Breaking the health food blahs
Lean meats, seafood, and fresh vegetables are staples at the Millstone restaurant at Monarch Landing, where Executive Chef Henry Escobedo is charged with designing healthy menus that must also meet the highest taste standards.

Escobedo rejects the notion that healthy food is boring or bland. “Our residents look for flavorful and healthy selections in their diet. Our challenge is to provide selections that interest them and enhance their lives.”

When it comes to both health and flavor, he says fresh is best. “We try to concentrate on building good flavor profiles, ensuring that our menu has body, texture, and aroma. To achieve this, we concentrate on using stocks, fresh herbs, spices, and wine,” he explains, rather than fats like butter and oil.

Don’t deny yourself
For older adults without a personal chef like Escobedo, Morris offers some advice on preparing your own healthy meals. “Watch out for foods that are high in calories and sugar,” he says; however, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a piece of birthday cake or an occasional handful of chips. “It’s better to cheat a little instead of binge,” Morris explains. “Everything in moderation.”

Ultimately, Morris recommends talking to your primary care physician about healthy ways to maintain and enhance your nutrition. “You just feel better when you eat healthier.”

Healthy eating equals better memory
If just feeling better isn’t enough excuse to alter your eating habits, consider this. A study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a healthy diet may delay and even prevent mental decline in older adults.

Study subjects who stuck to a healthy diet, based on World Health Organization recommendations, showed a significantly lower risk of cognitive disorders. In addition to improved mental acuteness and weight management, healthy eating has been proven to boost the immune system, speed recuperation time, and improve overall quality of life.

The best foods for your body
Some foods have more essential vitamins and minerals than others. Use the following table to find the best food sources for the nutirents your body needs.

Nutrient	What It Does	Where to Find it
Fiber	Reduces the risk of heart disease, constipation, hemorrhoids	Whole grains, legumes like beans and lentils, artichokes
Potassium	Maintains healthy blood pressure	Sweet potatoes, bananas, milk, carrots, spinach
Calcium	Assists in formation of bones	Milk, yogurt, cheese, spinach, broccoli
Iron	Part of protein hemoglobin that carries oxygen thoughout the cells	Shrimp, beef, clams, artichoke, green beans, tofu, tomato juice, parsley
Vitamin A	Keeps eyes and skin healthy and protects against infection	Carrots, tomato juice, red peppers, spinach, cantaloupe
Vitamin C	Helps heal cuts and wounds and boosts the immune system	Oranges, strawberries, kiwis, broccoli, red and green peppers