Diet and Exercise May Help Seniors Live Longer

Sometimes when we get to be senior citizens we start ignoring our health. We forget that good living habits are what got us to an advanced age to begin with. We lose part of our sense of taste and start eating foods that are less nutritious and are sweet, fatty, or salty because we can actually taste them.

Even though getting exercise and moving around can actually help arthritis, we stay at home. A lot of times out of boredom, we start drinking again, or heaven forbid, we even start smoking.

The conventional wisdom here is that I've lived such a long time that it really doesn't matter what I do now, I'm probably going to die soon anyway. It's easy to be depressed when you have outlived most of your family members and friends.

But staying in shape will not only make you live longer, but it can also improve the quality of your life to the point that you can start doing new things and make new friends.

We have all heard the old story of the woman who lived to be 100 smoking cigarettes and drinking shots of whiskey all day, but I wouldn't count on it happening to you.

According to Medical News Today: "Supporting the idea that it is never too late to adopt a healthy diet, researchers in the US found that older adults who followed a predominantly healthy diet stood a better chance of living longer than counterparts whose diets were higher in fatty foods, alcohol or sweets. and desserts."

The new report will be published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The authors of the study go on to say that if you keep eating a diet of mostly vegetables and limit the high fat and sweet food, not only will you be healthier, but your quality of life will be better and you may live longer. And don't forget, mild exercise like walking will not only turn into a good hobby, but also improve your quality of life even more.

The researchers said in the report that so far there have been very few studies showing the relationship between diet and rates of death among older people. The amount of the population that will be 65 or older in 2030 will be 973 million, which is more than double the 420 million number from 2000.

The strain on the health care system of all the industrial countries around the world will be tremendous if a large portion of this population is sick and requires large amounts of medical care.

The study showed that the older group that ate healthy food had a 40% lower risk of mortality than the group that ate a high-fat diet. A lot of people in the United States have started adopting a healthier lifestyle. There's no reason that they can't continue it in their golden years and live a longer, healthier life.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/212307.php