Home Care in Denton, TX – March is National Nutrition Month!
March is National Nutrition Month, the perfect opportunity to make eating better a part of your daily senior care plan and encourage your aging parents to make a positive impact on their health through high-quality nutrition.
Eating may just be something you do throughout the day, but the reality is that nutrition is one of the most important elements of health and wellbeing. National Nutrition Month is about learning about good nutrition and taking steps to improve daily eating habits in ways you and your aging parents can maintain throughout March and the rest of the year.
Making changes is sometimes difficult, especially when it comes to something as ingrained and emotionally-linked as eating, but by presenting these changes as activities your elderly parents can enjoy with their home care providers you make them less stressful and easier to integrate into their regular routine.
Take some time to sit down with your parents’ in home health services provider to talk about your elderly parents’ nutritional needs, any special diets they must follow, and ideas you have for helping them eat healthier. Let the care provider give her own recommendations and together form a plan for filling the month with delicious new recipes, food-related activities, and simple changes so your parents can begin enjoying the benefits of better eating.
Let these tips be a starting point for creating your own National Nutrition Month activity plan:
• Make a game out of trying new fruits and vegetables. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables provides a full array of nutrients and helps reduce consumption of less-desirable foods such as solid fats, sweets, and processed carbohydrates. Make a game out of trying new produce by purchasing regular favorites each time the home care provider brings your aging parents shopping and then picking one or two new options to try
• Spice up the routine. Many seniors experience reduction in their ability to taste, which often leads to them reaching for the salt shaker. Consuming too much sodium, however, contributes to serious health concerns such as high blood pressure. Bump up the flavor of food without increasing the sodium by using a variety of spices such as cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, or herbs such as basil, oregano, and rosemary
• Take a culinary tour around the world. Encourage your home care provider to research the cuisine of different cultures and find new recipes to try with your elderly parents. Provide them with cookbooks from different cultures or suggest websites where they can look up recipes. If the care provider is from a different culture, encourage her to share some of her culinary traditions with your aging parents and find ways to modify these favorite dishes to make them more nutritious
• Get creative with smoothies. Pack in the nutrition and make changes easier for your parents by letting their home care provider make them smoothies as meals or snacks. Simple templates made with a combination of frozen, fresh, dairy or dairy alternative, and liquid ingredients, seniors and their care providers can make smoothies using endless combinations of foods to add in the nutrition your parents may not be getting. Ingredients such as tofu, Greek yogurt, wheat germ, and soy powder add valuable protein while fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables make up the flavor and add vitamins and minerals. Encourage them to experiment with combinations to create delicious treats.
If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Home Care in Dallas, TX, Please Call The Caring Staff At Second Family Home Care At (972) 846-HOME (4663).