Why Elderly People Don't Eat

Proper nutrition is vital to your parent for maintaining health, retaining and building bone mass and, importantly, to enable medications to work effectively in the body -- and possibly with fewer side effects.

But, what if Mom or Dad won't eat whether properly, or won't eat enough? This creates an added challenge to you as caregiver. There may be valid reasons that your parent may shy away from dining. As the caregiver, you want to uncover the reasons why your parent is not eating, and try to address the underlying issues. Here are 10 reasons why seniors sometimes don't eat properly, according to the National Institutes of Health and its National Institute on Aging, plus augmented in one-on-one-interviews of professional caregivers.

1. Reduction in Senses of Smell and Taste

Dining involves many senses: aromas, colors and tastes in one's mouth; but many mature adults experience a lessening of the senses of smell and sense of taste in their aging process. There is a reduction in the experience that, in turn, lessens the personal desire for food. There is no magic pill to restore full senses of smell and taste.

As caregiver and chief cook, you can alter your recipes, switching from typical spices used in the past or as used by your parent in his or her own cooking, to herbs and spices with a bit more zing, and that introduce a new, added flavor to the dish.

2. Reduction in Sense of Sight

Cataracts and other conditions in the eyes can reduce your parent's visual perception of the meal servings, thereby reducing the image to "blurr."

You can easily enhance the visual representation by increasing the food colors on the plate, separating them so that the colors are defined and easily perceived. Consider a main course with a colorful topping, a multi-colored salad, red potatoes, or orange carrots. Of course, vary the plate presentation by the day, that is, unless your parent really responds to one or two of your designer presentations. In this way you can reach effectively through to the remaining sense of vision.

3. Medications

Some medications have side effects that can change your parent's sense of taste or make her or him less hungry. Ask your parent's doctor if the prescribed medications or medical treatments are causing loss of appetite, bad taste or no flavor.

Tasteless after Medication

The physician may be able to substitute with a different medication, or prescribe an added medication to correct the problem.

4. Constipation

A side effect of many prescription drugs is constipation, a most uncomfortable conditionwhere the patient claims to have no room left for additional food. The first step to solution is to reduce the incidence of constipation.

Consider increasing the amount of water your parent drinks throughout the day and the percentage of food that will actually help the functioning of your parent's elimination system. With the proper diet and nutrition, the water will help clear the digestion system and, therefore, the volume of food retained in the stomach.

5. Problems with Chewing

If your parent has trouble chewing, he or she may have a teeth or gum problem or, if wearing dentures, the appliances may need to be adjusted. Advise your Mom or Dad's dentist about the chewing problem so that the specialist can check and correct the teeth, gums or dentures.

Chewing problems can often be resolved by eating softer foods. This can be resolved by replacing raw vegetables and fresh fruits with cooked vegetables or juices. Good nutrition can also be found in foods like applesauce and canned peaches or other fruits.

Ground or shredded meats are typically easy to chew or, in lieu of meat, consider soft foods such as cooked, dry beans, eggs, tofu, tuna fish and such.

6. Dining Alone 

A meal is often enjoyed more when the event is shared with another person or a group. Try to share at least one of the meals each day with your parent so you can visit, talk about a new or adjusted recipe, or discuss events and outings.

Recruit other family members, friends and neighbors to join Mom or Dad regularly for lunch or dinner. Recommend that they visit with your parent on any subject other than illness or limitation, and that they ask questions to help Mom or Dad retain and even expand mental agility and ability. Anticipating the visit will surely entice your parent the dining table.

Research local "meal events," such as lunch at the Senior Center. The meal will be healthy, and your parent can visit with other mature adults in a communal setting. Your local Area Agency on Aging can provide the sites and contact information, plus if volunteer drivers or specialized transit services are available for transportation.

7. Lack of Knowledge/Motivation

Draw Mom or Dad into the plan:

• "Mom/Dad, if we can make sure you have proper nutrition, we can reduce the side effects of your medication; 
• We can help your medications work better; 
• You will probably feel better; 
• We can celebrate our mutual life together for far longer. 

If your parent understands the vital role of nutrition in her or his life, and agrees with the approach, you have a partner for all the right reasons.

In this step, offer a positive comment at least once each day to your parent that "with your proper nutrition, we have taken another giant step forward in your health and independence."

8. Unwillingness to Cook 

If you can't prepare all the meals, call for help. There may be a Meals that can be order and deliver to you right at your door step. Your parent then only needs to heat the meal as recommended, and then dine in style.

If you have time, you can treat her or him to lunch or dinner in a restaurant to enhance the dining experience. The meal will probably be prepared and seasoned differently than your own recipe. Continue to focus on the healthy foods in the diet program. Dining out will also give you a break from your kitchen chores.

9. The Last Resort if Your Elderly Mom or Dad Still Won't Eat

Proper nutrition is vital for your parent. If all of the above fail to work, seek the counsel of your parent's physician. Forced feeding may be the only alternative, and the doctor may direct your parent to a hospital for forced feeding combined with examinations to determine if he or she has any physical reason for declining food, and then treating or correcting the cause.

As caregiver, your nutrition mission is important. You can, indeed, ensure that your Mom or Dad is in the best possible and functional health.

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Is It Bad for Your Health to Hold in a Fart?

