Healthy eating for older adults Archive

Although theoretically multivitamins and chocolate might reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers, proof is lacking. A new randomized trial called COSMOS will test whether multivitamin pills and cocoa pills have health benefits.

A doctor shows up on your computer or smartphone, not your doorstep. Should you try it?

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Getting a doctor's advice no longer requires a visit to the exam room. Thanks to videoconferencing applications (apps) for smartphones, tablets, and home computers, you can experience a virtual visit with a physician at any time, day or night. "The convenience factor is striking. You're home sick, and 24/7 you can see a doctor on your electronics," explains Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, an internist and a Harvard Medical School researcher who studies new ways of delivering health care.

Not just a fad

When to try a visit

Soups with healthy ingredients help boost your nutrition. But watch out for extra salt, sugar, fat, and calories.

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A bowl of soup is comforting and convenient. Make a big batch at home, and you'll have enough for extra meals. Stick to healthy ingredients, and it's an easy way to increase your intake of vegetables, protein, fiber, or even fruit. Maybe that's behind the popularity of soups, which are increasingly showing up as gourmet restaurant fare; in soup "bars" offering rotating varieties; at tiny take-out windows; and in grocery stores.

But this simple soul food has hidden risks. "You must be careful about the ingredients and what you pair with it," says registered dietitian Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Therapy, exercises, and changes in eating habits will help keep you safe.

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It used to be so easy to munch a handful of nuts: chew, swallow, enjoy. Now, you avoid them or make sure there's a glass of water nearby when you eat nuts or any other foods that seem to get stuck in your throat. "It's normal to have some age-related changes with swallowing or occasional difficulty swallowing. What's not normal is when food or liquids get into the lungs regularly," says Semra Koymen, a speech-language pathologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Causes and symptoms

Treatment

It appears that eating more saturated and trans fats is associated with earlier death, while eating more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats is associated with longer life.

A study published online Aug. 8, 2016, by BMJ Open found that volunteering seems to confer greater benefits for general well-being in middle and older age than earlier in life. 

Updates that may benefit heart health include details on added sugars and more accurate serving sizes.

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The information on the Nutrition Facts label—that small box of nutrition-related data on the back of all food packages—has stayed pretty much the same since its introduction back in 1993. But earlier this year, the FDA approved a number of revisions to the panel. The changes reflect the evolving scientific evidence on the connections between diet and chronic illness—particularly obesity and heart disease.

The updated labels won't be mandatory for nearly two years, but the agency provided a preview (see "The new label: What's different?"). These changes may benefit consumers not only by helping them choose more nutritious foods, but also by driving the food industry to make products healthier, says Dr. Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Many of the changes are relevant for people concerned about heart disease—especially the new data on added sugars.

About one in three adults has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, an often-silent condition closely linked to heart disease.

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The largest organ inside your body, your liver performs hundreds of vital functions. It converts food into fuel, processes cholesterol, clears harmful toxins from the blood, and makes proteins that help your blood clot, to name a few. But an alarming number of Americans have a potentially dangerous accumulation of fat inside their livers. Known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), this condition is a leading cause of chronic liver disease in the United States—and an increasingly recognized contributor to heart disease.

"NAFLD increases the risk of heart disease independent of other traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol," says Dr. Kathleen Corey, director of the Fatty Liver Disease Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. Among people with NAFLD, heart disease is the top killer, accounting for more than 25% of deaths.

People who eat more plant-based proteins from beans, nuts, and grains may have a lower risk of dying from heart disease or any cause, compared with people who eat more animal-based proteins such as meat or eggs.