Clinical Nutrition For Dummies

Chapter 18

Retiring into the Golden Years

In This Chapter

Keeping a positive attitude as you age

Recognizing the risks associated with growing older

Discovering what nutritional regimens are best for aging

Your later years in life are supposed to be the “golden years.” The term itself puts a positive spin on growing older, as do the things people associate with these years: retirement and no more deadlines, contracts, or rush hour traffic; leisure pursuits like golfing, fishing, and watching sunrises — in short, freedom to do what you want with your time. No wonder it's called “golden.”

However, growing older has a definite downside: worsening health, diminished range of movement due to the effects of bone and muscle decay, and perhaps even physical, social, or emotional limitations that dampen your zeal for tasks and hobbies you once enjoyed. It can seem like a cruel joke that, just when you finally have the time to do everything in life you wanted, your ability to actually do those things is diminished. Hopefully not, but possibly so.

This chapter is about growing older and what you can do nutritionally to hold the negative effects of aging at bay. True, doing some of the things ...