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Healthy eating for senior citizens

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Healthy eating for senior citizens - keep 'em fat and happy!

Out of desperation (mostly), I've had to research healthy eating for senior citizens as my elderly Mom, Gertie, recovers from a broken hip. While she was in acute pain during the first 3 days after the hip fracture, I had little luck getting any food into her at all. But, after the surgery and her subsequent time in a nursing home rehabilitation unit, I've become very creative at finding and cooking a healthy diet for a senior citizen.

Mom lost 11 pounds, dropping from a healthy 130 to a low 119, in the 5 weeks we were in the hospital and then rehab. The last week of rehab, I was successful in getting her weight back up 3 lbs - gaining weight is sort of my specialty. I do it like a pro....ugh. Ok for her but not so good for me and my hips. So, we left the nursing home rehab unit with her weighing in at a less-than-hefty 122 lbs (about the size of my right thigh - give or take...).

One of the side effects of aging is loss of appetite. Someone who used to eat 3 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 slices of bacon for their filling breakfast may only eat 1 pancake in their golden years. The trick is to make that 1 pancake count and that's about what I'm going to show you (hint: add in some flax seed to the pancake batter for some added protein. They'll never know it's in there).

Eating well and taking in enough calories is the first line of defense in keeping a senior citizen healthy and happy. Adding enough protein, vitamins and nutrients will boost the immune system so that it's easier to fight off infections, speed wound healing, and add to muscle strength to hopefully prevent falls and fractures.

Read more about the nutritional needs of aging adults in this article: Understanding senior citizen diet and aging - gaining a nutritional edge.

Throughout this Squidoo lens on healthy eating for senior citizens, I'll give you some tips and tricks that I use on 95 year old Gert. Shhhh...please don't tell her! She thinks she's in control...

Ok, so the picture shows her holding Dibs ice cream snacks. I let her have pretty much anything she wants these days - within reason.

Make sure you're aware of all dietary restrictions before adding any foods to a senior citizen's diet.

Finding a healthy diet for senior citizens starts with education

That's why you're here, right?

When I started caring for my Mom 5 years ago, I kind of stepped into the caregiving role with no training. The resulting Squidoo article Things I wish I had known before becoming a caregiver should be your first stop so click that link and start reading. You second mission is to pick up a few good caregiving books such as those below.
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Suggestion #1 in Healthy eating for senior citizens

Get your elderly loved one's appetite revved up

healthy eating for senior citizensAs we age, our senses of smell and taste may diminish, and those 2 things combined can make ones appetite go on hiatus. Getting a senior citizen's appetite whetted is very important. There's a few ways to do that, including adding a prescription drug, such as Megace. Megace is a drug used to treat those suffering from breast cancer and also to treat loss of appetite, like a patient with AIDs my experience. It's also given to as a supplement to the elderly to increase appetite and that's why Mom takes it.

My Mom takes 2 tsp of Megace every morning (I make sure not to even lick my fingers...) and the medication really works for her. But, I've heard from a few nurses while we were in nursing home rehab that Megace doesn't work for everyone. It's also pretty expensive so there are a few more natural ways to increase one's appetite. Keep reading.

Natural appetite enhancers

The below are supposed to increase the appetite, but i'm really not sure about that as I haven't tested these. I have a poll below this section to find out if my readers have any input on these. Please leave me comments so I know whether it's worth trying these on my Mom.
  • 1Cayenne or red pepper. I'd suggest adding a bit more heat to chili or atop eggs if your senior citizen will tolerate it. I love putting red pepper on popcorn but I have a palate that appreciates HOT foods.
  • 2Green tea. Mom and I both love green tea. I mix up a small teapot every morning and just fill it with water throughout the day. Two tsp of green tea in a small teapot will make about 8 cups of tea throughout the day. There's some good green teas listed below - Jasmine is our favorite.
  • 3Ginseng. There's ginseng tablets on the market that are supposed to be great in increasing appetite.
  • 4Garlic. There's no problem getting a lot of garlic in my Mom's diet. We consider it an essential vegetable and add garlic and onions to about everything we eat. I even love pickled garlic in a good martini!
  • 5Cloves. Cloves are pretty easy to incorporate into daily meals; just grind a bit on top of cottage cheese and fruit or even as a light topping for vanilla ice cream.
  • 6Ginger. Ginger has long been known to have benefits for gastro and digestion but it's also known to be an appetite enhancer. It's pretty easy to slice up and mix a nice stir fry with ginger or add a bit to chicken soup for a nice spicy kick.

