Healthy Food Choices for Seniors

As we get older our metabolism and ability to absorb nutrients decreases. Learn some healthy food choices and tips for seniors to keep you going in this video.

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Age decreases ability to absorb nutrients
Calcium necessity increases with age
Eat more fruits, vegetables & foods high in fiber

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Alice Merritt is currently the Campus Dietitian at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She has a masters degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in public health with a concentration on nutrition. Alice has worked as a registered dietician for four years, and believes that helping people reach their nutritional goals will lead to a long and healthy life.

ALICE MERRITT: Now I'm going to talk to you about healthy eating for seniors. As we age, our ability to absorb nutrients decreases. Our appetite, activity level and metabolism also decreases as we age. It's still very important to make sure we get balanced nutrition in a variety of foods. One of the main nutrients we need increasing amounts of as we age, especially for post-menopausal women is calcium. Our calcium needs increase to about 1200 to 1500 milligrams a day. And also, our need for Vitamin D also increases because our skin gets less likely to absorb Vitamin D from sunlight. Healthy food choices for seniors are things like oatmeal, high fiber cereals, low fat or fat free dairy products. You want to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. And you also want to choose those leaner meat sources, like chicken, turkey and fish, to help reduce your saturated fat intake. So healthy nutrition for seniors, important things to remember is you want to make sure even if you have a decreased appetite, that you still continue to eat smaller meals and snacks every 3 to 4 hours a day. You also want to make sure you can include a healthy calcium source, like yogurt or milk, in order to increase your calcium and Vitamin D intake. Also, you want to make sure you drink plenty of water. Our thirst mechanism also decreases as we age. And so, you may not feel thirsty, but you could still be dehydrated. It's also a great idea to take a multivitamin because this ensures you get the minimum amounts of your daily nutrients. All of these things are healthy tips to follow for healthy aging.

Healthy Food Choices for Seniors Video

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