Keeping You Safe From COVID-19
Interested in a career at Golden Heart Senior Care. APPLY HERE!

Tag: Healthy Habits

Heart Health Should Be a Priority Every Day

Posted on by Craig Bass
In-Home Care in Greenfield IN
In-Home Care in Greenfield IN

Heart health should be something that your elderly loved one focuses on all year round and not just every once in a while. There are so many senior citizens who struggle with heart disease and other heart-related conditions. While some heart conditions are genetic, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still things that can be done to improve overall heart health. If your elderly loved one needs help making healthy lifestyle choices that can improve their heart, be sure to share these tips with them regularly. When you can’t be there to ensure your parent follows through, an in-home care provider can step in and help your parent make positive steps toward improved heart health.

Moving Should Be a Priority

One of the leading reasons for heart health issues in the elderly is lack of movement. Studies show that living a sedentary lifestyle is one of the most common causes of heart disease and heart attacks. Luckily, this is something that can be easily changed. If your elderly loved one really isn’t an active person right now, they don’t have to jump up and run a marathon. You and home care providers can get them moving by starting to have them take a short 5 to 10-minute walk each day. They can slowly increase the amount of physical activity they get daily until they are at a healthy amount of about 30 minutes a day.

Eating Heart-Healthy Foods

Another one of the ways that your elderly loved one can take care of their heart is by eating a heart-healthy diet. This is one of the keys to living a healthy, happy, and longer life. Studies show that senior citizens who avoid trans fats that are commonly found in margarine, fried fast foods, and packaged goods have much better heart health than those who don’t. This doesn’t mean just because your elderly loved one eats fast food once a month they are going to have heart disease. It just means the more they can avoid it, the better their heart health could be. If your elderly loved one is looking for someone to make this lifestyle change with them, maybe it is something that you could consider for your own heart health, too.

Sleeping Well at Night

Does your elderly loved one seem to take a lot of naps during the day? If so, does this keep them up at nighttime? Maybe there is another reason they aren’t sleeping well at night. Did you or your elderly loved one know that sleep issues are one of the main causes of heart health problems in the United States? If your elderly loved one isn’t sleeping well, now would be a good time to figure out why, so they can hopefully fix the issue before it causes problems with their heart.

Conclusion

These are some of the many different things that should be considered when it comes to your elderly loved one’s heart health. The more of these things that you and in-home care providers can help your elderly loved one to stick with, the better it can be for their heart health.

Sources
https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/topics/health-conditions/heart-health/keep-your-heart-healthy

If you or an aging loved one is considering in-home care in Greenfield, IN, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care today. 317-550-1276

What is National Mocktail Week and How Can it Help Your Senior?

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care Assistance in Westfield IN
Home Care Assistance in Westfield IN

National Mocktail Week is a holiday that takes place during the second week of January. Mocktails are incredibly helpful for seniors, and might be something that you and your elderly family member want to keep going for longer than just a week every year.

Mocktails are Non-alcoholic Cocktails

The word mocktail refers to a cocktail beverage that doesn’t contain any alcohol. These are more and more popular as various people decide that they want to either reduce or eliminate alcohol from their diet, but they still want to enjoy fun drinks that taste great. There are tons and tons of mocktail recipes available, and your senior may find that her favorite cocktail drink has at least one or two mocktail variations.

Watch the Sugar Content

The big thing to remember when you are planning mocktails with your senior is that it’s easy to go overboard with the sugar. That’s because without alcohol, the base of a great many mocktails can be sugar or even fruit juice. These drinks can be very high in sugar content and that might present different problems for your senior.

Mocktails Are Fun and Hydrating

Probably the best reason to opt for mocktails, besides that they can be very fun, is that they’re hydrating. Plain water is usually boring or unpleasant for many people, so it’s tough to get enough fluids in during the day. By spicing things up a bit by trying out different mocktail recipes, you can help your elderly family member to increase her fluid intake.

Make Mocktails a Year-round Thing

These fun drinks can be a year-round beverage for your senior to enjoy, too. Mocktail time can be any time of day, and with home care assistance offering help with preparing them it becomes easier, too. Elder care providers can help with some of the steps that make mocktails more complicated, as well, like pureeing fruit. That means that your senior has all the assistance she needs to stick with this trend as long as she wants.

Home care assistance can make all sorts of daily situations easier on your elderly family member, too, not just mocktail preparation. Talk with your senior about what is feeling more complicated for her to handle on her own so you can get a better idea where they can step in and offer a hand.

 

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in Westfield, IN, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care today. 317-550-1276

Why Should Your Parents Consider Going Vegetarian at Least Once Per Week?

