Visiting Angels - March 2022

Visiting Angels - March 2022

March 2022

5274 Scotts Valley Dr., #102 Scotts Valley, CA 95066 831-430-0616 229 Reindollar Ave., Suite E Marina, CA 93933 831-392-0876 www.VisitingAngels.com/CentralCoast

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The One Thing I Wish I Understood for My Grandmother The Secret to Senior Nutrition

In all the years I knew my grandmother, she ate like a bird. She was a small woman, and often, her breakfasts consisted of coffee and a cookie.

alone or only eat with their spouse, whereas years ago, they had a family to feed or took lunch breaks with coworkers.

What’s more, the act of cooking can become complex. Mobility and joint pain may limit what a senior can do in the kitchen, and they may find cooking their favorite recipes unnecessary if the meal is just for them. Easy-to-make and non-nutritious foods, like TV dinners, chips, and candy, became staples in a senior’s diet simply out of convenience. On top of all of that, our taste buds change or disappear. It’s common that our ability to taste diminishes as we age, and that’s why many seniors opt for sugary or salty snacks. These flavors are easier for the small amount of taste buds they do have to comprehend.

When we went to IHOP, though, that changed.

This tiny, bitty woman would order the Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity plate, complete with buttermilk pancakes topped with fruit sauce and whipped cream, two sausage links, two pieces of bacon, hash browns, and two eggs. Then, she would eat the entire dish in one sitting. My mom even used to say, “I don’t know where she puts it!” Apparently, her low appetite only applied outside of the IHOP doors. I thought about my grandmother and her silly eating habits recently because I learned March is National Nutrition Month. I used to think my grandma didn’t have the best nutrition, but it wasn’t

As I pieced all of these components together in my career, I started to empathize with my grandmother. Starting her day with a cookie wasn’t healthy, but it was sweet. She could taste it and enjoy breakfast like everyone else. And she probably wasn’t very

until I began working with seniors that I came to understand why she enjoyed a cookie every morning, why she opted for overly sugary pancakes, and why the simple act of going out to eat expanded her stomach. Senior nutrition is an intricate issue. It’s common to lose your appetite as you age because you tend to move less, and your body no longer needs all that extra energy. Seniors also tend to eat less because they are in fewer social situations. They may live

hungry throughout her everyday life as she aged, but her appetite grew around us. She became a professional eater at IHop because she enjoyed socializing.

Grandma wasn’t being quirky or strange; she was just getting older.

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