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 want to make sure they are eating healthily, you might want to use this month to give organic food a try.
Benefits of organic food
Organic products go beyond food to include beauty products, clothing and more. However, for most people, their first experience of organic will be the food they eat.
So what exactly are the benefits of organic food? Some include:
- Eating organic food helps to protect wildlife. Organic food is grown in a sustainable way due to the careful way that the land is managed. As a result, you know that the food you are eating has not hurt the surrounding wildlife.
- When you eat organic meat, you know that the best standards of animal welfare have been met.
- You will also reduce your exposure to pesticides and other chemicals including artificial fertilisers and herbicides.
- You’ll be supporting organic farmers in your local area.
Is organic food better for you?
Eating healthy food is one of the big concerns for elderly people, and organic food is often billed as being the healthiest way to eat. That could make it an attractive proposition for your elderly relative.
But what exactly are the health benefits? According to Organic Facts:
- Organic milk has a higher level of antioxidants, vitamins and omega-3 than standard milk, and the quality of milk is higher because cows are pasture grazed.
- Organic tomatoes have more antioxidants like kaempferol and quercetin, so they could help to reduce heart disease.
- Antioxidants can have a greater impact from organic foods compared to non-organic foods.
- Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is good for the heart, is more present in organic animal products because of grass grazing.
Try more organic food
If your elderly relative would like to try more organic food, now is the perfect time to get started. However, organic food is often more expensive than the non-organic equivalents, and you may not be able to start spending more on the weekly shop.
The Soil Association suggests changing one item a week or a month to an organic alternative. That way, you can gradually introduce more organic food into your diet without suddenly seeing a big increase in your weekly shopping budget.
If it is hard for your relative to find organic food locally, they could have the option of getting organic food delivered to their door. This can make it easier than ever to start eating more organic food, so find out about the options in your local area.
Focus on healthy eating
Whether you switch to organic or not, make an effort to focus on healthy eating. A healthy diet is important for elderly people, and it can help to avoid problems like obesity and the health problems that go with it, see our blog post on obesity in the elderly.
And if your relative has difficulty preparing healthy meals, our care workers will be happy to help prepare meals for them. You could also use a food delivery service to deliver hot or frozen food to their home.
