Covenant Shores team explains how exercise and coloring your plate can help older adults improve their well-being

One doesn’t need the Fountain of Youth to live a long and healthy life.  At this year’s annual “Staying Young” lecture at Covenant Shores, Clinical Nutrition Manager Aikaterina Galeos and Fitness Coordinator Jim Brockmeyer explained that making wise nutritional choices, maintaining an active lifestyle, and knowing one’s genetic make-up can do the trick, regardless of age.  

“There are aspects of our health we can control, like our diet and activity level,” Galeos explains. “And there are aspects we can’t, like genetics. It’s important to identify what we can control and then take the necessary steps to manage our own health.” 

Where to start? Make exercise part of one’s daily routine. “The federal Centers for Disease Control says that only a few lifestyle choices have as large an impact on our health as physical activity,” says Brockmeyer, a certified health/fitness director. Aside from helping maintain an ideal weight, exercise can:

• Increase muscular strength, endurance and stamina;

• Improve balance and coordination, which helps prevent injury;

• Build bones, which can prevent osteoporosis;

• Make us mentally sharper, reduce risk of depression and help us sleep better. 

A well-balanced diet complements a daily exercise program, says Galeos, stating, “If you eat well, then you will age well.” Galeos suggests “coloring” one’s plate with fruits and vegetables at mealtime because each color offers specific health benefits. Such as:

• Purple/blue: Improves memory function and urinary tract function. Helps prevent cancer.

• Red: Good for the heart, memory and urinary tract. Helps prevent cancer.

• Yellow/orange:  Improves heart, vision and immune health. Helps prevent cancer.

• Green: Improves vision, and strengthens bones and teeth. Helps prevent cancer.

Galeos recommends eating two- to three-cups of fruits/vegetables each day and drinking plenty of water. Hydration is important, she says, because it regulates body temperature, carries nutrients throughout the body, helps maintain blood pressure, and flushes toxins from the liver and kidneys. 

Galeos discussed the important roles calcium and vitamin D play in overall health, as well. “These minerals work in tandem to support specific body functions,” she explains. “Vitamin D is required for the body to absorb calcium; calcium is needed for muscle tone and function, and for the nervous, immune and cardiovascular systems to work properly.”

Galeos reminded attendees to surround themselves with good friends and family. “You can never underestimate the importance of relationships,” she says. “They are a vital support system and the benefits can help ward off depression and disease.”

About Covenant Shores

Nationally accredited Covenant Shores is one of 14 retirement communities nationwide that are administered by Skokie, Ill.-based Covenant Retirement Communities Inc. One of the nation’s largest not-for-profit senior services organizations, Covenant Retirement Communities operates communities in eight states and is a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church. For more information on Covenant Shores, call (206) 268-3000 or visit www.CovenantShores.org.