Forever Young Diet Dr. Swati Piramal is the Chief Scientific Officer of Nicholas-Piramal India Ltd. and Piramal Hospital. She is the co-author of Eat Your Way to Good Health, a complete fitness guide for the family. Her e-mail address is spiramal@vsnl.com

You are only as old as you feel. If you are 50 but feel like you're 70, it is all your own doing. Conversely, if you are seventy, but feel young and fit, so be it. Attitude is the key. A cheerful disposition will go a long way. It will help you fight every step of the way. Of course, it's only natural, that our bodies will grow old. That does not mean we should feel and act old before our time. It's bad enough that certain degenerative diseases and infectious diseases flourish when your body is run down. The greatest loss is however, that feeling of youthfulness. Of free, easy movement and boundless energy.

If you eat properly, you will feel a lot better, because your continued good health, depends on good nutrition. If you combine good eating habits with some interesting leisure and exercise activities, you'll enjoy it too!

What you can do in your 50s, you should be able to do at 70, if you keep yourself fit and well. Chronological, time cannot be turned back, but physiological time can! It is possible to be "physically" younger one year from now, than you are today.

As you grow older, you generally become less active, and need less energy giving food. Try and reduce your intake of less nutritious forms of energy, like biscuits, fried foods, confectionery and fatty foods. Starches and fibres are complex carbohydrates, whereas sugars are simple carbohydrates. Sweet biscuits, sugary drinks give little by way of nutrition.

A good supply of protein is needed to help maintain muscle strength and repair damaged tissues. However, compared to young children, protein needs fall as you gain in years. Fats are concentrated energy. Recently, high intake of fatty foods have been implicated as causative agents for many types of cancer. Breast cancer, for example, is more common in females who have a high intake of fatty foods. Fats and cholesterol are also risk factors for heart disease.

Calcium, Iron and Zinc deserve special mention, because they are often eaten in inadequate quantities. Calcium is needed to maintain bone and teeth strength, nerve impulses and muscle activity. Women are particularly vulnerable to calcium deficiency, because of the changes in the bone that follow menopause. If your dietary calcium is inadequate, you could get a condition known as osteoporosis - bone thinning. Colocasia (patra) leaves, milk and milk products, yoghurt, mustard leaves, figs, spinach and cottage cheese (paneer) are good sources of calcium.

Iron deficiency can lead to anaemia, and the associated symptoms of tiredness, palpitations in the chest and loss of appetite. To increase the absorption of iron, have more foods containing vitamin C, along with the meal. Good sources of iron are: Colocasia (patra) leaves, whole-wheat chappattis (cooked on an iron skillet), mustard leaves, bengal gram, chick peas (chola), udad, moong dal, bajra flour and beans.

Zinc is needed by the body in small amounts to assist in the utilisation of some other nutrients. Nuts, whole wheat flour, beans, peas, spinach, figs and apricots are rich in zinc.

Try out some anti-ageing recipes. Eat healthy food and enjoy life! As the famous actress Catherine Denevue put it "Grow more interesting with age!"