Introduction
Welcome to my guide on eating healthy after 40! As a physician, I understand the importance of maintaining a healthy diet as we age. Eating the right foods can help us stay healthy and active, while eating the wrong foods can lead to health problems. In this guide, I will provide you with tips on what to eat and what to avoid after 40. I will also provide you with some delicious recipes that are both nutritious and tasty. So, let’s get started!
I’m a Physician and Never Do This After 40 — Eat This Not That
As a physician, I’m often asked what people should and shouldn’t do after they turn 40. One of the most important things I tell my patients is to watch what they eat. Eating the wrong foods can lead to a variety of health issues, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Here are some of the foods I recommend avoiding after 40, and some healthier alternatives.
Foods to Avoid After 40
- Processed meats: These are high in saturated fat and sodium, which can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. Instead, opt for lean proteins like fish, chicken, and beans.
- Refined carbohydrates: White bread, pasta, and other refined carbs can cause blood sugar spikes and lead to weight gain. Choose whole grain options instead.
- Sugary drinks: Sodas, energy drinks, and other sugary beverages can lead to weight gain and increase your risk of diabetes. Stick to water or unsweetened tea and coffee.
- Fried foods: Fried foods are high in calories and unhealthy fats, which can increase your risk of heart disease. Opt for grilled or baked options instead.
Healthier Alternatives
- Fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and can help keep you feeling full. Try to eat a variety of colors for the most nutrition.
- Whole grains: Whole grains are a great source of fiber and can help keep your blood sugar levels stable. Choose oats, quinoa, brown rice, and other whole grains.
- Healthy fats: Healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, and avocados can help keep you feeling full and provide essential nutrients. Just be sure to watch your portion sizes.
- Lean proteins: Lean proteins like fish, chicken, and beans are a great source of protein and can help keep you feeling full. Try to include a source of lean protein in every meal.
Eating a healthy diet is one of the best things you can do for your health after 40. Avoiding processed meats, refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks, and fried foods can help you stay healthy and fit. Instead, focus on eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins.
There are many ways to hack your health and create longevity. I mean look online and you can see 1000’s of influencers hawking the wares to you, often with little to no science behind them. They are points that I make with patients every day and are easily reproducible across the board to nearly everyone. These represent the four simplest and easiest steps to take to promote health and longevity. While I could write a book on all the steps to have better health, these four things to avoid doing over 40 will keep the sick doctor away and set you up for long-term health. Doing these will keep you out of your medical provider’s office, as long as you follow them and by all means, work deeper with a functional medicine provider who incorporates health mentoring and education in the care plans. Read on to find out more—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Avoiding exercise because you are too busy is a key way to speed up your untimely passing, aging process and reduce your ability to ward off illness and disease. If you haven’t started an exercise and stretching routine the time is NOW to begin. Increasing lean mass to ward off Sarcopenia (accelerated muscle mass loss as we age) is a key factor in reverse aging and giving you the reserve your body needs to fight off end-of-life health issues. Hormonal changes that happen to both women and men (i.e. menopause and PHAT syndrome) as we enter our forties can be slowed also with increasing our exercise. Essentially the more lean muscle we have the healthier we will be. PHAT (PolyHormonal Adrenal Testosterone Deficiency) syndrome in men is similar to polycystic ovarian syndrome in women. Men will tend to have low testosterone, elevated estrogen, brain fog/memory issues, overly stressed, abdominal and chest fat increase, cholesterol dyslipidemia, and glucose imbalance issues as key markers and findings in their health and lab work. It affects men from 35-60 years old and is often misdiagnosed as a single disease in differing stages by underqualified physicians.
Stretching is an often overlooked and underutilized movement. In men, Testosterone tightens our muscles, ligaments, and tendons which leads to back pain, joint pain, and generalized stiffness all over. For my patients, I often recommend a mobility program that can include yoga and specifically targeted stretches that hit the key areas affecting patients’ physical health.
RELATED: How Long Do COVID Symptoms Last?
Highly processed factory foods are a major cause of long-term chronic health conditions. This is one area that can dramatically reverse your chronic health issues and diseases. These factory foods are high in simple carbohydrates, sugars, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and rich in chemicals.
Simply cutting out those foods that come in a box, bag, or can and made by man probably should be avoided at nearly all costs. These foods spike glucose levels, stress the pancreas (insulin), increase diabetes risks, and activate fat cells to become more metabolically active.
You can significantly cut a majority of risk factors that would lead to chronic disease and death by just cutting these out and switching to a whole food-based diet.
RELATED: If You Notice This on Your Body, Have Your Arms Checked
We are consistently marketed to believe that, as adults, alcohol is fun, allows us to have a more fun time and takes the day’s issues and stressors away leaving us feeling refreshed and whole again. While a drink here or there has some science to say it MAY be ok. In reality, what we observe with consistent alcohol use is major health problems.
Avoiding alcohol can be a very healthy option for most people. Cutting alcohol decreases calorie intake, allows your liver to function better decreasing inflammation and brain fog, and decreases belly fat storage. Binge drinking on a consistent basis increases liver disease and cancer rates along with increasing your risk factors for Alzheimer’s and dementia. After forty we need to be extra careful in keeping our nervous system running at optimal levels.
Optimizing brain function and decreasing potential brain health issues should be part of your health routine and coaching over 40. Cutting the alcohol and processed foods are two of the most powerful self-care steps you can take to slow and reverse the aging process.
RELATED: I’m a Doctor and This is the #1 Sign You Have High Blood Sugar
A lot of over-the-counter supplements are full of fillers and less than adequate ingredients. More often than not the cheaper the supplement you buy the less effective it is. To reach dosages that will be helpful you would often have to take ten to fifteen times the amount listed as a dose on the bottle in order to get any therapeutic effects.
You need to figure out what you should be taking based on your health and metabolic needs. Just grabbing something off the shelf is like playing roulette; you don’t know what you are getting and if it is safe for you.
Find yourself a functional medicine provider who is versed with advanced testing. Most physicians have no idea beyond the standard blood work what to do for you. Get yourself tested with a bare minimum of a couple of the following tests: an Organic Acids Test, a DUTCH hormone test, and potentially a Micronutrient test. While these are a good starting ground to learn how your system is functioning (remember functional testing is different from disease testing aka standard blood work), you can go further and deeper by running epigenetic testing. Epigenetic testing allows for an observation of how you may have some inborn metabolic dysfunctions that could be causing some of your current issues along with how you should be eating, exercising, and sleeping.
The combination of these tests can lay out a specific scientifically based supplement plan that may help stave off any health issues that might show up in the future along with generating the best possible longevity and healthy aging possible. I use them regularly in my clinics to optimize patients’ health while generating longevity in the most effective way.
Those steps listed above are the basis for creating health and longevity. If you don’t do those four as a base, everything else that you do will be fruitless and expensive with little effect on your health. Take your time starting them, find a physician who does functional medicine and take back your health while creating the best life possible. I tell my patients “Health is Wealth.” I’m a Physician and avoid those four things above if you are over forty. And to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.