmetabolic disorders or diabetes.
And protein?! It should never be lacking; on the contrary, never underestimate the great support it can provide. Maintaining muscle mass has a positive effect in preventing certain specific conditions, such as age-related sarcopenia, improving quality of life in general and, specifically, playing a significant part in preventing traumatic injuries. A musculoskeletal system supported by strong bones and toned muscles is without a shadow of a doubt the key to preventing and/or quickly recovering from bone fractures or joint damage.
With this in mind, we should not leave out of our well-being routine a good number of gym sessions, perhaps at a low level of intensity, but enough to keep stimulating contraction in most of the muscles and ensure the ongoing renewal of muscle fibres. Postural training, gentle exercise and flexibility exercises can support all this, with a view to preserving rather than developing joint mobility.
Every stage of life, just like every period of greater or lesser activity, or of different kinds of activity, brings different needs to be met. We should take this into account and act accordingly as the years go by, building different habits and customs in nutrition too, just as we perhaps already do with the level and type of physical activity we do.
After 50-60 we are no longer youngsters; our capacity for recovery declines drastically after the age of 30, let alone later on. Not to mention our digestive capacity or the sensitivity we develop over time to certain foods or amounts of food, the different composition and quality of our hours of sleep at night, or simply the physical and mental influence that different hobbies can have at different ages.
A further distinction should be made between men and women: while in men the different ages may be much more regular and nutritional needs much more dependent on the level and type of daily activity, in women fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause certainly also come into play, potentially upsetting even the best-made plan.
A first general alarm bell should ring regarding minimum amounts of vitamins and mineral salts, with particular attention to Calcium intake. This mineral, certainly important at every stage of life, is exceptionally important in later life and, more specifically, in women who are past childbearing age and entering menopause. In this respect, drinking water comes to our aid; a correct level of hydration also ensures a high intake of highly bioavailable calcium.
Maintaining optimal levels of hydration and fluid and electrolyte replacement is fundamentally important specifically for women, especially in the face of heavy sweating in response to the hot flushes of the menopause, but not only then. Men too are at serious risk if their hydration levels drop: with age, the baseline level of tissue hydration falls considerably, and with it the risk of dehydration increases, not only in the hot season but at other times of the year too.
Among vitamins and trace elements, a key mention goes to vitamin D intake, in men and women alike, which is needed to maintain bone and joint well-being but also to support hormonal and neuronal aspects, as well as the support provided by Magnesiumsupplementation, here too much more specifically in women than in men.
Watch out for alcohol and sugars! Yes, the more the years go by, the greater the risk associated with the carcinogenic effect of alcohol, which builds up over the years and can show itself above all in adulthood, particularly in people who have been heavily exposed. Simple sugars in large quantities are never positive and, specifically in adulthood, frequent consumption could bring out certain latent conditions, such as dysmetabolic disorders or diabetes.
And protein?! It should never be lacking; on the contrary, never underestimate the great support it can provide. Maintaining muscle mass has a positive effect in preventing certain specific conditions, such as age-related sarcopenia, improving quality of life in general and, specifically, playing a significant part in preventing traumatic injuries. A musculoskeletal system supported by strong bones and toned muscles is without a shadow of a doubt the key to preventing and/or quickly recovering from bone fractures or joint damage.
With this in mind, we should not leave out of our well-being routine a good number of gym sessions, perhaps at a low level of intensity, but enough to keep stimulating contraction in most of the muscles and ensure the ongoing renewal of muscle fibres. Postural training, gentle exercise and flexibility exercises can support all this, with a view to preserving rather than developing joint mobility.