Poll about natural supplements in a senior citizen's diet

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Healthy eating for senior citizens may be made easier with a cup of hot tea

Green tea that is.

Green tea is just a delightful afternoon snack. Serve a steaming cup alongside a tasty cookie or peanut butter cracker. Here's some nice green teas on Amazon.com - these are all in pre-made tea bags. Loose tea will be in a later section of this Squidoo article:


Celestial Seasonings Green Tea, Antioxidant, 20-Count Tea Bags


China Green Tea 100 Tea Bags


Lipton Green Tea Collection, Variety Pack of Six Flavors, Tea Bags, 18-Count Boxes


Stash Premium Green Tea, Tea Bags, 20-Count Boxes


Newman's OwnOrganics Royal Tea, Organic Green Tea, 100-Count Individually Wrapped Tea Bags


Bigelow Green Tea, 40-Count Boxes

Our favorite green tea, a teapot and teaspoon used in making tea

Green tea is a great healthy eating item for senior citizens.

I prefer loose green tea as I can then dial it up or down in strength. On days when Mom's appetite is lacking, she just gets a stronger cup. This works perfectly for us! These little jasmine tea balls are not only tasty but they're fun to watch expand in the pot.


Jasmine Pearl Tea
(Superior Grade)


Glass Teapot Teahouse 1 Count


Roland Stainless Tea Spoon,

Suggestion #2 in Healthy eating for senior citizens

Sneak calories into a senior citizen's diet with meal supplements

healthy eating for senior citizensIt's quite possible that a senior's waning appetite will not allow the intake of calories they need for muscle strength and energy. I use Ensure Plus to add extra calories to Mom's diet. It comes in a multitude of flavors (chocolate, of course, if her favorite). There's also some good protein bars which are pretty tasty such as those below.


ExtendBar, Mixed Berry Delight, 1.41-Ounce Bars
15 gms of protein





The Simply Bar Lemon Coconut, 1.3-Ounce Bar
16 gms protein, 150 calories

Add Boost or Ensure meal supplements to a senior citizen's diet

My Mom loves the Ensure Plus (350 calories per bottle versus regular Ensure which is 250). I give her about 4 ounces twice a day so she's getting in extra calories. There are new formulations of these meal supplements on the market which are geared toward added protein or to build muscle strength, etc. Experiment with these to aid in healthy eating for your senior citizen.

If your senior citizen flat out refuses to drink a meal supplement, beat 'em at their own game - mix in a scoop of ice cream and set it up in the blender for a smooth shake. They'll never know if they don't see the Ensure Plus bottle...trust me...I know.

All of the below healthy eating meal supplements ship free with Super Saver shipping on Amazon.com.


Ensure Plus Rich Dark Chocolate Shake, Six 8-Ounce Bottles


Ensure Nutrition Drink Powder, Vanilla Flavor, 14 oz Can
Save on shipping with powder!


Boost Plus Nutritional Energy Drink Chocolate Bottles

Suggestion #3 in Healthy Eating for Senior Citizens

Read over these tips and tricks for healthy eating for senior citizens.

Here's a few more things to consider when you think about a senior citizen's diet. There may be more but these are the things I've figured out over the years.
  1. Try to determine why your favorite senior citizen's appetite is decreasing. Talk to his or her doctor and bring a list of all medications they take with you. Check with the doctor about interactions between the meds or side effects affecting appetite. Check to make sure that, physically, your senior loved one is in good shape. It could be as easy as an adjustment of their dentures that gets them back on the path to eating a healthy diet.
  2. Serve protein at every meal. My Mom will only eat about 1 ounce of meat at a time (don't ask me why....) so I sneak in protein in other ways. Try adding a bit of peanut butter spread on a cracker, cheese and crackers, a hard boiled egg or egg salad on toast as a snack. A handful of nuts or raisins might give your favorite senior citizen a protein boost too. Add finely chopped nuts to yogurt or a top cereals. Make banana bread with walnuts or add in some wheat germ to the batter.

    You might want to try some of the other nut butters that are now on the market to change things up a bit. I've added some of these below.


    Justin's Nut Butter Natural Maple Almond Butter, 16-Ounce Plastic Jar


    Artisana Macadamia/Cashew Butter


    Artisana Coconut Butter-Cacao Bliss
    This chocolate coconut butter would go great on ice cream!

  3. Add yogurt to the diet for the beneficial bacteria. Some antibiotics may be deadly for the elderly as they will wipe out the bad bacteria but the good too. Make sure you know the side effects of any antibiotic used. Yogurt with probiotics is a good choice once a day or so although make sure you're aware of the side effects of the added fiber in these yogurts (I wasn't....shoot....).