Posted on by Craig Bass
Senior Home Care in Indianapolis IN
Senior Home Care in Indianapolis IN

Reducing meat intake and increasing vegetables helps your senior avoid malnutrition, lower blood cholesterol levels, and lower the risk of diabetes. Plus, vegetarian meals can often be even tastier than their meat counterparts. Your elderly parent should try swapping one meat-based meal for a vegetarian one during October’s National Vegetarian Month. The benefits from just this one meal are impressive.

How do you change to a vegetarian diet? Here are a few ideas, and how senior home care can help your parent make the transition.

Focus on the Protein

When you swap out a vegetarian meal for a meat-based one, you’re going to have protein still. Typically, you’ll use tofu/tempeh or beans in place of the protein. You could also choose eggs, oats, seeds, wild rice, seitan, or high-protein vegetables like sweet potatoes, corn, broccoli, and artichokes.

Suppose your mom wants a beef and broccoli stir-fry for dinner. Purchase or make tempeh, slice it, and use that in place of the meat. Seitan has a meaty texture, but it’s made from wheat. Serve the stir-fry on steamed brown rice.

Make Sure Snacks Are Available

Your parents should eat throughout the day. Smaller portions more often help keep them from craving foods and overeating at a meal. A vegetarian diet helps with this. Beans and fiber help them feel fuller. You still need to make sure they have things to snack on.

Fresh vegetables with a low-fat sour cream dipping sauce are one option. You could also make protein balls with cocoa powder, old-fashioned oats, natural almond or peanut butter, and Medjool dates. After forming them into bite-size balls, roll them in unsweetened coconut flakes, sliced almonds, or hemp seed hearts.

Keep It Balanced

Once you’re sure the meal contains enough protein, balance the rest of the meal to meet your mom and dad’s requirements for fiber, antioxidants, calcium, and vitamin D. Talk to their doctors to see if they have special dietary needs. Working with a dietitian helps if they do need to plan meals carefully.

If you use seitan, it contains fiber due to the wheat. You still need to ensure your parents get enough omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, etc.

Lentils offer many of the nutrients your parents need. They’re high in fiber and are filling. Use lentils as a meat substitute in sloppy joes or pasta sauce. Curry is an easy dish to make, and you can make a quick meal with lentils, spinach, tomatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes in a curry sauce.

Don’t worry about your parents having a hard time cooking meals. You may not be close enough to cook for them, but senior home care aides can stop by and make sure your parents eat regularly. Call a senior home care expert to learn more about meal preparation services.

If you or an aging loved one is considering senior home care in Indianapolis, IN, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care today. 317-550-1276

Easy Ways to Improve Your Dad’s Protein Intake

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care in Greenfield IN
Home Care in Greenfield IN

Older adults often fail to eat enough protein. Ideally, experts feel 1.2 to 2 grams per kilogram of weight is best for the elderly. Protein helps build bones, cartilage, muscles, and skin. It helps with tissue repair and aids red blood cell oxygenation. It can even help with digestion.

Does your dad get enough protein each day? Your dad is great at watching his salt and sugar intake, but you worry about his protein intake. Boost your dad’s protein intake in these easy ways.

Make Muffin Tin Omelets

Scramble whole eggs and add plenty of chopped vegetables, nitrate-free turkey bacon, and low-fat cheese. Pour the egg mixture into muffin tins that you’ve sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake these at 350 F until the egg is set.

These omelet muffins are a quick and easy breakfast. Three eggs per day provide 19 grams of protein, so he gets a lot of protein without having to fill up on meat.

Keep Cheese Cubes on Hand

Purchase cheese and cut it into cubes for easy snacks. If your dad is watching saturated fat, skim fat cheeses help lower fat intake. Cottage cheese, mozzarella, feta, and goat’s milk cheese are all options for lower fat content.

Bake With Almond Flour

Almonds contain a lot of protein. Just two ounces of almonds have 12 grams of protein. If your dad isn’t likely to eat handfuls of almonds, make treats he’ll love.

Make healthier brownies by mashing two frozen bananas and adding ½ cup of almond flour, ½ cup of cocoa powder, 3 eggs, and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Stir in a cup of no-sugar chocolate chips. Spread the batter in a pan and add swirls of natural almond butter. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until set to your dad’s liking.

Replace Meat with Beans

Once or twice a week, substitute one of your dad’s meals for something containing beans. Make a bean chili or lentil sloppy joes. Dried and canned beans are high in protein and low in fat.

Hire Caregivers to Prepare Your Dad’s Meals

Have caregivers help your dad with meal planning and preparation. He can have caregivers help him shop for food items, put groceries away, and prepare meals and snacks throughout the day. With home care aides, your dad has someone around while he eats, which makes it more likely that he’ll eat all of his meal.

To arrange home care services like meal preparation, call a senior care specialist. The expert will walk you through the pricing and schedules. It assures you that your dad has the support he needs throughout the week.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4924200/#

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care in Greenfield, IN, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care today. 317-550-1276