UA healthy and balanced diet is essential to preserving a person’s longevity. And it is all the more important in a society, like the Italian one, which sees the elderly population constantly growing. Prevention, in this context, has a fundamental role: a correct lifestyle and balanced eating habits represent the basis for reaching a mature age at the height of one’s strength.
Autonomy: a fundamental ingredient
Nutrition is an essential issue for staying healthybut happy longevity is also nourished by elements linked to the emotional sphere. Among these, the sense of purpose and the desire to take care of oneself they are essential factors that must be encouraged. «Nutrition, even for elderly people, is fundamental. First, in what we call old age, you should not eat less than when you are young. Furthermore, the time to eat is linked to sociality and staying active», underlines the Professor Andrea UngarPast President of Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics and Professor of Geriatrics atUniversity of Florenceon the board of Guild Livingthe first longevity destination in Italy for self-sufficient over 65s.
Diet and longevity: the importance of choosing your meals
«If the possibility of eating at a table with other people creates a more pleasant environmentand stimulates the appetite, even being able to choose and decide to provide your own meals has a beneficial effect. Remaining autonomous, maintaining planning as when planning a menu and the necessary ingredients, for example, means keeping alive the interest in daily activities and self-care, essential for living a long-lived, and not elderly, age”, continues Professor Ungar. Here then is the advice of Professor Ungar and Professor in Culinary Medicine Chiara Manzi dedicated to the elderly to eat healthily.
Legumes: the right cooking
Legumes are excellent allies for health and figure: they are rich in B vitaminsvery important for the correct functioning of the metabolism, and they also contain lots of soluble fibre. They are also rich in fibre, iron and magnesium and are also an excellent source of vegetable protein. To maintain its benefits during cooking, it is advisable add one tablespoon of lemon juice for each liter of soaking water: it will increase the retention of vitamin B in the legume. Furthermore, by using a little unsalted water and for 30 minutes at most, vitamin B and mineral salts are best preserved.
Reduce salt without sacrificing taste
During the day we should consume a maximum of 5 grams of saltincluding sodium naturally present in foods and salt present in packaged foods. To avoid adding too much salt, limit the quantity for example when preparing pastaadding a level teaspoon, the equivalent of 5 grams, per liter of water. Also opt for foods rich in glutamic acidthe substance that gives foods their “savory” taste, can be useful. Salt-free tomato paste, dried mushrooms and Parmigiano Reggiano are some examples.
Diet: the winning combinations
The carrots they release their benefits to the maximum if cooked and combined with extra virgin olive oil of olive. They are, in fact, rich in beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. To maximize the absorption of this micronutrient, You can cook carrots in the oven, in a pan or steamedthus increasing the bioavailability of beta-carotene, and then season them with a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil, given that this molecule is fat-soluble. Green tea is an ally of well-being because it is very rich in bioactive molecules beneficial for the immune system, with protective action for the heart and anti-tumor activity. To maximize its qualities, it is necessary avoid combining it with milkwhich hinders the absorption of bioactive molecules. To enhance the taste it is preferable to combine it with a slice of lemon.
Diet: sweet or savory breakfast?
Breakfast it is the most important meal of the day and gives the right energy to deal with daily activities. However savory breakfastoften praised for its low content of simple sugars, it can become the enemy of well-being if only based on cured meats, cheeses or smoked fish. A first suggestion is to add some fibre: you can prefer wholemeal bread to which you can add vegetables such as fresh spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and lettuce. Better limit cured meats to once a week. They can be an excellent alternative egg or legume creams such as hummus, or two or three slices of smoked salmon: the key is to vary.
Pay attention to the color
Acrylamide it is a potentially carcinogenic substance for humans. It forms when frying, baking and grilling foods rich in sugar and asparagine (an amino acid) such as potatoes, bread, biscuits and cereals at temperatures above 120°C. To recognize it you have to pay attention to the color. The presence of acrylamide, in fact, can be detected precisely by this: the browner the food, the higher the acrylamide content. It is therefore better to brown toast and desserts, eliminate the dark crust of the bread and, at the supermarket, choose golden-coloured foods. Additionally, foods such as sweet potatoes or those stored in the refrigerator develop more simple sugars, increasing the risk of acrylamide formation during cooking. Therefore, opt for new potatoes, storing them in cool but not cold places (above 10°C), and prefer potato cultivars that have a lower content of asparagine and reducing sugars such as Jelli, Agria or Spunta.
