The Complete Guide to Senior Nutrition

The food you eat can make a huge impact on your daily life. For many, good food is a source of joy, comfort, and a reason for fellowship with loved ones. 

Unfortunately, not every food can fully meet the nutritional needs we have. Building a balanced diet will help meet those nutritional requirements and further support greater health and happiness.

As we age, our dietary needs complexify, often requiring greater attention to detail with the foods we eat than previously thought. High levels of cholesterol, sodium, or complex fats and sugars can lead to severe health consequences that are difficult for seniors to overcome. Common conditions like obesity, which can be facilitated by a poor diet, complicate and compound the symptoms of chronic conditions like diabetes, Parkinson’s, and dementia.

Taking intentional steps to improve your diet can help mitigate the progression of these symptoms and help establish and maintain an improved lifestyle.

Exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. 

While your physical condition may dictate how active you are able to be, maintaining some level of physical activity can improve your movement, dexterity, and strength for years to come.

When combined with a healthy diet, the benefits of consistent exercise can tremendously improve the overall health of seniors. For example, increased levels of cardio can improve heart health and promote weight loss while resistance training can increase bone density and mobility. An active body can also reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, or the onset of cognitive conditions like dementia.

When starting your exercise journey, it is important to remember that everyone begins somewhere. You may not be able to handle a full routine right off the bat and that’s okay! Start with exercises that you can handle and don’t be afraid to take breaks when you need them.

Sticking to a healthy diet can have an extensive list of benefits that stretch far beyond the overall quality of life improvements.

Most people who follow a healthy diet will experience increased energy levels, lowered risk of diseases, and even a healthier weight. For patients that suffer from chronic diseases, a proper diet can improve symptoms and assist in slowing down the onset of more complex issues.

Overall, maintaining a healthy lifestyle will promote greater well-being and happiness in the long term while adding a significant boost to your current physical and mental health.

While the positive effects of a long-term and healthy diet can help improve anyone’s condition, there are specific ailments that can be directly managed with an improved diet. These can include but are not limited to:

• Obesity – A well-maintained diet and some exercise can help you manage your weight and combat the more complicated conditions of some chronic diseases.
• Osteoporosis – A diet with a strong calcium intake can improve your overall bone strength and density by maintaining an appropriate level of body mass.
• Cardiovascular Disease – Limiting your fat, sodium, and complex carbohydrate intake will greatly improve your heart health and limit the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• High Blood Pressure – Keeping an eye on the level of cholesterol in your diet can limit plaque build-up in your arteries, effectively limiting an upward trend in your blood pressure!
• Type 2 Diabetes – Obesity, general inactivity, and high blood lipid levels, which are all root causes of Type 2 diabetes, can all be combatted with a steady regimen of diet and exercise.
• Certain Forms of Cancer – While no one food can fully protect you from cancer, vitamin and mineral-rich diets can help lower the risks of many common cancers.

As we age, our nutritional needs become more complex, but a slowing metabolism can cause some issues when it comes to calorie intake. However, the benefits of meeting these needs far outweigh the negative consequences.

Here are some key tips to help you stay on top of your unique nutritional needs:

• Eat Your Protein: Maintaining your muscle mass is a huge part of retaining your strength and balance. Even if you are minimally active, maxing out on your daily intake can help keep your strength where it is and inhibit muscle growth on more physically demanding days.
• Stay Hydrated: As you age, you may lose your sense of thirst. Regularly drinking water and other drinks, like fat-free milk and 100% juice, will keep you hydrated and healthy for longer.
• Eat All Five Food Groups: Having a varied diet that contains items from all five food groups ensures that you will have a strong source of nutrients that does not get stale over time. While certain foods in each category may need to be consumed sparingly, there is still an extremely wide range of ingredients to choose from.
• Meet Key Nutritional Needs: Over time, your strength and other bodily functions may change in different ways. Making sure you get your daily intakes of key micronutrients, such as calcium, dietary fiber, potassium, and vitamin B12, will help you maintain your bone density, gut health, and overall energy levels.

Failure to meet these key needs will result in malnutrition, which can seriously affect you or your loved one’s ability to operate at their peak capacity. Read this article on how to better detect and prevent senior malnutrition here!

While there is no magic food or special ingredient that will revolutionize your diet, incorporating healthier items into your day will go a long way in keeping you happy and healthy. 

Eating habits and even taste can change drastically over the course of one’s life to match metabolism, environment, and dietary preference. Making these changes can be a way to enjoy some of the foods and beverages that you love while still maintaining a healthy body weight.

