Tasty food and drinks are some of the joys of life, but for the Catholic Healthcare clinical care coordination team, there are health and wellbeing benefits that come with eating well and staying hydrated.
As we transition out of lockdowns, with restrictions gradually easing and with the Christmas holiday season fast approaching, it has never been more critical for our clients to look out for their nutritional health and wellbeing.
“Many of our clients will be keen to get back outdoors and enjoy the sunshine with family and friends. But with the summer heat and increased activity, there are risks to older people’s health,” says Sr Ruth, Clinical Care Coordinator of Home & Community Services.
“Food is as important as medication. Our teams are actively taking a range of measures to check that our clients are aware of the health risks and have access to a variety of good quality, healthy foods.”
Ensuring that we have sufficient intake of nutritious food becomes more important as we age. Without good food and drink, there is a greater risk of muscle and skeletal problems, falls, dehydration, skin complaints, chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and even some cancers and mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression.
As we get older, we need to keep choosing healthy foods to support our health and as appetites change, we may need to make an effort to eat and drink well, using every meal and snack as an opportunity for optimal nutrition and hydration.
Nutrition tips:
- Ensure you are getting enough daily calcium to support healthy bones, teeth and muscles. Protein is also excellent for building and repairing bones and muscles. Protein and calcium can be found in meat, fish, eggs, seafood, dairy, and soy products.
- Eating oily fish at least twice a week can also help keep your joints lubricated.
- Eat plenty of fibre to keep your bowels healthy. Fibre is found in wholegrain cereals and bread, fruit, dried fruit, beans, and lentils. If you don’t particularly like vegetables, eat more fruit. If you find fruit hard to eat, try fruit salad or tubs or canned fruit from the supermarket. Plenty of fluid (including water) is also very important to prevent constipation.
- Vitamins and minerals are important to help prevent infection and to keep our internal organs and skin healthy. Vitamins are better sourced from diet rather than from vitamin pills and can be found in all fruits and vegetables
Keeping up our fluid uptake is just as important as diet. Inadequate fluid intake can lead to dehydration, itchy skin, dry eyes, urinary infections, skin tears, skin infections and increased risk of falls.
Tips to stay hydrated this summer:
- Have fluid available nearby.
- Drink hot and cold drinks.
- Drink a glass of water with medication.
- Add soups, jelly and yogurts to your diet.
- Ensure your drinks are delicious.
For more information about your nutrition, call 1800 225 474 or visit
www.catholichealthcare.com.au/homecare