Healthy Foods for Healthy Aging

Food choices that older adults make based on the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) vary greatly by gender, education level, and race to some degree. Achieving healthy aging often means they must change their ideas about food selection. Encouraging the increased intake of milk and milk products and seafood is based on research that supports multiple benefits from the nutrients and, especially in the case of dairy, bioactive content of these products. Research supporting a high-protein intake for older adults includes preserving function and avoiding frailty and other diseases and emphasizes the need to reconsider the Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein. While cardiovascular and diabetes risk may be slightly increased in individuals, eggs are a wise food choice for older adults because of the high quality of their protein and the bioavailability of lutein and zeaxanthin. A high-protein Mediterranean diet would be a good choice. Healthy eating is one step toward helping older adults have their last years be more about life than about disease.