Senior Care: Healthy Snacks and Meals for your Elderly Patient

When taking care of an elderly patient, it is always important to check the food he/she eats. Since his/her body needs certain nutrients in order to keep his/her body fit and strong against diseases, proper diet is a must. If a caretaker is look after your old parents or grandparents, it’s important to remind the caretaker to prepare a variety of nutritious meals for the patient, but in times when the senior patients want to have a snack, they usually succumb to sweets and other types of junk food, which may not be good for them.

Nowadays, there are vending systems that sell fresh and healthy snacks for the elderly. You’ll usually find these vending systems inside the malls and supermarkets in your area. The same rule not only applies to elderly people but to the young ones as well. If you’re going to get a snack, why don’t you just grab an apple from the fruit section of the supermarket or a healthy yogurt from one of those vending systems that sell fresh and healthy foods?

In any case, here are some of the best healthy snacks that you can recommend to any caretaker whose planning the house meals for their elderly patients. Or if you’re a caretaker like me, then you know exactly what to give them!

Berries, brocollis and tomatoes are first on the list since they contain antioxidants. Antioxidants are chemicals that help slow aging, prevent cancer, heart diseases and other types of sickness that can be attributed to aging. As we grow older, our cellular structure become weaker as well, making us susceptible to degenerative diseases. It’s a good practice to place tomatoes and berries in your kitchen since they are a good source of antioxidants. In fact, I always plan my meals with salads that include spinach, tomatoes and carrots.

One good example of a snack filled with healthy goodness is a bag full of cut pre-veggies. You can prepare these yourself when planning to go out of the house for a walk. And if there’s a fresh vending system that sells healthy veggie snacks, then that’s even better.

Next would be natural sugars. These are different from the ones found in cakes and pastries. Natural sugars are found in all types of vegetables and fruits. However, if the elderly patient that you are taking care of has diabetes, its imperative to know what types of fruits he/she is not allowed to eat. As we grow older, we should avoid foods that have white sugar on them, since diabetes has been on the rise as the leading cause of death in the world. Let’s go back to natural sugars instead! Some of the best fruits that have natural sugars in them are avocados, dried apples, dried cranberries, and almost all types of fruits. Olives are also a good source of natural sugars. Choose the Kalamata or Nicoise ones since they’re more natural than the other varieties.

Finally, you have healthy oils. I’m not talking about the oils that you use for frying. These are the natural and healthy oils from olive oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, and soybean oil. The main difference between these oils and the oils you see in the kitchen is that the natural oils do not have trans fat, which is the ingredient that clogs up the arteries of your heart and other harmful effects on your body. Also, the processesed oil (bad oil) are made in a way to prolong shelf life, but definitely not your life! You can use the healthy oils as alternatives when you need to cook a simple meal for your elderly patients, especially if they have problems with hypertension and heart problems.

About the Author:

Jessica Greenberg is a caregiver from San Diego, California. She is striving to promote better health practices for those who wish to learn efficient ways on taking care of the elderly. When she’s not busy working, you’ll see her eating a healthy snack near a fresh vending machine.

 

 

 

 

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