Few people don’t like a good round of cookies or cake, but if that’s what your senior thinks of as a snack, you might want to help her to rethink all of that. Eating healthier snacks on a regular basis can help to improve your senior’s nutritional intake, which can help her to avoid malnutrition. It can also help her to stay hydrated and healthier in other ways, too.
Read Labels on Packaged Snack Items
Not all pre-packaged snacks are necessarily bad for your elderly family member. What you need to do first is to read the labels carefully. You’re looking to avoid things like high sugar and salt content as well as other ingredients your senior doesn’t need, like trans fats, saturated fats, and ingredients that have no nutritional value. Calories aren’t necessarily bad as long as there are nutrients within those calories.
Opt for Whole Foods Whenever Possible
The best way to go, then? Opt for whole foods whenever you can, even as snacks. Whole foods are choices like baby carrots, apples, pears, and even grains like quinoa or brown rice. Opening up snack options a bit can help you to focus more on the nutritional value.
Pair Water with Snacks, or Go with Hydrating Snacks
In-Home Care in Louisville CO
Too many seniors don’t get enough water each day. If that describes your senior even a little bit, you may find that offering her water with snacks or, better yet including hydrating foods as snacks, helps to bump up her hydration a bit. Some good choices include berries, melons, and even clear broth soups that are low in sodium. Again, getting creative and thinking outside the box a bit can help you to land on some good ideas.
Look for Protein-filled Snacks
When you offer your senior snacks, it’s better if the snack as a whole is balanced. That means including fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Some ideas can include things like apple slices and peanut butter or berries with a slice of cheese. By including protein in there, you’re giving your senior’s body more of what it needs to help her to maintain her muscle tone and her immune system.
In-Home Care Makes Both Meals and Snacks Easier
What else could make meals and snacks easier but having someone else prepare them for your senior? In-home care providers can help your elderly family member to eat balanced snacks and meals, and on a proper schedule. Home care providers understand that your elderly family member’s appetite might fluctuate from one day to the next, so they can encourage her to take in nutritious foods when she does eat. In-home care providers also help your senior to feel less alone while she is eating, which can be another big reason that many seniors give for avoiding eating.
Healthy snacks are a wonderful way to get nutrients into your elderly family member’s diet. When she’s choosing the right foods, snacks help her to keep her blood sugar more consistent and keep her body running the way that it should.
If You Or An Aging Loved One is Considering In-Home Care in Louisville, CO, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 720-780-7755.
