Seniors Site

Unfortunately, growing old means change of eating habits too since the body no longer possesses the flexibility and adaptability it once had. For one, due to everyday wear and tear, your digestive system must be having a difficult time now processing the food you eat. This would mean foregoing those sinfully delicious foods and beverages you’ve grown to love. To make matters worse, this seems to be not a choice for you to make. If you are lucky, you’ll be able to keep some of your unhealthy diet habits but most of it should really go if you want to keep living a healthy life longer than it should be.

Here are some basic food groups that you should be avoiding now, especially if lifestyle disease symptoms are beginning to show:

·    Fried Foods. Need to say more? We already know why this food group is bad for us without me having to say it. The term alone can bring shivers down our spine but you must admit, deepfrieds are good but they can be deadly. In fact, it is a major contributing factor of obesity among older people.
·    Artificial sweeteners. Granted, they are sweet and it brings no guilt whatsoever. No more bland foods for you now because of these mini-wonders but you also know these things are pure chemicals right? So chemically-laden that I almost believe it should belong to a drugstore rather than the supermarket. Aside from that, the very first artificial sweetener to ever hit the market was banned due to its addictive components so if you are doing it just for fun then I would suggest go find another object of amusement and prolong your life.
·    Grilled foods. Bbq parties are the greatest and honestly, It’s one gathering that I wouldn’t dare miss! Unfortunately, grilled foods are included in the “no-no” list as studies show that charred foods develop carcinogens which will then be transferred to your body upon consumption.
·    Processed foods. Although they originated from natural products, they went through “processing” which closely resembles dousing the supposedly natural product with God-only-knows-what chemicals to make it last longer. If I will go look for unprocessed food, there are two words I am most likely to avoid: expiry date. It if has one, then it must be “processed”.
·    Premade foods/frozen food trays or what we fondly called as TV dinners. These babies are absolute fun! You just stick them inside the microwave and viola! Instant meal that is filling and not to mention, addictive regardless of their form and semblance but you know it still falls under the “processed’ category right? If you would like to go for premade, opt to prepare your own during weekends or whenever you are free then just freeze it.

It was always said that the key to healthier, longer lives is diet. Not the lose-your-fats kind of diet but the well-balanced one since seniors are not anymore encouraged to do—or even attempt—drastic diet alterations. What we must aim at is not only losing a couple of pounds (if we’re overweight) but maintaining a healthy body so that it can ward off potentially fatal diseases easily. A proper mindset can help you achieve this goal.

In a way, it’s like preparing your body for a battle. You must properly nourish it so it will be strong enough to withstand trial and tribulations. Just imagine if these so-called “lifestyle diseases” caught you at your most vulnerable time i.e tired, beaten and hungry. You could just imagine how much damage it can inflict upon you. Please do remember that most lifestyle diseases are irreversible, so as much as possible, do stay away from it and never let it anywhere near you!

So now you know why crash dieting is never an option for you, nor diet pills and what-not. It’s unhealthy, not to mention very risky. Risk is no longer a luxury we can afford so better stay at the safer side than traverse your way without knowing what’s there for you. Although, there seemed to be so many issues to consider when going through the diet route which makes it all the more tempting to go the other way, the good news is, it can be done even in your own simple ways. No signature diet, no counting calories, just your basic, everyday-kind-of-life diet that is realistic enough to be easily remembered! Here are your daily diet tips for a healthier you:

·    Drink plenty of water. Lots and lots of it! Colored, flavored and anything in between are not counted anymore, just pure, clean drinking water counts. The easiest way to do this is to carry a water jug with you all the time and drink even if you are not that thirsty. Consider this as your body’s mechanical oil; keeps everything else in you in moving condition!
·    Never skip a meal, especially breakfast. Breakfast is what keeps you energized all throughout the day. A hearty breakfast won’t hurt you but as the day progresses, try to gradually lessen it so you won’t have any trouble sleeping at night.
·    Adequate amount of calcium and vitamin D. They go hand-in-hand. I heard somewhere that you even have to drink your milk in the morning out there under the sun to experience full effect although it was not proven, of course. But indeed, vitamin D is what helps bones to absorb calcium so you really need these two to save your bones.
·    Do without fats and sugar. Fats is what makes your cholesterol go high and sugar makes you prone to diabetes.
·    Go for fiber-rich foods. It fills the stomach well but keeps everything else you’ve eaten moving downward and out.

Centuries back, Celiac disease was known to exclusively plague kids until the later years of 1990’s when it was found out to be an inborn disease which many of us were said to have, only we were vaguely aware of it. Babies are known to be sensitive to many things, or we tend to be very observant around them thus early signs of the disease are detected at once. We believed Celiac disease to be something that can be outgrown, only to be corrected by medical researchers claiming otherwise. Now, Celiac disease is established as an auto-immune disorder that is both inborn and lifelong.

