Being physically active can actually help keep you younger, and you know what they say, 50 is the new 30! There are, however, physiological changes that take place in the body as we age that need to be considered.

Clever nutritional strategies can counteract these changes to ensure you get the best out of your body. The term 'Masters Athletes' refers to those who compete in categories over years of age. Different sports have different minimum starting ages, and variable range categories. For example, in cycling master's athletes start at a mere 35 years old, while golf doesn't consider you a master until age 50!

So, check with your preferred sporting body for more details. The changing body of the older athlete often occurs at around 40 years old, and can include cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, musculoskeletal and neurological changes which in turn can impact exercise performance.

Some of the physical changes that occur at an older age include reductions in strength, changes to muscle mass and body fat levels, loss of bone density, and flexibility. But all is not lost, only if you don't use it will you lose it. So read on Resting metabolic rate decreases each year as you age, mostly due to declines in muscle mass and reduction in exercise duration and intensity.

However, energy requirements for the older athlete will be higher than their inactive counterparts. Getting adequate energy for your training regime is paramount to ensure the best performances are achieved.

In the short term, a deficit in daily energy intake will lead to a loss of some body-fat, however, longer-term deficits will cause loss of important metabolically active muscle mass.

Which in turn will reduce your energy needs further and potentially affect athletic performance. The periodization of nutritional intake can help with meeting energy goals on high activity days by increasing intake and buffering it around training times, and on the flip side, reducing energy intake on rest days.

Remember, your energy budget needs to allow for adequate protein for muscle repair, carbohydrates for glycogen fuel, and all the micronutrients required for optimal health and recovery. Protein needs in young populations are higher for strength-based athletes than endurance athletes and even less for inactive individuals.

Protein needs are also higher for older athletes compared to their inactive counterparts. There is inevitable muscle deterioration as you age, and to alleviate this it is recommended that daily protein intakes should be ~1.

Older athletes may find it difficult to meet these needs due to lower energy demands compared to younger athletes. So, clever meal planning with high quality and regular protein intake, coupled with strength training is a must to maintain muscle mass.

Using dairy foods, nuts, seeds and eggs, as part of meals or as recovery snacks, will help achieve this. The active adult athlete faces these challenges even more acutely as every year goes by.

Pitting expected athletic achievement against common predictions on declining muscle mass and hence, performance, senior athletes work hard to stay fit. While a healthy diet of whole foods helps athletes of any age stay fit, many older adults turn to beneficial bars and drinks as a way to fuel up before a session or to replace a missed meal.

With more older adults moving towards a preventative approach to their health, immune health is a sought-after benefit for this consumer group. Primary goals of older adults are to replace nutrients lost in exercise, provide a balance of nutrients, and facilitate post-workout recovery.

Clinical research not only demonstrates the immune health benefits Wellmune® can provide older adults but builds upon on a body of published research showing Wellmune can improve general immune health.

In addition, Wellmune can help support athletes post-workout by enhancing immune system functioning. Many foods, beverages and supplements can be packed with recommended daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and vitamins or given additional benefits such as immune health support.

Increasingly, active adults, like all athletes, are turning to sports nutrition products to provide these benefits. Within the sports nutrition sector, there are opportunities to meet this need in convenient and nutritious ways that also offer functional benefits.

With immune health top of mind, clinically-proven immune health ingredients that support the ability to help keep active people healthy are a good fit for sports nutrition products like foods, beverages and supplements.

When it comes to preferred formats, seniors, like other adults, prefer performance products that are easy-to-consume on the go. Masters athletes may be more likely than younger athletes to present with medical conditions managed with one or more medications.

These can include cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, osteoarthritis, asthma, musculoskeletal injuries , anxiety and depression. M edications can impact the athlete through associated side effects. It is vital that athletes using medications are aware of potential side effects and impacts on their safety while training and competing as well as their performance.

Many common medications are banned for use in sport. For example , beta-blockers are a commonly used medication for hypertension, with a side effect of lowering heart rate — their use is banned in a number of sports.

