Words: Ashley Johnson
Photo: Mediterranean
In our 20s and 30s, our bodies are more forgiving of poor dietary and lifestyle choices. As we get older, weight gain seems to materialize more quickly, while losing weight takes twice the effort.
As our bodies age, our metabolism slows down, and those extra mystery pounds require twice the effort to eliminate. The calories we consume and how often we exercise impact weight gain and loss, mood, and energy.
Adopting a nutritious diet and active lifestyle becomes more meaningful with age. These choices also can prevent chronic, age-related diseases and ensure a high quality of life.
Diets of Today
Today, popular diets advertise rapid weight loss, increased energy, enhanced endurance, a sharper mind, improved mood, and much more. But some of these diets are designed to be temporary, focused on specific health conditions, and pose both good and bad attributes.
Keto Diet
Overview
One of the most highly publicized diets currently is the Ketogenic diet. In the early 1900s, people used the keto diet to prevent epileptic seizures. Today, it can help people with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes by reducing insulin demand, lowering blood glucose levels, and facilitating rapid weight loss.
People who follow a keto diet reduce their carbohydrate intake to between 20 and 30 grams of carbs per day. This diet forces the body into ketosis, where the liver produces ketone bodies from stored fat. Ketones act as the body’s primary energy source (fuel) instead of sugar (glucose), resulting from carbohydrates. As a result, your body burns fat, leading to some people seeing dramatic weight loss in weeks and months.
Foods on Keto
The keto diet is considered a high-fat diet. Followers increase their daily fat intake to around 100 grams or more to induce ketosis. Coconut oil, MCT oil, avocado oil, and olive oil are good sources of fat that can easily be drizzled on salads, blended into coffee or tea, or used for cooking.
Meat is a keto staple because it contains no carbs. Steak, rotisserie chicken, bacon are all eaten daily. Dairy and eggs, which have little to no carbs, also make up a large portion of the keto diet. Eggs are especially popular because they are healthy, easy to cook, and simple to mix into recipes.
Although the keto diet is heavily focused on meat and dairy, non-starchy vegetables like cabbage, spinach, radishes, mushrooms, and avocados are all low in carbohydrates. While fruits tend to be non-keto friendly, there are some like blackberries and strawberries low in carbs.
It’s important to note that the keto diet is not intended to be permanent. Its primary focus is weight loss. The high amount of fat required by keto has been criticized for its impact on heart health, the lack of essential nutrients and vitamins, and its difficulty to maintain.
Mediterranean Diet
Overview
The Mediterranean diet integrates healthy fats yet is less restrictive, making it easier to follow overall. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes eating as healthy and sustainable. In the 1960s, doctors discovered that coronary heart disease was less common in Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy.
Practicing a Mediterranean diet can prevent heart disease and has been shown to reduce stroke and heart attacks by 30%. The diet also reduces risks associated with obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Some studies have shown that consuming olive oil might reduce high cholesterol levels by keeping blood vessels open.
Foods on the Mediterranean diet
This mainly plant-based diet stresses the role of healthy fats, especially olive oil. Fruits and vegetables are essential, along with whole grains, beans, eggs, fish, and chicken. Dairy products are limited and red meat is rarely allowed. Moderate consumption of red wine is encouraged, as is plenty of water.
About half of the calories come from whole grains, beans, and green vegetables like spinach and green beans with the Mediterranean diet. Protein like chicken and fish high in omega-3 fatty acids comprises 15 to 20% of daily calories. Because heart-healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, and dairy products are such an essential component, they should make up about 30 percent of calories.
In addition to the positive effect on cardiovascular health, the Mediterranean diet has been shown to promote healthy aging and brain function. It’s essential to be consistent with any diet, control how much you eat, and moderate indulgences like wine or cheese.
Following With Fitness
Adopting a healthy diet is just one factor for successful weight loss and quality of life. Physical activity is equally important. While any physical activity is beneficial, some workouts have a more significant impact on your body overall.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) involves short, intense workouts around 30 seconds to several minutes followed by a short break. Typical workouts last from 15 to 30 minutes and target different muscle groups by performing exercises like squats, pushups, burpees, jumping jacks, sprints alternated with jogging or anything else that gets your heart pumping. Compared with a moderate exercise where heart rate remains stable, HIIT stretches your muscles and heart so that you continue to burn calories long after your workout is complete.
Because HIIT workouts are short and do not require a gym membership, they are easy to do anywhere, anytime, with minimal equipment. The availability of smartphone applications, YouTube videos, and virtual fitness classes can instruct you on what to do and safely do it. One study found that 10 minutes into a 30-minute workout led to improved heart and lung health, increased oxygen supply to muscles, improved endurance, and increased cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
Any significant lifestyle change that introduces or increases physical activity should first be discussed with a physician. If HIIT seems too much too soon, consider starting small, like going for a walk at lunch, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, completing a round of chair dips, or holding a wall sit for 30 seconds.
When starting a new diet or adopting lifestyle changes, it’s essential to make sure it’s enjoyable, consistent, safe, and sustainable. Small, habitual changes to diet and activity level ultimately translate into significant, long-term results.