As the festive season fades, many resolve to embrace healthier eating habits.
However, rather than succumbing to the allure of fleeting food trends, the emphasis should firmly be on providing our bodies with the fundamental nourishment they truly require.
This becomes particularly critical as individuals navigate their 60s and beyond, a life stage where significant physiological changes necessitate a heightened focus on health.
Fueling the body with vital nutrients is paramount for sustaining fitness, strength, and energy.
To guide these choices, registered dietitian Nigel Denby, founder of Your Menopause by Harley Street at Home, has outlined key foods for 2026, aimed at supporting well-being into the golden years.
Eat a rainbow of fruit and veg to boost immunity
Older adults tend to be more susceptible to all the colds and flus circulating in the chilly winter months, so Denby recommends naturally boosting your immunity with foods that are bursting full of antioxidants.
“The recommendation of five fruit and veg a day is there to give us the bare minimum of antioxidants that we need to keep ourselves in the best health,” says Denby.
To ensure that our bodies are getting all the antioxidants that they need, Denby recommends eating a rainbow of fruit and veg every day.
“You can usually tell what antioxidants are inside fruits and vegetables simply by looking at the colour,” says Denby. “The dark leafy greens tend to contain lots of B vitamins, the oranges and yellows tend to contain vitamin A and lot of purple vegetables like red cabbage are rich in anthocyanins, which are another powerful antioxidant.”
Incorporate more mince into your meals to up your iron levels
“Iron levels tend to be lower in the over-60s group for a couple of reasons,” says the dietitian. “If older people are struggling on a low income, then they might not be able to include meat in their diet as often as they might like because it’s quite expensive.
“In addition, a lot of people in their 70s and 80s have dentures, or their gums often tend to recede a little bit and that can make chewing things like red meat more difficult.”
Denby hails red meat as one of the best food sources of iron, and suggests that older adults who struggle with chewing should consider cooking with mince.
“There’s just as much iron in red meat mince as there is in a sirloin steak,” says Denby. “I would recommend choosing the leaner forms of mince that are going to contain more iron, and to cook it slowly so it becomes super tender.”
However, there are vegetarian options that contain iron, too.
“You’ll also find iron in things like beans and pulses, and fortified breakfast cereals are a great way of getting more iron into the diet,” says Denby. “Eggs are also a really affordable and versatile source of iron.”
Leave the skin on vegetables to increase fibre intake
“We see an awful lot of very low fibre intakes, which can lead to all kinds of bowel issues, IBS, constipation, and for older people who are at risk of things like diverticulitis, that can be a particular concern,” says Denby “Most people in the UK aren’t consuming enough fibre, but that tends to be even more prevalent in the over 60s.”
The simplest way to increase your fibre intake is to add more fruit, vegetables and whole grains to your meals.
“You don’t need to eat bowls and bowls of All-Bran to get your fibre up, there are much better ways of doing that with foods like fruits and veg and whole grains,” says Denby. “Eating more oats in particular is a really easy way of getting more fibre in.”
Another way to up your fibre intake is to put to peeler down.
“Eating things like baby new potatoes and leaving the skins on those will also increase your fibre intake,” says Denvy. “In addition, when it’s cold like it is now, adding things like beans to casseroles and stews is a great way to add in more fibre.”
Pack a protein punch in every meal
“Adults generally need around one gram of protein for every kilogram of their body weight per day,” says Denby.
“We use protein to build new muscle tissue and new cells, and as we get older, we tend to lose muscle tissue through a natural process called sarcopenia, so it may be the case that older people need more protein than we originally thought.”
A variety of dairy foods, meat, fish, chicken, eggs, tofu and even nuts and pulses are a great source of protein.
“We tend to recommend now that people consume protein at every meal, so that might be some eggs or yoghurt at breakfast, cheese or cold meats at lunchtime, and then something like some chicken, fish, red meat or tofu in the evening,” suggests Denby.
Eat yoghurt and cheese to keep your bones strong
“We also see an increase in osteoporosis and more fragile bone density in older age, so calcium and vitamin D are very important,” says Denby. “Very few people are consuming enough calcium over 60, so may need to start thinking about three servings of dairy-rich food each day.
“A serving can be a small pot of yoghurt, a piece of cheese (about 40 grams), or about 200ml of low-fat milk.
“If people prefer to choose dairy-free alternatives, it’s important that they make sure that those are calcium-enriched, because very few of them contain calcium naturally.”
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