Can you be old AND healthy? Absolutely!
There’s no reason that you cannot feel fabulous at any age, if you take the right actions, and it’s my job as a nutrition coach to motivate and support my clients to do just that. Of course, working one-to-one means I can create a nutrition and lifestyle strategy built around your exact needs.
However, there are some things that apply to everybody and you can start right now!
I’m going to share my two most important strategies that keep coming up with clients and that see the best immediate results. Find out how you can use the immense power of good nutrition to lead a long and healthy life.
What is important to know: Yes, getting older is unavoidable, and as some say “What is the alternative?” But things are changing in our bodies, and therefore we NEED to adapt if we want to continue to live our lives to the full and do the things we enjoy doing.
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BLOOD SUGAR BALANCING
As we age, we become more sensitive to insulin, i.e. we are more likely to become insulin resistant, whereby our bodies don’t take the sugar out of the blood anymore as efficiently.
Therefore, it is absolutely vital to keep our blood sugars balanced:
- avoid or at least reduce all obvious sugars
- become savvier when it comes to ready food labels
- eat more slow-releasing carbohydrates such as whole grains
- always combine carbohydrates with good quality proteins and fats
Having a balanced blood sugar will also help you reduce sugar cravings, because the more sugar you eat, the more you want it. And if you don’t crave it anymore, you won’t miss it anymore.
Having a balanced blood sugar also helps balance all your hormones overall and will help reduce your sense of feeling stressed as well. It can also help with sleep.
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DIGESTION
As we age, our stomach acid reduces, and more people experience digestive issues, such as bloating and cramping. Low stomach acid can also reduce your ability to absorb B12 which in turn can affect your energy levels.
If you are not digesting your foods properly, you might also not absorb your nutrients properly. So no matter how healthy your diet is, you are not getting the most out of it.
It is therefore important to help our bodies with the digestion process, using simple tricks:
- Get your digestive juices flowing by thinking about your food and how delicious it’s going to be. Saliva contains enzymes that are ready and waiting for that first bite!
- Take 2tsp apple cider vinegar in a little warm water 5 minutes before a meal (or with a meal as part of a vinaigrette) to stimulate stomach acid production.
- Eat slowly and consciously, taking care to chew each mouthful plenty of times until the food is little more than mush. You can also check out my online “Mindful Eating course”.
- Try a gentle walk after meals for 15 minutes -this helps with the digestive process and can also help balance your blood sugar levels, which is important to avoid slumps in energy.
- Pineapple and papaya are natural food sources of enzymes and are worth bringing into your diet.
- Eating some bitter foods before your meal can also help to get the digestive juices going, such as rocket, radishes, chicory etc.
- Make sure you go to the toilet regularly and avoid constipation by eating lots of fibre and fermented foods.
- In some cases, supplementation with digestive enzymes can be of benefit, but this should always be discussed with a Nutritional Therapist.
You can see, these two tips are not major adaptations, but they can have a huge effect on simply feeling better very quickly. If you like to learn more about what nutrients your body needs as you age, or if you simply like to get the support in making the changes, please contact me by booking your Health&Energy Review call. Don’t let age make you feel low, feel empowered that you can do something!
