Fiftysomething Diet: 4 Tips to Help You Age Well...

How you can fine-tune your eating habits to live longer and healthier   A bowl of oatmeal every morning, a handful of nuts, five servings of fruits and vegetables a day — researchers seem to be slowly compiling a grocery list of foods that can extend your lifespan. At the same time, there are quite a few 95- to 100-year-olds in The Longevity Genes Project, a large ongoing study at Albert Einstein College in New York, who haven’t made healthful lifestyle changes. They smoke. They don’t eat a lot of vegetables. They don’t pay much attention to diet at all. Longevity: Diet Vs. Genes That raises a question: How much does diet influence longevity and how much is due to genes? Right now, scientists offer no definitive answer. Estimates are that genes might roughly influence 20 to 35 percent of lifespan length. And some fiftysomethings probably have genes strong enough to override negative lifestyle and eating habits, although they’re likely a small group. For the majority of us, the way we eat and live is likely going to play a huge role in the length, and perhaps more importantly, the quality of our lifespan. Rather than piece together a grocery list of specific anti-aging foods, it looks as if the best way to tap into these dietary longevity benefits is by gradually shaping and fine-tuning eating habits to make them healthier. The Mediterranean diet is one good plan. So is the Okinawan diet. So is the U.S. government’s DASH diet. But we think the following four little culinary rules, based on current research, are a good place to start: Rule No. 1: Drink wine like a Mediterranean; sip moderate amounts with meals Italian researchers suggest that part of the health...

7 Things You Should Be Doing for Your Bones Now...

Half of us over 50 will have weak bones by 2020 unless we make changes When registered dietitian Toby Smithson gave presentations on bone health, she’d bring three bags of flour, each with a different amount.One bag represented osteoporosis. Another bag represented osteopenia, or bone whose density is lower than normal but not enough to be classified as osteoporosis. The third bag represented normal bone. “You could see the flour and feel the heaviness and density,” said Smithson, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Osteoporosis was the lightest bag.” It was a powerful visual reminder of why it is so important to invest in your bone health now, before it becomes a problem. Consider this sobering thought: The U.S. Surgeon General has said that by 2020, half of Americans over 50 will have weak bones — unless we change our diets and lifestyle habits. Having weak bones puts us at risk of developing broken bones and osteoporosis. “People need to understand that this is preventable for the most part,” says Dr. Steven Hawkins, a spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine and a professor of exercise science at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif. “But you have to take responsibility.” Bone Health Basics Our bones give structure to our bodies. They allow us to move. They protect our heart, lungs and other organs. They anchor our muscles. “Bone from an engineering perspective is kind of a marvel,” Hawkins says. Our bodies continually break down and rebuild bone. Children and teenagers form bone faster than they lose bone, but after age 20, we start losing bone faster than we rebuild it. Over time, our bones can become less dense and more prone to breaking. Most...

The Top 6 Healthy Foods to Put In Your Shopping Cart...

Experts pick their favorite superfoods. Are these on your list? As far as good-for-you foods go, the mind-boggling mix of advice directed to fiftysomething eaters is enough to make anyone’s head spin. Do you eat whole grains because the latest nutrition headlines say they prevent cancer? Become a vegan aromatase inhibitoror vegetarian to help the heart? Honestly, the advice changes depending on whatever research is making news. That made us wonder: Are there good-for-you food staples that make it onto the weekly grocery list of health experts regardless of headlines or hype about superfoods? From doctors to scientists to dietitians, here’s a quick look at what six of the country’s top health experts are stashing in their shopping carts. You’ll notice the short list centers on whole foods, particularly a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. Keep building them into your weekly shopping list, experts say, and you’ll stay on the road to good health. Mushrooms Dr. Dana Simpler, a primary care physician at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., places special focus in her practice on using diet and lifestyle to prevent and reverse medical problems. “One food I definitely eat each week is mushrooms, because mushrooms have strong anti-cancer properties and are also a great meat substitute in spaghetti sauce and soups,” Simpler says. “Mushrooms have an effect, which reduces breast cancer occurrence and recurrence.” Dried Plums “There’s some fascinating research on dried plums — prunes — and bone health,” says Leslie J. Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for Sports Medicine and a nutrition consultant to the Pittsburgh Steelers. “Dried plums are high in boron, a mineral that is important for bone structure, and high in polyphenols, plant nutrients...

