Stay fit and age well: just do two (very simple) things every day

To age well while staying fit, you need to keep these two important things in mind: just do them every day!

It was 2007 when it was released in cinemas No Country for Old Menfourteenth film by the Coen brothers, released in Italian theaters under the name of It’s no country for old men. An evocative title that seems to represent the opposite of the fate of our country, increasingly populated by elderly people.

Just think that, Istat data in hand, in the last 20 years, the old age index has been growing more and morearriving in January 2021 to reach 182.6 elderly people (whereas for elderly people the Institute considers those over 65 years old) for every 100 young people (whereas young people are those under 15 years of age).

We will not stay here to talk about the phenomenon, nor about the policies that can be pursued to reverse the trend. Instead, we will take the phenomenon as a fact and try to understand it together how to deal with the inevitable senescencebecause if growing old is physiological, we can still do it better.

Aging at its best, the secret passes through the table: how much should you eat?

One of the first factors to age better, it is linked to our eating habits. “We are what we eat“, said the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. And if we eat well, following precise criteria, it is very possible that we will be fit elderly people.

Interviewed by Adnkronos salute Cyrus Dresseddietician and physiotherapist, author of various publications and often present when questioned by important television programmes, offered simple tips to follow in order to age at its beststarting from the amount of calories to be consumed daily: “Around 2 thousand calories, on average, for men, 1,500 for women. Today, however, many eat even a thousand more”.

2000 calories a day: some examples for the diet and how to calculate them

But, before proceeding with Dr. Vestita’s suggestions, we want to give you an example of how you could consume the suggested 2000 calories a day. Online you can find dozens of sites that offer example diets: having said that it is always good to consult a dietician, if you do not have particular pathological conditions you can rely on a healthy DIYalways trying to do choices as varied and balanced as possible.

Let’s get back to us. You could divide the calories to be consumed in this way: 400 calories for breakfast, 600 for lunch, 600 for dinner and the remaining 400 in two snacks to be consumed throughout the day (snacks, although often underestimated, are essential in order not to exceed food consumption).

A 400 calorie breakfast it could be composed (approximately) of 150 grams of Greek yogurt with 120 grams of fresh fruit, or it could still be composed of two fried eggs on two slices of wholemeal bread. In both cases, you can safely consume a coffee, with or without sugar: if you drink it bitter, you will take about 2 Kcal (literally nothing) while if you add a teaspoon of sugar you will add 25 Kcal to the total calculation. In any case, the combinations, as for the other meals, are many and it’s up to you to indulge yourself in order to also satisfy the aspect of taste.

As for a 600 calorie lunch, could be composed of 100 grams of salmon, accompanied by a mixed lettuce salad and a few slices of bread (preferably wholemeal). While a 600 calorie dinner it could be composed of a vegetable and tomato puree with about ten grams of raw oil, a slice of grilled chicken and 50 grams of Grana Padano.

As we said, you can indulge yourself and you can also take advantage of the power of technology: on both Apple and Android stores, there are a huge amount of apps available which allow the calculation of the amount of calories consumed dish by dish (and, we are sure, the calculation will be less approximate than the example menu proposed above, which is valid only as an example to make you understand the quantities of food that can be consumed within a 2000 Kcal diet).

Aging at its best, the secret passes through the table: what is best to eat?

Let’s go back to Vestita’s words about the secret for a “cheerful old age” (which seems like an oxymoron, but it may not be): “It has now been demonstrated by many researches that (calorie reduction, ed) makes us live longer, in a healthy way”.

Assumed that we should not go beyond 2000 calories (1500 for women), what foods should we prefer?

“Whole grains – rice, spelled, millet – but also poor legumes. We recall that almost all beans have come from America, they are a non-native species, unlike lentils or chickpeas. However, black-eyed peas, or doliche, are native to our area. They are very convenient for those who don’t have time because they can be cooked without soaking. It saves us time in the kitchen but, above all, we have a very healthy food: cooked together with spelled, with an onion if you want, carrot, sage they represent an ideal soup, with a high nutritional level: an anti-aging recipe”.