This effect of lowering of heart rate can also mask hypoglycemia. Athletes may need to apply for a Therapeutic Use exemption to authorise the use of some medications in competition.

E nergy I ntake , Performance and Body Composition. Resting metabolic r ate decreases by a small percentage each decade which is linked to a reduction in metabolically active muscle mass.

H owever , energy requirements for masters athletes could be higher than their sedentary peers due to their activity. A r eduction in energy requirements could make it challenging to attain an energy deficit to achieve desired body composition goals and to meet specific performance targets for macronutrients.

The diet should be carefully planned and periodised around performance and other goals optimising body composition. For example, aim for an energy and macronutrient intake that meets energy requirements on key training and performance days and a lower energy intake on days of lower activity. I ncreasing muscle mass and supporting body composition goals could also be targeted in non-competition phases.

If undertaking periodised nutrition, it is important for masters athletes to focus on the quality of food consumed to ensure acceptable micronutrient intake , particularly with a reduced energy budget.

Carbohydrate recommendations for training and performance are the same for all athletes , however meeting targets must again be carefully mapped in a tighter energy budget. T he capacity for glycogen storage may be lower in older athletes but can be enhanced with endurance training.

Good quality carbohydrate foods, that are supportive of weight management, digestive health and beneficial for those experiencing chronic disease, include: oats, grainy breads, brown rice, legumes and starchy vegetables. Protein needs increase with age, so older athletes may need at least 1.

beef, tofu, milk, soy beverage, whey powder after muscle strenuous exercise.

Food Safety for Older Adults. HHS , Food and Drug Administration , Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition , USDA , Food Safety and Inspection Service. People at Risk: Older Adults. HHS , Foodsafety. Choosing Healthy Meals As You Get Older.

HHS , National Institutes of Health , National Institute on Aging. Find 10 nutrition tips for choosing foods that provide nutrients for healthy aging. Getting Enough Fluids. Exercise and Physical Activity. Learn the latest on how exercise and physical activity can help you stay healthy as you age.

Healthy Eating and Alzheimer's Disease. Overcoming Road Blocks to Healthy Eating. Serving and Portion Sizes: How Much Should I Eat?

Plus, find ideas for healthy snacks! Tips for choosing nutrient dense foods and snacks. Health Tips for Older Adults. HHS , National Institutes of Health , National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Tips and tools to help people ages 65 and over eat healthy foods and be physically active.

Nutrition for Older Adults. HHS , National Institutes of Health , National Library of Medicine , MedlinePlus. Read more about how to eat healthy as you age, and what to do if you are having trouble. Swallowing Difficulty.

Learn the symptoms of dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, and how it is treated. Swallowing Problems. Get tips for managing dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, at home. Tips for Chewing and Swallowing Problems.

Department of Veterans Affairs. Learn what eating strategies might help if you have trouble chewing or swallowing. Family Caregiving Tips: Cooking for Your Loved One. Oklahoma State University Extension. Nutrition for Older Adults: Chewing, Swallowing, and Nutrition. Food Hero for Older Adults.

Oregon State University Extension. Find a collection of videos, newsletters, brain teasers, and recipes for older adults.

Are You at Risk for Osteoporosis? PennState Extension. Read about steps you can take to reduce your risk of Osteoporosis. Puréed Foods: High Protein. University of Florida IFAS Extension.

Supplemental Nutrition Drinks: Do I Need Them? Resources and Support for Older Adults Living Alone: A Comprehensive Guide Sarcopenia is the term used to describe the gradual muscle mass loss seen in older adults. This is concerning for a few reasons.

First, the loss of muscle mass means you may lose functionality, ie you may be unable to lift groceries like you used to.

It also can result in changes in balance and stability which may lead to increased risk of falls. Lastly, because our muscle mass is a metabolically active tissue ie it stores and burns carbohydrates and fats the decreased muscle mass can decrease the metabolic efficiency and storage of carbohydrates and fats and can lead to development of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.

