What Should Your Diet Be Like After 50?

To stop muscle loss: Have one or more protein sources every meal

Age-related muscle deterioration kicks into high gear around age 50, notes Rosilene Ribeiro, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Sydney. Even if you're not an aspiring bodybuilder, that's a problem. “Muscle mass is linked with everyday functionality,” Ribeiro says. “It affects normal things like gardening and walking long distances.”

Worse, muscle loss can be hard to notice. In a study of nearly 1,900 older adults, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh determined that you're losing strength about three times faster than muscle mass. So, though your biceps might stay the same size, the quality of the muscle is withering. If you don't eat for strength now, you might one day struggle to mow your own lawn or lift a bag of potting soil. “When you can no longer do things you once could, it creates a snowball effect,” Ribeiro observes.

But you don't have to let your muscles go to mush. Resistance training — weightlifting, yoga or Pilates — is the main way to stay strong. It also helps to double down on dietary protein. The government recommends 0.8 grams of daily protein per kilogram of body weight, which is about 65 grams for a 180-pound person. But that recommendation doesn't account for age. It's the same for a 50-year-old as it is for a 20-year-old, who can basically build muscle by operating a TV remote.

"We know that older adults need proportionately more protein in their diets than they do when they're younger,” says Christine Ritchie, director of research for the division of palliative care and geriatric medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “So, I generally encourage older people to increase their protein to a range of 1 gram to no more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.” After conversion, that means a 180-pound man in his 50s should aim for 82 to 164 grams per day. Better yet, just plan on eating about 25 to 30 grams at each meal (that's about a medium chicken breast or burger, a 5-ounce can of tuna mixed with mayo, 2 cups of cooked rice and beans, or a cup of low-fat cottage cheese). “Ingesting protein multiple times throughout the day is going to be a lot more effective than having one big steak at the end of the day,” Ritchie adds.

Animal proteins provide the richest array of amino acids, which are the building blocks you need to boost muscle, but multiple plant sources combined in one meal can be just as good, Ribeiro says. In addition to eating eggs, meat, dairy and fish, consider increasing your protein intake with chickpeas, lentils, tofu and quinoa.

To avoid weight gain: Remember the 200-calorie rule

The number of calories you need each day drops slightly as you age, yet most people keep eating the same amount of food. The government's dietary guidelines advise that you burn approximately 200 fewer daily calories after age 50. So, if you're a 50-year-old who eats like a 40-year-old, you could gain more than a pound of body fat each month. “It's simple, really,” says Nancy Rodriguez, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Connecticut. “If your calorie burn goes down and you don't change the way you eat, then you're going to put on weight."

Of course, unless you suddenly take up marathon running, exercise alone won't restore the calorie burn of youth. That's because roughly 50 to 70 percent of the energy you burn each day goes toward sustaining the body: organ function, respiration and the other processes that keep you alive. Nutritionists call this your basal metabolic rate, and it's the slowdown of this rate — not your lapsed gym membership — that's the main reason you need fewer calories with age.

Although creeping weight gain may be normal, that doesn't make it healthy. So what number should you look for on the scale? Think more about your waistline: A waist circumference of greater than 40 inches for men, or 35 inches for women, puts you at greater risk for disease. To get, and remain, below those numbers, you have to cut a few calories — start with 200 — from your daily diet. Yet rather than concentrating on eating less, think about eating better, especially when snacking. If you can answer your cravings with hunger-satisfying protein and belly-filling fiber, you can cut calories without thinking about it.

"An Oreo has roughly the same number of calories as a small apple,” says Niedert. “But while it's easy to eat six Oreos, how many people could eat six apples?”

Fruit is, of course, a healthy snack. So are nuts, raw vegetables and unsweetened yogurt. All these filling foods provide you with fiber and/or protein while injecting an army of disease-fighting, brain-protecting nutrients into your bloodstream. “The big challenge for older adults is that they need less energy overall but more micronutrients,” Tucker says, “which means you need a greater focus on nutrient-dense foods.”

So try to pack as many fruits and vegetables into your day as possible, and limit (or even better, eliminate!) nutritionally bankrupt doughnuts, cookies and candy. By using each snack craving as an opportunity to add nutrients into your diet, you'll slim down without having to obsess about calories.

To build bone strength: Hit the dairy bar daily

For most people, bone mass reaches its zenith in the late 20s and then begins a decades-long process of bone loss. For some 10 million Americans, that eventually results in osteoporosis, a condition marked by weak bones and an increased risk of injury. “Fractures are a huge problem in the elderly,” Ribeiro notes. “With age, both hospital recovery time and the health issues related to recovery go way up."

If you're not already eating to protect your bones, now is the time to begin. You can do that by making sure you're getting adequate amounts of calcium and its best pal, vitamin D. (Your body stores vitamin D in fat tissue, to help with calcium absorption as needed.) In one study of adults 50 and older, all of whom had recently fractured bones, 43 percent were deficient in both calcium and vitamin D.

For calcium, aim to hit the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ recommendation of 1,200 milligrams a day if you're a woman and 1,000 mg if you're a man. Those numbers are only slightly less than the ones provided to growing teenagers, and you'll get most of the way there with a couple of slices of cheese in your sandwich (300 mg), an afternoon yogurt snack (200 mg in a 6-ounce cup) and a scoop of low-fat cottage cheese with dinner (125 mg). “If people do the three-a-day thing for dairy, they'll hit their calcium quota,” Rodriguez says. She recommends sticking to food sources over supplements, if possible, since the excessive calcium levels in pills can turn into arterial plaque. (In a review published last year of more than 1,200 studies, researchers determined that calcium supplements were associated with a 14 percent jump in the risk for a heart attack.) In addition to eating dairy foods, choosing leafy greens, broccoli, beans and almonds will help you achieve your calcium goals. And for vitamin D, the best food sources include egg yolks, milk fortified with vitamin D, and fatty fish (think salmon, tuna and mackerel). And be sure to take in a daily dose of sunlight, since your body creates this vitamin naturally when the sun's energy reacts with a form of cholesterol in your skin.

