It’s never too late to make healthy changes, and starting to eat healthier is something that seniors can do right now to make improvements in their health. Making even small healthy dietary changes can lead to big benefits for seniors.
There are a lot of reasons why seniors fall into unhealthy eating habits. Sometimes they don’t eat enough. Other times they may eat too much processed food or take out food. But often seniors fall into unhealthy eating patterns because they either don’t want to cook full meals just for themselves or they physically struggle to cook meals. Home care can help seniors make better food choices. Seniors with home care have someone with them to share meals and help cook healthy meals. With home care seniors can also make healthy diet changes like:
Cutting Back On Processed Food
Seniors often start eating processed foods because they are easier to cook. Microwave meals and pasta or rice side dishes can be made in minutes and don’t require a lot of ingredients. But they’re not healthy for seniors to eat every day. Seniors should be eating whole food like baked potatoes, whole grain rice, and steel cut oats to get as many nutrients as they can from these types of foods. Home care can be a big help when it comes to cooking real food instead of processed food.
Eating More Protein
In general seniors don’t eat enough protein. Protein is necessary for keeping muscles strong. It also helps seniors stay full for a longer period of time. Often seniors don’t want the hassle of cooking meat, which is the primary source of protein. But seniors can also get a lot of protein from other foods. Eggs are a great source of protein and they are easy to cook. Cottage cheese has more protein than some types of meat and it doesn’t need to be cooked at all. Yogurt is another good source of protein.
Adding A Vegetable To Each Meal
Seniors should be eating mostly vegetables to stay healthy, but often seniors don’t realize that they’re not eating enough vegetables. A great way to get into the habit of eating more vegetables is to just add one additional vegetable to every meal. That’s a great way for seniors to get inspired to try new vegetables and that’s three additional servings of vegetables per day.
Adding Healthy Snacks
Seniors may not always have a big appetite for big meals. If your senior parent prefers to have small meals throughout the day make sure their snacks are healthy. Protein shakes for seniors that have 30 grams of protein as well as vitamins are a fantastic snack. So are hard boiled eggs, and cottage cheese with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Keep the refrigerator stocked with plenty of high protein snacks to keep your senior loved one healthy if they would rather snack all day than have three large meals as their primary diet.
If you or an aging loved one is considering home care in Denton, TX, please contact the caring staff at Clear Path Home Care today. Call 817-928-5788
Clear Path Home Care provides compassionate, high quality home care in Denton County, Montague County, Cooke County, Grayson County, Fannin County, Lamar County, Wise County, Collin County, Hunt County, Delta County, and Hopkins County in Texas.
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