How to Eat Like an Olympian After 50

Whether you’re going for gold or embracing your golden years, some nutrition advice suits us all

Anna Medaris,

AARP

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En español

Published July 31, 2024

/ Updated August 02, 2024

a collage of nutritious dishes on a background with Olympic rings

Photo Collage: AARP (Source: Shutterstock; Getty Images(5))

The last time cyclist Dotsie Bausch went to the Olympics, she made history by becoming the oldest competitor in her discipline to medal. That was back at the London Games in 2012, when Bausch was 39.

This year, at age 51, Bausch returned to the Olympics to have a different kind of fun. She and her husband are in Paris to cheer on the Americans, drink wine by the Seine and “just not worry about a thing,” Bausch told AARP the night before her departure.

But while plenty has changed for Bausch in the intervening years, diet isn’t one of them. Sure, she’s consuming fewer calories than when she was grinding through three workouts a day, but the basics — namely, consuming a whole-foods, plant-based diet — have remained the same.

“People think that athletes and Olympians or whoever might be at a really high level of their sport eat this supersecret, crazy food that they’ve never heard of,” says Bausch, the executive director of the nonprofit Switch4Good, which encourages people to ditch dairy products. In reality, she continued, top-tier athletes just eat more.

So if you’re inspired by the competitors in this years’ Olympic Games, you, too, can eat like them — just, most likely, less. Here’s how.

1. Prioritize plants

This year’s games aim to be the most sustainable and vegetarian-friendly yet, with plant-based meals and snacks making up 60 percent of the offerings for the general public.

Organizers also say 80 percent of all food is made from seasonal, local ingredients.

“This is the first Olympics that finally said, ‘We can’t ignore the science anymore about what animal agriculture is doing to our planet,’” says Bausch, who worked with some of this year’s caterers to develop flyers comparing the nutrient content of plant-based milks with cow’s milk.

Nonathletes watching from home can benefit from emphasizing plant foods, too, even if you don’t go all-out vegan or vegetarian, says Kelly Jones, a sports dietitian and former Division 1 swimmer who works with professional athletes and active families alike.

“The more plant foods on your plate you have, especially in the whole form, the more antioxidants you’re gonna get,” she says. “And we know that those antioxidants we talk about for supporting disease prevention and longevity … also support exercise recovery. So that is another way that an athlete plate can look similar to the plate of an older adult.”

2. Choose quality carbs

There’s arguably no better place to carbo-load than Paris, with its signature croissants, baguettes and crepes. And while Olympians will surely be indulging on local delicacies for some of their carbohydrate needs, they’ll also be prioritizing high-quality carbs like whole grains, sweet potatoes, beans and lentils, Jones says.

Older adults should take note, since carbs are the primary fuel source for both the muscles and the brain, Jones says. Just opt for potatoes over pastries most days of the week.

“If, in your older years, you want to maintain an active lifestyle, feel physically energized and also support your brain health, cognition [and] attention span, carbohydrates should have a place in your diet as well,” Jones says.

3. Power up on protein

The U.S. government recommends that adults get 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. But Jones says that suggestion is a minimum amount to prevent deficiencies — not necessarily an optimal amount to support strong muscles and bones. For that, she recommends closer to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight daily.

Translation: Someone who’s 175 pounds, or about 80 kilograms, should aim for 96 grams of protein a day. That’s not too hard — a single cooked chicken breast has about 56 grams of protein. One cup of lentils has nearly 20 grams; pair that with ½ cup of tofu, and you’re up to roughly 40 grams of protein.

There’s some evidence that front-loading that protein in your day can maximize its benefits. One 2021 study, for instance, found that, in adults ages 65 and older, those who consumed more of their protein in the morning had better handgrip strength than those who ate more protein at night. Similarly, in a randomized trial reported in the same paper, researchers found that older women who supplemented with milk protein in the morning increased their muscle mass more than those who received the supplement at night or were given a placebo.

“Especially in older adults, higher amounts are going to help with how people are functioning, and that is going to influence things like longevity [and] injury risk with age,” Jones says.