This results in a huge stress on our health care system and therefore it is important for us to think about nutrition strategies to maintain our muscle mass as we age. Either way, we can have higher muscle breakdown than build up, and thus a loss of lean tissue. The first point I want to make is not related to nutrition.

It is well known that resistance training is a VERY powerful stimulus of muscle building capacity and aged muscles respond to resistance training similar to young muscles. Resistance training in combination with very easy nutrition changes can help retain, maintain and possibly even build muscle mass in older adults.

In a westernized country like Canada, we often get enough protein, however I do notice that older athletes or adults may still need to bump up their intake to maximize recovery. The reason for this recommendation is because we know that an older adult will not respond to a 20g dose of protein like a younger person would, and a higher dose of protein is needed to stimulate muscle building.

Some older adults experience decreased appetite and will reduce portions, leading to lower overall protein intake. We need to remember that our protein needs are higher compared to when we were young!

Research does show that soy protein vs whey or beef protein is less effective to stimulate muscle building. Even though soy is a complete protein has the same amino acid make up as meat it seems as though it is processed differently in the body.

Mainly, the protein in soy seems to be digested slower resulting in less of an increase in amino acid levels in the blood and thus decreased stimulation of muscle protein synthesis.

Very careful nutrition planning is necessary if you are an older adult who adheres to a vegetarian or vegan diet. Dairy has the amino acid Leucine, which is a branch chain amino acid. It is a potent stimulator of muscle build up and can assist in maintaining lean mass.

Not only is dairy a source of leucine, but adding a cup of milk cow or soy only to your meal will add about 8g of protein, which actually could be all the changes you need to make to meet the protein needs at your breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In addition, consuming dairy products will provide you with calcium and vitamin D to assist in prevention of osteoporosis! Win win right?! We talked about the amount of protein, and the quality and now we get to the timing! If we look at typical protein amounts at each meal of the general population, we typically consume very little protein at breakfast, moderate amounts at lunch and a HUGE portion at dinner.

This is a very skewed distribution of your protein and very little protein synthesis occurs until the dinner time, where not all of that protein can even be used and is therefore wasted. Having multiple doses throughout the day at regular time intervals is the best method of feeding and maintaining your muscle mass.

You also want to make sure you place your protein at appropriate times to ensure adequate recovery from exercise bouts. If you are an older adult who is engaging in regular exercise, supplements like protein powder might be common place in your dietary plan.

One other supplement that has been shown to have some benefits for older adults is creatine. First we must understand that the muscle stores phosphocreatine and it is a substrate that can quickly and easily be used to provide energy for activity lasting only seconds.

The second is that it is an anabolic stimulant, meaning the higher storage of creatine results in increased muscle protein synthesis and growth. The theory is that the more creatine in the muscle, the harder you can train, thus getting a better workout while getting a larger response of muscle strength and growth.

Proper dosing is needed to elicit results, and there are a few contraindications for using such a supplement. Independent assessment for this supplementation is needed.

As we age, nutrition has an essential role to play in our health and wellbeing. Food can help fuel our bodies, keep our muscles strong, maintain our functionality, decrease our risk of chronic medical conditions, and overall help us age gracefully.

For more information about how you can keep your body healthy as you age, speak with a registered dietitian. Stephanie is our Registered Dietitian and sport nutritionist.

She graduated with Honours from the University of Guelph with a Bachelors of Applied Science specializing in Applied Human Nutrition. She then pursued her passion for sport performance nutrition by completing her Masters of Science degree specializing in Exercise, Nutrition and Metabolism at the University of Guelph.

Here she was involved in studies investigating the nutritional adequacy of young hockey players and hydration habits of amateur, varsity and elite athletes to name a few. She then completed her internship at London Health Sciences Centre and is currently working there on the Medicine unit.

She also has experience working with mental health and eating disorders. She also working towards being a Certified Specialist in Sport Dietetics.

