Do you have questions about nutrition? Send them to us at comer@lavanguardia.es, our nutritionist Aitor Sánchez will solve all your doubts.
Good morning. I’m a woman and I just turned 50. I’m afraid that, at this point, I won’t be able to meet certain goals. Can you lose weight from this age? How is it achieved? (Montse García, reader)
Hi Montse,
It is normal for you to be uncertain about all the changes that menopause entails. And although the concern is justified, it is also important to normalize that at a nutritional level it will only be a new factor to take into account, but that by itself it will not prevent certain objectives from being met. The same as if, for example, we were talking about nutrition in a pregnancy, in adolescence or in hypothyroidism, they are simply conditions, but not impediments to a specific objective.
From that age, of course you can lose weight, and the approach is exactly the same as in other stages of the life cycle. If you are looking to lose fat that we have accumulated in excess, it is best to follow good habits that lead us to it, a healthy diet and an active life as pillars.
It is true that part of the hormonal changes that occur at this stage can make it more difficult to resort to fatty deposits, or that insulin sensitivity is slightly modified. These are issues that in many cases require more patience and perseverance to be able to see changes, especially in body composition.
I would invite you to consider this new stage as an opportunity to improve your health habits in general, and not see it as an excuse or an impediment that allows you to achieve those goals. Remember, however, that it is important to focus on having a healthy life and not focus so much on the scale and weight because they are not a single or reliable indicator of health.
Hello Aitor. What are the fruits that I am most interested in eating now that the heat is here? Is there any that is more nutritious? Thank you. (Sara Gómez, reader)
Hi Sara,
Although we can highlight some fruits with greater interest in summer due to the issue of hydration that you mention, it is important that we highlight that fruit is healthy in general and that it will help us both with its contribution of micronutrients and its contribution to hydration in the body. It is true that we find small differences between different fruits but practically any of them will help us to achieve this goal.
Among the fruits richest in water we find melon and watermelon, fruits that are also very summery and are part of any customary fridge. Of course, the rest of the seasonal fruits such as peach, plum, apricot, nectarine… are still very good options, and they do not represent low hydration, quite the opposite.
In any case, we would have to highlight those fruits that are somewhat exceptional in their composition and that do not have as much water content as avocado and coconut, which are rather a source of fat. These two examples are not so practical for hydration, although of course they can be in a healthy diet.
Nor would dried fruit be practical for this purpose, since it has been dehydrated in order to preserve it better. It is very practical in summer to take it to our plans because it does not get bad and it withstands blows very well, but precisely with the objective of hydrating the one you were asking about, it would not be the most useful.
Apart from this, I would highlight other issues to hydrate thanks to the fruit in summer:
1) That it is always present for dessert at lunch and dinner
2) Make it accessible in our fridge so that it not only hydrates, but also refreshes.
3) That we use it creatively, for example in homemade shakes and smoothies that we can prepare without added sugar.
