Maintaining a healthy diet becomes crucial with age. One of the best ways to ensure the best diet is to choose fresh foods since they are high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. However, It can be difficult for seniors who aren’t used to choosing fresh options to make the transition. Still, with the number of benefits fresher foods offer, loved ones and companion care providers can work together to encourage seniors to change their way of thinking.
Play to Their Preferences
It will be harder to encourage seniors to choose fresh foods if they’re not interested in what companion care providers are offering. Recognizing their tastes and eating habits is the first step in helping them make healthier choices.
It’s also important to be patient. Changing a lifetime of choices won’t happen overnight, especially when seniors are used to relying on convenience foods. With this in mind, encourage open conversation about their favorite dishes and vintage recipes. Then, work with them to find ways to reinvent those recipes with fresher ingredients.
Show Them That Fresh Food Is Accessible
One important part of the equation is accessibility. Seniors might not know where to get fresh food or, even more importantly, how to choose fresh food when shopping. With companion care by their side, they can learn some tips and tricks and begin to feel more comfortable with this. Some ideas include the following:
- Regular Grocery Shopping: To keep fresh produce, dairy, and meat in stock, seniors should go to the store or farmers’ market more often or have companion care handle that.
- Household Delivery Services: Loved ones can talk with seniors about using grocery delivery services to make life easier, especially when seniors have mobility issues or when food is needed when companion care is out of the home.
- Community Initiatives: Many communities run programs that give seniors access to fresh foods at a reduced cost or even free of charge. Loved ones can help them look into options and what they need to do to assess those resources.
Make Meal Preparation Simple
Seniors may be operating on the belief that fresh foods require more time and effort to prepare. However, companion care in the home not only streamlines the process but can also provide seniors with shortcuts when preparing their own food. Those shortcuts might include the following:
- Pre-cut and Pre-washed Options: To save time and effort, purchase pre-cut and pre-washed fruits and veggies.
- Promote Batch Cooking: Batch cooking involves preparing larger quantities of meals in advance and freezing them in portion sizes for convenient reheating.
- Simple Recipes: Companion care providers and seniors can research easy recipes that use fresh ingredients and require little prep and cooking time.
Explore the Advantages of Fresh Foods With Seniors
It is easier to get seniors fully on board to try fresher foods when they understand the advantages. For instance, nutrient-dense fresh fruits and vegetables can increase vitality and energy levels. It’s also well known that eating certain fresh foods, such as fish and leafy greens, can improve cognitive performance and brain health. Finally, since fresh foods are packed with vitamins and antioxidants, they can fortify the immune system and help ward off infections.
Getting seniors to choose fresher foods may take time, but helping them make the transition is easier when companion care providers and loved ones work together to teach them that the foods are accessible and easy to prepare.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Companion Care in New Haven, CT, please contact the caring staff at Talem Home Care & Placement Services of New Haven, CT, today. Call (203) 538-6273
At Talem Home Care & Placement Services of Fort Hartford, CT, we provide passionate, understanding, and flexible caregivers in New Haven, Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Cheshire, Derby, Milford, Naugatuck, Orange, Prospect, Seymour, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull, West Haven, Woodbridge, and Woodmont and surrounding areas in Connecticut.
Sources:
- https://www.freshwayfoods.com/homepage/our-products/produce-facts/nutritional-benefits
- https://commongroundpg.com/farm-fresh-foods/
- https://healthnews.com/family-health/aging-in-place/meal-delivery-tips-for-seniors/
- https://www.storypoint.com/resources/senior-nutrition/healthy-eating-nutrition-tips-for-seniors/
- https://babylonmicrofarms.com/the-best-food-for-seniors-for-a-healthy-body-and-mind/
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