Our muscles are important to our maintaining our health. While we lose about 5% of our total muscle mass every decade after age 30, people who retain muscles lower their risk of a range of diseases including heart disease.
While exercise is great, food choices become an important factor in our maintaining heart health. As an example, to keep more muscle mass as you age you need to eat more protein at each meal. This translates to 25 grams of protein for women and 30 grams for men.
According to researchers you need to also be eating high-fiber grains, cereals and beans. As an example if the impact this can have, one study found that women who ate the least amount of fiber were 2.9 times more likely to die from inflammatory diseases such as heart disease. In addition, for every 10 grams of fiber you eat each day, you reduce your risk of having a stroke by 12 percent.
On fruits and vegetables, you want to aim to eat eight to ten small servings per day.
You want to have 2 servings a day of healthy fats, as well as, oils from seafood, nuts, seeds olives and avocados.
What about whole-fat dairy? The article cites to one study that found that people who ate three servings of whole-fat dairy per day had a lower risk of heart disease and stroke verses those who ate only one serving per day. So…forget low fat and no fat, enjoy your dairy fat!
You want to stay away from diet sodas as they have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, dementia and stroke. Instead, you can drink tea, coffee, filtered water and sparkling water.
The thing about keeping muscles is it’s now beyond the concept of use it or lose it. So…maybe the slogan should be changed to Use it, Consume it or Lose it!
(Reported AARP Bulletin, January/February 2023)
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