This medical development gave birth to what is now known as gluten-free diet. Gluten-free diet is a must for all Celiac disease sufferers and for those with gluten allergies. Dermatitis herpetiformis is known to have a very strong link to the aforementioned disease and is suspected of being Celiac disease’s complication. Since the lifestyle has diet written all over it, diet gurus are quick to pick up, evangelizing gluten to be a bad protein that harms the body.

Celiac disease tends to be harder to spot than most illnesses since its symptoms can range from mild to moderate to severe. Because of this, health care providers now consider Celiac disease when checking a patient. What bothers these health care providers is the staggering number of seniors whom they suspect of having the disease. When left untreated, it can trigger, or even lead to, most fatal diseases such as gastric cancer, liver cancer, diabetes and even Alzheimer’s disease. Upon consumption of gluten, the most typical symptoms of Celiac disease are weight loss, anemia and diarrhea. A gluten-free diet is known to alleviate symptoms and help improve the sufferer’s health tremendously.

At early stages, Celiac disease is not at all fatal but its complications prove to be one. It triggers underlying diseases making it manifest prematurely and when they do, they are often unmanageable. When left undetected—and untreated—it can cause the sufferer great deal of pain later in life. Studies have shown Celiac disease to be hereditary so when your grandson’s pediatrician diagnosed him to have one, it is better to have yourself checked too by your own doctor. Working with your doctor proves to be the best thing you can do to keep the disease in check.

Aging brings inevitable problems to a person. A senior may experience more health problems than his or her aging neighbor while the neighbor may have been going through a lot emotionally nowadays. A senior can be bothered by health problems or mental problems—or worst, both. Unfortunately, it really happens even if we take certain precautionary measures to avoid them. It seems that as we age, these problems will come up no matter what. Of course, the number of problems that will occur can vary widely, depending on how good you managed to skip or delay them during your lifetime. This also includes your genes since hereditary factors play a very significant role in one’s aging.

According to a survey conducted to a group of people aging 65 and beyond, problems of old age come in two forms. One is emotionally and two is physically. Experts believe that these two are actually intertwined, which means, if one area is suffering, the other might also be taking the same blow. Here are some examples of emotional problems senior must have encountered once or twice during old age:

·    Insecurity. Lack of security in seniors could come from their current financial status or the sudden loss of upper hand within the family.
·    Critical judgment. Most seniors tend to be hypercritical especially towards the younger generation. Seniors cannot be blamed though, after all they have been through.
·    A nagging feeling that somehow you’ve failed. When we’re done criticizing others, we now turn to ourselves.
·    Stopped setting goals. When faced with the reality that the end might come nearer than expected, we see no use for long-term goals and instead we get stuck in the past.
·    Culture shock. Seniors often find themselves quite disturbed with what has been happening around them thus the feeling of being alienated from their surroundings.
·    Knowing all the answers and yet no one bothered to ask. Feeling useless is often a discomforting feeling for seniors.

Aside from these troubling emotional problems for seniors, there are marked physical changes that they need to contend with. Of course, as we age, so does our bodies. Like machines, every part has an expiry date. This is when your body parts start to show signs of wear and tear. Some of the most common health problems for seniors are:

·    Hypertension.
·    Eye and Ear problems.
·    Heart problems.
·    Impaired mental capacity.
·    Your reproductive organs.
·    Hormonal problems.
·    Digestive system.
·    Sleeping patterns.

Like stated earlier, most problems of old age are related to one another. It is best to find the connection between each of them to know the root cause of your problem. This way, it will be easier to find the perfect solution to help you overcome the problem.

There’s a new trend in town and it is infecting seniors worldwide. They are fun and addicting and boy, they really take the blues away!

If you are a senior who finds so much time in your hands with too little things to do, it’s about time to try your hand at blogging and see how far it can get you. It can be a great past time, hobby or even an income generating activity to fill up those vacant times you seem to have nowadays. Soon you’ll find yourself deeply engaged to blogging that it will be quite impossible to pry you away from that computer! The good news is, now you’ll have more reasons to blog since experts say it might even be good for your aging brain.

For those who got interested in blogging, let’s cover the basics first. Blogging is when you write for a blog and get your entries published realtime. Its functionality is very much similar to a website, only made simpler for normal people like you and me. For beginners who would like to test the waters first, you can sign up for free in blog platforms such as Wordpress and Blogger. After a little while, you can opt to buy your space and register it for more flexibility. It’s simple enough to learn and baby steps will work out just fine as most blog owners did when starting out. Typically, a blogger would write about their interests since they are the easiest to work on. Some notable blogs maintained by seniors are about cooking, fishing, barbequing and other hobby-related stuff. There are also senior blogs which chronicle their lives including its pain and joy as it happens. Interaction is highly encouraged in senior blogs.

