‘Get back to the basics’
Life isn’t slowing down and making healthy food choices can be traded for convenience items, but just as with any stage during life – your 40s are an important time to take diet seriously. It can be as simple eating right and balanced, but with the plethora of fast-foods and processed meals out there, Palmer Grau, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with CHRISTUS Schumpert, said it’s good to get back to basics.
“There’s no major difference [in what foods you should be eating] just because you’re 40 [or older],” Grau said. “At any stage in life your goal should be to have a healthy, varied diet inclusive of lots of fruits and vegetables, adequate fiber and low in fat – especially trans fat. One thing in particular for women is to be sure to have adequate calcium intake. [Your 40s] are a good time to start making wise [eating] choices if you’re not already doing that.”
“There’s a real push right now for people to move away from the convenience-type foods,” she continued. “When you’re reading a nutrition label, a rule of thumb is to choose things with less than five ingredients; and the fresher the better. It’s better when [the food] has come from out of the ground with less processing. It will have more vitamin content, and probably more fiber – all the things that go into a healthy diet.”
Trans fats are a hot topic of sorts, especially because foods are allowed to advertise that they contain zero when in reality they might have up to half a gram or less per serving.
“Anytime food label has the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated then it will contain trans fat – even if it says it contains zero,” Grau said. “[There could be a small amount] per serving, but we might eat a couple of servings. When we do that throughout the day it all adds up.”
She said it’s important to check the label, don’t just trust the big bold lettering on the front – even though that might be a good place to start – you should turn the product around and really dissect the nutrition label.
There is truth in a changing body as we get older, but modifying diets and restricting specific items may be more crucial for some rather than others.
“Your hormones do change [as you get older], specifically [for women] the estrogen levels,” Grau said. “It might be harder to lose weight or you might put more weight on in the middle section, which can put you at risk for other health conditions. You may have to modify your caloric intake to maintain your weight and to avoid gaining weight. Diabetes is one of [the risk factors] that’s associated with weight. So, depending on who you are and what [health concerns] you’re dealing with, there might be things you need to cut back on ... such as alcohol avoidance or it may be a sodium restriction.”
Grau also said as far as supplements go, if you’re eating right and getting a varied diet of fruits, vegetables and calcium, many people won’t need them. There is one vitamin, however, that has been the topic of conversation as of late.
“We’re learning more and more about vitamin D levels; so it’s a good idea to maybe have a conversation with your doctor and actually have them draw your levels and see if you’re deficient and if you might need a supplement,” she said. “There are a lot of studies out now correlating vitamin D levels with a various list of health conditions.”
Nutrients such as omegas, she said, are best obtained from your actual diet. The best sources are the fatty fishes – salmon, sardines and tuna.
When clients come in to see a dietician, there is a thorough process that the consultant and client go through so that an effective and helpful resolution can be made.
“We start with a pretty detailed diet history and see what their strengths and weaknesses are, and then make goals and recommendations based on that,” Grau said. “Hopefully we can follow them [throughout the process] and tweak goals if needed. It’s really advisable for anyone to see and consult with a dietitian.”
– Katie Ho
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Grau said journaling food intake can be extremely beneficial and that in today’s technological world it can be even more accessible and detailed with phone apps. With some, documenting what one eats can give specific measurements and information that might otherwise go unnoticed.
“It’s a real eye-opener for some people to see what they’re actually putting in their body, especially with snacking,” she said. “A lot of the time, people don’t realize those couple of bites could be 300 calories.”