    If you crush your senior citizen's pills, mix them into a bit of yogurt or cottage cheese instead of applesauce.
  4. Add cheese to the diet in interesting ways. Add cheese into mashed potatoes or add it into rice during the last moments of cooking. Cheese sauce is always a welcomed addition to almost any vegetable. And, I don't know a senior citizen who doesn't love cornbread made with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese.
  5. Cook with extra large eggs. There's more protein and calories in extra large eggs but you may have to adjust your recipe for the additional volume. You can even add egg whites into a one egg omelet to get in a bit more protein and an extra bit of calories.
  6. Fix your senior citizen's favorite foods from days of old. My mom loves potato latkes and even though they're a bit of a pain to make, she gets them every time she asks. I also make her beet borscht (I top it with sour cream and serve it with a large slice of pumpernickel bread), mondle bread (Jewish almond cookies similar to biscotti), and other dishes she used to love as a child.

    Don't be exasperate if you go out of your way to cook a special meal and then end up serving your senior citizen a bowl of cereal as that's what they want. You win some, and you lose some...

Some old fashioned cookbooks might spark a senior citizen's appetite

Some of my cookbooks were handed down from my Mom who had them over 70 years. I've just recently bought newer versions of the old cookbooks which delighted Mom as now I have the front pages and the index! The below are all good cookbooks that might help you cook some interesting dishes for your senior citizen friend.
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Suggestion #4 in Healthy eating for senior citizens

Dessert shooters to the rescue

dessert shooterThe other thing I love to write about (besides caregiving) is making delicious dessert shooters for my Mom - mini desserts served in glasses from 2-5 ounces. Since her appetite is so small, one dessert shooter gets some calories into her while satisfying her sweet tooth at the same time. Come read about some of my more inventive recipes in the dessert shooter articles below:

Dessert shooters - the new craze in mini desserts
More delicious dessert shooter ideas
Key lime pie dessert shooters
Tiramisu dessert shooter
Smores dessert shooters

And, this Squidoo article has a recipe for a very old type of egg custard that your senior citizen might like:

Egg custard for dessert shooters.

That's Mom to the right with a Brown Cow Dessert Shooter. She's a fan!

Suggestion #5 in Healthy eating for senior citizens

Recipe for biscuits

biscuits made with eggI snuck an extra large egg into Mom's biscuits this morning for some added protein. The biscuits came out a bit heavier than normal, but Mom loved them just the same. I did have to adjust the cooking time and temperature from the normal bisquick recipe though. Here's what I did:

1 cup bisquick
1 extra large egg
1/8 cup milk

Mix the above in a bowl and place 3 large drop biscuits on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for about 11-13 minutes.

My other senior citizen articles

I write a lot of articles about caring for my darling Mother in the hopes that they will help others who are coming down my same path. i learned by the seat of my pants, but that doesn't mean you have to.
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Mom and I love to check in to see if we have any comments

Please leave us a comment if you liked (or even hated!) this Squidoo article. I'm always interested in what others have to say.

  • Ladymermaid Mar 25, 2012 @ 6:09 pm | delete
    Hi hon I hope you are doing well. I am just letting you know in this comment that you have some spam comments which need to be removed. The very best of wishes.
  • Stacie Mar 6, 2012 @ 8:36 am | delete
    I enjoyed more looking at the photos of your mom enjoying your bond. This is really sweet of you especially how you want others to emulate how you take care of your mom from the things needed to the food she needed because old age is more prone of bone fractures which may lead to arthritis, Your lens is very helpful. DePuy Pinnacle Recall
  • James D. Jan 30, 2012 @ 3:43 am | delete
    Senior citizens need very much care and love. Best tea and healthy meal supplements are hard to ignore for them. I think you have listed the best list for the eating list for elders. I have also read your other Squidoo posts regarding senior citizens. Really lovely and handy posts. Thanks Gottaloveit. But healthy food with protein shakes are the primary key which needs to keep in mind for seniors.
  • Tipi Jan 26, 2012 @ 9:54 am | delete
    Leaving some angel dust to stir into some of your recipes and drinks...bon appetite'!
  • Tipi Jan 26, 2012 @ 9:53 am | delete
    Gertie, thank you so much for testing out all these ideas to help other seniors on your path of healthy eating with wonderful options!
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gottaloveit

I used to spend most of my days caring for my adorable 95 year old Mom, Gertie; she died peacefully in my arms Feb 15, 2012.

During down times (which... more »

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