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After a certain age, nutrition is the main key to stay young and fit. To achieve a balanced diet, a great sacrifice is not required, just a little common sense and a slight change of habits.

For example, why not start our lunch with a burst of colours? Why not make our plate as if it were a work of art?

What do you notice in a variety of colorful vegetables? We can form a green background with broccoli or Brussels sprouts, rich in vitamins A and D. The cream of potato or cauliflower, two of the most comprehensive foods go well with the combination of orange carrots, rich in carotenes, which process in the liver and transform into vitamin A. For a more lively color how about some beets? It reduces blood pressure and fights anemia. Why not add some peas and some grains of corn which are highly nutritious?

In the end, a touch of golden colour with a good bit of olive oil, which has a list of healing properties too long to enumerate. And little to no salt.

A wide variety of salads, some pasta and rice, if possible alone or with seafood and white meat (steamed or baked) plus dairy products which are especially good for combating osteoporosis, not to forget two or three pieces of fruit a day, a small piece of bread and maybe a glass of wine is all the variety you need to keep in good shape.

Eating right

To maintain your ideal weight nutritionists say it is better to eat at least five times a day, but in small portions. In this way, your metabolism remains active and prevents the body from going to a deprived state where it would start to "save" all that you consumed, in anticipation of possible further starvation. This will make it extremely difficult to lose weight.

Body chemistry

• The term antioxidant was coined a long time ago and has now become common knowledge. And among the richest sources is also blue fish, often overshadowed by fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help fight against free radicals, which is produced by cellular oxidation while helping the body to strengthen the immune system.
• When the proportion of free radicals grows uncontrollably it affects the DNA of cells and contributes to the onset of cardiovascular disease and premature aging.
• Bad food, bad habits, such as smoking and alcohol, pollution, stress, lack of exercise and many other factors contribute to the increase of free radicals in the body.
• LDL or bad cholesterol has become the "black sheep" by doctors, who always warn their patients of the risks of heart disease if it accumulates in the arteries.
• By contrast, good cholesterol or HDL helps to combat and prevent it from accumulating.
• The hormone DHEA was revealed in the late twentieth century as the elixir to eternal youth. DHEA is a natural hormone produced by the adrenal glands and, in turn, can create hormones like testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. These hormones decrease with age and its absence contributes to diabetes, dementia and cardiovascular problems in men, obesity and vascular problems in women.
• Stem cell research is still in its infancy, but we already have reasons to believe that human beings in the future could live for more than 100 years thanks to this