How the right food, movement and daily habits can help you stay strong, independent and thriving at every age

Getting older is inevitable. Losing your strength, independence and vitality doesn’t have to be.

At 84, Vesanto Melina, MS, RD, has an interesting perspective on healthy aging because she isn’t simply studying it. She’s living it.

Vesanto continues to write, speak, counsel clients and stay active with five fitness classes and two yoga classes each week. She has also spent decades studying plant-based nutrition and helping establish the scientific foundation behind it.

She has written or co-authored 15 books, many alongside registered dietitian Brenda Davis, including Plant-Powered Protein, which reached #1 on Amazon. Her newest book, Plant-Powered Seniors, written with Brenda Davis and Dr. Charlyn Black, focuses specifically on how nutrition and lifestyle can help us remain healthy, strong and independent as we get older.

Her books have received star ratings from the American Library Association as go-to resources on plant-based nutrition. Vesanto has taught nutrition at Bastyr University and the University of British Columbia, received the Ryley-Jeffs Memorial Award and a lifetime achievement award as a dietitian and served as lead author of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ position paper on vegetarian diets across the life cycle.

On NHA Today, Vesanto joined Dr. Stephan Esser to talk about what she has learned over more than three decades of vegan living and a lifetime in nutrition, including one important lesson: eating plant-based is only the beginning.

From India to a Career in Plant-Based Nutrition

Vesanto’s interest in nutrition started long before plant-based eating became mainstream.

Her father was a diabetes and cancer researcher who worked with Best and Banting at the University of Toronto, whose work led to the Nobel Prize connected with the discovery of insulin. Her mother worked at a university child study center and encouraged children to get involved in preparing their own food.

But Vesanto’s own path toward plant-based eating took shape later.

She became vegetarian in the late 1970s and eventually spent four years living in India. At the time, vegetarian nutrition received little attention in traditional dietetics education.

Living in India showed her something different.

Vegetarian eating wasn’t unusual or restrictive. It was simply part of everyday life. She also discovered the enormous variety of ways cultures use beans, peas, lentils and other legumes.

When Vesanto returned, she began teaching classes about vegetarian nutrition for both the public and other dietitians. She eventually became vegan in 1993 while working on her first book with Brenda Davis.

Why Vesanto Wants You to Eat More Beans

One food came up repeatedly during her conversation with Dr. Esser: legumes.

Beans, peas, lentils, soy foods and even peanuts can provide protein alongside important nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium and B vitamins.

Vesanto recommends aiming for approximately three servings of legumes per day, with roughly half a cup counting as a serving.

That might sound like a mountain of beans until you realize how many foods qualify.

Peanut butter at breakfast, soy milk with cereal, hummus at lunch, tofu at dinner or lentils added to a favorite recipe can all contribute.

And if that feels like too much right now, start smaller.

One of the themes throughout the conversation is that healthy eating does not need to become an overnight overhaul. Adding more whole plant foods gradually can make the transition easier and give your body time to adjust.

Plant-Based Isn’t Enough. It Needs to Be Well Planned.

After decades of studying nutrition, Vesanto says her thinking has evolved.

She once believed the goal was simply to eat vegan. Today, she emphasizes eating a well-planned vegan diet.

That distinction becomes particularly important as we age.

Vesanto points to nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids as areas that deserve attention. She also discusses monitoring certain nutrient levels and working with healthcare professionals to better understand individual needs.

The takeaway isn’t that plant-based eating needs to be complicated. It’s that a dietary label alone doesn’t tell us whether we’re giving our bodies everything they need.

Our nutritional needs can change over time, and paying attention to them can help us continue thriving as the years pass.

What Happens to Our Health as We Get Older?

The inspiration for Plant-Powered Seniors was surprisingly straightforward.

Vesanto, Brenda Davis and Dr. Charlyn Black were getting older themselves.

And they didn’t accept the idea that aging automatically has to become a story about medications, pain, caregivers and declining independence.

Vesanto believes people can remain healthy and engaged much later in life, and nutrition is an important part of making that possible.

For someone who has eaten a standard Western diet for decades, her advice is refreshingly approachable: begin moving toward more whole plant foods.

You don’t necessarily need to change everything tomorrow.

Find foods you enjoy. Build a collection of simple recipes. Batch cook a favorite lentil soup. Prepare a large salad that can last for several meals. Keep easy options ready so eating well doesn’t require starting from scratch every time you’re hungry.

Small habits can make healthy choices much easier to repeat.

Strong Bones Need More Than Calcium

Nutrition is only part of Vesanto’s blueprint for healthy aging.

Movement matters too.

Bone is living tissue that continually changes. Protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium and other nutrients help provide the building blocks it needs, but Vesanto also emphasizes regular exercise.

At 84, she participates in five fitness classes involving weights each week along with two yoga classes.

She admits she doesn’t always arrive at the gym bursting with enthusiasm. But after a few minutes of movement, she notices the difference.

Exercise can help support strength, posture, balance and the ability to recover when we stumble, all of which become increasingly important as we age.

As Dr. Esser points out in the conversation, many fractures occur because of falls. Maintaining lower-body strength, balance and reaction time can therefore be an important part of protecting independence later in life.

Don’t Wait Until You’re 80 to Think About Aging

Perhaps one of the most important parts of the conversation isn’t really for seniors at all.

Dr. Esser asks Vesanto what she would tell someone in their 20s who wants to be healthy in their 70s and 80s.

Her answer isn’t a complicated longevity protocol.

Learn to enjoy preparing healthy food.

Find people who support the way you want to live.

Continue learning.

Build habits you actually enjoy enough to keep doing.

Healthy aging doesn’t suddenly begin when someone turns 65. The choices we make throughout our lives help shape the health we bring with us into our later years.

But Vesanto’s message works in the other direction too.

If you’re already older and haven’t lived this way for decades, it’s still not too late to make changes.

She has seen clients improve their health later in life and believes people can continue learning, adapting and taking greater ownership of their health at any age.

A Different Vision of Getting Older

At one point during the conversation, Dr. Esser recalls a message from his grandfather, one of the founders of the National Health Association: men and women in their 50s and 60s shouldn’t simply put themselves on the shelf.

Vesanto’s life offers a compelling example of what that can look like.

At 84, she isn’t talking about healthy aging from the sidelines. She’s exercising, writing books, working with clients and continuing to contribute to a field she has helped shape for decades.

The goal isn’t simply adding more years to life.

It’s protecting the strength, health and independence that allow us to keep living those years.

And whether you’re 25, 55 or 85, there is something you can do today to begin taking better care of the person you’ll be tomorrow.

Learn More

Order Plant-Powered Seniors:
https://plant-poweredprotein.com/

Learn more about Vesanto Melina, MS, RD:
https://nutrispeak.com/

Follow Dr. Esser on Instagram:
@esserhealth

Watch NHA Today on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@nationalhealthassociation

Learn more about the National Health Association:
https://www.healthscience.org/