What your senior eats is where she gets the bulk of her nutrients, even if she takes vitamins and supplements. Some of the choices she might be making now could be ones that you’re not completely on board with, which could mean it’s time to look for ways to help her to eat a little bit healthier.
Senior Care Manhattan NY – Trying to Help Your Senior to Eat Healthier?
You Don’t Want to Rule Out Anything Completely Yet
It’s really tempting to outlaw foods that you would rather your senior didn’t eat. But in many cases, if you do rule out foods that she loves completely, that’s going to have a negative impact on her enjoyment in eating. And if your elderly family member is having trouble keeping weight on due to health issues, you may find she starts to lose more weight than is healthy. This isn’t about punishments or making life miserable.
Veggies and Fruits Should Have a Big Place at the Table
Fruits and vegetables are definitely the cornerstones of a healthy diet, but that doesn’t mean your senior is excited about them. Experiment a bit to find flavors that your elderly family member enjoys. Mixing fresh produce with canned and frozen produce gives your senior’s diet variety and can introduce her to options she might not have tried any other way. Just make sure that canned and frozen items don’t include added ingredients, like salt or sugar.
Add Whole Grains, Too
Whole grains offer fiber and nutrition that your senior needs. Look for the nutritional information on the label of whole grain food items. If the label says the food is “made with whole grains,” there may not be as many of them in the finished product as it sounds like. A better option is to stick with choices like brown rice that definitely include the whole grain.
Get Some Information from Your Senior’s Doctor
What’s really important when you’re considering changes to your senior’s diet is what her doctor has to say. Make sure that you have an understanding about what dietary changes might do to existing health issues. There may also be foods that her doctor would rather she stay away from because of her health or because of medications she takes. This is a great time to make sure you’re getting as close to those recommendations as possible.
Changes to your senior’s way of eating can be stressful, especially if you’re adding foods she doesn’t normally eat. Cooking may have been something she was already avoiding, and changes to her diet can compound that issue for her. Having senior care providers doing the meal preparation can make all the difference in how well she’s eating.
