Diet tips for seniors

Diet tips for the elderly

Diet tips for senior people

In addition to using a varied diet with adequate food, a number of tips for feeding the elderly must be taken into account:

Get adequate hydration: Adequate intake of water is very important for health. Water constitutes 60% of our body. The importance of water lies primarily in its ability to draw out toxins from our body, in its necessary involvement in the oxygenation of the cells or their conservation.

A lack of water can lead to apparent signs of aging such as wrinkles or sagging body. For proper hydration, people should drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. We must take into account not only water quantity but also water quality. Pure water, free of contaminants, is the only one that can guarantee good health.

Perform moderate meals, not excessive and frequent: One’s diet should not be excessive. It is best to leave the table with the feeling of not being completely filled to overeat. The great feasts should be replaced by smaller, more frequent meals. Ideally, make 6 or 7 meals a day.
Eat fresh vegetables: Most vitamins and other nutrients are damaged by heat or by contact with air. A good way to avoid this is to eat the most servings of raw vegetables or cooking to reduce the maximum.

The slogan “5 a day” conducted in some communities or nations shows the importance of eating 5 servings of fruits or vegetables a day as a way to encourage consumption of these foods.

These campaigns will focus mainly on children aiming to create good habits, so that young people learn these foods are needed to prevent many future illnesses and get a longer life expectancy and better conditions. The proposed slogan for young people is also useful for the elderly.

Make easy to digest and swallow meals. The lack of saliva and digestive acids complicates the task of swallowing and digestion becomes more difficult in the elderly. Thus it should be noted that food prepared for older people should be soft and should be easily digestible.
Varied, attractive and flavorful meals: The decreased sense of smell and taste in elder people makes it necessary to give a special interest in the presentation of their meals, so that they can be attractive and varied. Not much salt should be added to food. In place of salt, to enhance the taste and smell, aromatic spices and herbs can be used.
Avoid eating cooked or processed foods: These, in addition of having too much sodium or sugar, usually contain preservatives and dyes that are harmful to health.
Avoid or reduce the consumption of sweets: candies, ice cream, cookies, pasta.. only provide empty calories, contribute to obesity and dental caries. One way to flavor foods without having to use salt or sugar is to use spices. Some of them, such as anise or cinnamon, taste very sweet. so that it is not necessary to ad sugar.
Avoid the excess of saturated fats, or fried smoked food. All of them are a health risk, so the intake of these foods should be minimal. One way to avoid saturated fats is using them sparingly. Use olive oil instead. Among the fats that we are not very good we could mention butter, mayonnaise, margarine, cream, sauces or fats containing many packaged products.
Moderate the excess of wine, beer or alcohol: Alcohol is responsible for most deaths in young people after tobacco. Wine, drunk in moderation, can help improve cardiovascular health, however black grapes have also similar properties and they do not contain alcohol. Consumption of alcohol is very dangerous and one can easily pass the “safe dose.” If drinking wine or beer, do not exceed a daily ration (for women) or two servings a day (for men). It is considered that a serving of wine is 170 grams and a serving of beer, 280 gr.
Avoid tobacco or other drugs