7 Ways to Avoid Stress-Related Weight Gain...

How to chill out and keep the pounds off Stressful home situations or working at a job that makes you crazy can lead to weight gain over time, according to a new study from Ohio State University. The study involved 58 women, average age 53, who were questioned about their prior day’s stressful events before being given a high-fat meal of 930 calories and 60 grams of fat (equivalent to a quarter pounder with cheese and bacon plus fries). Afterward, researchers measured the women’s metabolic rates (the time it took for them to burn calories and fat). Blood sugar, insulin, and the stress hormone cortisol were among the parameters measured. The participants who reported one or more stressful situations during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than the non-stressed women in the seven hours after eating the high-fat meal. This difference adds up to a potential weight gain of an alarming 11 pounds a year. “Keep in mind, however, we don’t know if differences in activity level might have contributed to the results of this study,” says Dr. Brian Quebbemann, founder of the N.E.W. Program in Newport Beach, Calif., who was not part of the study. “Regardless, stress has been long known to result in a tendency to gain weight. Stress works by increasing the fight-or-flight hormone, cortisol, which makes you hungrier and also stimulates the deposit of fat around your midsection.” The solutions: Stress reduction through activity helps you feel more relaxed and keeps your metabolism from tanking. Plan stress-relieving activities. Stress reduction can be achieved by doing an activity that helps you feel more relaxed or by avoiding stressful situations, says Quebbemann. “Make a list of things you enjoy (a walk, bubble bath, reading) that...

7 Easy Ways to Build Strong Bones...

Jump 10 times, crush some cans and other tips to boost bone density Bone building reaches a peak during adolescence but then slows after age 25. In addition to this natural bone loss, we’re less likely to perform high-impact, bone-stimulating exercises (such as jumping) after age 50. This adds up to an increased risk of osteoporosis and bone breaks and fractures. Fortunately, you can build stronger bones at any age. A recent study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion shows that people who jumped 10 times twice daily increased bone density by .5 percent compared with those who didn’t and lost about 1.3 percent. (Note: the study did not include women with osteoporosis; jumping is not recommended in cases of weak bones.) Experts offer these seven easy tips for men and women to keep bones strong throughout their lives: Snack on yogurt and other calcium-rich foods. Including yogurt, cottage cheese and other low-fat dairy foods adds bone-strengthening calcium to your diet. “In addition to dairy products, choose fish with bones such as salmon, sardines or whitebait,” says registered dietitian Laura Jeffers. For additional benefits, serve these foods with a side of dark leafy green vegetables or broccoli, which also contain calcium. Other bone-building snacks include almonds, dried figs, calcium-fortified tofu and, if you prefer non-dairy, soy milk. Take a hike. Try to engage in at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, by jogging, brisk walking or aerobics — at whatever level of ability, says Susan Randall, of the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). “As you build stamina, increase the duration and intensity of your exercise,” she says. To see real improvements in bone density, you need to push your intensity, says Cleveland Clinic physical therapist Maribeth Gibbon....

How To Beat the Winter Blues...

Vitamin D and bright lights really do work for seasonal affective disorder The official beginning of winter that arrived on Sunday, Dec. 21, marked the darkest day of the year. Around this time, some of us feel a familiar pall as the gloom outside seems to creep into our psyches. Symptoms of depression that occur during the late fall and winter are known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. People who live in places with long winter nights are at particularly high risk for this malady. But there are ways to combat the suffering. Bright Light Therapy  Therapy with a special high-intensity lamp has been proven to make a difference in brain chemistry, though scientists don’t know exactly why that happens, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA). “There’s been plenty of research to back that up,” said Sue Abderholden, executive director of the Minnesota branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. For bright light therapy to work, you will need between 30 and 90 minutes of exposure to it each day, according to the APA. Your doctor can give you instructions. One method is to sit about two feet from the light with your eyes open, but without looking directly at the lamp. Early mornings, when the therapy can simulate sunrise, may be best. A Minneapolis man said he takes his light therapy lamp out of the basement each year in early- to mid-October. “I know it’s coming, that dark period,” said Lee, 60, who asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid the stigma associated with depression. He uses the lamp for about a half-hour each morning, while reading the paper and eating breakfast. “If I don’t use it for two, three, four...

Fiftysomething Diet: Make a Healthier Breakfast...

After 50, your body requires smarter morning choices to get you through the day If you want your brain to be alert, start the day with a healthful breakfast — you’ve heard that since grammar school. But when you’re over 50, your brain must be on alert even before you sit down at the breakfast table: You can’t just grab the nearest cereal box or whip up a batch of pancakes to start the day. Well, you can — but you need to make smart choices, and that’s where we can help. Studies show that, in addition to enhancing your brain power, making smart food choices in the a.m. can help fiftysomethings keep blood sugar on an even keel, lower cholesterol levels and ward off Type 2 diabetes. The tricky part is that your older body needs fewer calories — but it doesn’t need fewer nutrients. Your body won’t be very forgiving if you feed it sugary buns, fried donuts or fatty breakfast sandwiches. The solution: Remodel breakfast so that it’s nutrient-dense yet lean and light. When you do this, it will be just as flavorful, it not more so. It’s not all that complicated. Just keep a few key points in mind: Don’t be too stingy with calories. Your body has fasted all night and now’s the time to refuel so that you have energy to start the day right. A lightly active fiftysomething woman can aim for 450 to 500 calories, which is what the sample breakfasts below provide. Men can add another 100 to 200 calories by increasing the portions. Always include a healthy amount of protein (at least 15 grams) and plenty of fiber, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 grams. Stick with...