Helping your elderly loved one to keep their heart healthy can be tricky. Think about it – almost everyone loves their sweets and junk foods. Others really like to eat fatty meat such as bacon. However, these are some foods that your elderly loved one may need to give up or limit to keep their heart healthier. Here are a few heart-healthy food options that your senior may enjoy:
Fish
The most recommended heart-healthy food is fish. There are so many health benefits of this food including reducing the risk of heart disease and lowering bad cholesterol levels. The recommended servings for fish every week is two. There are numerous ways that you or an elder care provider could make fish for your elderly loved one, as well. It can be fried, baked, grilled, or pan-seared.
Citrus Foods
Did you know that there are numerous heart health benefits of citrus foods? Research shows that foods such as oranges and grapefruit help to lower the risk of ischemic strokes. If your elderly loved one doesn’t eat enough of these foods or they don’t really like them, there are ways to make them taste better. For example, your elderly loved one might be more willing to eat oranges if they are put into a fruit vegetable blended smoothie.
Dark Chocolate
Research shows that dark chocolate (in moderation) is good for the heart. Studies have shown that elderly people who eat a piece of dark chocolate every week have a lower risk of heart disease, chest pains, and other heart health issues. If your elderly loved one doesn’t like dark chocolate, there are other heart-healthy foods they can eat instead.
Oatmeal
One other great heart healthy food is oatmeal. Just as with the fish and citrus foods, there are different types of oatmeal that are beneficial to a person’s health. Overnight oats are easy to make and very healthy. If your elderly loved one doesn’t eat oatmeal because they don’t think it has much flavor, different things can be added to it, such as:
- Cinnamon
- Eggs
- Oranges
- Flaxseed
You or an elder care provider can look up oatmeal recipes. With all the different options, your elderly loved one won’t have to eat bland oatmeal and they won’t have to keep eating the same recipes over and over.
Conclusion
These are some of the best heart healthy foods for senior citizens. If you are concerned about your elderly loved one’s heart health, make sure you are encouraging them to eat more of these foods every week.
Sources
https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/topics/health-conditions/heart-health/heart-healthy-foods-shopping-list