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Keeping seniors healthy a matter of education
MORONGO BASIN — Senior citizens are the fastest growing demographic, de-clares Registered Dietitian Debra Shea-Ohlfs of Twentynine Palms.
“As the boomers continue to age, those aged 65 to 75 will soon make up 20 percent of the population,” the dietitian observes. “More and more, people will be concerned about senior nutrition, because it’s not uncommon for older adults to lose interest in meal planning and cooking.”
Do you know a senior who makes a meal of tea and toast?
Often seniors have high blood pressure and find typical low-sodium food to be bland, Ohlfs explains.
Sometimes seniors lose their sense of taste and smell due to medications, and that can lead to loss of appetite.
Other seniors have chewing difficulty because of their teeth or dentures, and since saliva decreases with aging, they also have trouble swallowing.
Ten foods that fight common health problems discovered in 2011
By Kathleen Blanchard RN
Finding ways to prevent disease is a public focus. In 2011, researchers presented evidence that certain food can be powerful for disease prevention. Some foods should be added to the diet, and others eliminated, based on 2011 food and health research findings.
Seaweed: Though seaweed isn’t a mainstay of most diets, researchers found fibers in the green algae could promote weight loss. Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen scientists discovered having a drink before meals helped people who find it especially hard to lose weight. Seaweed fibers can curb hunger by producing a sense of fullness, in turn leading to less eating. A seaweed salad a day might also help keep blood pressure lower, in addition to providing a variety of nutrients, found in a 2011 study review from Maria Hayes and her team at the Teagasc Food Research Centre in Ireland and the University of London.
Tart cherry juice: For millions of insomniacs, tart cherry juice was found to be a decent sleep aid, combined with other therapies. Research published in the European Journal of Nutrition showed study participants got 39 extra minutes of sleep from drinking two servings of the drink each day. Getting a good night’s sleep is important for fighting obesity, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
Regenerate your health
Cebu Daily News
FOOD is fuel for the body and nothing more. That’s how most people think of nutrition. But consider this radical idea: What you eat is more than merely sustaining and it can be generating. And I mean regenerating in ways that most people have not even considered, ways that scientists are just now beginning to understand. Nutrients like vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and the like will nourish flesh, blood and bones. But in the right amounts and in the proper combinations they also have the power to renew the body, repair physical damage, prevent the onset of disease and may be even reverse some of the signs of aging.
You realize that supplying yourself with the proper nutrients can foster growth and renewal when you know about regenerative nutrition. And just thinking in these terms can give you a big push down the road to well-being. Regeneration (which can apply to economics, agriculture and other fields as well as nutrition) means changing or reforming for the better by using your own resources. In regenerative agriculture for example, farmers thrive by planting legumes that pull nitrogen from the air and into the soil instead of buying expensive synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. In regenerative economics, communities produce locally most of the consumer products they need rather than paying higher prices for goods produced elsewhere. And in regenerative nutrition you enhance, even renew your health by taking charge of it by manipulating your nutrient intake, a potent personal resource.
Getting on in years? Exercise power over your age!
Maribel Bleeker
This holiday season and the New Year promise to be a happy one for tens of millions of older Americans, including those living in our area: new research confirms that exercise and good nutrition go a long way toward improving their health, quality of life, and longevity.
These findings were announced last week at the 64th annual conference of the Gerontological Society of America, an organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging.
Researchers found that regular physical activity combined with a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and healthy fats, lowers the risk of developing common age-related illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
“It’s actually quite simple,” says Maribel Bleeker, owner of North Palm Beach Adventure Boot Camp for Women. “Physical fitness and good eating habits prevent obesity, which, as we all know, strains the heart and body, eventually leading to all kinds of life-threatening diseases. So it is logical that if you exercise and follow a healthy diet, your body will be more resistant to illnesses and discomforts that strike older people.”
Family Discussion: Who will take care of you in the future?
By Mariko Yamada
November is Alzheimer's Disease and Awareness Month, National Home Care and Hospice Month, and Family Caregiver Month. It also marks the beginning of the traditional season of thanksgiving, taking stock of our blessings, sharing with those less fortunate and caring for those who are unable to care for themselves.
As families come together this holiday season, I urge you to take an opportunity to discuss future long-term health needs with your loved ones.
The increase in our senior population, along with the reduction in community-based care programs, requires greater attention to the services needed for those with terminal illnesses and those, both paid and unpaid, who provide care.
In the past two years, the state has retreated from its support for older and disabled adults, their families and their caregivers. With assistance decreasing, the need for in-home caregiving is increasing.
An estimated one in four California families is currently involved in caring for a loved one with a disability. Caring for a family member who has dementia or who has multiple chronic health conditions can be quite complex, yet most families receive little or no training, assistance or appreciation for their caregiving tasks.
Eating well key to aging well
By Deborah S. Hartz-Sheeley
When Peter Pritchard, 72, noticed he was getting a little excess baggage around his waistline, he decided to do something about it.
“There’s enough information out there that I could read and learn that being fat isn’t healthy,” says the Fort Lauderdale resident.
He enrolled in a six-week nutrition course that’s popular with seniors at the Zachariah Family Wellness Pavilion at Fort Lauderdale’s Holy Cross Hospital. Here he learned from registered dietitian Leslie Burman that “weight is the number one indicator of disease.”
By the end of the course, he had lost 10 pounds and 2 inches.