Drinking milk is beneficial for health regardless of your age. Milk is an excellent vitamin D and calcium source to keep up muscle strength, maintain healthy bones, and prevent osteoporosis. Still, low or non-fat milk is the best choice for the elderly.
Drinking at least three servings of milk or eating dairy foods each day is a good way for seniors, like Doris, to get vitamin D and calcium, and protein.
Almond milk
This popular and delicious alternative is great for lactose-intolerant seniors who are seeking a low-calorie option. One cup of unsweetened almond milk only contains an estimated 40 calories, compared to 149 calories in whole milk.
Drinking more dairy milk may improve brain health in older adults, KU Medical Center researchers find. Older adults who drink three cups of dairy milk a day can increase their brain's level of a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the brain from the damage that accompanies aging and aging-related diseases.
Full cream milk may also be the best choice for adults over 70 years, especially if they are underweight, frail or recovering from surgery or a fall. High energy, high protein diets for the elderly often recommend custards, rice pudding and hot chocolate drinks made with full cream milk.
The World Health Organization recommends that people over 65 consume 1200 mg of calcium every day. This amounts to four cups of milk, orange juice, soy or almond milk. Those amounts may seem like a lot, so consider supplements supervised by their doctor or nutritionist.
Which type of milk is the healthiest? The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise that people choose fat-free or low fat milk instead of whole milk. This approach is to help keep a person's saturated fat intake to less than 10% of calories per day and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
Plain Greek yogurt
When it comes to protein, Greek yogurt delivers. Just one cup has 17 grams of protein as well as 20% of the daily recommended intake of calcium. Why else is Greek yogurt considered one of the best superfoods for seniors? It contains probiotics, which help us maintain gut health.
Calcium is extremely important for preventing osteoporosis, especially for senior women. A single cup of nonfat milk has almost 300 mg of calcium, which is almost half the recommended daily intake for seniors.
Summary: A new study shows drinking low-fat milk -- both nonfat and 1% milk -- is significantly associated with less aging in adults.
Low- or non-fat dairy — Skim or 1% milk contains all the protein, vitamins and minerals that whole milk contains, but it has much less saturated fat. This type of milk is typically more heart-healthy than full-fat milk.
How to prevent dehydration in older adults? 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.
Yogurt: Rich in calcium, yogurt can contribute to the calcium requirement needed to prevent osteoporosis. Good bacteria are added to some yogurt, which may help people with digestive problems that often accompany aging.
Cheese is an excellent calcium and vitamin D source. Hence, pasteurized firm cheese is a perfect addition to an older person's food plan. However, soft cheeses such as brie, goat cheese, and camembert have high moisture levels and low acidity, so that they may contain illness-causing bacteria.
Experts recommend getting fewer than 20 grams of saturated fats each day, which is why many people avoid whole milk and opt for skim. Also, the fats in whole milk aren't the healthy fats that are in products like: Nuts.
Understanding the Digestive Process of Skim Milk
Skim milk has a lower fat content than whole milk, which means that it is easier to break down in the stomach.
Muscle Milk products are known for having tons of protein. Each serving of Muscle Milk Pro Advanced has a whopping 32 grams of protein. Seniors can choose between chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry when they need an extra boost of nutrition.
Eggs are an inexpensive, widely available and easily digestible source of high-quality protein and contain a significant proportion of leucine, an amino acid that is important for muscle synthesis, as well as many other nutrients of significance for older people, including vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.
Seniors should eat plenty of citrus fruits to obtain enough vitamin C in their day. Vitamin C is known to produce antibodies, which boost immunity and help older adults fight off infections. Some examples of vitamin C rich foods are oranges, broccoli, tomatoes, bell peppers, tangerines, grapefruit, and strawberries.
Yogurt, whether the Greek or regular kind, also contains lactic acid, an organic compound that aids in diminishing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines by tightening and shrinking pores.
This common question has a complex answer. Milk is an important source of fats, protein, calcium, and vitamins A and D, and children of any age as well as adults can continue to drink it for the rest of their lives if they wish.
Plain milk has no added sugar and are therefore lower in total sugar compared with flavoured milks.
Choose lower fat milk such as skim, 1% and 2% milk. Making lifestyle changes (smoking cessation and weight loss), and reducing total dietary fat (especially saturated and trans fat) are more effective at lowering blood cholesterol than reducing cholesterol intake.