Creating a Healthy Heart Diet

Creating a Healthy Heart Diet

A healthy diet leads to a healthy heart. A well-balanced diet filled with heart-healthy foods has many benefits including helping you manage your weight, reducing blood pressure and cholesterol and improving your mental health.

While a heart-healthy diet is important throughout all of life, this is especially so for the older generation. As we age, it is common to encounter challenges such as appetite loss or trouble cooking and meal planning. This can affect the overall [...]

Food allergies: detection and management for seniors

What Are Food Allergies?

In theory, it can be easy to confuse food intolerance for a food allergy. The former primarily involves the digestive system and its inability to properly break down certain foods. Food intolerance can cause everything from nausea to bloating and cramps. With food intolerance, you can generally consume small amounts of the food without causing much of a reaction. On the other hand, reactions from a food allergy can be much more serious, and contact with even trace amounts of offensive foods can be life-threatening.

Food allergies (commonly linked to foods such as peanuts, shellfish, soy, and wheat) [...]

5 quick and healthy meals for elderly people

Elderly people need to be careful about what they eat to stay in good health. However, preparing healthy and tasty meals is often a challenge. If you care for an elderly relative or friend, you might be looking for some inspiration, so here are five simple and healthy meals that you can prepare quickly or that they can prepare for themselves if they are able to.

 

Porridge

Nothing beats porridge for ease of preparation in the morning, and it will give you an energy boost that will last all day. It’s perfect for cold winter mornings, but great any time of year.

Simply [...]

Elderly malnutrition

Elderly Malnutrition; Spot the Signs of Malnutrition in your Elderly Relative

As we age, our bodies need fewer calories yet require more protein, calcium, B vitamins, and other nutrients to stay healthy. While malnutrition is generally caused by a lack of these nutrients from food, its real causes are often complex and stem from several physical, social and psychological issues. Unfortunately, there remains a general lack of awareness about the specific dietary needs of older people and how nutrition plays a key role in their well-being and longevity.

Older people are particularly susceptible to malnutrition because they not only have different nutritional [...]

Senior nutrition

As we age, the risk of heart disease can increase due to a condition known as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis occurs when the arteries begin to narrow from plaque buildup in the arterial walls, disrupting blood flow throughout the body. If blood flow stops altogether, from a blood clot, the outcome could include a heart attack or stroke.

While unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as lack of physical activity and/or smoking, can trigger atherosclerosis, poor diet can also be a cause. Foods high in salt and fat can result in high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol, and high blood sugar levels – all [...]

Organic food for the elderly

The benefits of Organic food for the elderly Organic September is here, is it time to give organic a try?

The Soil Association has changed the month of September to ‘Organic September’, which is a month where people and organisations all over the country will be celebrating the benefits of organic food and products.

The aim of the month-long campaign is to promote organic food and encourage more people to try it out for themselves to discover the benefits. You can find out all about Organic September at the Soil Association website here.

If you care for an elderly relative and you [...]

Food safety for the elderly: what you need to know

Correct food preparation is important for people of any age, but it is even more important for elderly people. Food poisoning can

Obesity in the elderly

Obesity in the Elderly: A Growing Problem

Back in June 2014, it was reported that 75 per cent of people aged 45 to 74 are overweight. Sources quoted the National Obesity Forum (NOF) warning that many people will face issues related to their weight in old age, and that this could turn into a serious health crisis.

But the problem is not a new one. According to the BMJ, obesity was more prevalent in elderly people than in young people as far back as 2010. Quoting figures from the Office for National Statistics in 2008, over [...]

Diabetes Myths

Diabetes Myths: Know the Facts when Caring for Your Relative

Diabetes can happen at any age, and for the elderly, it’s a disease that can especially affect their lives. The good news is there are ways to manage the disease for an elderly loved o ne.

Type 2 diabetes is a large problem in the elderly population. Treatment of the disease for older people can present challenges, especially when the person has other age-related disabilities. Complications related to diabetes can also be more common.

If you want to care properly for an elderly relative with diabetes, you will need to be able to [...]

Balanced Diet for Elderly People

Achieving a Balanced Diet for Elderly People

A healthy and balanced diet is incredibly important for elderly people. Eating properly can help reduce the risk of potential health problems, and a balanced diet simply leads to a better quality of life.

So how can you ensure good eating habits in the elderly?

Ensure They Eat a Balanced Diet

The first thing to ensure is that your elderly relative is eating a healthy balanced diet. But what should the meals contain? Here is a guide to some of the essentials:

Try to use as many vegetables as you can in the meals, especially dark greens [...]