Thank you for this article. Excellent suggestions. Economical, healthy and tasty foods. I like your.ideas for those days when you are not really interested in eating. 🙃
Thank you. This is clearly explained and feels doable for me. I’m 76 years old and hate to cook meals with many ingredients or even bake, but I can easily switch to many of these. I actually prefer healthy foods like you listed but felt overwhelmed by all the confusing complicated senior diets. I’ll go back to using my crockpot to fix protein /fiber meals.
Thank you! You’re right to ignore the complicated “senior diet” noise. Simple protein + fiber done consistently is what matters, and a crockpot is perfect for that. You’re doing it the smart, sustainable way.
Quinoa is a complete protein (has all nine essential amino acids). Looks and cooks like a grain, but it’s a seed. I usually use it in lieu of rice. Not as tasty, but I do my best by cooking it in a rich veggie broth and add some peas.
I like to make a nice quinoa dish as you do with broth and stuff it into squashes. But my favorite is to cook it as a hot cereal & add nuts and yogurt or an almond milk and fruit. It's pretty tasty!
Most mornings I am not feeling breakfast but realize that taking protein in the morning is important (I usually eat an hour or two after rising) I blend some chocolate protein powder into my coffee with a hand held milk frother. Usually enough to give me 15-18g of PRO. When I eat my ‘brunch’ I try to get the rest of the PRO 15-20g as Greek yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese. As someone who has endured a sigmoidectomy due to diverticulitis fibre is very important so berries( fresh or frozen) figs or oranges are always on if I go for cereal ground flax seed and for Greek yogurt I chose Bran Buds. My surgeon told me that if we all got the required fibre in our diet’s diverticulitis would be virtually eradicated. Yet so many deny themselves fibre thinking it will worsen the disease which is only true if it’s active. Thank you so much for this excellent post.
Protein timing + fiber quality makes a huge difference, and your coffee protein hack is a great idea for low-appetite mornings. Really appreciate you sharing the diverticulitis insight too — that nuance about fiber during active vs inactive phases is so important and often misunderstood. Thanks for adding so much value here.
Great article, thank you. I’ve been adding organic basil seeds to my yogurt—they add 15 grams of fiber and 5 of protein. They act like chia seeds and are supposedly a better option (not inflammatory).
I think this is a great article . I’ve done a few things. Cook up some hard boiled eggs and have them throughout the week in the am. Definitely holds you for awhile. Cooked oatmeal can be reheated if you make alot. Baked beans with hotdogs are yummy. I use Metamucil daily and restorafiber. These little changes make a difference. Jennifer
One point to add since there's a lot of buzz about protein now due to the GLP-1 trend. The protein you are looking to add is not all the junk ones out there--protein pop tarts, protein Doritos and protein soda are not what will help you preserve muscle healthfully!
Strength training paired with the right protein (and diet overall) will also do wonders!
I guess my lunch would be approved. A cup of Greek yogurt with dried cranberries and walnuts, a large peeled apple and a slice of whole grain toast with butter and a glass of water.
Very clear article, immediately had a greek yoghurt with blue berries and almonds for breakfast. Plus I was reassured about my eatinghabits. Thank you 🤗
Thank you for posting this. It's fantastic information, and it's so well written.
I am a bit below the age for the recommendations, but my ill-tempered pancreas sped my aging dramatically. I've had amazing results from educating myself and paying attention to my body. I have learned a good bit about what works, what matters most, and what will get you by.
I think the low-appetite tips are especially important. I survived for a year and a half with meal-replacement shakes, baby food (truly underrated), and tons of electrolyte water.
The lack of regular protein and fiber cost me so much, physically.
Your suggestions are practical and easy to follow. Thank you again for such great info.
Thank you, Marsha. Really appreciate you sharing this. And you’re absolutely right—this way of eating helps at any age. Listening to your body and getting the basics right makes a huge difference.
Thank you for reading it!
Thank you for this article. Excellent suggestions. Economical, healthy and tasty foods. I like your.ideas for those days when you are not really interested in eating. 🙃
Thank you. This is clearly explained and feels doable for me. I’m 76 years old and hate to cook meals with many ingredients or even bake, but I can easily switch to many of these. I actually prefer healthy foods like you listed but felt overwhelmed by all the confusing complicated senior diets. I’ll go back to using my crockpot to fix protein /fiber meals.