A lack of exercise, malnutrition during ageing years and ageing as a process has led to the emergence of a previously silent phenomenon known as sarcopenic obesity SO. SO is described as a syndrome characterised by the rise of body fat mass in parallel with excessive low muscle mass, with underlying elements such as endocrine, inflammatory and lifestyle disruptions.

Diet, in addition to physical activity, play key roles in the prevention and management of multiple ageing conditions and disorders, SO being just one of them.

In many countries around the world, diets have become energy rich, yet nutrient poor, and populations are overfed, yet undernourished.

To combat this trend, experts and nutrition policy makers have emphasised the importance of consuming high nutrient density diets.

Nutrition for an ageing body can be a complex and, delicate processes are required to ensure the right amount of nutrition is available through this phase of life. Healthy ageing requires a sustained commitment and focussed action from country leaders to formulate systematic enhancements and interventions; healthcare workforce training and education that can strengthen and support an active ageing population.

Governments also need to consider public-private partnerships to improve quality of care, promote healthy ageing, and impact outcomes for non-communicable diseases. According to Ageing International, a step framework to implement integrated care for older persons can be hugely beneficial for countries.

Based on this framework, the first and the most critical step and role is of the governance in establishing requisite structures followed by an in-depth evaluation of the demographics, current as well as future. The healthcare systems including local care resources and care pathways specific to older age group also including their nutritional evaluation and care form the backbone of this integrated framework.

It is also critical to start the health and nutrition journey earlier. Beyond 50s, it is important to consciously make effort to keep both the body and mind active through community and social engagements.

The contribution of healthcare professionals in this regard can be immense in helping individuals work towards their older age, early. We have come across innumerable reasons that may lead to malnourishment in the elderly and a few practical tips and checklists for hospitals, care givers and therapy centres, on elderly care and nutrition can be very helpful in dealing with this issue.

I engage with the elderly through communities that focus on healthy ageing and would like to share an experience of a fellow community member who once said that, his most grilling and torturous experience at the hospital was during the discharge process.

Nutrition, surroundings, processes, communication practices and facilities at the elderly care centres, all need a fresh scrutiny and perspective and we clearly have a long way to go. A systematic approach towards the cause of elderly care with equal participation from public and private entities will help achieve a standard that these seniors, in their golden age, deserve.

Articles Optimum Nutrition for Elderly. Nutrition and Wellness Optimum Nutrition for Elderly Dr. The challenge of healthy ageing and nutrition. How ageing happens. Steps in the right direction. Stay calorie-wise and nutrition-dense: Most seniors have a small appetite and therefore their meal plans should be full of nutrition-rich foods that do not add volume to the diet.

A simple example of this would be to add wheat germ into their cereals and baked goods, such as breads and muffins. Mix-it-up: The sense of taste and flavour diminishes in most old age individuals and therefore, feel free to spice up and herbify the meals.

Turmeric, cumin, basil, coriander and lemongrass are not just adding to flavour but have health benefits associated too.

Many meals in a plan: Meal plans for the elderly should be small, frequent and lack non-nutritious fill-up food options completely. The reason for this recommendation is because we know that an older adult will not respond to a 20g dose of protein like a younger person would, and a higher dose of protein is needed to stimulate muscle building.

Some older adults experience decreased appetite and will reduce portions, leading to lower overall protein intake. We need to remember that our protein needs are higher compared to when we were young!

Research does show that soy protein vs whey or beef protein is less effective to stimulate muscle building. Even though soy is a complete protein has the same amino acid make up as meat it seems as though it is processed differently in the body.

Mainly, the protein in soy seems to be digested slower resulting in less of an increase in amino acid levels in the blood and thus decreased stimulation of muscle protein synthesis. Very careful nutrition planning is necessary if you are an older adult who adheres to a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Dairy has the amino acid Leucine, which is a branch chain amino acid. It is a potent stimulator of muscle build up and can assist in maintaining lean mass. Not only is dairy a source of leucine, but adding a cup of milk cow or soy only to your meal will add about 8g of protein, which actually could be all the changes you need to make to meet the protein needs at your breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In addition, consuming dairy products will provide you with calcium and vitamin D to assist in prevention of osteoporosis! Win win right?! We talked about the amount of protein, and the quality and now we get to the timing! If we look at typical protein amounts at each meal of the general population, we typically consume very little protein at breakfast, moderate amounts at lunch and a HUGE portion at dinner.

