Anyone caring for senior citizens should prepare nutritious meals that meet special dietary requirements such as keeping blood pressure normal or avoiding high blood sugar. At Florida First Senior Care in Delray Beach, FL, we refer highly qualified and experienced caregivers who offer friendly companionship, medication reminders or body care for elderly individuals. The need for personal care from professional caregivers inside a senior’s home is growing rapidly, especially in the state of Florida. An important aspect of caring for senior citizens is ensuring they have a healthy body weight despite a variety of medical or dental issues.

Nutritious Meals

While many caregivers think that gaining excess weight due to a sedentary lifestyle is a major problem for elderly individuals, this is not always the problem. A senior citizen may have difficulties chewing food due to a loss of teeth or have problems swallowing due to experiencing a stroke, leading to a loss of weight that causes additional health problems. The professional caregivers providing home care for the elderly are responsible for assisting with healthy weight management by preparing and serving meals planned by dietitians. A balanced diet of three meals and three snacks a day is a vital way to ensure a senior has mental clarity and physical energy along with maintaining an appropriate body weight.

Homemade Meals

Planning meals and snacks to avoid excess sugar, fat and sodium is important for everyone, but seniors commonly have digestive and mobility issues that make it more difficult to consume food. Many seniors are in the habit of eating frozen meals or boxed snacks rather than cooking healthy recipes. A caregiver visiting a home on a daily basis is able to cook recipes that require slicing vegetables and meat that a senior is unable to prepare. By preparing meals from scratch, instead of serving boxed and frozen foods, the caregiver is able to know what a senior consumes, making it easier to control calorie levels.

Fresh Ingredients

Home care professionals can take seniors to grocery stores to choose ingredients such as fresh fruits, leafy greens and whole grain breads that provide vitamins, minerals and fiber instead of sugar, salt and fat. For seniors with dental health or digestive problems, using a crock-pot to prepare soups or stews with softer meat and vegetables is helpful. A senior with swallowing problems may enjoy drinking smoothies made of milk and fresh berries to get the calories needed to maintain a healthy weight. The caregiver can adjust recipes by using whole milk for seniors needing to gain weight while using low-fat milk for those needing to lose pounds.

Call Florida First Senior Home Care Today

Florida First Senior Care located in Delray Beach, FL helps families find background screened caregivers who are insured, licensed and trained. Our management team offers assistance round-the-clock each day of the year to refer caregivers at a moment’s notice. Unlike other nurse registries near West Palm Beach, We offer information and free consultations with a telephone call to 561-279-5470. Schedule an on-site consultation to learn how long-term care insurance can pay for professional care of seniors in their own homes.