Home Care in New Kensington PA
Being on a home care journey with your elderly loved one means taking care of her from various different angles. One of the most important of these angles is nutrition. What your parent eats and drinks makes a tremendous impact on her health and wellbeing, and can even impact her longevity. Finding ways to integrate the most nutrition-packed foods into her daily routine helps to keep her at her best so that she can enjoy the highest quality of life throughout her aging years.
March 25 is Pecan Day, a perfect chance to explore one of those healthy foods. Pecans are a richly nutritious food that are also delicious to integrate into a wide variety of meals and snacks. Just a handful or two of these nuts a day can help your senior achieve and maintain her best health as she ages in place. Some of the nutritional benefits of pecans include:
- Healthier mind. Protecting your loved one’s mind is likely already a central focus of your care routine, and pecans are a great way to work toward that. Studies have shown that adding just a few servings of pecans a week into your parent’s diet can actually slow the progression of degeneration in the motor neurons. This can help to protect her mind against diseases like ALS. The high vitamin E content in pecans also guards against cell damage, which can protect the mind from issues such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Research has shown that those who eat diets that contain pecans experience a delay in motor function decline as well.
- Healthier heart. The antioxidants in pecans also protect the cells of the heart, guarding against damage and helping to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association has declared that pecans are a heart-healthy food, citing that 60 percent of the fat content in pecans is made up of monounsaturated fats, and 30 percent is polyunsaturated. These healthy fats support heart function and fit in with all of the newest nutritional guidelines.
- Healthy weight maintenance. If you want to support your parent in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, pecans are a fantastic snack option. Studies have indicated that eating these particular nuts can boost metabolic rates while also providing lasting satiety. This means that the nuts will fill your parent up so that she is not hungry, and will also raise her calorie burning rate.
- Sodium free. For seniors who are on special diets that restrict sodium, it can seem like they are no longer able to enjoy flavorful, satisfying snacks. Pecans, however, are naturally sodium free. This means that unless you are choosing roasted and salted versions, your parent can enjoy the rich flavor and satisfying crunch and filling factor without worrying about the salt.
Try some of these delicious ways that you and your parent’s in home health care services provider can integrate more pecans into her diet:
- Try pecan butter instead of peanut butter
- Add some chopped pecans on top of her favorite salad
- Mix with dried fruit and pieces of dark chocolate for a satisfying trail mix.
If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in New Kensington, PA, please call and talk to the caring staff at Extended Family Care of Pittsburgh at (412) 693-6009. We will answer all of your questions.
Sources:
http://www.shape.com/blogs/fit-foodies/pop-pecan-not-pill
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