Healthy Over 50: How to Support Heart and Bone Health as You Age

Ever been surprised at what happens to you as you get older? You sleep wrong one night and your neck hurts for three days? It happens a lot earlier than expected! Taking care of your body is important so you can continue to stay active and healthy in the decades to come.

Can you improve your health after 50?

The good news is yes, you can improve your health at any age! There are several steps you can take to improve your health—taking care of your heart, bones, sleep, and GI system can all help improve how you feel every day.

Take care of your heart and your bones!

These two important parts of your body both need a good diet and exercise to help keep you healthy and active. Let’s learn more about what you can do to help both your heart and your bones.

Heart healthy tip: being active

One important thing you can do for your health is to be physically active. Any activity that gets you up and moving is good for your heart, mind, and body. What’s important is getting started on being a little bit more active and moving more in your daily life.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends getting at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both. They also suggest adding muscle-strengthening activities such as resistance training or weights at least two days per week. If this amount of activity sounds overwhelming – don’t worry, every little bit helps! Some activity is better than no activity and you can also break up activity over the course of a day.

Eating well with heart healthy foods

Eating a well-balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, milk, whole grains, and lean meat like fish and chicken will serve you well. Not only does a healthy diet provide you with essential vitamins and minerals for your body to function overall, but nutrients like magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, and omega-3 play a role in supporting your heart and/or bone health!*

Taking care of yourself

While stress may be a part of your daily life, it can also have a negative impact on your health. Our bodies are not designed to maintain high levels of stress every day. You can try out different ways to help manage your response to stress. Some activities that can help include meditation, regular exercise, time with friends, and spending time with your pets.

Vitamins and supplements for heart health

vitafusion™ gummy supplements offer several options to help support heart health:*

• Omega 3 – these tasty, raspberry-lemonade flavored gummies contain Omega-3 to help support heart health in every 2 gummy serving.*
• Magnesium - with 165mg of Magnesium per serving for heart health support with a delectable tropical citrus flavor.*
• Men’s 50+ Multi Gummy Vitamin – specially formulated for men over 50 with delicious apple and citrus berry flavors, as well as B vitamins to help support heart health.*
• Women’s 50+ Multi Gummy Vitamin – these tasty nectarine and berry citrus flavored gummies are specially designed for women over 50 with B vitamins to help support heart health.*

What supplements can help support your bone health?

There are also vitafusion gummy and chewable supplements available to help support bone health:*

• vitafusion™ Calcium – with 500mg of calcium and 25mcg of vitamin D per serving to help support bone health, they come in delectable fruit and cream flavors.*
• vitafusion™ D3 – with peach, blackberry, and strawberry flavors, each 2-gummy serving contains 50mcg of vitamin D.
• vitafusion™ Extra Strength D3 –delicious strawberry-flavored gummies that provide 375% of the Daily Value of vitamin D3 in every 2-gummy serving.
• Muscle & Bone Support* Soft Chew – with 50mcg of vitamin D per serving, individually wrapped chewables for bone and muscle support* wherever you go.
• vitafusion™ Magnesium – with 165mg of Magnesium per serving for bone support with a delectable tropical citrus flavor.*

Sleeping and aging: why sleep matters

Sleep is important for our bodies, as it’s a critical time to rest every day. Adults over 50 still need 7-9 hours of sleep every night, but some adults find it harder to sleep well as they get older.

Good sleep hygiene

If you are having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, working on your sleep hygiene may help improve your sleep:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends.
• Avoid caffeine and nicotine later in the day. Caffeine can take up to 6-8 hours to leave the body and may disrupt your sleep.
• Make your bedroom relaxing, dark, and cool. Try to make your bed a place focused for sleep.
• Wind down by getting off screens an hour before going to bed.

If you are consistently having trouble sleeping or often waking up tired, it’s recommended to talk to your health care provider.

What supplements can help with sleep?

Vitafusion offers several gummy supplements that support sleep:*

• vitafusion™ Melatonin – with 3 mg of melatonin per serving, these are great-tasting, sugar-free white tea- and peach-flavored gummies.
• vitafusion™ Extra-Strength Melatonin – these blackberry-flavored gummies provide 5 mg of melatonin per serving.
• vitafusion™ Melatonin Max Strength – these strawberry-flavored gummies provide 10 mg of melatonin per serving.

Don’t forget about digestive health!

We’ve talked about your heart, bones, and your sleep. There’s one more thing that you can do to help your body as you age—taking care of your digestive health.

Tips for improving your digestive health after 50

The foods you eat can greatly impact how your body feels. Learning more about which foods can help support your digestive system.

While the same general good nutrition advice we’ve already talked about will serve you well, there are a few tips specific to your digestive health:

• Eating fiber: Fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds are crucial for digestive health and help support regularity.*
• Probiotics: Probiotics are good bacteria that live in your gut. You can find probiotics in fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir.
• Chew your food: Chewing your food well can help your digestive health because you start digestion in your mouth! Focus on chewing your food well, and not just gulping it down quickly.

Are there fiber and probiotic supplements?

vitafusion™ offers a variety of delicious fiber and probiotic gummy supplements, including:

• vitafusion™ Probiotic - each two-gummy serving provides five billion CFUs of two probiotic strains in mouthwatering raspberry, peach, and mango flavors.
• vitafusion™ FiberWell - with 5 grams of prebiotic fiber per serving and sugar-free, these gummies come in delicious peach, strawberry, and berry flavors.
• vitafusion™ FiberWell Fit - each 2-gummy serving has 4 grams of fiber and 6 B vitamins to support carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism.*
• vitafusion™ Fiber+Probiotics - with 3 grams of fiber and 800 million CFUs of probiotics per serving, they are a delicious way to support regularity and digestive health!*

Successful aging – creating the best path forward

While aging is not always easy, there is lots you can do to promote your health at any age! Taking care of your heart, bones, sleep, and digestive health are all important ways you can help your body be at its strongest and best after 50.

Brought to you by the vitafusion nutrition™ experts.