Healthy meals are important for people of any age or culture. They fill the body with important vitamins and other healthy substances. They make you feel more energy and be in a positive mood. A healthy diet boosts your immune system and prevents aging and diseases.
For aged people, it is extremely important to follow a 7 day meal plan for elderly. The elderly need more careful care for their body and mind. They may have chronic diseases or disabilities that create extra needs in eating. It is also important for them to prevent weight loss with healthy eating habits.
For this reason, there should be special meal planning for elderly to keep them in a good state. In this article, we will talk about a good elderly meal plan for one week you can use as an option.
Useful Meals for Aged People
When speaking about meal planning for seniors, it is important to choose nutritious foods. There are certain types of products that will boost your health the most. If you are an aged person, you should follow the healthy eating in your diet:
- Products high in protein
Scientists have figured out that a balanced diet must contain protein. A meal plan for seniors should include even more protein than for other people. Protein is responsible for the regeneration and recovery of body cells. That is why it is important to recover your bones, muscles, and tissues in case of injury. At the same time, products high in protein allow you to feel strong and lively even if you are an aged person. To consume more protein, you should include chicken, eggs, fish, and beef in your diet.
- Vitamins
In a senior 7 day meal plan for elderly, it is crucial to include fruit and vegetables. Fresh fruits contain different kinds of vitamins important for your body. A lack of vitamins may cause brittle bones, dry skin, or even serious diseases. If you include fruit and vegetables in your meal planning, you consume the necessary substances for sure. Your body will get enough vitamins, minerals, and healthy nutrients. It is also a way to prevent or overcome chronic diseases you have. As part of your meal plan, remember to eat sweet potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, and other products.
- Fats
Despite the fact that many fats raise the cholesterol level in the blood, there are healthy fats. These are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Such fats are a crucial part of elderly meal plan samples. They produce energy in the body and allow fast metabolism and absorption of vitamins. This makes you healthier and allows you to stay active for your whole life. The products you need to consume to get fats are olive oil like extra virgin olive oil, cheese, and nuts.
- Food that contains probiotics
Probiotics are bacteria that allow protecting the body from infections. Aged people, in most cases, have a poorer immune system than young ones. Probiotics are bacteria that boost your immune system and also benefit your intestine. This means you will have a healthier digestion system, and you will absorb more nutrients. This, in turn, will improve your health and make you active. Probiotics are also necessary as they produce vitamins of the B group. To get more probiotics, you should drink more milk and yogurt.
Choosing a Meal Plan Depending on Your Health Problems
When choosing senior elderly meal plan samples, it’s important to remember they have health problems. Many aged people may suffer from special diseases that impact their eating habits. Depending on the difficulty, you should choose special products for the diet.
- Problems with chewing
Some aged people can have difficulties chewing or swallowing food. This can happen if they have ill teeth or some neural disease. They can also have weak jaws, so chewing hard food can be difficult. For this reason, when looking for senior citizen luncheon ideas, you should find soft food. The food should be creamy or chopped to make swallowing easier. Such products will save the teeth and dentures of an elderly person. It is even better if you offer liquid meals like soup, juice, or kefir.
- Poor eyesight
Many aged people have poor eyesight or are completely blind. This can happen with the development of cataracts or glaucoma. For blind individuals, it would be a great pleasure to have some delicious food with a vivid smell. It is also important if an individual has a poor sense of smell and taste.
A vivid flavor will let them enjoy the life colors to their full. You can add some sweet or spicy food to their diet. But you need to remember not to put the products that can be harmful to the stomach. At the same time, giving their favorite products at breakfast, lunch, or dinner brings a lot of joy to the person.
- Lack of healthy nutrients
If an elderly individual suffers from a lack of nutrients in the body, a special diet is needed. One option is to provide food supplements in the ration. They will help people who have problems with nutrient absorption. So, food supplements can help minimize the lack of vitamins or minerals in the body.
- Specific diseases
Some aged people have diseases that are not related to their old age. In these cases, they should follow a specific diet necessary for their treatment. Such individuals need special care, and the diet should be prescribed by their doctor. They may have special products forbidden or need more vitamins than other people.
How to Stay Healthy in an Elderly Age
Together with special products for old age, you should follow dietary principles. There are several important tips you should follow in your lifestyle:
- Try the Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is a special schedule of eating and includes products high in nutrients. This diet has a great number of recipes for any taste. It contains delicious and, at the same time, nutritious foods that improve the body’s health. Following the Mediterranean diet lets you prevent heart diseases and diabetes. It also boosts your immune system. It strengthens your mental abilities and improves the bones. It is an elderly nursing home food menu sample that is highly helpful for any aged person.
