Recommendations for diet planning

Meals are one of the most satisfying moments in the life of the elderly, constituting for many, the most awaited occasion of the day; not only for what represents the delight of enjoying a tasty meal and satisfying a vital need, but for the opportunity to communicate and share expressions of affection, with relatives or other people around them, interactions that take on an additional value at this stage of life.

Importance of diet quality for the health of older people

Planning a healthy diet, appropriate to the age and ailments of the individual, taking into account their tastes and preferences, favors the proper nutrition of the elderly, essential for the preservation of tissues, organs and functions, so that they can continue to perform some tasks or physical activities of their interest, in order to better cope with the passing of the years.

A varied, sufficient and healthy diet, shared in a calm and cordial environment, where the closest people participate, is able to contribute to the good psychic and spiritual development during this stage.

An adequate diet helps to maintain the appetite and preserve the correct levels of intakes, which allow satisfying the demand for nutrients, even if the passing of the years reduces the absorption capacity of the organism.

A healthy diet reduces the risk of certain diseases and can also play a key role in the treatment of these diseases, allowing the disorders associated with aging to be tackled with a greater probability of success.

General recommendations for dietary planning

Including a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods from different food groups in the diet avoids nutritional deficiencies and helps to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

Prepare healthy meals appropriate to the nutritional requirements of age and health conditions, while remaining palatable and taking into account the tastes and preferences of the diners.

Divide food into four or more moderate meals a day, prioritizing breakfast and lunch. It is recommended to distribute the energy intake of the diet as follows:

• Breakfast: 25%.

• Mid-morning: 10%.

• Lunch: 35%.

• Afternoon snack: 10%.

• Lunch: 20%.

In order to avoid overweight and obesity, the following recommendations should be taken into account:

• Plan varied diets and moderate food portions.

• Carry out physical activities appropriate to your possibilities, to increase energy expenditure.

• Moderate consumption of saturated fats (fatty meats, butter, coconut and palm oils).

• Use olive oil or seed oils such as soybean, sunflower and corn as a common fat.

• Consume low-fat dairy products.

Adequate protein intake should be maintained in order to avoid loss of muscle mass. Protein intake should be moderate, preferably fish, eggs, poultry and rabbit meat.

Consume at least three servings of milk or its derivatives daily. Some of the advantages that this food offers to the elderly are the following:

• Skim milk products (skim milk and yogurt among others) are nutrient-dense foods.

• They can be offered at any time, are easy to ingest, contribute to hydration and are easy to store and preserve.

• They prevent bone demineralization.

• They contain considerable amounts of protein, energy, calcium, vitamin b1, b2, b3, folic acid, vitamin b12, vitamin d, vitamin a, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus.

Consume healthy foods such as whole grains, legumes, potatoes, oily fish, vegetables, garlic, onions, tomatoes, olives, citrus fruits, grapes, strawberries, tomatoes, olive oil, aromatic herbs, spices and fruits among many others:

• Share the table whenever possible, to enjoy the company and communication with the family or the closest people, in a quiet and cozy atmosphere.

• Maintain regular meal times.

• Avoid snacking on snacks, candies, sweets, soft drinks, etc.. They only provide calories and practically no nutrients.

• Moderate salt intake per day.

• Consume more than two liters of water daily. Monitor water intake at regular intervals even if they do not feel thirsty, to avoid dehydration.

• Moderate the consumption of alcoholic beverages to less than 30 grams of ethanol per day.

• Maintain and promote the Mediterranean diet as it is healthy, nutritious, palatable and helps prevent many diseases.

Nutritional supplements

A balanced, varied and sufficient diet should provide the necessary amounts of nutrients to keep the elderly healthy, but sometimes the typical disorders of aging mean that the nutrients provided cannot be properly utilized. In addition, physical inactivity and the decrease in muscle mass reduce the energy needs of the elderly person, leading to a reduction in intake. If this reduced intake is not compensated with more nutrient-dense foods, the diet fails to supply the amount of macronutrients and micronutrients demanded by the body.

For all these reasons, the elderly often require vitamin and mineral supplements to supplement the diet. The consumption of these supplements should always be individualized and controlled by a health professional. The effect of supplements is not curative and can never replace a healthy diet.

Functional foods

These are foods or food ingredients that can provide a health benefit, apart from their role as a source of nutrients. For this purpose, biologically active components such as minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, dietary fiber or antioxidants are added to them.

Examples:

• Eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty acids, help reduce the risk of heart disease.

• Milk and yogurts fermented with probiotic cultures facilitate digestion.

• Cereals with folic acid.

It is recommended that the consumption of these foods be part of a balanced diet, and at no time should they be the exclusive basis of the diet.

Adapted staple foods

Adapted basic food is used when nutrition needs to be guaranteed, especially in sick or debilitated elderly people, with chewing problems or difficulties in swallowing liquid and/or solid food. These foods can be alternated with homemade dishes, or mixed with them.

The basic adapted food includes the following groups of products:

• Mashed diets of high nutritional value.

• Texture modifiers or products with modified texture to hydrate in case of dysphagia: jelly or thickener.

• Diet enrichers.

High nutritional value triturated diets.

These diets are mainly indicated for individuals who have difficulty chewing or swallowing solid foods and cannot achieve an adequate nutritional intake through traditional feeding.

In general, they are varied purees based on meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, legumes and vegetables, with a high content of proteins and micronutrients, with low sodium, cholesterol or saturated fat content, adapted to the needs and tastes of the adult. These diets offer the following options:

They are offered for breakfast, mid-morning and snack, lactose-free milk and cereal porridges enriched with proteins, vitamins and minerals.

For lunch and dinner, purees based on poultry, fish or eggs, combined with vegetables, legumes or cereals, are offered as the main course. In addition, fruit purees rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals are included as desserts.

Texture modifiers

These diets are mainly indicated for individuals suffering from diseases that induce dysphagia for liquids, in such a way that the ingestion of watery foods can produce, from choking to aspiration pneumonia.

These modifiers are made up of modified starches and maltodextrins, with the objective of instantly thickening liquids, soups or purees, until the adequate consistency is obtained. Vitamins and minerals are also added.

These thickeners allow the preparation of main dishes or desserts with modified texture, increasing the variety and attractiveness of meals. Some types of thickeners available in the market are:

• Flavored thickeners for juice-type drinks with a thick consistency.

• Gelled water. It comes in many flavors with a gel texture, very useful to hydrate when the patien