Choosing healthy foods has health benefits for everyone. As you age, food provides the nutrients you need. Learn about making smart food choices as part of your daily life.

It’s never too late to make smarter food choices. Healthy eating is an important part of staying healthy as you age.

Following these tips can help you maintain a healthy weight, get the nutrients you need, and lower your risk of chronic disease.

Try to eat and drink from these food groups each day: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. Variety is an important part of eating healthfully!

Cut back on foods and beverages that are high in calories and added sugars, sodium, and saturated fats. Shift to healthier options like fresh fruits and vegetables instead.

Instead of high-calorie snacks, such as potato chips, try nutrient-dense snacks, such as carrots.

Instead of fruit products with added sugars, such as fig cookies, try fresh fruit, such as a peach.

Instead of regular cola, try water flavored with fruits or vegetables.

Use a food diary to help you keep track of your total daily calories, carbs, protein, etc., and see if you are making healthy choices. Understand how many calories you need based on your level of daily activity.

Choose a variety of foods that are packed with nutrients and low in calories.

Check the food labels to understand what foods will meet your nutritional needs each day.

How Many Calories Do You Need Each Day?

Women:
Not physically active — 1,600 cal.
Moderately active — 1,800 cal.
Active lifestyle — 2,000-2,200 cal.

Men:
Not physically active — 2,000-2,200 cal.
Moderately active — 2,200-2,400 cal.
Active lifestyle — 2,400-2,800 cal.

Exercise and physical activity are great for your mental and physical health and help keep you independent as you age. Here are a few things you may want to keep in mind when beginning to exercise.

Start slowly when beginning exercise

The key to being successful and safe when beginning a physical activity routine is to build slowly from your current fitness level. Over-exercising can cause injury, which may lead to quitting. A steady rate of progress is the best approach.

To play it safe and reduce your risk of injury:

Begin your exercise program slowly with low-intensity exercises.

Warm up before exercising and cool down afterward.

Pay attention to your surroundings when exercising outdoors.

Drink water before, during, and after your workout session, even if you don’t feel thirsty. Play catch, kickball, basketball, or soccer.

Wear appropriate fitness clothes and shoes for your activity.

If you have specific health conditions, discuss your exercise and physical activity plan with your health care provider.

Don’t forget to test your current fitness level for all four types of exercise— endurance, balance, flexibility, and strength. You may be in shape for running, but if you’re not stretching, you’re not getting the maximum benefit from your exercise. Write down your results so you can track your progress as you continue to exercise.

Short-term goals will help you make physical activity a regular part of your daily life. For these goals, think about the things you’ll need to get or do in order to be physically active. For example, you may need to buy walking shoes or fill out an Activity Log so you can figure out how to fit physical activity into your busy day. Make sure your short-term goals will really help you be active.

Here are a few examples of short-term goals:

Today, I will decide to be more active.

Tomorrow, I will find out about exercise classes in my area.

By the end of this week, I will talk with my friend about exercising with me a couple of times a week.

In the next two weeks, I will make sure I have the shoes and comfortable clothes I need to start walking for exercise.

Write down your long-term goals

After you write down your short-term goals, you can go on to identify your long-term goals. Focus on where you want to be in six months, a year, or two years from now. Long-term goals also should be realistic, personal, and important to you. Here are a few examples:

By this time next year, I will swim one mile three times a week.

Next summer, I will be able to play pitch and catch with my grandchildren.

In six months, I will have my blood pressure under control by increasing my physical activity and following my doctor’s advice.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition in which people have more memory or thinking problems than other people their age. The symptoms of MCI are not as severe as those of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. People with MCI can usually take care of themselves and carry out their normal daily activities.

People with MCI are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Estimates vary as to how many people who have MCI will develop dementia. Roughly one to two out of 10 people age 65 or older with MCI are estimated to develop dementia over a one-year period. However, in many cases, the symptoms of MCI stay the same or even improve.

Many factors can cause problems with memory and thinking. There is no single cause of MCI, and it’s more likely to occur as someone ages. Estimates vary, but roughly 10% to 20% of people over age 65 have MCI, with the risk increasing as someone gets older. Other factors like genetics and certain conditions — including diabetes, depression, and stroke — may affect a person’s risk for MCI.

In some cases, memory and thinking problems may be caused by conditions that are treatable. For example, a bad reaction to medication, emotional problems, drinking too much alcohol, blood clots or tumors in the brain, or a head injury can all cause serious memory problems that can be resolved with treatment.

Middle-aged woman doing physical activity to reduce risk for dementia.

Reducing Your Risk for Dementia

We don’t yet know for certain whether lifestyle and behavior changes can prevent dementia, but leading a healthy lifestyle may help.

Symptoms associated with MCI lie in the space between what are considered normal age-related changes and dementia. Signs of MCI include losing things often, forgetting to go to important events or appointments, and having more trouble coming up with words than other people of the same age. It’s common for family and friends to notice these changes. Movement difficulties and problems with the sense of smell have also been linked to MCI.

If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of MCI, discuss these with your doctor. Your doctor can perform medical tests and assessments to help determine whether the source of memory problems is something treatable or may be MCI. He or she may also suggest that you see someone who specializes in the diagnosis of memory disorders, such as a neurologist, psychiatrist, or neuropsychologist.