Consider adding some of these foods to your shopping list:

Seafood: Meats like salmon, tilapia, and tuna are fantastic sources of lean protein that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways! Fish are also high in several vitamins and minerals, including omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins B and D.

Legumes: Beans, peas, and lentils are extremely nutrient-dense options that help boost your protein intake. Whether you are a vegetarian or don’t enjoy eating a large amount of meat, this is a great way to increase your protein intake and keep your muscle mass!

Fruits and Vegetables: These are low-calorie, high-nutrient options that will add a great deal of variance to your diet. Many common options like broccoli, berries, and bananas can bring amounts of healthy carbs, sugars, vitamins, and minerals to your diet at levels that most processed foods cannot compete with. Additionally, as seasons change, different options come into season, allowing you to always have something to look forward to!

Fortified Foods: As we age, our ability to absorb certain nutrients will change. More essential items, like vitamin B12, may need to be consumed in higher volumes to ensure your needs are met. Adding “fortified” foods, such as a special cereal, that has boosted levels of your desired nutrient will make sure you’re getting the energy you need

While some of these items may be more difficult to find, it is not impossible to include or substitute the right options for you. Even within the constraints of the pandemic, you can still find great success in meeting your nutritional needs. For more information, read this blog on proper nutrition during the shutdown!

While maintaining a healthy diet is useful for people of all ages, the effects that some foods may have on the body are heightened in the senior population. The ability we have to process different nutrients, protect ourselves from diseases, and handle side effects of medication changes drastically over time and the food you eat can impact your condition.

Here are some general types of foods that you should avoid to ensure a healthy diet and lowered risk of disease:

• Raw or Undercooked Proteins: Most undercooked food, like meat, poultry, eggs, and sushi, all carry the risk of food poisoning. While the initial symptoms may be manageable on their own, seniors are at a higher risk of developing sepsis and septic shock from these encounters. It is best to eat food that is properly cooked whenever possible.
• Unpasteurized Items: Any unpasteurized food or drinks naturally run a high risk of harboring unfriendly bacteria that could harm your overall health, so try looking for safer options when you shop. Some items, like pasteurized milk, may also be fortified with extra vitamins and minerals!
• Processed Foods: While prepackaged meals or ready-to-eat foods may be enticing for their ease of use, they often come with low nutritional value and a large supply of empty calories. Replacing highly processed foods with natural, nutrient-rich foods will go a long way towards helping you manage your weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle!
• High-Sodium Foods: Too much salt in your diet can cause a lot of issues, especially for seniors suffering from hypertension. Instead of oversalting your food, add some new herbs and spices to your cooking and bring out their natural flavor with an extra pinch of salt instead!
• High-Fat Foods: Not all fats are bad, but introducing too many fats can severely harm your overall cardiovascular health. High cholesterol can be severely harmful to seniors that have a predisposition to heart disease or other vascular issues. To start limiting your intake, look for low-fat alternatives when shopping or eat smaller portions of inherently greasy or oily foods.
• Sodas and Sugary Drinks: Even though a glass of ice-cold cola may seem tempting on a hot day, these drinks are extremely sugar dense. Some soda cans may run in excess of 40 grams of sugar in a basic 12-ounce glass! Too much sugar can easily lead to obesity and other health issues, but this is especially dangerous for diabetics or even those in a prediabetic condition. Regular consumption of these beverages can raise your blood sugars to dangerous new heights!
• Caffeinated Drinks: Coffee, soda, and energy drinks can carry a large amount of caffeine and should be avoided in excess. Too much caffeine can lead to unstable and irregular heart rhythms, which can put seniors at greater risk of heart failure.
• Alcoholic Beverages: For most, having the occasional alcoholic beverage is harmless, but it can often complicate the usage of several common medications for seniors. If you are currently being treated for diabetes, hypertension, or are on any form of a prescription painkiller, it is best to consult your pharmacist on how your drinking habits should change.
• Grapefruit: It may seem like a strange addition to the list, but grapefruit can actually intensify the effects of certain medications, especially those meant to treat high blood pressure, anxiety, and insomnia. If you are currently being treated for any of these conditions, it is best to avoid consuming grapefruit when on medication.

Limiting your intake of unhealthy foods can greatly improve your overall diet, but it doesn’t mean completely sacrificing your favorite foods! Limiting your portions or making your favorite meal less often can make a huge impact on your overall well-being. 

If you are a caregiver providing assistance for a new patient, it may take some time to find out what foods your patient truly enjoys. However, if you are handling their food preparation, meeting their needs is a crucial part of building a fruitful relationship and continuing successful care. 

