Nearly 3 decades after his death, I recently came a cross an article I had saved by famed pediatrician, author, and political activist Dr. Benjamin Spock, written in 1996, two years before he died at the age of 94. At the age of 92, he felt the need to share his wisdom about how to eat properly in advanced old age, for improved quality of life.

Famous for his book, Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, first printed in 1946, his book became a handbook for new mothers, post WWII, as they began producing the population explosion known as the Baby Boomer generation. After his famous book’s 10 editions, with sales of 50 million copies, and printings in 39 languages, I was eager to read Dr. Spock’s advice for aging Boomers, from his own experience after reaching his nineties.

He wrote, “…the nagging weaknesses, uncoordinations, tremors, colon sluggishness, bladder impatience, skin itchiness, and so on…can be a damnable nuisance, if not an outright embarrassment.” Dr. Spock, and his 40 years younger wife, Mary Morgan, made dramatic dietary changes in an effort to reduce the effects of those annoying infirmities.

They began by eliminating dairy and meat products, while adding whole grains like brown rice, barley, millet, rye and wheat berries. They dramatically increased their intake of kale, collards, turnip greens, broccoli, and beans [legumes]. With a focus on colorful vegetables like yellow squash, corn, and carrots, they realized they were deliberately selecting produce with the vivid colors that indicate their rich nutritional content. The couple’s cooking methods changed too, as they stopped boiling vegetables, preferring to eat cooked vegetables that retained their interesting texture as well as bright colors.

While greatly reducing their intake of added fats, like cooking oils, and butter, Dr. Spock wrote, “Of all the suggestions I’ve heard about improving an older person’s diet, the one that’s helped me the most is perhaps the simplest- chew your food well.” He reported this, alone, caused him to slow down and enjoy noticing that his meals had become, “attractive, appealing, delicious and healing…a way of practicing preventive medicine. For many older people, eating is the biggest event of the day…. I know very well that a meal prepared with care can make all the difference…and give much pleasure.” The style of cooking the Spocks selected to incorporate these richly nutritious foods was influenced by Asian cooking techniques. What a delicious choice!

How fitting that the expert on baby and child care, who influenced the way many of us were raised, is still [years after his death] caring for us Baby Boomers, in our older years, helping us to be as healthy as possible, for as long as possible.

Thank you Dr. Spock.

Dateline: Town of Colonie, Albany County, New York State’s Capital Region