Following and maintaining healthy eating habits is a challenge for many people. It can be difficult to deny the cravings that divert our choices of eating healthy meals over unhealthy ones.
Aging comes with many health challenges for people who fail to match proper diet and lifestyle. As people age, they need to filter and choose the foods that offer the best nutritional value as their bodies’ need becomes more prominent.
Older people’s bodies take more time to digest and process heavy foods, leading to a slow metabolism that can lead to health complications. Some medical conditions and medications can also affect seniors’ eating habits since they can limit them from eating some foods. These prescriptions and illnesses can also lead to loss of appetite, making them skip meals, which impacts their healthy eating habits.
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Ways To Encourage Seniors To Follow Healthy Eating Habits
The nutritional needs of the body vary for every senior. However, following a healthy diet is one of the tips for maintaining health in seniors. The outline below highlights the ways you can encourage seniors to follow healthy eating habits:
- Having Scheduled Meals And Eating With Them
As people age, they may find it challenging to perform chores independently. They may forget what time to eat, messing up their healthy eating habits. Therefore, as their caretaker, it would be best to schedule and eat meals with them daily. Offering them company during meals can motivate them to eat as they would feel more comfortable sharing a table with people close to them rather than alone. It would also help them eat healthy meals on time, aiding their digestion and health.
- Preparing Meals With Them And Asking Them What To Eat
You can also encourage seniors to follow healthy eating habits by asking them what they would want to eat and helping them prepare the meal. Allowing them to choose what they want to eat can improve their appetite as their selection would be on the menu.
- Minimizing Their Dependence On Table Salt
As much as salt adds taste to foods we consume, its consumption can bring about health issues like high blood pressure. Heart problems can occur in seniors due to increased sodium levels. Therefore, it’s crucial to balance salt intake to help maintain the sodium levels of seniors, minimizing heart attacks. To prevent seniors from increasing their sodium levels, you can encourage them to use sodium-free alternatives. Go for seasonings like roasted cumin, pepper, citrus flavors, fresh herbs, and garlic powder, and avoid packaged food. If you’re looking for a place that can care for the elderly with a nutritious diet, Vivante Living sets the norm.
- Helping Them Manage Their Weight
Weight management is crucial to everyone, as being underweight or obese might lead to health-related issues. Seniors face weight management challenges as their lifestyle might not present active activities, or they may have conditions that require less to no activity. Monitoring the calories of seniors and ensuring they are in proper proportions can help them manage their weight. You may also get a personalized diet chart from their nutritionist, get suggestions for food from a doctor, or watch their daily calorie intake for weight management.
- Motivating Them To Consume More Liquids
As people age, the sense of thirst lessens. Water has nutritional benefits as it helps maintain the body’s hydration level. You can help your seniors stay hydrated by encouraging them to consume plenty of water daily. You may give them a jug of water to finish throughout the day. You can also suggest drinking tea, milk, coffee, or healthy smoothies to help them hydrate their bodies. However, avoiding salty and sugary drinks would be wise to help contribute to better health.
- Highlighting The Importance Of Increasing Their Immunity
As people age, the immunity and ability of their bodies to fight diseases reduce, making them prone to infections and diseases. Health issues that might occur among seniors include diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, and arthritis.
These health conditions might prevail and can even lead to fatalities. Informing them of the importance of improving their immunity can help encourage them to follow healthy eating habits. Following a healthy lifestyle and a good diet would be wise to boost immunity. The foods known to boost immunity include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, foods rich in flavonoids and omega 3, dark berries, tea, cocoa, and citrus fruits.
- Including Fiber-friendly Food In Their Meals
By consuming fiber-rich foods, seniors can prevent diabetes as they slow down the release of sugars into the bloodstream, maintaining blood glucose levels. Foods rich in fiber include green vegetables like salads, leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fruits. Incorporating fiber-friendly foods in their meals can help them follow healthy eating habits.
Takeaway
It’s pretty challenging to follow and maintain healthy eating habits. Cravings tend to make us choose unhealthy diets over healthy ones. However, the strength and immunity of the human body tend to reduce as we grow older.
Following healthy eating habits can significantly ensure seniors remain strong and healthy. However, they may be picky with their food and not be able to prepare healthy meals themselves. Luckily, with your help and the tips above, they can maintain healthy eating habits.
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Chibueze Uchegbu is a certified medical physiologist with a great passion for healthy living.
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