A low-calorie anti-aging recipe: a portion of a soup with 200 grams of spelled, 120 grams of beans, a carrot, half an onion and a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil gives a caloric intake of about 300 calories.

Aging at its best, even movement is essential: the dietician’s suggestions

And if to the above suggestions, Vestita adds three ingredients to be considered important to keep us always young (we will add a fourth at the end, follow us until the end): “Flax seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, which can be added to soups and salads”.

And a key factor remains that linked to physical activity: “It’s very important to move a lot. The elderly face a sea of ​​osteoarticular pathologies just because physical activity is neglected. Even for people who are no longer very young, 20 minutes a day of gymnastics to loosen the joints, stretch the muscles, make mild contraction movements help to avoid diseases of the elderly, from osteoarthritis to neurodegenerative pathologies”.

In this sense, therefore, it would be ideal to opt for an ageless discipline such as yoga (also useful for keeping stress under control, another factor that certainly damages our health) but, after all, a walk would be enough: “Stop walking as often as possible. Better not on asphalt where the step is not well cushioned, preferring walks in the countryside”.

But if green is not available, even a normal city street is fine, it goes without saying.

Aging at its best, the case of Sardinia and the Blue Zones

Net of Dr. Vestita’s words, we want to talk here about an exemplary case of longevity and quality of associated life: the case of Sardinia, a region where centenarians abound (numbers in hand: 22 centenarians for every 100,000 inhabitants, compared to the European average of 8 for every 100,000)

Sardinia, in fact, is a Blue Zone, an area in which the life expectancy is higher than the world average: it is not a unique case in the world, but almost – the other areas identified by the scholars Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain are the village of Loma Linda in California, the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, the island of Ikaria in Greece and the island of Okinawa in Japan.

According to the researchers, who published this demographic study on Experimental Gerontologythere are some aspects common to these distant areas of the world where the concentration of centenarians is greater: regular physical activity, with movements mainly on foot, a healthy diet, a strong religious faith, the centrality of the family, no smoking and a social structure that favors human relationships.

And that social relations are important, it is also understood by the highest spheres of the world intelligentsia.

Aging at its best, loneliness is like smoking: it kills

Only at the beginning of the month Vivek Murthy, a senior in the United States Office of Public Health, has raised the alarm about the dangers of loneliness, speaking of an epidemic of loneliness e you”public policies in favor of the connection”.

In a report published by the institution of which Murthy is the chief operating officer (Surgeon General, to be precise) he highlighted how the time Americans spend with friends decreased by 20 hours a month between 2003 and 2020, with a increase of 24 hours per month of alone time.

Well, this loneliness brings with it serious effects on the health of those who suffer from it: let’s talk about a increase in risk of premature death by 26% respectively, a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. Furthermore, loneliness can increase a person’s likelihood of experiencing depression, anxiety, dementia, and make them more susceptible to suffering from respiratory diseases. Call a friend now!

In this sense, the (virtuous) case of Sardinia confirms the importance of human relationships: fundamental at a social level are the tzilleri / zilleri, bars / taverns that represent a point of connection for Sardinian society, but also social activities such as pressing harvesting grapes and picking vegetables in the garden (both activities that also allow older people to do physical activity).

Aging at its best, let’s sum up diet and psychological aspects

Moving towards the conclusion, we reiterate the importance of diet for better aging. Thinking of the Sardinian case, the typical diet of shepherds is a virtuous example because it is based on the consumption of fresh food of local production and strictly seasonal products (which is good for humanity as a whole, you will understand well by yourself): excluding from one’s own life industrial foods and consuming meat in moderation (meat that always comes from local farms) you have a good starting point to aim for a healthy longevity.

If we add a glass of Cannonau to a good diet (with all due respect to Antonella Viola) which also offers moments of conviviality, socializing and physical activity, if we cannot speak of an elixir of life, we are close.

Finally, and we go back to the secret ingredient mentioned above, let us remember that old age is nothing more than a state of mind after all: always feeling young, we will be able to better face the inevitable passage of time.