Dr Hilary Jones has revealed the five foods anyone over 50 "and beyond" should include to help ward off conditions like cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and cognitive decline.
It can be hard to know where to start if you want to improve your health with better eating habits. We know fibre and protein-rich foods with plenty of vitamins are particularly important - with one recent study highlighting the benefits of a Mediterranean-style MIND diet - but which foods should you focus on?
Speaking on Lorraine, Dr Hilary Jones revealed the five foods that anyone "in middle age and beyond" should include to help reduce the risk of several health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, age-related muscle loss, cognitive decline, and some types of cancer.
"It's all things we can get, so they're not fancy," Lorraine points out.
Dr Hilary agrees. "Not expensive, nope not at all, but basics," he says.
The foods proposed are:
- Eggs: "Rich in protein and vitamin B to keep muscle mass on board," he says.
- Tomatoes: "Contain lycopene, an antioxidant, very powerful and considered to be helpful in preventing prostate cancer."
- Beans: "Rich in fibre, good for prevention of cardiovascular disease."
- Kale: "Rich in vitamin K, prevents osteoporosis."
- Oily fish: "Like sardines for omega 3 to stop cognitive decline."
Women particularly need to consider foods rich in protein and vitamin K as we lose the protective effects of oestrogen in menopause. Alongside regular strength training, these two foods can help prevent the loss of muscle and bone mass.
Also sitting on the table is a glass of red wine. While the alcohol in wine quickly cancels out any health benefits, the doctor says that "red wine contains a compound called resveratrol, which we see in the skin of red grapes, peanuts and blueberries."
"Resveratrol [pure - not in red wine] is being trialled as a potential preventative treatment for people at risk of bowel cancer," he says. "It goes through the stomach into the colon without being changed by the body, and we know it inhibits the growth of cancer cells within the body."
Research from the University of Leicester recently found that this plant-based compound, in its purest form, could slow the growth of cancer cells. Following this discovery, Dr Hilary Jones explains that the university is recruiting volunteers to study whether this compound "really does prevent cancer".
Given that bowel cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in the UK, with a reported 120 people diagnosed every day, this could be a major breakthrough.
