Does a Senior with Alzheimer’s Disease Need a Special Diet to Manage Their Condition?

By superadmin | November 22, 2017 |

Whether you have been caring for your aging parent for some time or you have just gotten started on your family caregiver journey with them, something that you have likely heard a considerable amount about is their diet and its importance in helping them manage their health. What they eat can make a tremendous difference in their well-being, and support their management of health conditions and challenges. If your parent has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, you may be wondering if this concept applies to this condition as well.

Senior Care in Colts Neck NJ: Alzheimer’s and Diet

Unlike many other health conditions or challenges, there is no special diet that is designed to manage Alzheimer’s disease, or specific dietary recommendations that are made in an effort to control or minimize the condition. Instead, those living with the condition and their family caregivers should focus on a healthy, balanced diet aimed at supporting health and giving their body what it needs to stay resilient and strong. This can help your parent to maintain their weight, avoid health challenges, and even reduce their risk of infection and illness.

Some things to keep in mind when designing a diet for a senior who is living with Alzheimer’s disease include:

Provide as much variety in their diet as possible to cover the widest range of nutrients and to stimulate your parent’s mind through their eating.
Limit saturated fats, refined sugars, and fats.
Focus on nutrient-dense foods first.
If your parent struggles with eating, encourage greater nutrition by offering easy to consume nutrient sources such as smoothies, protein shakes, and fruit or vegetable-based soups.

Starting senior care for your aging parent can be one of the best decisions that you can make for your aging parent throughout the course of your caregiver journey with them. A senior home care services provider can be there with your aging parent on a fully customized schedule to ensure that they have access to all of the care, support, and assistance that they need to live the quality of life that they desire and deserve throughout their later years. Through a highly personalized set of services, this care provider can help your parent stay healthy, happy, comfortable, and safe, as well as encourage them to live a lifestyle that is as independent, active, and fulfilling as possible. These services can include assistance with personal care tasks and activities of daily living, fulfillment of daily needs such as running errands and going to appointments, physical support and assistance, help with keeping the home clean and safe, and companionship to boost mental and emotional health and keep them at their best as they age in place.