Many older people are put onto a low salt diet because of chronic or acute medical conditions, like high blood pressure and kidney disease.

Others choose low salt regimes to improve mental function which is responsive to salt intake. It’s known that in normal circumstances of climate and activity people need only half a gram of salt a day, way below the official guidelines of 6 – 7 grams.

If you ask them which foods they miss most, they will likely say “cheese”. Its particular flavor and texture can be quite addictive.

However, cheese is very high in salt.

There are exceptions. Some soft versions, like cream cheeses — usually not proprietary brands — can be salt-free. The problem is they don’t really taste or feel like cheese at all.

One solution is Swiss Emmental which is low in salt, but tastes very much like cheese. The Tesco brand contains only 0.2 grams per 30-gram typical serving. Others may vary, so check the labeling.

Bear in mind also that a value for sodium needs to be multiplied by 2.5 to get the full salt content.

Cheese needn’t be a no-go area for low salt dieters.

How to Boost Your Immune System — Part 3

Vitamin C is a well known dietary aid to improved immune system performance. Studies confirm this bit of folk medicine. The real debate is whether supplements really do help, or if natural foods are the only way.

Vitamin C is also vital for the body to make collagen, a key protein in skin and connective tissue which is said to improve appearance with age.

For most elderly people, vitamin C supplements are recommended, especially through the winter when local fruits may not be available.

The ideal supplements also contain substances call bioflavanoids, antioxidants derived from the pith of citrus fruits. These have been shown to increase the effectiveness of supplementary vitamin C.

A recent study at Tel Aviv University in Israel, tested 60 volunteers using a brain exercising computer program, MindFit, for 30 minutes, three times a week, and compared them with another 60 playing sophisticated computer games.

The results showed that although all benefited from playing on the computer, those on MindFit had better improvement in short-term learning, visual and spatial learning and focused attention.

These findings are especially relevant to those of a certain age and show that exercise can stave off the reduction of mental faculties. It seems that very few golden agers realize that giving the brain a workout is just as important as physical exercise.

Susan Greenfield, a neurologist and Director of the Royal Institution, is supporting the use of computer brain games to tackle mental decline.

She believes that with no cure for Alzheimer’s disease on the horizon, these exercises are a good way of staving off dementia and keeping the mind alert.

Baronness Greenfield will launch MindFit in the House of Lords in October. She says, “There is now good scientific evidence to show that exercising the brain can slow, delay and protect against age related decline”.

Nintendo, the computer console company, is behind another product, the Brain Training computer game. The Brain-Master keeps the mind agile by testing logical analysis, memory retention, coordination and concentration.

The developer of the software, Professor Ryuta Hawashima of Japan’s Tohonu University, said the games increase the delivery of oxygen, blood and amino acids to the brain, leading to the creation of connections between brain cells.

MindFit is a new rival, developed in Israel and already available in the U.S. Baroness Greenfield is involved with the company producing the software and her name will be used to promote it in Britain, where it will cost £70 ($140).

The software claims to improve short-term memory by 18 percent, eye-hand co-ordination by 16.5 percent, memory recall by 14 percent and reaction time by 12.5 percent.

Many elderly people believe they are no longer taken seriously as they get older. At times it feels as if they are being treated like children. When that person is the 81 year-old Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, it’s not so easy to patronize her.

ITN is reporting today that the Queen abruptly left a photoshoot at Buckingham Palace when a commissioned photographer, American Annie Leibovitz, asked her to remove her “crown”.

This minor moment of exasperation is now a big story across the media after the BBC released the footage to advertise its autumn schedules.

In the footage, the Queen walks into a room wearing a tiara — not a crown — and the very heavy Order of the Garter robes. Leibovitz then demands, “I think it will look better without the crown because the garter robe is so dressy.”

The astonished Queen icily replied, “Less dressy, what do you think this is?”.

TV cameras apparently follow the Queen leaving the room with an official lifting the enormous train of her blue velvet cape off the floor. The Queen then tells her lady-in-waiting, “I’m not changing anything. I’ve had enough dressing like this thank you very much.”

Leibovitz is famous for taking bizarre pictures of her subjects. She once had Kate Winslet repeatedly dunked in a tank of water, and photographed Clint Eastwood after he had been tied up with ropes.

One hardly dares to imagine what Her Majesty would have replied to either of those requests.

Annie Liebovitz said “She entered the room at a surprisingly fast pace, as fast as the regalia would allow her. “She muttered, ‘Why am I wearing these heavy robes in the middle of the day?’

“She doesn’t really want to get dressed up any more. She just couldn’t be bothered and I admire her for that. When you get to that age you have a right to have those kinds of feelings.”

The Queen was quite right to refuse being “uncrowned” by a photographer, but … oops … the BBC got it totally wrong.

The shot apparently showing the Queen “storming out” was really a shot of her coming in. The storming never happened.

The BBC has since apologized to the Queen. However, the true story is how an elderly lady was treated more like a child than the Monarch she is.