4. Make a ‘performance plate’

Sports dietitians often talk to their athletes about building a “performance plate,” which describes a meal that contains a protein, a carbohydrate and color from fruits or vegetables, Jones says. Some fat and seasoning have their place, too, for flavor’s sake.

Within that framework, athletes adjust for their particular needs. For example, Jones says a strength- or power-based sport like shot put requires more protein, while an endurance sport like a triathlon will be best fueled with a greater emphasis on carbs.

Even if your “sport” isn’t a physical activity but rather a high-pressure job or a demanding caretaking role, a performance plate belongs in your kitchen too. “If we want to support being able to go to the gym, or maybe you are going to run a half-marathon in your 50s — plenty of people are doing that, too — and then also be able to really focus at work, you need to be fed and fueled,” Jones says.

5. Remember to hydrate

If you’re an Olympic marathoner or mountain bike racer, you can count on other people to hand you water and electrolyte drinks as needed throughout the race. But if you’re like the rest of us, how well you manage your hydration is up to you.

“That’s really important, and it tends to get lost sometimes because we focus so much on ‘make sure you have adequate amounts of carbs and proteins and fats’ … but don’t forget to add in the water,” says Jeanette Andrade, a registered dietitian and assistant professor in the University of Florida’s Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.

Older adults especially need to be diligent about their hydration since the ability to feel thirst tends to wane with age. “That’s a huge concern because people can get very dehydrated very quickly,” Andrade says.

There’s no hard and fast rule about exactly how much to drink, since it depends on factors like where you live and how active you are. But Andrade recommends this easy trick, called a “skin turgor,” to gauge your hydration: Pinch the skin on the back of your hand for a few seconds, and notice how quickly (or not) it resumes its position.

“If you find that … it just kinda stays like it is or falls droopy almost, then you may need to add a little bit of water into your diet,” Andrade says. For those who are out in the sun a lot or just like to punch up their water, a squirt of lemon, lime or orange can add some natural electrolytes and flavor, she adds.

6. Get to know your micro — not just macro — nutrients

It’s easy to get swept up in trends centering on macronutrients, or carbohydrates, protein and fat. But Bausch says elite athletes and everyday Americans alike would benefit from focusing on the micronutrients — or the vitamins and minerals within those macronutrients — too.

“The inflammation-producing foods in the standard American diet will greatly hamper athletic performance and recovery and repair and healing,” she says. “But that’s also what you are trying to do as you age — decrease your inflammation and recover faster.”

Practically, focusing on micronutrients can mean centering your meals around inflammation-fighting ingredients and spices, including turmeric, ginger, dark fruits like berries and leafy greens. “I don’t think we can say enough good things about collards and spinach and kale,” Bausch says.

Here’s one: Research out of Tufts University found that 58- to 99-year-old adults who ate just one-and-a-half servings of green leafy vegetables a day had the cognitive functioning of people about 11 years younger than those who ate little or no leafy greens.

What Olympians Actually Eat

Olympic athletes’ diets range widely, depending on personal preference, culture and the demands of their sport.

American Helen Maroulis, who at age 32 is the oldest female wrestler to compete in the Olympics, eats just 1,500 calories a day during training, made up of nutrient-dense choices like vegetable omelets, apples and almond butter, and shrimp spring rolls, according to Time magazine.

Some athletes opt to get all their nutrients from plant foods. Great Britain’s Anna Henderson, who became the country’s first cycling winner in Paris, has said going vegan has made her faster, according to the Telegraph. To fuel some of her competitions outside of the Olympics, she needs about 5,000 calories a day, the publication reports, which she and other vegan athletes can get from nuts, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables and more.

On the hungriest end of the spectrum is French swimmer Stanislas Huille, 25, who estimates he burns 6,000 to 7,000 calories a day — presumably from training alone, per CNN. A typical day for him might be bacon, eggs and buttered French toast for breakfast; a smoothie for a snack; meat, veggies, yogurt and a side of cereal for lunch; and fish and vegetables for dinner. “If I eat a fish, maybe I’m going to swim faster like a fish,” Huille told CNN.

Editor's Note: This story, first published July 31, has been updated.

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Anna Medaris is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist with 15 years of experience covering health and lifestyle for publications including The Washington Post, Women’s Health, Business Insider and US News & World Report.