Nutrition over 65

The best place to start for any person looking to develop a healthy diet is the Australian Dietary Guidelines. The guidelines were developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council, with input from many food and nutrition experts, as well as members of the community.

They are based on the best available science about the types and amounts of foods and dietary patterns that may promote health and wellbeing, and reduce the risk of diet-related conditions and chronic disease.

You probably know a healthy diet benefits you physically, mentally and socially. Without good food and drink choices, you’re at greater risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and even mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. A healthy diet helps socially too – regularly connecting with other people may stave off loneliness and isolation.

So, what do the guidelines say? In a nutshell, they advise every Australian to:

Eat a wide variety of foods from the five food groups: plenty of colourful vegetables, legumes/beans; fruit; grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and high fibre varieties; lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds; milk, yoghurt, cheese or their alternatives, mostly reduced fat.
Drink plenty of water – six to eight cups of fluid per day.
Limit foods high in saturated fat, such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips, crisps and other savoury snacks.
Replace high fat foods containing mostly saturated fat with foods containing mostly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Swap butter, cream, cooking margarine, coconut and palm oil with unsaturated fats from oils, spreads, nut butters and pastes, and avocado.
Limit foods and drinks containing added salt, and don’t add salt to foods in cooking or at the table.
Limit foods and drinks containing added sugars, such as confectionery, sugar-sweetened soft drinks and cordials, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, energy and sports drinks.
Limit alcohol. (Drink no more than two standard drinks a day.)
Keep ‘extras’ or ‘sometimes foods’ to a minimum – they’re not a regular part of a healthy diet. Extras are the high sugar, high fat, high salt foods listed above, such as commercial burgers, pizza, alcohol, lollies, cakes and biscuits, fried foods, and fruit juices and cordials.
Be physically active. (Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking, every day.)