The New Research in Healthy Ageing

Two of the brightest minds in the fields of health were recently in Hervey Bay, QLD for their annual talks revealing their latest discoveries: USQ’s Professor Lindsay Brown and Dr. Sunil Panchal.

 

They held several free public talks on how to assist healthy ageing, right from childhood, including key foods they had uncovered, which could reverse or prevent some of the most common age-related illnesses.

Their key messages were that the more we live our everyday life healthily, the less likely we are to develop illness or disease later in life, and that each stage of life from childhood, to adolescence, to middle age, to the older age bracket, has varying dietary requirements.

Protein consumption during childhood matters 

For instance, childhood is the only time in our life we can influence, through diet, how many muscle fibres are laid down, so eating more protein during childhood builds more lean muscle mass, setting up our entire musculature for the rest of our lives. This is extremely important, as we lose our muscle mass through natural ageing, and can never regain this muscle.

Middle aged? Focus on maintaining health

Through adolescence and middle age, the focus should be on maintaining health, through continuing to eat well and through physical activity. Slightly less protein is required during these stages, but other key elements are more beneficial, such as foods higher in antioxidants. “Antioxidants are anti-inflammatory molecules, as one of their main functions is to switch off inflammation, thus protecting tissues and organs from oxidative damage or accelerated ageing, which very often prevents disease or illness”, Professor Brown states.

Eat right when you're older

While in our mature years, we require nutrients that are easily absorbed, which the body can utilize efficiently, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre and carbohydrates, and antioxidants too.

I will be covering more on Professor Brown and Dr. Panchal’s super foods in the following weeks.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Honor is a qualified naturopathic Nutritionist and health writer. She is very passionate about nutrition and health, and has been working in the field for almost 20 years.

Honor is the head nutrition writer for the multi-national Fitness First magazine, which won best app for an iPhone & tablet device in 2011 for the ‘Magazine excellence awards’.

Honor also has her own ‘Ask Honor’ column and weekly health article in the APN newspapers for The Fraser Coast Chronicle and Observer in QLD.

She designs weight loss meals and menu’s for Sydney based food manufacturer Core Food Concepts.

Honor has lectured and supervised the Nutritional medicine students at one of Sydney’s largest Natural therapies college’s- Nature Care College.

You can follow her and many of her articles on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/HonorTremain