While everyone can benefit from a nutritious diet at any age, elderly adults especially need to eat healthy food during the summer months. Unfortunately, many seniors don’t focus on health and nutrition as they age. It’s up to family caregivers and elderly care providers to ensure that aging adults get the food and drink they need to keep them healthy, hydrated and satisfied.
Why Nutrition is Important During Summer
It’s hard enough to get an elderly person to eat a nutritious meal. With age comes a host of obstacles that prevent seniors from eating healthy foods and indulging in those that are less nutritious. The most common reasons why elderly adults choose unhealthy food includes a loss of smell, deteriorating taste buds, financial strain, chronic health conditions, side effects from medication, and physical limitations like poor dental health or difficulty swallowing.
During the summer months, it’s especially important for seniors to eat well. In hot weather, it’s easier for them to become dehydrated. Research shows that seniors don’t feel thirst as acutely as younger adults, so they are less likely to drink throughout the day or keep up with hydration when it gets hot. Dehydration leads to problems with circulation, kidneys and digestion among other things.
Hot weather can also reduce an elderly person’s appetite. Not only does it mean they aren’t getting the nutrients they need, seniors are more likely to reach for easy processed foods with little nutritional value. Malnourishment is common in aging adults and can have long-term effects on health and wellness.
Tips on Top Summer Nutrition for Seniors
Family caregivers and elderly care providers should work extra hard to provide elderly adults with the nutrition they need to get them through the hot summer months. Of course, hydration is a big part of staying healthy, and seniors should drink plenty of water every day. Elderly care providers can also keep aging adults hydrated by serving up fruits and vegetables, especially those with high water content like watermelon, cucumbers, celery, grapes, and lettuce.
Because elderly adults don’t eat as much as they once did, every bite must be packed with nutrition. Family caregivers and elderly care providers can choose appetizing and delicious food that delivers a lot of things that they body needs to thrive. From a hearty breakfast to nutritious snacks, seniors benefit from things like eggs, chicken, dairy products, fresh fruit and vegetables, and more. It may be beneficial for elderly care providers to spend more time on breakfast and lunch, as many elderly adults simply find it too much to eat a hearty dinner.
Family caregivers and elderly care providers have a unique opportunity this summer to evaluate the nutrition needs of their elderly loved ones and compensate where needed to ensure their maximum health and wellness.
Source:
https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/healthy-aging/special-nutrient-needs-of-older-adults
If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Elderly Care in Redington Beach, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 727-748-4211.
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Becky Moultrie is Owner and Administrator of Assisting Hands Home Care Serving Pinellas. Guided by a motto to Do Good with Love, she’s well positioned to do just that at Assisting Hands. She has a passion for helping families keep seniors and those who are diabled happy and healthy at home. She serves on a number of boards in Pinellas County including the Pinellas Park Gateway Chamber and Better Living Seniors (BLS), leading the Membership Committee. Annually, she hosts a Silver Santa Party, collecting donations for nearly 100 low income seniors in the county. She attends Blessed Sacrament Church, Seminole where she is an Ascribed Member of the Rosminian Order. When not busy Doing Good in the community, Becky is at home with her husband David & their 4 children, tending to their beehives and digging in the garden.
