I don’t even remember how many times I thought I’d found the perfect plan for healthy eating in midlife in the past few years. I’d stick to it for a few weeks until I’d find another article or book that suggested something entirely different.
What healthy eating in midlife should really look like is still unclear. Different studies indicate different directions and lead to heated debates between scientists and experts on nutrition. Low-carb, low-fat, ketogenic, paleo, etc.
I am not an expert, but I try to be as healthy as possible in midlife. I will share what makes sense to me, what doesn’t and what are some simple ways for healthy eating in midlife.
These ideas are based on my experiences and what I think makes sense and what doesn’t after researching the subject for years.
What Doesn’t Make Sense
Let’s start with what doesn’t make sense.
What We Eat
Our standard western diet is unfortunately comprised of great amounts of processed food. A lot of the ingredients present in the processed foods we consume daily did not even exist 100 or 50 years ago: p
Apart from the energy that food provides us with, it also triggers our body to kick-start
How Much We Eat
We consume way too much food and calories, much more than our body can process. Most of the processed foods we consume are also very dense in calories and trick our brains highjacking satiation signals.
Why don’t we ever see overweight animals in the wild? Because they only eat when they need it and as much as they need.
How Fast We Eat
In our fast-paced world, we’ve grown used to eating much faster than we should. We don’t take the time to enjoy food, we are not mindful of what we eat and often we gobble stuff down without even tasting it.
The common problem is the lack of time. Starting in childhood when parents rush their kids to eat breakfast before school, we eat too fast for our brain to receive the satiation signal.
How Often We Eat
We eat
As a result, we have constantly elevated insulin levels and it’s not good for us.
Historically, food was not available to human beings at all times, and we never had it in unlimited quantities
How Much Variety We Have in Our Food
Since we have so many options of food available today, one would assume that we eat a great variety. However, we like what we like, and usually, we stick with the same options.
Take for example your grocery list, how often do you update it? How often do you try something new? How often do you order a different dish at your
Today all foods are available all the time.
This was not the case in the past. There was seasonality!
When We Eat
How often do you hear others complaining of the poor quality of sleep or that they take something to digest before going to bed at night? Eating late at night is common but it doesn’t seem to be
What Makes Sense
Having seen what doesn’t make sense, let’s now
Avoid Unnatural Food
Most experts seem to agree here.
- Added sugar (be careful, it is almost everywhere)
- Processed foods high in simple carbs (
wheet , sugar, etc.) - Processed
meats - Industrial oils (canola, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed) and trans-fats
- Alcohol (except
a glass or two of red wine)
Enjoy Real or Minimally Processed Food
- Lots of vegetables and greens, and some fruit, preferably organic
- Wild caught fish (salmon, sardines, etc. ) or plant-based Omega-3s (flaxseed, chia, etc.), once or twice weekly
- Eggs from pasture-raised free-range chickens
- Meet or poultry in moderation (grass-fed beef or pasture raised free-range chicken), once a week
- Healthy fats (top quality olive oil, ghee, coconut, avocado)
- Bone
broth - Lots of filtered water (8-12 glasses)
- High quality, rich in polyphenols tea (green tea, matcha, etc.) or quality low in mold coffee
- Organic red wine
Eat Seasonally
Our bodies seem to thrive on variety and on what the environment has to offer according to the season.
Go to the farmers’ market if possible and educate yourself on fresh produce seasonality.
Do Not Eat All the Time, and Eat at the Right Time
Avoid snacking, as typical snacks are usually made of highly processed ingredients. If you need to snack, have some fruit or nuts.
Try time-restricted eating by simply
Consider fasting at random periods during the year. Make sure you work with your physician on this, especially if you are dealing with any kind of health condition.
Concentrate your eating window during the day and stop eating three hours before going to bed.
Eat Slowly and Mindfully
Take your time and enjoy each bite of your meal. Stop when you feel 80% full. If you are still hungry after 5 minutes then eat some more. Most of the time you will feel that you do not need more.
Avoid screen time during your meal and treat it as a ritual, not as a task to consume fuel for energy.
Eat at Home and Prepare Your Food
Eating at home gives you greater control of the quality of the ingredients used and it is more affordable. Even if you are not the one doing the cooking, participating somewhere in the process makes it so much more special.
In Closing
Although we don’t know exactly how our species developed and what nutritional regiments our ancestors followed, we can make some assumptions based on the available facts.
Based on the results of the standard western diet and today’s obesity epidemic and related diseases, it’s easier to say what doesn’t make sense in our eating habits.
And from this point, we can start evaluating what we can do differently.
