Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [157]
The amazing Dr. Ruth Heidrich also has proven that a vegan diet can be a part of healthy, long-term nutrition goals. Dr. Ruth has completed six Ironman Triathlons and has won more than 900 gold medals in various distance races. She also has completed more than 60 marathons and holds 3 world fitness records. Ruth has been vegan for more than 25 years.
What you eat is as important as what you avoid eating. Stay away from empty calories that many athletes rely on for quick energy. Slurping down energy drinks full of sugar and chemical colorings won’t truly support long-term health. Crunching salty, fried meals may make you feel full, but they still can clog the arteries of someone who trains every day. Instead of wasting valuable energy eating junk, focus on eating natural, vital foods that give you more healing energy than a dozen donuts or a bottle of soda.
Chapter 24
Aging Gracefully and Veganly
In This Chapter
Understanding the nutritional needs of vegan senior citizens
Maintaining a healthy metabolism as you age
Using a vegan diet to heal your body
Eating veganly without complication
Having watched grandparents, and now parents, retire and settle in to the golden years, many people realize that senior nutrition is vitally important to creating a high quality of life. While most vegan books and Web sites tend to focus on nutrition and lifestyle advice for infants, children, and families, mature adults definitely shouldn’t be left out. The health benefits available to aging adults through a vegan diet can address most of the illnesses and woes they develop as time marches on. As the baby boomers are now entering retirement, the vegan diet and lifestyle becomes even more popular with those fabulous folks over 40.
Adults of the baby boomer generation are showing signs of being less healthy than their parents as they enter retirement. Even though they smoke less, this new crop of seniors has a higher rate of obesity, more chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes, and a more sedentary lifestyle. The American dream of owning a house in the suburbs and driving a big car to the office has been realized, but now many older citizens also are living the nightmare of health complaints and higher stress levels.
In this chapter, I discuss the nutritional needs of people over 40 as well as the best ways to make the vegan transition later in life. I make suggestions for simple food plans that can help guide you through a dietary shift, perhaps on a smaller budget. This shift will improve the quality of your life as you enjoy your middle and later ages.
The beauty of taking on the vegan ethos later in life is that the resulting health benefits can help you feel years younger. A well-planned vegan diet supports decades of good health and even provides insurance against our country’s top three killers: heart disease, cancer, and stroke. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegans have lower rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancers; lower blood cholesterol levels; lower hypertension; and lower blood pressure. The question is, why wouldn’t you go vegan after 40?
Boomer Bottom Line: Nutritional Needs after 40
Focusing your attention on quality nutrition in your later years protects you from disease and gives you the energy to play with the grandkids and do all those things you saved up a retirement account for.
A well-planned vegan diet that’s based on whole foods, including whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit, provides a strong foundation for those in and beyond middle age.
The nutritional needs for vegans over the age of 40 are similar to younger adults, but there are a few important differences. To ensure that your body has enough of every necessary nutrient, it’s important to be educated about the sources and quantities necessary. So in the following sections, I show you some of the most important nutrients you need as a senior vegan.
Sun + greens = healthy bones
According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal