By now, you probably have your favorite foods as well as those you hope never cross your tongue again. We all know what we love and what we don’t, but the question is, do you eat the right foods to sustain yourself for the long run? Particularly as we get older, it’s not just a question of satisfying your taste buds: you really need to understand the nutritional needs of an older body and how those years of food indulgence may be wreaking havoc with your health. For a starter, take a look at these helpful resources on the agebuzz website.

And for a general overview, check out this recent Telegraph article on eating healthily in every decade of life. And while you’re determining what’s missing from your current diet, read this recent Vox post on why we’re all missing the boat on fiber. Calling it the “actual superfood,” the article explains why fiber is not only critical to your daily bathroom habits but essential to maintaining the correct gut microbiome, something we’ve come to learn is vitally important to health more broadly. And what to eliminate? Once again, the case is made by Jane Brody writing in The New York Times that sugar consumption is not just a concern for tooth decay but can also lead to dire consequences for your cardiovascular system, liver and of course risk of diabetes. And it’s not just added sugars in things like sodas- it can even add up when consuming “natural” fruit juices such as orange juice. The advice? Cut your sugar intake by ⅔ and learn to read food labels to search out the unexpected sugar in your foods.

Finally, speaking of cutting out: New research has demonstrated that eliminating as few as 300 calories per day could make a real difference, even if you already have some good scores on your cholesterol, blood sugar or blood pressure levels. These are not recommendations to starve yourself- just substitute a couple of sugary drinks with water or cut out those evening Oreos after dinner. Your body and brain will thank you going forward.