The nutrients your body needs to stay healthy change as you get older. Explore the vitamins and minerals to focus on with registered dietitian Brenda Davis as she joins “The Weight Loss Champion” Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room Podcast. Topics Discussed

  • Best sources of vital nutrients for aging
  • Recommendations for overall health as a senior
  • What supplements might be appropriate for seniors
  • What happens when you begin eating healthier after the age of 80
  • Your body’s desire to be healthy and how it gives you a chance to become healthy at any age
  • Avoiding protein deficiency as a senior
    Comparing protein quality from different sources for healthy aging
  • Tips for easily adding healthy protein to any meal

Davis is an influential voice on nutrient and has spoken in over 20 countries on five continents. She is also co-author of a number of influential books, including Plant-Powered Protein.

Introduction

Really excited to be here today with one of the authors of the book Plant-Powered Protein, registered dietitian Brenda Davis, back on the Exam Room. This episode was taped at the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine 2023.

Brenda shares that her son Corey co-authored the book with her, writing the environmental chapter. He’s a professional agrologist — a scientist focused on land use and agriculture — and working on the book became a passion project that connected him to the world of plant-based living, animal welfare, and environmental impact.

Nutrient requirements for older adults

Brenda explains that as we age, our ability to digest and absorb nutrients diminishes. We produce less stomach acid and fewer digestive enzymes, so our caloric needs go down while our nutrient needs actually go up — creating a gap that needs to be addressed carefully.

How to make sure you’re still getting everything you need

Brenda recommends three strategies: first, move more — even light activity like swimming or cycling boosts metabolism and appetite. Second, eat a more nutrient-dense diet, prioritizing foods packed with nutrition rather than empty calories. Third, consider targeted supplementation, such as a broad multivitamin covering zinc, selenium, magnesium, B12, and iodine.

What happens if you eat a more nutritious diet

Using a hypothetical case of an elderly person eating a poor diet, Brenda explains how disease is driven by inflammation, oxidative stress, gut dysbiosis, and lipotoxicity. She shares a striking example from her research in the Marshall Islands, where people with severe symptoms — brain fog, chronic pain, mobility issues — saw dramatic improvements within just one to two weeks of dietary change.

She emphasizes that every cell in the body is built from what we eat, and the body is constantly working to rebuild and heal itself once given the right raw materials. The goal isn’t just a longer lifespan, but a longer “health span” — years lived with vitality and purpose.

Having a purpose in life

Chuck and Brenda swap stories about people who lived past 100 with a strong sense of purpose and positivity — including Brenda’s aunt, who lived to 106 and stayed active and engaged with others well into her 90s.

Nutrients for seniors

Protein takes center stage. While the standard RDA is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, many experts now recommend 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram for seniors, since higher protein intake is linked to lower rates of sarcopenia (muscle wasting) and frailty.

Brenda pushes back on the idea that seniors shouldn’t be vegan, noting that plant protein is associated with lower risk of death, disease, and frailty compared to animal protein. She offers practical tips — like swapping almond milk for soy or pea milk, adding hemp seeds, using legume-based pasta, or adding tofu and lentils to salads and smoothies — to boost protein intake without major changes to meals.

Protein deficiency

Brenda says protein deficiency in seniors is more common than most physicians realize. She describes a patient whose thinning skin, hair loss, bruising, and bloating dramatically improved after boosting her daily protein intake from around 35-40 grams to 60-70 grams using beans and hemp seeds.

At what age should you ratchet up your protein intake

Most countries that have separate recommendations for older adults set the threshold around 65-70. Brenda personally shifts her own meals toward more protein-rich foods like beans and tofu and fewer starchy foods as she’s gotten older, alongside consistent weight-bearing exercise like kickboxing and HIIT classes.

Realistic expectations

Brenda confirms that regeneration and healing are possible, but require both proper nutrition and exercise. Along with protein, she highlights the importance of B12, vitamin D, iodine, selenium, and zinc, plus healthy fats and omega-3s for skin, hair, and overall health — noting the body’s ability to convert plant omega-3s into usable forms also declines with age, making a direct EPA/DHA supplement worth considering.