Older adults often find it complicated and difficult to recover when they’re sick or injured. Eating for recovery means that your senior is making sure that she gets the right mix of nutrients as she heals. If her diet before her injury or illness wasn’t so great, now is definitely the time to make some changes that help her to feel better a lot more quickly. Here are a few areas to focus on for a speedy recovery, and how senior home care can play a role in improving overall nutrition for your senior.
Plenty of Water
Getting enough water is always something that should be on your senior’s list of things to do, recovering or not. Dehydration is a huge problem, and your senior’s body needs plenty of water in order to flush waste out of her cells and tissues while also supporting healthy tissue growth. Getting creative with water might be something that you need to do for your elderly family member.
Healthy Fats
The body needs more healthy fats than most people realize. Both the body and the brain need this essential nutrient, and it helps your senior’s body to absorb other nutrients, particularly fat-soluble vitamins. Nuts, seeds, avocados, and fatty fish are excellent sources of these healthy fats. Healthy fats are a much better choice than processed fats or overdoing it with fats like whole-fat dairy and butter. Senior home care can help your parent prepare fresh meals that include healthy fats to create a well-balanced nutrition plan.
Vegetables and Fruits
Fruits and vegetables have a huge array of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in them. Eating a diet that is mostly made up of fruits and vegetables helps your senior to get more of these nutrients as well as fiber, which her body also needs. Dark leafy greens, berries, and produce that has a high water content are all good ideas.
Leaner Proteins
Your senior’s body has got to have protein in order to build new tissues and cells. Protein doesn’t have to come from meat, though. Black beans, lentils, fatty fish, and eggs are all excellent sources of protein. Plenty of vegetables and even fruits also have a higher protein count than many people realize, which is another reason to incorporate even more fruits and vegetables in your senior’s diet.
Whole Grains
Whole grains offer both carbohydrates, for energy, and fiber, which are crucial when your elderly family member is recovering from injury or illness. When you look for whole grains, you want to look for multigrain or whole grain options. Reading the label carefully can help you to determine if the food is truly whole grain.
Make Eating Easier
Probably the best idea of all is to make eating as easy on your elderly family member as possible. No matter what she’s recovering from, help from senior home care to keep her on schedule with regular meals is going to help. Senior home care can make sure that your elderly family member has a good balance of different foods and nutrients. Senior home care providers can also help make it easier for your senior to stay properly hydrated.
It still takes time to recover from illnesses and injuries. But when your senior’s body has the right nutrients to help her, that makes the recovery process a lot easier.
If you or an aging loved one is considering senior home care in Castle Rock, CO, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY Home Care of Parker. 303-953-9924