Try consulting the patient’s family, friends, or physician when trying to learn what specific foods the patient enjoys. This way, you can surprise them with their favorite healthy meals and begin incorporating them into a regular meal plan!

If a patient is being particularly difficult, start a conversation with them about what they like and how you can better incorporate it into their diet. While not every food can be added, meeting the patient where they are at will do a lot to further your relationship with them while continuing to bring them a healthier lifestyle!

Depending on the area you are in, there could be some stark cultural differences between a patient and their caregiver. Whether it is brought on by age, race, or gender, the barriers presented can be difficult to overcome.

However, your differences can also be a catalyst for a brand-new friendship, full of education, shared memories, and new experiences. To help you start these conversations, try one of these tips to find some common ground:

• Share Memories and Tell Stories: This is a great opportunity to ask the questions you’ve always wanted, and share your own stories with your patient. Even though your lives may be very different, you can both reminisce and connect with each other on nostalgia for your younger years. Their stories can teach you a lot about who your patient is and sharing your own experience is a great way of showing that you care.
• Include Them in Your Traditions: Do you have a special holiday tradition or activity that you do? While not everything should be shared, the holidays are a great time to show that you care in a unique and personal way. Bringing them a traditional gift and spending time doing a regular activity can create a fun environment to grow your patient-caregiver relationship!
• Invite Them to Try New Things: If your patient is especially picky or closed off, you can slowly incorporate new things into their life by exposure and invitation. Have a favorite food, show, or activity? Try talking about it in a positive way when it can be inserted into conversations or simply invite your patient to enjoy one of your favorite things with you! 

Building a strong relationship with your patient and their family can go a long way to make your workdays more gratifying. If you are considering implementing some of the ideas and are unsure of how it may go, try consulting the patient’s family to get a better idea of how you can introduce their loved one to some new activities or interests!

Choosy eaters are the bane of a balanced and varied diet, especially if they have a preference for unhealthy foods. Assisting them in making a transition to a healthier lifestyle is difficult and takes much more time to adjust than your average patient. However, by introducing some common planning concepts, you can get even the most finicky patient happily eating nutritious foods!

Meal planning can be a great introductory way to get a discussion started around trying new foods and managing the intake of less healthy options. Establishing special meals, snack times, or specific days of the week for each meal can allow some time to get used to the new schedule and create some excitement around their favorite foods.

While eating fresh food is a huge benefit and almost always preferred, buying and stocking ready-to-eat snacks can give your patient or loved one the nutrients that they need. Consider keeping some of these snacks on hand:

• Unsalted nuts
• Yogurt
• Canned fruit
• Oatmeal
• Low-sodium soup
• Snack packs
• Bagged vegetables
• Peanut butter
  

Another great way to entice a picky eater is to make mealtime a social event by having friends and family join or choose to eat a meal with your patient. While this will definitely help energize them to eat the meal in front of them, it also provides the additional benefit of allowing your patient to have an opportunity to socialize.

If your patient is still connected to their community or a church, attending luncheons can be an excellent way to get your patient out and about and eating right.

In recent years, the hobby of meal preparation or “meal prepping” has become extremely popular. Cooking easy-to-store meals in bulk is an extremely efficient way to save cook time, establish healthy portion sizes, and potentially save costs through minimizing food waste.

Even though making meals in bulk may come with a lot of work, there are some social and physical benefits that can be incorporated into the preparation process. For example, you can work alongside your patient to prepare ingredients and share some common kitchen tasks, adding some enjoyable bonus activity and social interaction into their day.

If your patient or loved one has a favorite healthy meal, it may be possible to prepare multiple portions of that meal in advance. Certain foods will only last so long in the refrigerator or freezer, so it is important to consult a reputable source, like the FDA, to receive more information about how long you can store different meals.

When combined with proper meal planning and available healthy snacks, meal prepping can provide a steady source of nutrient-rich foods that is only an arm’s reach away!

Establishing your health goals can lead to a lot of research about effective dieting, and loftier weight loss goals can provide a wide range of extreme and popular diets being discussed within the broader health community.

While some of these fad diets may have effective results on certain conditions, they may not be for everyone. Restrictive diets like Paleo and Keto can make maintaining a balanced diet difficult and drastically change your grocery costs. These diets can be helpful in some extreme cases, like morbid obesity or diabetes, but it often comes down to a preferential choice for most.

As a general rule, it is better to consult your doctor or dietitian when making drastic dietary choices to confirm that it is a good decision for your loved one.