Health Matters: 50+

[icehorse]

I must say to me it does seem rather contrary to a normal human diet. My BMI is bang in the middle of the healthy range. When I need to lose any pounds I simply consume less calories and have a decent interprandial gap between my evening meal and breakfast.

I'd say if your BMI and blood sugars are good and stable, you're set!

 

[icehorse]

I hadn't got to that part... no fruit or carrots is a dealbreaker for me.

It's really more about limiting carbs. So you can have small amounts of those high carb things, just not a lot.

But again, if your weight and blood sugars are good, it seems to me, you're good to go. I wanted to lose a few pounds (which I did), and also see if it would help post-covid, intermittent brain fog (which it seems to).

 

[anna.]

So basically not for a vegan/vegetarian then!

"Here’s a list of foods that need to be reduced or eliminated on a ketogenic diet:

• grains or starches: wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
• fruit: all fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries
• beans or legumes: peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc.
• root vegetables and tubers: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc."

- The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner's Guide to Keto

Mediterranean diet is the one for me. (Not for dieting, for living.)

 

[Secret Chief]

I'd say if your BMI and blood sugars are good and stable, you're set!

I reckon ditching alcohol has been a big plus for me too.

 

[Secret Chief]

Mediterranean diet is the one for me. (Not for dieting, for living.)

Ah yes. I used to dream of living in Italy.

 

[anna.]

This stood out to me. I have always cooked from scratch, for the most part. This came up in prison. Three people I was familiar with all had diabetes, and they were constantly talking about their "numbers" (that meant nothing to me). Long story short. One day, I said something about that the only reason I didn't have diabetes is that I have literally never eaten fast food. (I have yet to eat a Big Mac, for example.) The guys strenuously objected to this, but they all had been junk food crazy for decades. I rarely go to restaurants, let alone a fast food place. It's one of the downsides to being a competent cook. (I don't know that there is a definite connection, but it seems to be a pretty odd coincidence.)

I also remember the prison doctor being surprised when he asked me what meds I take daily. I just looked blankly and said, "I take a Tylenol when I have a headache. Does that count?" Med routines are so common, he didn't expect that.

I grew up that way (parents didn't have enough money for us to eat out often anyway) and then my mom got into health foods in a major way when I was about 10 and I'm sure I benefited from that although it was a tough transition for a kid. Anyway, I like to cook, and it's just natural to eat that way. Not that I don't eat fast food, I do, but usually a better form of fast food like veggie and grain bowls and not very often. I like most vegetables, that's never a problem. I remember a saying I saw once, and try to be mindful of it: "Eat food, not too much. Mostly plants." Genetically, I got my dad's lab history - I don't need any meds for blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, heart... nothing. I also got his knees.

 

[anna.]

Ah yes. I used to dream of living in Italy.

I was there to visit. It was glorious. Including the food.

 

[YmirGF]

I grew up that way (parents didn't have enough money for us to eat out often anyway) and then my mom got into health foods in a major way when I was about 10 and I'm sure I benefited from that although it was a tough transition for a kid. Anyway, I like to cook, and it's just natural to eat that way. Not that I don't eat fast food, I do, but usually a better form of fast food like veggie and grain bowls and not very often. I like most vegetables, that's never a problem. I remember a saying I saw once, and try to be mindful of it: "Eat food, not too much. Mostly plants." Genetically, I got my dad's lab history - I don't need any meds for blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, heart... nothing. I also got his knees.

I really like this outlook, @anna.
One idea I came by years ago was the author of whatever cookbook it was, said to always try to make meals as colourful and inviting as possible. I almost spend as much time on presentation as I do to select my ingredients. One of my staples is my wok and stir-fry, but I do have a weakness for curried basmati rice.

 

[anna.]

I really like this outlook, @anna.
One idea I came by years ago was the author of whatever cookbook it was, said to always try to make meals as colourful and inviting as possible. I almost spend as much time on presentation as I do to select my ingredients. One of my staples is my wok and stir-fry, but I do have a weakness for curried basmati rice.

Nothing wrong with rice. Whole cultures have it as a staple. It's what you put on it that matters more, imo. Have you heard of the blue zones?