- Do exercises
Some elderly people may think that active exercises are only for the youth. At the same time, activity is healthy at any age as it boosts blood circulation. When you do exercises, you make your muscles create new tissues and cells. You will also feel more energy after you train, and your heart will get stronger. Yet, you should remember that in old age, you should be careful in exercise. You should not train too much if you do not feel strong enough. What you should do is walk around a place or try jogging if you want. And do not forget to drink enough water.
- Stay in a positive mood
As scientists have figured out, the state of spirits influences your physical health. The elderly often feel sad or nervous because of their inactivity. But you should remember that for you, it is crucial to stay in lifted spirits and do what you like. What is more, a positive life mood can prevent your hair from becoming gray. That is why you will stay beautiful longer and feel better.
- Sleep enough
Although aged people need less sleep than in their young years, enough sleep is crucial. In most cases, in old age, you should sleep from five to six hours at a minimum. This will allow you to feel active during the day and improve your brain abilities. If you can’t sleep too much at night, try having a regular nap during the day.
- Consume more nutrients
Your eating habits are also crucial to preventing fast aging. To stay healthy, you need to eat nutritious organic foods. They can be whole wheat toast, fruit and vegetables, and seafood. Some special products like avocado or salmon are also helpful.
Day One
Every day of your meal plan, you should have five times of eating a day. They include breakfast, morning snacks, lunch, evening snacks, and dinner. As a whole, you will consume 1500 calories during the day. The biggest part of your meals should make carbohydrates. Then, you should also consume the same number of fats and proteins. Then, you should eat about 30g of fiber and 1mg of sodium. The biggest number of calories should go for lunch and dinner. You should have a light breakfast not to overload your stomach.
Day Two
On day two, you should also have meals five times a day. The greatest number of calories should be for breakfast and lunch. In total, you should consume about 1500 calories, similar to the previous day. You should mostly eat carbohydrates in products, which are about 180g. You should also eat about 90g of proteins. Yet, you need to reduce fats and fiber in your diet this day. During the snacks, you can have some berries or vegetables. At dinner, try eating chicken to get more nutrients.
Day Three
On the third day of your meal plan, you should also consume about 1500 calories. The biggest number of calories should go at breakfast, dinner, and lunch. You should most of all consume carbohydrates and proteins. At breakfast, you should drink yogurt and eat some walnuts. Your morning snack should not be large. It can be only one fruit or berry. At lunch, you can have potatoes with chicken, and have salad as a second meal. Your evening meals should be more of the vegetarian type.
Day Four
This day should be as nutritious as the previous ones. You should include more products with carbohydrates, which should be about 200g. Yet, there should be fewer proteins this day, which is about 70g. At breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you will eat the biggest portions with calories. At breakfast, you can eat a blueberry salad or juice. At lunch, you can eat sweet potato with proteins and add chicken and peanut salad. Your dinner can compose of a creamy vegetarian meal.
Day Five
On day five, you should increase the number of proteins you consume. On this day, you should eat about 90g of proteins and about 80g of fats. You should also consume about 120g of carbohydrates. On the fifth day, you should expand your breakfast with yogurt and walnuts. As your lunch dessert, you can try some berries. The biggest amount of food should go to dinner. Your dinner should contain about 500 calories and include one chicken and one salad meal.
Day Six
The sixth day of your plan should include fewer calories than the other days. This lets your body relax from heavy eating and digest healthy nutrients. On this day, you should consume about 1400 calories, most of them at dinner. At the same time, your diet here will consist of about 200 carbohydrates. Yet, you need to reduce fats and proteins. You should also reduce the calories at breakfast and lunch to 300. At lunch, you should only eat the chicken, without potatoes and salad.
Day Seven
This day is the one after a low-eating day, so you should consume more calories here. You can eat more than 1500 calories on the seventh day. The biggest meal will still be your dinner, where you should consume about 500 calories. It will include two different meals, one whole wheat bread and some berries. This day should increase the number of fats, which will be 80. At the same time, you should reduce the number of calories during the day.
FAQ
How Many Meals Should an Elderly Person Eat a Day?
A 7day meal plan for elderly should include five meals a day.
Is Banana Good for Elderly?
Yes, because bananas help reduce anxiety and prevent depression.
Do Seniors Need More Sleep?
They need enough sleep to restore their forces for the next day. They should sleep to let their bodies relax and stay healthy. Yet, for most aged people, six to seven hours of sleep is enough to feel good.
Hi! My name is Stephanie Hinton and I’m a trained expert in food and nutrition.