Healthy eating is important at any age, but as you get older, it becomes an absolutely essential part of your life. Not only does it keep your body healthy, allowing you to be more active, but there are mental health benefits too, giving you a more positive outlook on life and ensuring that you are emotionally stable. 

 Although you might think eating healthily will be about sacrificing those foods you love and eating food you don’t enjoy, but that you know is good for you, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. In fact, eating healthily can be just as enjoyable as eating unhealthy food once you get started. Read on to find out just why it’s so vital to keep eating well as you get older, and the reasons might just be the impetus you need to do what you know you should do. 

Live Longer 

Perhaps the biggest reason to eat well as you get older is that it can prolong your life, enabling you to live not only longer but more healthily at the same time. You will be able to enjoy that extra life as you will be active throughout. This is because a good diet will include all the nutrients you need to boost your immunity (making it less likely you’ll get sick), remove toxins from your body, keep your weight at a healthy level, and reduce the risk of various conditions, including:

• Type II diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Stroke 
• Cancer 

 Plus, being more physically healthy will help you stay more independent as you age, doing what you want to do and not relying on anyone else. 

Sharpen Your Mind 

Those who eat healthy, well-balanced diets that contain nuts, fish (particularly oily fish since this contains omega-3 fatty acids), fruit, and vegetables (especially leafy green ones) will often have better cognitive function than those who eat lots of processed food and sugar, for example. A good diet means you are more able to focus, and studies have shown there might even be a decreased risk of developing conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. 

You can enhance your diet with antioxidants to really boost your immune system and flush out the toxins within, enabling you to be healthier all around. Green tea is an excellent source of antioxidants, which can improve memory as a bonus. Of course, a treat once in a while is good for you too, as long as you’re careful, and remembering how to make a good chocolate cream pie recipe is a great way to sharpen your mind too. 

Social Eating

Something else that makes food more enjoyable is eating in a social setting. Whether you go to family or friends’ homes for a meal or barbecue once in a while, you organize your own get-togethers with neighbors, or you go to a club or class where everyone has lunch together on a regular basis, these meals are fun and something to look forward to, and they can be healthy even if the food itself is not. You could even invite someone to your home and cook together. It really doesn’t matter so much what you do, what you eat (to some extent). Being around other people is good for you, and socializing as you get older is something you should definitely keep doing, especially if there is food involved.