Eating good and nutritious food is essential for all ages, but especially for older individuals who require maintaining their energy and strength, while often managing chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. As we age, our body calories needs reduces but the needs for the nutrients remain the same or even increase. It’s very important that seniors consume as much nutrition into each meal as possible. Planning recipes for elderly people that are high in minerals, vitamins and protein can make healthy eating stress-free and easy.
Start The Day On A Healthy Note
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast foods are not only easy to prepare and quick, however having a well-balanced meal in the breakfast is an awesome way to gear up and start the day on a hale and healthy note. To make sure that you get a variety of nutrients in your breakfast, you can have combination of food items rich in:
- Proteins – Cottage cheese, eggs, Greek salad and yogurt
- High fiber whole grain – Shredded wheat cereal, oatmeal or whole wheat bread
- Extra calcium (for strong bones) – Dairy product such as milk or yogurt
- Extra minerals and vitamins (to boost your immunity) – Fruits such as apple, strawberry
You can buy canned fruits or frozen berries and keep them stored in your refrigerator. So whenever you are preparing healthy meals for two of you, you can just defrost them in the microwave or add to your cereals or oatmeal.
Lunch Meals Made From Vegetables
Lunch is the best time to focus on vegetables. Vegetables are a great source of nutrients and fiber so whether they’re raw, frozen or leftovers from dinner don’t skip eating them. You can try to create two tasty lunch recipes from vegetables:
- Make a salad of the vegetables you have by adding some beans, chopped eggs or tuna on top for low fat protein.
- Mix the leftover cooked vegetables with cooked brown rice and sprinkle it with feta cheese and some dressing such as no fat ranch or some vinaigrette.
If normally you do not like to have a heavy lunch, you can substitute it with protein-rich snacks such as:
- Two slices of whole grain bread with peanut butter spread and a banana
- Vegetables or fruits with cottage or feta cheese
- English muffin with a slice of cheese and tomato
Whether you are having a snack or a meal, make sure you have a glass of low fat milk to get your vitamin D and calcium.
Dinner – Have Some Extra For A Second Meal
When making dinner, make sure you have some extra for a second meal. For instance, stews and soups usually taste even delicious the next day. If you are a fan of tortilla, fill it with leftover cooked brown rice & vegetables from lunch with black beans, some low-fat cheese and salsa. Or, prepare a soup by adding chicken and leftover vegetables to lower sodium chicken broth. If you are feeling restless and don’t feel like cooking a hot meal for dinner or you aren’t hungry, have a light dinner and make lunch your bigger meal instead. Quick and easy recipes for seniors who do not like to eat much in dinner can prepare sandwich from eggs, tuna or turkey with tomato and lettuce on whole grain or wheat bread. For a healthy and calcium enriched dessert, you can have a fruit yogurt.
