Nutritionist on exact superfoods to eat at different ages to stop high blood pressure, heart problems and dementia

A top nutrition scientist has spoken about the ‘superfoods’ people should be concentrating on in each decade of their lives, and said choosing the right option could stave off high blood pressure, heart problems and dementia. Speaking to hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on This Morning Dr Federica Amati said so-called ‘superfoods’ work differently depending on your age, and can have no impact if you eat them at the wrong point in your life.

Cat Deeley said: “Dr Federica Amati is a leading nutrition scientist and says we should be eating different superfoods depending on our age.” Eating the right thing can prevent serious health conditions and Dr Amati said: “What foods make us really healthy and nourish us does change as we age. Often we have this idea that a fixed diet is what we need to stick to for the rest of our lives and I’m trying to connect to the idea that we actually evolve and we change.

“Our physiology changes and so different foods support us in different ways at different life stages and embracing that change instead of trying to resist it and saying ‘Why can’t I eat the same things?’ ‘Why can’t I feel as good as when I ate this 10 years ago’.

“Well your body’s changed and that’s really good - you’re still alive.” Host Ben Shephard said: “I think I can confuse nutrition with just being careful with my calories just making sure I'm not eating too much, but you’re at pains to say that’s not the kind of scenario you like to propose.”

Dr Amati replied: “Yes absolutely - calories are a metric - they tell us nothing about the nutritional value of food. They tell us nothing about how good that food’s going to taste and they tell us nothing about how you individually are going to use that food.

“It’s useful in research but I would say for everyday calorie counting often takes the joy out of food and it doesn’t steer us towards foods that are good for us and nourish us.

“We know from global data looking at hundreds of thousands of people that actually the risk factors that are associated with food and health, it’s not so much eating too much red meat or eating too much saturated fat, it’s eating not enough of wholegrains, not enough legumes, not enough nuts and seeds and not enough fruit.

“The data is really clear that what we’re missing is adding these foods onto our plates. Focus less on what you can’t eat and focus more on adding food to your plate.”

She then took Cat and Ben thought what people should be eating at different ages.

Men and women in their 40s

Dr Amati said: “There is an idea that healthy eating always comprises lots of fruit and vegetables - we don't get enough of those anyway as a nation. But there are specific foods that are really helpful for specific outcomes.

In our 40s women are often starting to feel the effects of postpartum so having children that nutrient depletion that does take place and frankly being quite tired. And also experiencing the beginnings of perimenopause.

“Eating really rich leafy greens like this support lots of micronutrient content - help us feel better and support our gut health. In men what we need to be really mindful about preventing heart disease. Men are at higher risk of heart disease. Now these colourful beetroots and dark black beans and aubergines all contain polyphenols which are these helpful plant chemicals that really protect our vascular system and our heart health.” She explained that kind of food was high volume and nutrient density, with lots of protein and polyphenols.

Men and women in their 50s

She explained that people need to ‘go even harder’ to prevent illness. “Women typically post menopausal in their 50s, we know that colourful berries like blackberries and blueberries really help with managing symptoms.” She said eating lots of colourful vegetables has been proven to decrease symptoms around the menopause. For men she suggested colourful and cruciferous crunch vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower good for heart health and lowering cholesterol and said oats were very good too. She said replace butter and lard switch to extra virgin olive oil for everything.

Men and women in their 60s

Dr Amati said: “60s unfortunately we start to see a rise in deaths. It’s when we start to see a rise in these diet related diseases. Cancers, heart disease, strokes. We can prevent these not all of them but a lot with our diet.” She said potassium-rich foods are good for hypertension - so she suggested avocados, fruits, wholegrains and beans.

Men and women in their 70s

She explained: “We don’t talk about this age enough. They absolutely need to watch how they’re eating and make sure they’re having three nourishing meals a day. Our hunger levels start to go down so we’re less sensitive to hunger in this age group.” What people need to eat are nourishing soups and stews with lots of fluids in them, grapes and she advised having kefir, saying: “It supports your gut health but it’s also higher in protein and other essential nutrients.” She said nuts are really good as is oily fish for Omega 3 for brain power.