This is a very skewed distribution of your protein and very little protein synthesis occurs until the dinner time, where not all of that protein can even be used and is therefore wasted.

Having multiple doses throughout the day at regular time intervals is the best method of feeding and maintaining your muscle mass. You also want to make sure you place your protein at appropriate times to ensure adequate recovery from exercise bouts.

If you are an older adult who is engaging in regular exercise, supplements like protein powder might be common place in your dietary plan. One other supplement that has been shown to have some benefits for older adults is creatine.

First we must understand that the muscle stores phosphocreatine and it is a substrate that can quickly and easily be used to provide energy for activity lasting only seconds.

The second is that it is an anabolic stimulant, meaning the higher storage of creatine results in increased muscle protein synthesis and growth. The theory is that the more creatine in the muscle, the harder you can train, thus getting a better workout while getting a larger response of muscle strength and growth.

Proper dosing is needed to elicit results, and there are a few contraindications for using such a supplement. Independent assessment for this supplementation is needed.

As we age, nutrition has an essential role to play in our health and wellbeing. Food can help fuel our bodies, keep our muscles strong, maintain our functionality, decrease our risk of chronic medical conditions, and overall help us age gracefully.

For more information about how you can keep your body healthy as you age, speak with a registered dietitian. Stephanie is our Registered Dietitian and sport nutritionist. She graduated with Honours from the University of Guelph with a Bachelors of Applied Science specializing in Applied Human Nutrition.

She then pursued her passion for sport performance nutrition by completing her Masters of Science degree specializing in Exercise, Nutrition and Metabolism at the University of Guelph.

Athletes may need to apply for a Therapeutic Use exemption to authorise the use of some medications in competition. E nergy I ntake , Performance and Body Composition. Resting metabolic r ate decreases by a small percentage each decade which is linked to a reduction in metabolically active muscle mass.

H owever , energy requirements for masters athletes could be higher than their sedentary peers due to their activity. A r eduction in energy requirements could make it challenging to attain an energy deficit to achieve desired body composition goals and to meet specific performance targets for macronutrients.

The diet should be carefully planned and periodised around performance and other goals optimising body composition. For example, aim for an energy and macronutrient intake that meets energy requirements on key training and performance days and a lower energy intake on days of lower activity.

I ncreasing muscle mass and supporting body composition goals could also be targeted in non-competition phases. If undertaking periodised nutrition, it is important for masters athletes to focus on the quality of food consumed to ensure acceptable micronutrient intake , particularly with a reduced energy budget.

Carbohydrate recommendations for training and performance are the same for all athletes , however meeting targets must again be carefully mapped in a tighter energy budget.

T he capacity for glycogen storage may be lower in older athletes but can be enhanced with endurance training. Good quality carbohydrate foods, that are supportive of weight management, digestive health and beneficial for those experiencing chronic disease, include: oats, grainy breads, brown rice, legumes and starchy vegetables.

Protein needs increase with age, so older athletes may need at least 1. beef, tofu, milk, soy beverage, whey powder after muscle strenuous exercise.

Click here for further practical suggestions. This higher protein requirement may also enhance satiety and support maintenance of muscle mass during efforts to support body composition changes. As for younger athletes, attention to timing, distribution and the quality of protein intake is important.

Care should be taken with protein intake for people with impaired kidney function, which sometimes occurs in type 2 diabetes. It is important for all athletes to include good quality unsaturated fats for health , such as: F atty fish e.

salmon , sardines, mackerel , nuts and seeds, avocado and plant-based oils. This is particularly important for athletes with cardiovascular disease or those at higher risk of cardiovascular disease e.