Diet Tips To Keep You On Your Feet
It's not enough to avoid stepping on banana skins. The food you put in your body can make you fall over too.
An important component of any healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition can also help you improve your balance in both the short- and long-term.Although the link between nutrition and physical balance is not as clear as the connection between exercise and balance, here are six nutrition-focused tips to help optimize your physical balance and reduce the dangers of falling:
Eat regular, well-balanced meals: In one study, researchers found that fasting reduced people’s ability to balance on one leg, along with other declines in common balance measures. Eating at regular intervals can help stabilize your blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of other side effects which can lead to falling.
Reduce alcohol consumption: While alcohol clearly has a short-term effect on physical ability—stumbling and slower motor skills, to name a few—chronic alcohol consumption can also damage your physical abilities. Ataxia, a loss of balance and coordination, is one condition that can result from nerve damage and vitamin B deficiency after long-term alcohol abuse.
Increase calcium levels: Getting enough calcium through eating whole foods or taking supplements can help improve your bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. This can help minimize the likelihood of a debilitating fracture in the case of a fall.
Add a vitamin D supplement: Vitamin D improves muscle strength and balance, and some studies have shown it also has a positive effect on neural coordination and the signals in your brain that control muscle movement.
Increase protein intake: Do you know the recommended amount of protein you should be consuming for your height, weight, age and activity level? Older adults should be particularly careful in monitoring their protein intake, particularly if your goal is to build muscle through fall prevention exercises. Getting enough protein is important to the muscle-building process, which can in turn help you achieve better balance.
Drink water: You know it’s good for you for a number of reasons, but did you know that being dehydrated stresses your body, which makes it more difficult to balance? The National Institute of Health advises adults drink 8-13 glasses of liquid (ideally water, but juice, tea, coffee, soup also count) per day to stay hydrated.