The benefits of eating well are no surprise to most people. Eating well is considered to be a vital practice for people of all ages. Daily food choices make important differences in a person’s health, how they look and how they feel. Providing home care for elderly people means that you have some influence on encouraging your elderly loved one to follow a healthy eating plan.
A healthy eating plan includes
- Choosing nutrient-dense foods – healthy meals should be made up of a good variety of nutrient dense foods each day. This means they should be a good source of nutrition but relatively low in calories. Some of these foods include:
- Fruits and vegetables, fresh are the best choices
- Grains, especially whole grains as they contain all the important nutrients
Low-fat or fat-free dairy products- Seafood, beans, unsalted nuts, eggs and lean poultry and meat
- A limited amount of solid fats; less than 10 percent of calories should come from saturated fats. Try to avoid trans fats altogether
- Limit the amounts of salt (sodium), cholesterol, added sugars
- Knowing how much to eat and when to stop eating
- Daily calorie levels suited to a person’s age, activity level, gender and weight should be followed
- The more physically active a person is, the more calories they will need to maintain their size
- Limiting some types of foods
- There are some foods that are just empty calories because they provide calories that have to be burned off but they provide little or no nutrients. The following should be limited:
- Trans fats and saturated fats
- Sodium
- Cholesterol
- Refined grains
- Added sugar
- Enjoying your meals
- Eating is not just for getting the food our bodies need. It is also a social time, a time to connect with others
- Food should be enjoyed so that a person doesn’t quit eating
- As people get older their taste buds don’t work as well and they may find that it seems like food doesn’t taste good anymore
- Chewing problems should be corrected by going to see a dentist
- Being a smart shopper
- Make a list before going to the store. This helps to ensure that all food groups are purchased and a variety of healthy foods fill the cupboards and refrigerator.
- Limit snack foods like candy, chips, crackers, cake and cookies
- Read the labels on food before making a purchase. Look for sodium and fat and cholesterol levels
- Eating well on any budget
- It doesn’t have to cost a lot to eat well.
- Usually the expensive items are the pre-packaged convenience foods which are usually not very healthy anyway.