Thank you! You’re right to ignore the complicated “senior diet” noise. Simple protein + fiber done consistently is what matters, and a crockpot is perfect for that. You’re doing it the smart, sustainable way.
Quinoa is a complete protein (has all nine essential amino acids). Looks and cooks like a grain, but it’s a seed. I usually use it in lieu of rice. Not as tasty, but I do my best by cooking it in a rich veggie broth and add some peas.
I like to make a nice quinoa dish as you do with broth and stuff it into squashes. But my favorite is to cook it as a hot cereal & add nuts and yogurt or an almond milk and fruit. It's pretty tasty!
Most mornings I am not feeling breakfast but realize that taking protein in the morning is important (I usually eat an hour or two after rising) I blend some chocolate protein powder into my coffee with a hand held milk frother. Usually enough to give me 15-18g of PRO. When I eat my ‘brunch’ I try to get the rest of the PRO 15-20g as Greek yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese. As someone who has endured a sigmoidectomy due to diverticulitis fibre is very important so berries( fresh or frozen) figs or oranges are always on if I go for cereal ground flax seed and for Greek yogurt I chose Bran Buds. My surgeon told me that if we all got the required fibre in our diet’s diverticulitis would be virtually eradicated. Yet so many deny themselves fibre thinking it will worsen the disease which is only true if it’s active. Thank you so much for this excellent post.
This is such a thoughtful approach.
Protein timing + fiber quality makes a huge difference, and your coffee protein hack is a great idea for low-appetite mornings. Really appreciate you sharing the diverticulitis insight too — that nuance about fiber during active vs inactive phases is so important and often misunderstood. Thanks for adding so much value here.
Great article, thank you. I’ve been adding organic basil seeds to my yogurt—they add 15 grams of fiber and 5 of protein. They act like chia seeds and are supposedly a better option (not inflammatory).
Interesting, I didn’t know about these! Thank you for sharing!
Great ideas. I packed Greek yogurt with chia seeds and protein powder, and one fruit cup divided among the three with a dash of cinnamon on top.
I think this is a great article . I’ve done a few things. Cook up some hard boiled eggs and have them throughout the week in the am. Definitely holds you for awhile. Cooked oatmeal can be reheated if you make alot. Baked beans with hotdogs are yummy. I use Metamucil daily and restorafiber. These little changes make a difference. Jennifer
Excellent advice and easy to incorporate. Thank you!
Solid primer on healthy eating for older adults.
One point to add since there's a lot of buzz about protein now due to the GLP-1 trend. The protein you are looking to add is not all the junk ones out there--protein pop tarts, protein Doritos and protein soda are not what will help you preserve muscle healthfully!
Strength training paired with the right protein (and diet overall) will also do wonders!
Completely agree!
I guess my lunch would be approved. A cup of Greek yogurt with dried cranberries and walnuts, a large peeled apple and a slice of whole grain toast with butter and a glass of water.
That’s a solid lunch, Lizz — you’ve got protein from the Greek yogurt and some fiber from the walnuts + whole grain toast + apple.
Tiny tweaks if you want to really hit the “protein + fiber every meal” goal:
- If you don’t need to peel the apple, keeping the skin bumps the fiber a lot.
- Add a fiber booster to the yogurt (1–2 tbsp chia/flax or a handful of berries).
- If the yogurt is a smaller portion, you could bump protein by going a little bigger on the Greek yogurt (or choosing a higher-protein one).
Very helpful.
Excellent informative article. I’ll try protein powder in my oatmeal this week with nuts and blueberries
Great information. 💜
Very clear article, immediately had a greek yoghurt with blue berries and almonds for breakfast. Plus I was reassured about my eatinghabits. Thank you 🤗
Thank you for posting this. It's fantastic information, and it's so well written.
I am a bit below the age for the recommendations, but my ill-tempered pancreas sped my aging dramatically. I've had amazing results from educating myself and paying attention to my body. I have learned a good bit about what works, what matters most, and what will get you by.
I think the low-appetite tips are especially important. I survived for a year and a half with meal-replacement shakes, baby food (truly underrated), and tons of electrolyte water.
The lack of regular protein and fiber cost me so much, physically.
Your suggestions are practical and easy to follow. Thank you again for such great info.
Thank you, Marsha. Really appreciate you sharing this. And you’re absolutely right—this way of eating helps at any age. Listening to your body and getting the basics right makes a huge difference.