The Importance of Nutrition in Later Life
Though most people know that exercising is one of the best ways to keep themselves healthy, our eating habits are just as important. The World Health Organisation suggests that people aged 65 and over do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise a week. But without healthy eating habits, this exercise wouldn’t have as much of an effect. So, what can you do about it? Firstly, learning how to cook your own meals is one of the best ways to eat healthier, but there are also other tips you can learn with ease.
Cooking Your Own Meals
If you've never cooked for yourself, then there's no time like now to start learning. It's a great skill to have, and can be a lot of fun too. Finding traditional Telugu recipes like pesarattu dosa, crispy punukulu or aratikaya vepudu, and putting your own twist on them is exciting. It’s also likely you can adjust the recipe to make it that little bit healthier, too. When you cook your own meals, you have full control over exactly what goes into it. This means you'll be able to cut out any excess sugars, salts and fats that could be potentially damaging when you have too much of them.
Though cooking for yourself is a great way to include more nutritious foods in your diet, there are a few other ways you can learn to develop better eating habits.
Other Ways to Eat Healthily
· If you’ve not tried many fruits or vegetables before, now is a great time to start. They are essential natural foods, as long as they have been farmed organically.
· If you’re struggling to find any fun in eating healthily, then you should start to keep notes on the foods you find that you do like. If you do this, you’ll be able to get a good idea of the types of food that you like to use in your homemade recipes. Trying new recipes is a great way to discover ones that you love.
· Take the time to look at healthy substitutes, like olive oil instead of butter, or honey instead of sugar. These ingredients can make recipes a lot healthier, and though you might not like them all, you should still experiment.
· Smaller plates can help you reduce the size of your portions.
· Cutting down on soda can help, though India is ranked 80th in the world for soda consumption.
-- article by jessica walter --