Making a few changes to your loved one’s diet can help her live a more heart-healthy life and may reduce her risk of developing coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Even if your loved one has eaten whatever she has wanted her entire life and never seemed to have any detrimental health effects from it, as she ages, her body may not be able to process and eliminate unhealthy foods as it used to, so making some dietary changes may be in order. The good news is that often by making these changes, your loved one will see benefits in many areas of her health from increased energy to improved mental health. This can be accomplished with home care assistance services by your senior’s side.
Let’s look at five steps to improve your loved one’s diet.
Portion Control
Your loved one may not need to eliminate all of the unhealthy food out there, she just may need to reduce how much she consumes each day. Consuming more calories in a day than the body needs can add to extra weight gain, which can stress the heart and other organs of the body. One easy step to take is to use smaller plates at home. When your home care assistance team helps with meals, have them use smaller plates and serve smaller portions
Plan Ahead
Without a plan, success is difficult. A home care assistance provider can be a great help with creating shopping lists of the right types of foods to have in the home as well as helping your loved one shop. Your loved one and her home care assistance provider should start by reading all of the food labels while in the store to see which products are better for her.
Then once the food is home, a home care assistance provider can help your loved one with prepping the food for consumption later by washing, trimming, and storing it properly.
Reduce sodium
Salt and sodium can lead to high blood pressure when someone has too much of it in the diet. And while your loved one might think she just needs to put the salt shaker away, there are plenty of other food items out there that are saturated in sodium and should be avoided when possible. Convenient foods like frozen meals, canned soups, and some tasty condiments often have high sodium. When shopping, have your loved one look for low- or no-sodium alternatives.
Enjoy more fresh fruits and vegetables
Fresh fruits and vegetables are great for a heart-healthy diet. They are a great source of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber. They can also easily fill a person up so that they consume less unhealthy foods. A healthy salad before a meal will reduce the chance that your loved one will fill up on too many rolls or heavy sides like au gratin potatoes.
Look for seasonal fruits and vegetables to get the freshest and best tasting when shopping.
Eliminate high-fat foods
Whether it’s actual fat like what’s in butter and lard, or whether it’s a fatty cut of meat like a well-marbled steak, reducing the amount of fat in your loved one’s diet will help her stay heart healthy.
Don’t try to make all of these changes at once. Start slow and remind your loved one that an occasional treat is okay as well.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Assistance Services in Laguna Beach CA, please call the caring staff at Canaan Home Care today! 1-844-CANAAN-1 (1-844-226-2261)
Canaan Home Care – A Premier Provider of Senior Home Care in the La Jolla, Del Mar, San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Tustin, and Manhattan Beach areas.
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