Are There Any Special Nutritional Needs For The Elderly?

By Owen Jones


It is always important to eat healthily, but the two phases when it is most vital are probably your formative years and your declining years. In the beginning, you have to build your body to put it on a good footing for the rest of your life and in your later years, parts do not work the same as they used to, so it is best to give them decent quality materials to work with.

So the tips below are valid for every stage of your life from being a young adult up, but they are especially vital for older people.

It is vital to stay hydrated. Most individuals do not drink enough water, but older individuals tend to have less water in their bodies than younger ones and this needs to be replaced. It is generally recommended that individuals drink eight 250 cc glasses (a tumbler) of water (two litres) a day, but if you would like to be more precise the ratio is 25 cc's per kilo, so a 250 cc glass for every 10 kilos or 22 pounds.

Protein is important to older individuals and as they are usually less active than younger individuals, they do not need so much carbohydrate. Therefore, it is better to become selective with your foodstuffs, eat less bread, rice, potato and sugars, but eat a bit more lean meat, eggs, cheese and particularly fish.

If you are going to consume carbohydrates, be certain to eat the wholemeal, whole grain, unprocessed versions of rice, bread and pasta. This is to increase dietary fibre. A great deal of older individuals suffer from constipation because they are less active and increasing fibre and roughage will help counteract this. Green leaf vegetables, all vegetables and fruit are fantastic for raising dietary fibre.

Cut down on fat and oil. You require some fat and oil, but it is not difficult to get enough to lubricate yourself and the consumption of the correct amount of fibre, roughage and water will avert constipation.

Iron is vital for healthy blood, so find out how much you require per day (RDA - recommended daily amount) and make certain that you get it either from red meat, cereals or supplements. The same goes for zinc which is not easily absorbed.

Calcium is extremely important especially for women. Osteoporosis is very common. Osteoporosis is a calcium deficiency which results in brittle bones. Most individuals just think of milk when they think of calcium, but milk is not digestible for adults. You can acquire it from meat, cheese and broccoli amongst other sources.

The B group of vitamins is also vital for your blood and immune system. Numerous older individuals have a lack of Vitamin B12. This is a complicated condition and requires a GP's advice, but it is widespread.

Next time you have to have a check up, look to see if they are checking your body's level of vitamin B12 and if it is not in the list of tests, ask for it to be included.




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