If you want to know the secret to keep your doctor’s visits at a minimum, look to your kitchen. Unfortunately, as men get older, their chances of developing health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, high blood sugar, diabetes, and prostate cancer increase. None of those conditions are inevitable, of course, but lifestyle habits — particularly how you eat — can make a huge difference in how healthy you remain....CONTINUE READING
You can reduce the risk of these conditions by improving your diet, focusing on foods that have been shown to boost health and reducing the likelihood of a scary diagnosis.
Here are seven of the best foods men over age 50 should add to their diets, and why. If you aren’t already eating these items, there’s no need to fret over what to do with them: We’ve got tips on how to painlessly include them.
1. Mushrooms
Mushrooms ”beef up” dishes — even vegetarian fare — by giving them a meatier taste that many men like. They only have about 20 calories per cup and contain potassium, which helps offset the effects of sodium and lower blood pressure. Add them to your diet: “Throw some on a salad, chop them up for chili, or grill them.
2. Eggs
As men age, their muscle mass decreases, this is according to research. Eggs are a great source of protein, and that can help with dwindling muscle mass. Although the pendulum has swung back and forth on the healthfulness of eggs, most experts see a role for them in our diet. Eggs also have lutein, which may reduce the risk of macular degeneration an eye condition that can cause blindness.
3. Berries
According to research Berries may reduce the risk of cancer. Some studies have found that blueberries, for instance, inhibit inflammation, which may decrease the risk of some cancers. A research review examining the anti-cancer properties of blueberries concluded that the little blue orbs might help inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
Blueberries aren’t the only berries that might help fight cancer. A diet that includes freeze-dried black raspberries and strawberries inhibited esophageal cancer by 30 to 70 percent and colon cancer by 80 percent according to studies.
4. Femernted milk
Gut microbiota — the bacteria in our intestines — have recently garnered a lot of attention from the scientific community. It turns out that they might be key for good health, as they’ve been linked to how our immune system functions, how we absorb nutrients, and even how we regulate mood.
Fermented milk is milk that has pre-biotics and probiotics can help promote healthy gut microbiota. Probiotics are good bacteria, and pre-biotics are the food ingredients that feed them. So fermented milk is a symbiotic gut health food, meaning it contains both the bacteria and the bacteria’s food source.
Fermented milk may help ward off GI problems that can occur later in life. In addition, scientists have found that fermented milk helps reduce inflammation in the guts of mice and reduces blood sugars in patients with diabetes.
5. Avocados
Avocadoes are loaded with heart healthy mono-unsaturated fats that may help keep cholesterol levels low. And that’s something that men need as they age. One medium avocado has about 230 calories, but it also has about 10 grams (g) of fiber and about 20 g of fat. Plus, avocados have also been linked to weight loss and lower levels of inflammation.
6. Beans
These little spheres of protein carry lots of blood benefits that may help keep heart disease and diabetes at bay. Studies have found that eating 3/4 of a cup of beans daily could lower LDL(bad) cholesterol levels by 5 percent. And that, of course, can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.
But that isn’t the only way beans can help your blood profile. When people with type 2 diabetes consumed 1 cup of beans daily over the course of three months, they had lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
