Seniors Face Tough Choices
Diana Gregory
1 out of 7 seniors go to bed hungry because they have to make a choice between medication and food, and they choose medication. If they ate more fruits and vegetables, they would take less medication.
Keep Your Brain Engaged: Read a Book
Reading a good book, one that entices your imagination and challenges your mind with a clever plot and use of language is thought to energize our brains and support our overall health. Our brains want to be needed and if we don’t use it, it becomes less useful. Yes “use it or lose” as the saying goes. Our brains, in one way or another, are responsible keeping us healthy, energized and active.
Brain scans are revealing what happens in our heads when we read a detailed description, an evocative metaphor or an emotional exchange between characters. Stories, this research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life. “Your Brain on Fiction” By Annie Murphy Paul, New York Times.
Even as we grow older, the human brain is still capable adapting, rewiring and growing new neurons. Eating healthy, taking walks and reading a good book are just some of the ways to continue to enjoy life.
Proper Nutrition and Regular Exercise
photo by Alex Garcia.
The joy and benefits of living a well-rounded healthy life for many senior citizens is a goal that can be achieved through having a healthy and balance diet that includes a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables and regular exercise. Both exercise and proper nutrition contributes positively to both our physical and mental well-being. Foods that are overladen with sugar, fats or that are highly processed have the ability to slow us down regardless of our age. As we get older it becomes more difficult for our bodies to recover from food that may not be healthy for us. Eating better and exercising at any age can improve our weight, mobility, energy and our mental well-being.
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Eat Well and Experience a Good Life
As we age, our ability to stay healthy is influenced by our daily diet. Some studies have shown that there is a correlation between poor eating habits and the high cost of health care for people over the age of 60. So, it makes sense for us at GFMP to find solutions to ensure that our seniors have choices, receive nutrition education and have accessibility to fresh produce at affordable prices.
A balanced diet full of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat and oily fish is likely to reduce our seniors exposure to some debilitating illnesses, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Seniors who do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables may eventually suffer from malnutrition, when forced to consume a steady diet of heavily processed foods that have been stripped of much needed nutrients. Besides, eating healthy increases mental acuteness and improves our outlook on life.
Diana Gregory is Doing Fitness Training With the Seniors
FITNESS TRAINING WITH THE SENIORS AT THE SALVATION ARMY LAURA DANIELI SENIOR ACTIVITY CENTER
Zumba Class
As we age, regular exercise is more important than ever to your body and mind. Among the many benefits of exercise for seniors include improved immune function, better heart and health, blood pressure, better bone density, and better digestive functioning. Seniors who exercise also have a lowered risk of several chronic conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and colon cancer.
Exercise improves your strength, flexibility and posture, which in turn will help with balance, coordination, and reducing the risk of falls. Strength training also helps alleviate the symptoms of chronic conditions such as arthritis. It is a myth, that if you’re disabled, you can’t exercise sitting down. Chair-bound seniors face special challenges but can lift light weights, stretch, and do chair aerobics to increase range of motion, improve muscle tone, and promote cardiovascular health.
I enjoyed fitness training with the seniors at The Salvation Army Laura Danieli Senior Activity Center. It takes good nutrition and exercise to stay healthy.
The mission of Gregory’s Fresh Market Place is to enrich lives to achieve healthy eating. We do this through providing access to fresh produce through our farmers markets, nutrition education classes, and exercise and fitness training.
Your donations contribute towards making these services available for seniors. GFMP appreciates your support.
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Standing With our Veterans
Veterans at The Salvation Army Laura Danieli Senior Activity Center with Dave Everett, Walgreens store manager and Diana Gregory
The veterans at The Salvation Army Laura Danieli Senior Activity Center don’t think of Memorial Day as just a day off. The 5 of them have served our country and know that this day is meant to honor the men and women of the Armed Forces. The Veterans were acknowledged for their service during the Senior Health and Wellness Series, sponsored by Walgreens. Not only did the veterans receive a complimentary bag of fresh produce from Gregory’s Fresh Market Place provided by Walgreens, they also received Walgreens blankets and a gift card.
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