If you use the food pyramid as a guideline, you may also be helping to prevent or delay some of the diseases associated with growing older. For example, by cutting down on fats, you will be reducing your risk of getting cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure. By increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat, you will be lowering your risk of getting some types of cancer. Looking at the guidelines, you will see that the biggest part of the calories you take in each day should come from grains, and the smallest amount should come from fats, oils, and sweets. The guidelines put heavy emphasis on vegetables and fruits, and less on meat and dairy products.
Some older adults are on restricted diets because of certain health conditions.
Kidney disease is just one example of a condition that often requires restrictions of certain foods or fluids. If your doctor or nutritionist has asked you to follow a special diet, please follow his or her advice. Often, people decide to exercise and eat a balanced diet because they want to control their weight. Exercise and a healthy diet may not make you thin, but even if they don't, they can help make you healthier. For example, a study showed that obese men who were physically fit had a much lower death rate than normal-weight men who weren't physically fit.