Foods the Long-Living People in Blue Zones Eat

The Blue Zone diet includes foods eaten by people around the world who live long, healthy lives. Learn more about how to follow the eating plan.

www.verywellhealth.com

That's basically the diet I strive for. Colorful! Stir fry is a great staple. The beans bowl that's pictured at the link is my dream bowl. I went to the farmer's market Saturday and got red strawberries, yellow summer squash, green beans and cucumbers. Added to the blueberries and broccoli I already had, those have been my veggies and fruits the last few days, along with greek yogurt, almonds, and oatmeal. When I eat like this, I feel better than if I don't. Everyone's mileage varies, this is just mine.

 

[Secret Chief]

I was there to visit. It was glorious. Including the food.

Yep. Been several times. I even did a year of learning Italian, and me and foreign languages don't get on

 

[Secret Chief]

I really like this outlook, @anna.
One idea I came by years ago was the author of whatever cookbook it was, said to always try to make meals as colourful and inviting as possible. I almost spend as much time on presentation as I do to select my ingredients. One of my staples is my wok and stir-fry, but I do have a weakness for curried basmati rice.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Curry is my favourite food but I'm currently eating noodles like they're going out of fashion! (Ideally with chillified tempeh.....mmmmmmmmmmm)

 

[Augustus]

My dad didn't either. I think it was the first brick wall of his life and he didn't know how to get past it. He went downhill after a surgery that was supposed to make him more mobile, not less.

All you say in this thread is so true. Once you lose things it’s hard to get them back. Better to try to keep them by pushing yourself.

Hospitals are often the absolute worst places for old people’s health.

My dad was in pretty bad health, and had dementia, but could walk a kilometre or 2 and look after himself a little bit.

He then got a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop and had to spend a week in hospital.

When he came out he had aged about 5 years. Could only walk 100m with sticks and that took 15 mins, could hardly stand up from his chair and suffered a lot of cognitive decline too.

6 months later he got covid and had to go into hospital not because he was particularly sick, but because it tipped him over the point he couldn’t stand.

He spent a few more weeks in hospital before dying, but we basically knew as soon as he went into hospital he’d never get out because being inactive would weaken him so much he couldn’t get his strength back.

Because of his many health issues it sped up the process so much you could see the decline so clearly in real time, but it absolutely showed me the importance of keeping active and pushing yourself as much as you can.

 

[anna.]

All you say in this thread is so true. Once you lose things it’s hard to get them back. Better to try to keep them by pushing yourself.

Hospitals are often the absolute worst places for old people’s health.

My dad was in pretty bad health, and had dementia, but could walk a kilometre or 2 and look after himself a little bit.

He then got a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop and had to spend a week in hospital.

When he came out he had aged about 5 years. Could only walk 100m with sticks and that took 15 mins, could hardly stand up from his chair and suffered a lot of cognitive decline too.

6 months later he got covid and had to go into hospital not because he was particularly sick, but because it tipped him over the point he couldn’t stand.

He spent a few more weeks in hospital before dying, but we basically knew as soon as he went into hospital he’d never get out because being inactive would weaken him so much he couldn’t get his strength back.

Because of his many health issues it sped up the process so much you could see the decline so clearly in real time, but it absolutely showed me the importance of keeping active and pushing yourself as much as you can.

I'm so sorry for what your dad had to go through, and I'm sorry for your loss.

Especially in the elderly, being bedridden for any length of time is a serious situation from which many elderly can't make it back.

 

[icehorse]

Because of his many health issues it sped up the process so much you could see the decline so clearly in real time, but it absolutely showed me the importance of keeping active and pushing yourself as much as you can.

Similar story with my mom. She got COVID, and survived it. But she was physically very inactive before COVID and basically immobile after COVID, and she died a few months later.

Ya gotta keep moving your DNA.

 

[Secret Chief]

In the absence of a tennis ball ( @ChristineM ) I've tried lumbar CARs and it's helped straight away!

A new improvement to stretching is called CARs (controlled articular rotations). CARs is basically movement exploration and stretching - but using only your own muscles. So something like downward facing dog relies on a gravity assist, it doesn't count as a CAR. You can find a number of good Youtubes on how to do CARs.

Many thanks!

 

[exchemist]

OK, this is very specific warning.

