Aging

Aging is a time-related progressive change, it is a decline in biological function and one’s ability to adapt to stress increasing the risk of disability, disease, and death.  The aging process is complex, affected by lifelong influences of diet, physical activity, socioeconomic status, and physical environment.  There are common trends in the progression of aging with increasing chronic diseases and disability, but the rate of aging is different for every individual.  Eight out of ten older adults have at least one chronic condition and five out of ten have two or more chronic conditions.

The definition of older adult can be chronological, biological, or psychological.  Chronologically adults over the age of 60 years are considered older adults.  Biological age is related to change in body functions with age.  However, because these changes occur at different rates between people it is not as easily defined.  Psychological age is subjective based on how one feels.  

Healthy Aging

Life expectancy is increasing.  The quality of years lived as an older adult is decreasing; older adults are living ill and disabled for longer. Nutrition is one of the major determinants of successful aging.  Nutrition can prevent or manage diseases, maintain functional ability, enhance one’s quality of life, and boost longevity.  Sixty-two percent of the most common causes of death of adults over the age of 65 years are known to have nutritional influence.

Recommendations for healthy aging include regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet, getting adequate sleep, having a positive outlook, having a social support network, avoiding cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol use.   Here we will focus on nutrition for healthy aging.  

Nutrition and Health Aging

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines healthy aging as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enable wellbeing in older age”.  Eating to promote healthy aging can begin at any age; it’s never too late to modify your diet pattern in effort to impact health and aging.  

Eating for healthy aging is not about one food or nutrient rather the complex relationships within the diet pattern.  Eating patterns for healthy aging commonly focus on whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean protein, and low-fat dairy while limiting saturated fat, sugar, and salt. We will explore these diet patterns further to explain why there is benefits to aging and how you can incorporate some of the features into your diet pattern.

Nutrition and Older Adults

Nutrition requirements change throughout the lifecycle.  As we age there are changes happening to the way the body functions either as an independent function of aging or related to diagnosis or medications. The rate of change is variable between older adults. With awareness of these changes, strategies can be implemented to minimize their negative impact on health and nutrition. As we age the body becomes less adaptable to stress making it increasingly important to optimize nutrition as nutrition is a known modulator of health in older adults.  The focus for older adults’ health is to optimize abilities and resilience to maximize independence, health, and quality of life. 

Consequences of under-nutrition in older adults are increased risk of illness or injury, longer recovery time, increased risk of infection, increased frailty (syndrome in older adults characterized by a decline in function, strength, and reserves that increases vulnerability), risk of falls and fracture, loss of independence.

Nutrition recommendations for the older adult are focuses on promoting health, maintaining functional abilities, managing or preventing disease progression, and optimizing quality of life.