Healthy eating is essential for everyone in every age group. It becomes even more vital after reaching midlife and beyond. The diet plays a pivotal role in improving your elderly’s resistance to diseases, their energy levels and mental acuteness. It helps them in maintaining their physical and emotional health. Convincing a senior citizen and ensuring they eat healthily can get a little tricky and confusing as eating healthy is often equated to being deprived of delicious food. However, if you plan a healthy, satiating and energising diet, they will benefit holistically.

Read on to know how you can make your elderly eat healthy with a few simple solutions.

Optimum Intake of Fruits & Vegetables:

When it comes to fruits, you should aim to provide 2-3 servings each day. To make it enjoyable, think beyond banana and apple. Explore the seasonal variety and treat them with colourful-rich pickings. Likewise, serve a variety of nutritious and colourful vegetables. Add vegetables with high antioxidant properties like broccoli, spinach and colourful ones like carrot and capsicum. It is essential that your elderly eats at least 2-3 cups of vegetables every day.

Take Calcium-Rich Diet:

With age, the body machinery starts giving up. The human bones are vulnerable. It is a greater challenge among females as their bones become fragile post-menopause. So, you must ensure that your elderly consumes a calcium-rich diet. Among others, add milk, curd and cheese in their diet. However, if they have any dairy-related allergies, then you should look for non-dairy alternatives like kale, almonds and tofu.

You should check with the doctor for allergies and accordingly plan a dairy or non-dairy rich calcium diet.

Choose Healthy Fats:

Healthy also benefit with better mood and brain functioning. It is also an effective way of protecting them against diseases. Thereby, it is essential that you explore healthy fats like Omega 3s and plan their diet around it.

If your ageing elderly have any heart-related issue, then follow the doctor’s advice before including these healthy fats in their diet.

Healthy Proteins:

Like fat, there are many sources of proteins. While it is fine to indulge in a variety of proteins once in a while, include only easy-to-digest ones in your elderly’s everyday diet. You can add fish, chicken, egg, nuts, pulses and soya in optimum quantity. These sources of proteins will work as mood and energy boosters. However, give salami, hot dog and bacon a miss as these can increase the risk of heart problems.

Proteins are slightly difficult to digest for your elderly. So, you should check with the doctor and accordingly include healthy proteins in their breakfast and lunch.

Add Fibre:

As the digestive system of your ageing elderly gets affected, providing an optimum quantity of fibre is a must. Adding fibre is also essential for its various other benefits like it reduces the risk of heart attack, diabetes, stroke, and facilitates weight loss. It is generally prescribed that men should have 30 grams of fibre every day and woman should have 21 grams post 50 years.

Like proteins, you should try to provide more of fibre during breakfast, mid-morning snack and lunch.

Choose Smart Carbs:

You should include whole grains over processed carbohydrates in your senior’s diet as they are nutrient and fibre rich. The processed carbs, on the other hand, can increase the blood sugar levels of your elderly. Besides, if you try to limit the intake of white flour or rice suddenly, then your elderly will feel hungry more often and will tend to overeat.

You should consult the doctor in case of a sudden drop or increase in sugar levels, and gradually change the carbohydrate intake in your senior’s diet.

In a nutshell, you should plan your ageing elderly’s meal in the below manner:

Optimum fruits, vegetables, proteins and fibre

Regulate the intake of carbs

Provide healthy fat

Ensure optimum water intake

If you need the guidance of a professional in planning your senior’s diet, then you can consult our nutritionist at Samvedna Senior Care, a renowned elder care in Delhi & Gurgaon. We offer meal planning and diet monitoring for senior citizens. If there are any restrictions according to the medical condition, you can inform the nutrition experts. The nutritionist will plan the diet and monitor it regularly. Providing the diet plan is only one aspect but regular monitoring and making the elderly aware is the key. For that personal touch and care, you should get in touch with Samvedna Senior Care and ensure your senior receives a nutritious diet under the guidance of a professional. Know more about our general well-being plan and give your senior a well-balanced meal.