Even though we all know farting is a fact of life, but it's not exactly something you want to do in polite company—or even in front of someone who knows all your flaws, like your significant other. As an alternative, maybe you hold it in for hours until you're alone and can get the sweet, sweet release of letting it all out. It's a normal urge, but can keeping your gas bottled tight screw with your system? 

Oppsies.. Sorry~

Here’s What You Need to Know. 

When your body tries to get rid of gas buildup, it'll either do so via a belch that leaves your mouth or flatulence that escapes from your rectum. Burping is often a result of "air aphasia," a.k.a. eating air. "Some people tend to swallow more air when they talk or chew gum,” says Lisa Ganjhu, a doctor of osteopathy and a clinical assistant professor of medicine and gastroenterology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. “That air collects in their stomachs before eventually coming out, usually as a burp."

Unlike burping, farting causes are a little less straightforward. "Sometimes bacteria or food ferment in the stomach, leading to acidity and gas," says Ganjhu. Food issues like lactose or gluten intolerance can also turn you into a tooting machine. Even if your tummy can handle milk and wheat like a pro, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and asparagus contain fructans, carbohydrates that are a little tougher to digest and can lead to more gas as your body tries to break them down, says Ganjhu.

Normal Bacteria in stomach

So Can You Just Hold It In?

Breathe a sigh of relief: Chances are highly unlikely it'll seriously affect your health, says Ganjhu. But try as you might, if your body wants to get rid of some extra air, it's going to happen eventually. "You pass gas 10 to 20 times a day, often without even realizing it,” she says. “It's a normal byproduct of your digestion of food." Sure, while you're focused on clenching your buns together like it's the last rep of barre class, you might manage to keep everything inside. But as soon as you get distracted, the floodgates will probably open. "As you're walking and going about your business, your body will pass the air," says Ganjhu.

Having it too heavy

That being said, the only real exception to the "holding in your farts won't seriously injure you" rule is people who have severe obstructions in their colons. "In that case, the colon blows up like a balloon because of the blockage,” says Ganjhu. “If there are any weaknesses in the walls, eventually it can burst." Although that paints a frighteningly vivid picture, there's no real reason to be worried, says Ganjhu; that kind of thing only happens with critically ill patients, and even then, it's rare. 

Bloating

And although holding in your gas won't actually harm you, it can still make you feel like a sausage in too-tight casing. "Your digestive tract is like one of those big balloons clowns use to make animals,” says Ganjhu. “Anything that affects downstream will affect upstream.” What she means is any sort of air buildup lower in your gastrointestinal tract, like in your colon, will eventually push upward and cause bloating and discomfort around your midsection.

Your Farting M.O.

Your best bet is to excuse yourself to the restroom where you can relieve yourself in peace. Better now, when you expect it, than to have one squeak out in the middle of a meeting because you're trying to hold it in, right? If your goal is to cut down on your farting in the first place, try consuming more probiotics, which can help align the bacteria in your gut. "Fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, and sauerkraut, are all good ways to get more probiotics, or you can try probiotic pills specifically for your digestive tract," says Ganjhu. 

And if you needed another reason to stay away from fake sweeteners, here you have it: "Fat-free and sugar-free sweeteners are full of non-absorbable sugars, which are non-digestible and come out as gas or diarrhea," says Ganjhu.

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4 Simple Ways To Help Keep Alzheimer's Out Of Your Future

Exercise, a good diet, and mental challenges are great for your brain individually. Together? They'll make you unstoppable, at least according to animal studies. Here, ranked from most-research-backed to least, are the things to focus on.

1. Exercise 3 hours a week.

You've experienced it yourself on a mind-clearing walk: Moving your body is freaking great for your brain, both now and years from now. Majid Fotuhi of NeurExpand recommends keeping your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes at a time. In one study, people who increased their three weekly walks from 10 to 40 minutes expanded their hippocampi by 2% after a year—the equivalent of getting 2 to 4 years younger above the neck. Exercise increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that's essentially fertilizer for the brain.

2. Meditate 10 minutes a day.

Too much cortisol is hippocampal poison. Basic mindful meditation is an effective weapon against it (as is exercise). Fotuhi trains his patients to start with a simple 5-5-5 routine: Sit up straight, close your eyes, and inhale slowly for a count of 5, then exhale for a count of 5. Do this for 5 minutes. Stay with the count and the movement of your breath, even if your mind wanders. Practice this twice a day—or, if you're stressed all the time, 3 or 4 daily.

3. Get 1,500 mg of omega-3s daily.

Researchers studied 1,000 postmenopausal women, looking at their levels of two fatty acids found in fish, called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

They found that women with significantly higher levels of the two fatty acids in their red blood cells also tended to have larger brains, and larger hippocampuses, the part of the brain associated with forming memories.

Fish for healthier brain

4. Memorize something every day.

Growing your brain might not be as simple as signing up for Lumosity—in fact, Fotuhi and a host of other neurologists find such arbitrary games to be ineffective—but making a habit of memorizing things will tone your hippocampi. Med students whose hippocampi were measured before and after they prepped for the boards substantially expanded their hippocampi after studying. 

A sport good for memories

People who learned to juggle (which is essentially memorization of physical movements) showed an increase in gray matter after 3 months. UCLA neurologist Gary Small recommends cross training, too. "Your brain loves variety," he says, so challenge it whenever you can. Increased social interaction helps, as does learning a new skill or language.

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