There are many women over 50 who are trying to get a little fitter and seek a diet to support heart or brain function. During these years, women are in a natural transition, so a good diet can control menopausal symptoms and improve overall health.
The diets in this article were chosen based on the following criteria:
- Easy to follow: In addition to providing clear guidelines and simple shopping lists, the diet does not require any supplements.
- Adaptable: You can make changes based on your personal preferences and nutritional needs.
- It’s not too restrictive: You don’t have to remove large food groups from your meal plan.
- Nutritionally Balanced: You eat a lot of healthy fats and proteins, plus high-quality sources of carbohydrates and micronutrients.
- Based on the evidence: Scientific studies support the health benefits of nutrition.
The 5 Best Diets for Women Over 50
1. Best of all: the Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is consistently considered one of the healthiest eating patterns for almost everyone, including women over 50.
The prestigious Washington magazine places the Mediterranean diet as the best option to get one healthy food; giving it a score of 4.2 out of 5. The report found that most residents of Mediterranean countries generally live longer than Americans and suffer fewer diseases such as cancer or heart problems.
Based on the diets of people in Greece and Southern Italy in the 1960s, this diet is characterized by a low saturated fat content. It consists mainly of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts and whole grains, and contains olive oil as the main source of added fat (1).
To implement the Mediterranean diet, we must take into account the Food pyramid, which emphasizes the consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes; fish and seafood a few times a week; poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt in moderation. In this sense, the consumption of sweets and red meat for special occasions should be limited and combined with daily physical activity. “The Mediterranean diet is synonymous with quality of life“Tell the experts.
2. Best for Heart Health: The DASH Diet
In second place in the ranking we find the DASH diet, which has a score of 4.1 out of 5. This diet, promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is most commonly used to stop hypertension and focuses primarily on eating fruits, vegetables, proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy products, all nutrient-rich foods to lower blood pressure.
The DASH Diet does not recommend consume food with a rich in saturated fat, such as red meat, fatty products, but also drinks and sweets. This diet is based on a balanced diet and can be followed long term, one of the keys for nutritionists to classify it as one of the most recommended in the world.
To implement this diet, we have to make drastic changes to our diet. For this reason, the magazine’s expert committee recommends starting with it small changes such as:
- Add two or more meatless meals per week.
- Use herbs and spices to make foods to avoid salt.
- Add a serving of vegetables or fruit to each meal.
- Eat almonds or walnuts.
- Change the white flour for whole wheat flour.
- Walk 15 minutes after lunch or dinner.
3. The best plant base: the Flexitarian diet
This diet shares second place with the DASH diet, mainly because of its consumption in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and proteins of vegetable origin. The Flexitariana can be considered a vegetarian diet that occasionally includes meat or fish, which is why its name comes from the word “flexible”.
The study claims that you don’t have to give up meat completely for the diet to be effective. One of the best features of the Flexitarian diet, it should be noted that it helps us with that lose weight, have better health, reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and also increase our life expectancy.
To follow this way of eating, we have to add five food groups in our diet: non-meat proteins, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy products and spices. This report does not recommend adapting the diet to our rhythm of life to achieve better results, but gradually discovering all possible recipes.
4. Best for Brain Health: The MIND Diet
The Mind’s ‘MIND’ diet was designed to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and other age-related dementias. ‘MIND’ is an acronym for ‘Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay’. As its name implies, it combines elements from the Mediterranean and DASH diets that have been shown to support brain health.
It emphasizes foods such as whole grains, berries, leafy greens, beans, olive oil, and fatty fish. The consumption of fried foods, red meat, butter, cheese and sweets is not recommended.
Multiple studies have shown that the MIND diet reduces the risk of dementia. While careful diet has the greatest reduced risk, even those who stick to only moderate can still experience slower mental decline (11Reliable Source, 12Reliable Source, 13Reliable Source).
5. Best for those fed up with the diet: Eat intuitively
It’s very likely that if you’ve tried and had all of the existing diets, it’s normal to be tired of the same story all the time. In this regard, we must be ready for it leave the cycle of strict diets forever and start eating healthy intuitive it could be the perfect fit for our body.
Chronic restrictive diets can lead to various adverse effectsincluding bone loss, recurring weight gain, disordered eating and decreased quality of life. Intuitive Eating is an anti-diet program designed to reshape your diet mentality and build a positive relationship with your body and the foods you eat. It was created by dietitians who claim that chronic diets cause physical and psychological damage.
The intuitive diet includes 10 fundamental principles. These are based on concepts such as making peace with food, caring for health and dealing with emotions without using food. There are no banned foods and no rules for portion sizes or meals. Instead, the goal is to help you get back learn to listen to natural hunger signals and fullness of your body, so that you no longer depend on any particular diet for mental or physical nourishment.
A recent study linked intuitive eating with better mental health and a lower risk of eating disorders.