Consuming high amounts of sugar can raise blood pressure and cholesterol and increase the odds of issues like obesity, diabetes, some cancers, and heart disease. To reduce sugar intake, seniors should avoid sugary foods and beverages. Below are some healthy ways to satisfy your elderly parent's sweet tooth.
Seniors may crave sweets if they don't consume enough carbohydrates to meet the body's energy needs. Prevent this type of craving by not allowing seniors to skip meals, encouraging them to eat a snack even if they don't feel hungry, and including complex carbs such as whole grains, protein, and fats in meals.
While it is alright to have some sugary treats, going overboard with eating them can lead to many health problems. These could include diabetes, heart disease, sleep issues, and more. If your elderly loved one struggles with sugar cravings, be sure you encourage them to follow these tips every day.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugar intake to no more than half of your daily discretionary calories allowance. For most women, that's no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar. For men, it's 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons.
Sugar can help them improve memory and can make them feel more motivated for performing tasks at full capacity. Besides this, high blood sugar can also help the elderly feel happier during a task.
For women: No more than six teaspoons, 25 grams, or 100 calories. For men: No more than nine teaspoons, 36 grams, or 150 calories.
Older adults' unique nutrition needs
Choose foods with little to no added sugar, saturated fats, and sodium. To get enough protein throughout the day and maintain muscle, try adding seafood, dairy, or fortified soy products along with beans, peas, and lentils to your meals.
Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults—7 to 9 hours each night. But, older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger.
Well, the chilling answer is YES. According to research, an unhealthy diet makes a senior like you vulnerable to the cognitive impairment brought by dementia. In fact, a well-established study about diet implicates sugar as the major culprit in increasing your risk to develop the disease.
Abnormal sweet-food craving may occur in subjects with Alzheimer's disease. This behavior may be due to abnormalities in the brain serotonin system. Fenfluramine stimulates the brain serotonin neurosystem, producing an increase in systemic prolactin.
A person with dementia can experience an increase in cravings for sugary foods.
Causes of Increased Appetite
Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels. Diabetes mellitus. Bowel issues such as celiac disease, short bowel syndrome and sprue. Indigestion.
We recommend planning to eat dinner at about four to five hours after lunch. Keep in mind, if your dinner time fall in between the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. timeframe, you are going to be reaching the last hour of your body's heightened metabolic rate.
A Diet low in fiber may cause constipation in older adults. So, eating foods rich in fiber, such as oats, can normalize bowel movements and prevent constipation. In addition, oatmeal is inexpensive and easy to prepare a meal.
A lower metabolic rate and less physical activity mean seniors need fewer calories. Changes to sense of smell and taste can make food less tasty. We lose taste buds as we get older. Dental problems or gastrointestinal changes, such as lactose intolerance, can accompany aging and make eating uncomfortable.
Experts generally recommend that older adults consume at least 1.7 liters of fluid per 24 hours. This corresponds to 57.5 fluid ounces, or 7.1 cups.
Less than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L ) is normal. 140 to 199 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L and 11.0 mmol/L ) is diagnosed as prediabetes. 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L ) or higher after two hours suggests diabetes.
Our bodies need one type of sugar, called glucose, to survive. “Glucose is the number one food for the brain, and it's an extremely important source of fuel throughout the body,” says Dr. Kristina Rother, an NIH pediatrician and expert on sweeteners.