To reduce chronic inflammation: Check out labels 

When your immune system was young, it zapped health threats with surgical precision. But with time, immune systems can start overreacting to small threats, or attacking things that don't pose any threat at all. That out-of-control immune response is known as chronic inflammation, and it can cause damage throughout your body. Initially you might feel this as stiffness or achy joints, but in time, it can result in much bigger problems. “The inflammation that's causing discomfort is the same inflammation that happens in your brain cells and leads to dementia,” says Hal Blatman, M.D., a pain specialist in Cincinnati. “It's all part of the same fire that needs to be put out.”

Chronic inflammation can cause arthritis, heart disease and depression. And it's so common among older people that researchers have begun calling it inflammaging. The best way to tackle the problem, Blatman advises, is to eliminate sugar from your diet. In studies, mice fed high-carbohydrate, high-fat diets don't generally show significant inflammatory responses until sugar is added into the mix. And according to a study of 6,856 subjects published this year in the International Journal of Public Health, people who drank the most sugar-sweetened beverages had higher levels of C-reactive protein, a substance the liver produces in response to inflammation.

"Any time you raise the insulin level in your body” — a natural response to sugar and starchy foods — “you're going to see an increase in body-wide inflammation,” Blatman says.

Thankfully, new governmental regulations are making it easier to identify hidden sources of caloric sweeteners. Starting this year, every big food company must list “Added Sugars” on its Nutrition Facts labeling. So, when a seemingly safe jar of marinara sauce or bottle of salad dressing contains unnecessary grams of added sugar (check — many of them do!), you'll know it at a glance.

To further stifle inflammation, Blatman also recommends cutting out refined flour and hydrogenated fats: “If you eliminate all inflammatory foods, half your pain will go away in two to 12 weeks."

To keep your arteries supple: Look beyond the beige

As it turns out, natural hues such as blue, yellow and red in your food generally indicate higher levels of heart-protecting antioxidants. “Your diet needs to be colorful,” Niedert says. “The more colors you have, the better off you are.”

Take berries. In a randomized, double-blind study of 115 adults 50 and older, published last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, those who committed to eating 1 cup of blueberries every day for six months showed improved vascular function and higher levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol. The study's authors credit a deeply colored antioxidant called anthocyanin, which is also found in cherries, raspberries and blackberries.

Betalain is another powerful pigment. It's responsible for making beets red, and a study that appeared last year in the journal Food & Function discovered that it could help those with coronary artery disease improve their heart health by lowering bad LDL cholesterol and skimming out homocysteine, an amino acid that can damage the lining of arteries and increase the risk of blood clots.

The truth is, you'd be hard-pressed to find a colorful fruit or vegetable that doesn't offer some kind of heart-protecting benefit. Lycopene (the red pigment in tomatoes) and beta-carotene (which turns carrots orange) have both proved to be cardiovascular heroes. Plus, in a 2016 study, 200 mg doses of curcumin, the compound that gives turmeric its sun-colored glow, was shown to increase the vascular functioning of blood vessels by 3 percent. (A more recent study found the effect to be even more dramatic immediately following a workout.)

The point here is that if your plate is a sea of beige — the lifeless color of fried chicken, fries and dinner rolls — you're doing your heart a disservice. Research continues to support what dietitians such as Niedert have long preached: By eating brightly colored bell peppers, purple cabbage and yellow squash, you can keep your ticker strong.

And, no, artificial coloring doesn't count. Sorry, Froot Loops.

A perfect day of eating in your 50s

Who says a healthy diet has to be complicated? This menu combines simple whole foods to make meals you already know how to prepare, yet it delivers all the protein, fiber and plant-based nutrients that can help you ward off disease and keep your metabolism revved.

Breakfast: 3-egg vegetable omelet topped with a big dollop of Greek yogurt; glass of 2 percent milk

OR

Cup of low-fat cottage cheese with mixed fruit and toast with avocado

OR

Protein shake (at least 25 grams of protein per serving) and melon slice

Midmorning snack: Apple or similar-sized piece of fruit

Lunch: Chicken-and-vegetable stir-fry with chickpeas, served over barley

OR

Burrito bowl with chicken, black beans, brown rice, guacamole, cheese, lettuce and salsa

Afternoon snack: Cheese slices, whole-grain crackers and blueberries

Dinner: 6-ounce salmon fillet with quinoa and vegetables

OR

Salad with lettuce, mixed vegetables (carrots, cucumber, tomato, sweet potato), 4 ounces of grilled fish, chicken or seitan, topped with extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar dressing

Nutritional impact: 1,540–1,920 calories; 99–145 grams protein; 26-34 grams fiber

A perfect day of eating in your 60s and 70s

Breakfast: 3-egg vegetable omelet topped with a large dollop of Greek yogurt; glass of 2 percent milk

Midmorning snack: Apple or similar-sized piece of fruit

Lunch: Chicken-and-vegetable stir-fry with chickpeas, served over barley

Afternoon snack: Cottage cheese topped with blue­berries and mixed nuts

Dinner: 6-ounce salmon fillet served with black beans and vegetables

Nutritional values: 1,840 calories, 140 grams protein, 39 grams fiber