Disease the "D" in Determine

Disease - any disease, illness or chronic condition which causes you to change the way you eat or makes it hard for you to eat, puts your nutritional health at risk. Four out of five adults in this country have a chronic disease by age 55 that is affected by their diet. But it is not only diabetes and high cholesterol that affects what you eat and how often you eat; it is also confusion or memory loss that take their toll on our diet as we age. One out of five adults experiences memory loss or increasing confusion as they age, and they can actually forget to eat or cannot remember if they did. To ask a friend or family member whose memory loss or confusion seems to be increasing if they ate today and what they ate is a reasonable and important question. Finally, even mental conditions impact nutrition. Feeling sad or depressed happens to about one out of eight older adults, and these feelings can cause big changes in appetite, digestion, energy level, weight and well-being.

So Why Should You Care About Nutrition As You Age?

People are right when they think that the chronic diseases that they have now or the ones that develop as they age are influenced by poor eating habits when they were younger. For example if you have osteoporosis now, it was influenced by eating habits – especially calcium intake – and insufficient exercise during early adolescence and early adulthood. However, we also now know that nutrition in the later years can help lessen the effects of diseases common among older Americans such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and gastrointestinal problems.

Studies demonstrate that a good diet in our later years helps to both reduce the risk of chronic diseases and to manage the diseases’ signs and symptoms. On the other hand, poor nutrition as you age can prolong recovery from illness and worsen the signs and symptoms of chronic disease.

Introduction to Nutrition and Aging

March is National Nutrition Month, and to help answerer people's questions about nutrition we will be posting information on the importance of nutrition and aging.

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You are not alone if you have questions about nutrition. The news each day seems to confuse us more than answer our questions. What is a healthy diet? If I already have high blood pressure, is what I eat going to make a difference? What really is the right size portion – we typically don’t carry scales with us. The good news is that once the hype is separated from the fact, there is strong, solid evidence about nutrition and how it impacts our life at 50, 80 and beyond.


Throughout the month of March we will answer these questions and more , so keep checking in to find out more about the importance of nutrition as you age.