Steps to Building a Personalized Senior Citizen Diet Plan

Step 1: Talk to Your Doctor

The first place to go when looking for a personalized senior citizen diet plan is to talk to your doctor. He or she will be well-versed in your medical history and current health status. Your doctor knows what medical conditions you’re at risk for and how those risks can be mitigated with a certain diet. For example, if you’re at risk for developing heart disease, your diet may include less sodium and more potassium.

Step 2: Visit Your Dietician

The next step in getting a personalized senior citizen diet plan is setting up an appointment with the registered dietician that your primary care physician referred you to. It’s important to understand that a registered dietician is a much better option than a “licensed nutritionist”. Armed with information your doctor gave you about potential health risks, a registered dietician can create a personalized meal plan for you.

Step 3: Look Online

The Internet is another great resource for customized meal plans. A number of sites offer great free meal planners that helps you make healthy meals based on your favorite foods. You can tailor your plan to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain a healthy weight while getting all the nutrition you need. Many online sites allow you to print your meal plans out and hang them on the fridge, so you never have to wonder what’s for dinner again.

Step 4: Check Your App Store

There are plenty of free meal planning apps you can download on your phone. These are extremely convenient and a huge time-saver. In some cases, you can even use these apps without creating an account. They allow you build yourself a personalized meal plan considering your typical diet, whether you have no dietary restrictions, follow a keto diet, or are vegan or pescatarian.

After learning about your food allergies, dislikes and how many servings of each meal you need, these apps create a grocery list based on the recipes you select. They even allows you to cross off items you already have, add additional items you want to buy ,and group your list by sections in the grocery store.

Step 5: Sign Up for a Meal Delivery Service

Measuring everything that goes into your food can feel overwhelming. People often order fast food because they’re too overwhelmed by the thought of preparing a meal. A meal delivery service changes all this. Some meal delivery services, like Freshly, deliver healthy, cooked meals straight to your door.

Delivered in eco-friendly, insulated packaging, you just have to put your perfectly portioned meal on a plate. You can choose from breakfast, lunch or dinner from a rotating weekly menu so you don’t get bored. All food is prepared and cooked in a facility free of gluten and peanuts. Shop around and see which meal delivery services deliver healthy meals in your area at the best price.

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Protein is critical for muscle health and development throughout life, but it can be especially critical for seniors. The natural decreases in muscle mass and strength that come with aging can lead to significant decreases in quality of life if not properly manage with diet and exercise. This lower muscle mass and strength can then lead to broken bones due to falls and overall fatigue during vital physical activities.

And while protein intake is critical for seniors, it’s also common for seniors to experience decreased appetite levels as their energy needs evolve. Fortunately, there are many excellent options open to seniors who want to maintain healthy levels of protein while also meeting their dietary needs and preferences.

Protein Loss Making Senior Health News

A study carried through Ohio State University in 2018 followed 2,900 seniors over 23 years and found that less than one-third consume adequate levels of protein. The seniors in the study reported a mix of reasons for drastically decreasing their protein intake including lower appetite, financial constraints, dental issues, altered taste palates, and challenges swallowing. Those who did not consume ample levels of protein were also more likely to lead a more sedentary lifestyle and have a harder time recovering from falls and injuries.

These findings have caused a ripple in senior health news as they align with previous findings from a 2017 study from Tufts University’s USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. That study followed around 2,000 seniors and found that those who consumed the least protein were twice as likely to develop mobility problems compared with those who ate the most protein.

What’s the Right Amount Of Protein for Seniors?

If these updates in senior health news have you interested in increasing your daily protein intake, then the first thing you’ll need to know is how much protein is right for. Fortunately, doctors and researchers have developed a simple guideline known as the recommended daily allowance or RDA. This recommendation suggests that seniors should consume 0.8 grams of protein for every 2.2 pounds of body weight. This means that for an average man of 180 pounds, about 65 grams of protein meets the RDA standard.

Everyday Protein Options

When you’re making a plan to increase the amount of protein in your diet, intake frequency is just as important as the amount. There is some dispute amongst experts, but the prevailing wisdom is that it can be critical to spread your protein consumption out evenly over three meals throughout a day. By spreading protein out as opposed to cramming it all in one meal, you may be able to provide a healthy distribution of amino acids to the muscles throughout your day. A good rule of thumb would be to consider trying for at least 30 grams of protein with every meal.

Some suggestions would be one egg with breakfast or a chicken sausage link with salad during lunch. Breakfast can be an easy time to neglect protein consumption, as many seniors tend to feel less hungry in the morning. And while it may be convenient to fall back on a routine of coffee and baked goods, starting the day with protein is critical to ensuring long-term muscle health and overall fitness for seniors.

1. Know what a healthy plate looks like and follow recommended servings – focus your plate’s contents on fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy and whole foods. A rough guideline is to get 3 cups of dairy, 2 cups of vegetables, 1.5 cups of fruit, 5 ounces of grain and 5 ounces of protein every day.
2. Choose your food based on the important nutrients – remember, every bite counts. Don’t eat ‘empty calories’, instead focus on filling your body with vitamins and mineral-rich foods. Especially important as we age, we need to ensure we are getting enough nutrients, including Vitamin B-12, Folic Acid, Calcium, Vitamin D, Potassium, Magnesium, Fiber and Omega 3 Fats.
3. Stay hydrated. Drink water consistently throughout the day. Many people make the mistake of drinking a ton of water in the morning, or after a workout. While all water drinking is good, the real key is to keep drinking consistently throughout the day. Remember the eight-eights rule. Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day.
4. Read nutritional labels – It’s more important than ever to be a smart shopper. Buying fresh protein, dairy and produce is always the best option. If you must buy packaged food, read the nutritional label carefully to make sure you know what is in the food. Stay away from anything loaded with a bunch of ingredients you can’t pronounce!