I have always had poor eyesight, my prescription at one time was 8 diopters. Then I had lasik surgery on my eyes, and attained 20-20 vision. Wonderful, I thought, no more glasses or contact lenses.

After some years I noticed a kind of fuzzy "bar" across the vision of one eye. I went to a common optician and she looked into my eyes and told me it was "floaters" (little floating specks caused by small particles in the eyes). I should have been suspicious, as floaters move around and this didn't. Anyway, I ignored it and it got worse.

Eventually I saw an Ophthalmologist who told me I had glaucoma (that's increased pressure in the eye) which had already reduced the visual field in my right eye by about a third. The increased pressure kills the photoreceptors in the retina. The damage was irreversible, though it has been stabilized with eye drops and after 20 years or so is not much worse.

So what's the lesson here? First I'm not blaming the lasik. The fault was my own in neglecting to get my eyes checked regularly because my vision was perfect and I had no symptoms. Glaucoma is typically symptom free in the early stages, but the damage it does can be permanent.

I get checked for eye pressure every time the optician sees me - so far so good.

The one that nearly caught me out was a PVD (posterior vitreous detachment - sounds like someone removing broken glass from your bum). A PVD is shrinkage of the vitreous humour, the jelly inside your eyeball, away from the back of the eye. It's common in over 60s. In 10% of cases however it can pull away part of the retina, which if not treated can make you partially blind. I had new floaters and after a day or two thought I should see the optician, who said it was PVD but the retina was OK. I was uneasy and a few days later booked myself to see an ophthalmologist privately. He took one look and sent me to St George's the same day for laser welding. My retina was detaching. In fact the first round of laser didn't do it completely and I had to arrange a follow-up later. A narrow escape - and in fact my left eye is not as good as it was before, due to the size of the floater generated by the PVD.

 

[Alien826]

I get checked for eye pressure every time the optician sees me - so far so good.

The one that nearly caught me out was a PVD (posterior vitreous detachment - sounds like someone removing broken glass from your bum). A PVD is shrinkage of the vitreous humour, the jelly inside your eyeball, away from the back of the eye. It's common in over 60s. In 10% of cases however it can pull away part of the retina, which if not treated can make you partially blind. I had new floaters and after a day or two thought I should see the optician, who said it was PVD but the retina was OK. I was uneasy and a few days later booked myself to see an ophthalmologist privately. He took one look and sent me to St George's the same day for laser welding. My retina was detaching. In fact the first round of laser didn't do it completely and I had to arrange a follow-up later. A narrow escape - and in fact my left eye is not as good as it was before, due to the size of the floater generated by the PVD.

Very wise. I wish I had had doubts about the optician.

 

[exchemist]

Very wise. I wish I had had doubts about the optician.

Pressure testing seems part of the standard routine whenever you go for an eye test in the UK. So if you need glasses you always get it done every couple of years or so. But if you don’t wear specs I’m not sure how it would be picked up.

 

[Rival]

Pressure testing seems part of the standard routine whenever you go for an eye test in the UK. So if you need glasses you always get it done every couple of years or so. But if you don’t wear specs I’m not sure how it would be picked up.

I reckon the people they train are not very good. I've been with Specsavers since I was a child so they know my eye situation; my left eye is 'lazy' (amblyopic) and I barely see out of it, can't read with it etc. it's just useless to all intents and purposes for anything other than letting light in. There's nothing to be done for it. Yet almost every single time I go they insist on sight-testing my left eye as though it's somehow magically improved with age. It's like giving a legally blind person a reading test. I tell them 'I don't see out of it' and it's like they think they know better than me.

 

[exchemist]

I reckon the people they train are not very good. I've been with Specsavers since I was a child so they know my eye situation; my left eye is 'lazy' (amblyopic) and I barely see out of it, can't read with it etc. it's just useless to all intents and purposes for anything other than letting light in. There's nothing to be done for it. Yet almost every single time I go they insist on sight-testing my left eye as though it's somehow magically improved with age. It's like giving a legally blind person a reading test. I tell them 'I don't see out of it' and it's like they think they know better than me.

Yes a lot of them are on autopilot and just go through a set routine, I think. But at least that way you get a physical health check on the eye, instead of ignoring it altogether.