There is currently no treatment or medication for MCI, but there are things you can do that may help you stay healthy and manage changes in your thinking. Keeping your mind active is one thing that may benefit your brain. The following tips may help you feel better, and could help your memory:

People with MCI may worry that their memory problems will progress to Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Because MCI may be an early sign of a more serious memory problem, it’s important to see your doctor every six to 12 months to track any changes in your memory and thinking skills over time.

If symptoms do progress to dementia, getting a diagnosis early can help you and your family prepare for the future. While there are no medications to stop or reverse Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, there are medicines that may help slow down certain symptoms, such as memory loss or behavioral problems.

If you are concerned about memory problems, talk with your doctor. If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with MCI, explore the resources on this website and referenced below to find out more about care, support, and research. The person with MCI may also consider participating in research by joining a clinical trial or study. Many studies are recruiting people with MCI to test early interventions that could slow or stop the progression of cognitive impairment.

Scientists have demonstrated that a new blood test can accurately predict the presence of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain, according to a new study funded in part by NIA. Published in Neurology, the study analyzed the ability of a blood test to predict the presence of Alzheimer’s disease-associated protein beta-amyloid in the brain. The new blood test, which performs comparably to existing brain scan- or spinal tap-based tests, could lower costs and expand the availability of diagnostic studies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s is characterized by the buildup of a protein called beta-amyloid, which forms sticky plaques on the brain and can cause brain cells to die. Testing for the presence of these amyloid plaques on the brain is an important part of Alzheimer’s diagnosis and research. For people experiencing memory problems, checking for amyloid in the brain helps health care providers determine whether Alzheimer’s is the potential cause. It also can help doctors determine which patients will respond to drugs that target amyloid. For people without any signs of dementia, the presence of amyloid plaques on the brain may help researchers enroll participants in clinical trials for treatments to prevent or delay the onset of cognitive symptoms.

There are two well-established ways to determine if beta-amyloid is in the brain. One measures the amount of beta-amyloid present in cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid that surrounds the brain and spine, through a spinal tap. The other uses a PET brain scan to produce images of beta-amyloid on the brain. Although both methods are accurate, they are expensive, invasive, and have limited availability. Recently, a highly sensitive blood test for beta-amyloid was developed, but there were concerns about how the test would perform in the clinic on blood samples that had been collected and processed in different ways. To address these concerns, researchers from Washington University; University of California, San Francisco; University of Pennsylvania; University of Melbourne and Edith Cowan University in Australia; and Lund University in Sweden studied how well the blood test could predict the presence of amyloid plaques visible on a PET brain scan, using samples that were collected and processed in different ways.

Across all the blood samples, the scientists found that the blood test could effectively predict the presence of beta-amyloid in the brain. The test became even more accurate when the research team took into account the version of APOE (a gene linked to Alzheimer’s disease risk) that each person had. Using blood samples will make it easier to screen healthy people for potential enrollment in clinical trials that test interventions to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Although the new test shows promise, one major limitation is that the blood samples used in the study were from majority white, affluent individuals, and the authors note that the results may not be generalizable to other demographic groups. Overall, the authors suggest this new blood test could be a powerful tool that expands the ability to diagnose Alzheimer’s. The researchers estimate that replacing brain imaging and spinal tap studies with blood tests could drastically reduce costs, increase the availability of tests, and even improve clinical trial recruitment of diverse groups of people.

These activities relate to NIH’s Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Research Implementation Milestones:

by Carol Leish, MA

The Ventura County Area Agency on Aging offers different types of Fall Prevention Classes. These classes include: A Matter of Balance; Stepping On; Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance; and, Walk with Ease. These classes, which are part of the Fall Prevention Program, strives to assist adults to maintain their independence at home.

A Matter of Balance is an 8-week, 2 hours per week class. It is designed for those 60 and older who are inactive with poor balance, who have fallen, and who may have developed a fear of falling. It helps to improve balance and strength of individuals. Stepping On is a 7- week class that meets 2 hours per week in which participants 65 and older have access to a physical therapist; a vision expert; a public safety expert and a pharmacist in order to realize how vision issues can be linked to falls and how medications affect someone’s links to falls. Participants will also learn strength and balance exercises.

Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance is a 12-week class that meets twice weekly for 1.5 hours each class. It includes easy-to-do exercises that increases strength, stamina, mindfulness and body awareness to provide better balance. Walk with Ease is a 6-week structured walking class that starts out with walking a minimum od 30 minutes a day. It includes health information and motivational tips. Both Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance and Walk with Ease are for those who are 60 and older.

“There is an educational aspect that deals with nutrition and emotional/physical wellness in all the classes offered,” according to Jannette Jauregui, MSJ, Public Information Officer at the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging. “The classes are all evidence-based, designed with those 60 and older in mind. Studies have been done to show the effectiveness of the classes in improving and strengthening balance and mobility. A Fall Prevention Forum will be offered in September of this year.”

All classes are FREE and open to any Ventura County resident 60 or older. For more information, call: (805) 477-7800 (option 6), or email: [email protected]. Find more information at: https://www.vcaaa.org/our-services/fall-prevention/.

(Future articles will focus on other programs offered by the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging dealing with: Care Management; Information provided by the Assistance Team; and, the Senior Nutrition Program.)