With that said, we now move on to the benefits of blogging to seniors aside from the interaction and social aspects of it. Studies show that blogging has been the best alternative for traditional mind sports like chess and crossword puzzles. It helps an aging mind to stay sharp and focused. Furthermore, blogging requires constant researching to come up with quality articles to post, this in return makes seniors keep up with current events. Blogs provide a great way to connect and meet people who happen to be interested with the very same things you do too. Most of all, blogs allow you to share valuable life lessons through writing and posting. In a way, earning you recognition and fame for a job well done.

If you are a caregiver or you have been living with a senior for quite sometime now, are you sure your senior is healthy and not on the verge of malnutrition? Sometimes seniors tend to forget about how important good nutrition is for them and just eat whenever they feel the need to, unfortunately when a senior is experiencing too much pain or is suffering emotionally, the last thing on their minds would be eating and nutrition. It now depends on their housemates to monitor their nutrition more than ever.

There are many varying factors why seniors may have overlooked their health. It can be due to the fact that some seniors live alone thus they don’t see the need to cook real food and opt to dine elsewhere. It can also be due to digestive problems which limit food choices for older adults while others find it hard to keep up with food preparation due to mobility problems. These reasons alone can tell you how vulnerable seniors are to malnutrition. Below are signs you need to look for when you are in doubt about your senior’s health:

·    Loss of appetite. When trying to determine whether your senior is eating right, don’t just ask them because if they were not, they won’t know the difference. Try spending time with the beloved senior and dine with them. Notice their appetite when served with their favorite foods as well as their reaction when invited to dine out.
·    Sudden weight loss. Drastic weight loss in a span of 3 months is not at all normal. Weight loss can be a sign of many different health conditions, emotional and otherwise. Consult a doctor immediately when you see this sign.
·    When visiting a senior, check their pantry and refrigerator just to have an idea what they have been eating these days. Check expiration dates and for spoiled foods. Throw away items that may endanger the senior’s health when mistakenly eaten and do the honors to replenish their stock with nutritional foods.
·    A dead-giveaway of malnutrition is the skin, particularly its tone. It should have healthy and hydrated look to it.
·    Positive disposition. Sudden change in the senior’s outlook in life can signify of something that others should be alarmed of. When a happy person suddenly turned lethargic and withdrawn, it’s about time you interfere.
·    Seniors with mental problems are often nutrition-neglected so do the best you can by making sure your senior gets everything his or her body needs.
·    The medications they take can also affect the way they taste foods, often making them lose appetite and do without eating altogether. When you notice this effect, discuss this with their doctor at once.

Along with aging comes physical changes that most of the time, seniors find them embarrassing to handle. Unfortunately, no matter how much we loath these changes which signify advance age, they will come. For seniors, it seems that the only thing we can do for this inevitable predicament is to delay them as much as possible, face them when they come and just make the most out of these changes. In other words, if we like to stay “likeable”, we must do damage control when the need be.

One of these physical changes that seniors suffer is dental problems. Although dental problems are not an imminent danger to one’s health, it can bring about embarrassing situations if not taken cared for beforehand. Also, it is most important for seniors to keep in touch with their dentist especially as they age further. This is because many mouth problems may indicate other underlying health problems that can be more serious and threatening to our health.

If the only thing that’s been hindering you to visit your doctor today is the fear that he or she may pull all of your damaged teeth out, then fret no more. Today, every dentist worldwide goes for restoration as they possibly could because they know all too well how a toothless grin can affect one’s self-esteem. Needless to say, a senior should not hesitate to go to his or her dentist to get the mouth job done. Here are some few good reasons why you need to see a dentist today:

·    It is common for seniors to suffer dry mouth or xerostomia. Seniors should be aware that dry mouth can cause tooth loss and other oral problems like sores, sore throat and gum disease. Dentists say that the number one contributing factor of dry mouth in older adults is the medication they take.
·    Receding gums is closely related with your weakening bones. When your jaw bones shrinks, the gums follow suit. Furthermore, gum diseases especially when they are left untreated for years now, can encourage your gums to recede in a much faster phase. This can lead to tooth loss and root decay.
·    Tooth discoloration or darkening teeth on the other hand is more of a lifestyle condition which can worsen overtime. To stay away from tooth discoloration, experts advice seniors to avoid beverages that can darken your teeth such as coffee and tea. Smoking also induces tooth discoloration.
·    Gum diseases are usually caused by our own oral hygiene. If it had been poor then your gums are now prone to gum diseases that proved to be very troublesome when they manifest. Plaques for one, can cause tooth loss to affected seniors.

Stress can strike at any age. In fact, it can strike at any time without the person even knowing it. It was even recorded that a person is most likely to suffer at least one period of depression brought about stress in his or her entire lifetime. Furthermore, stress can be in forms of physical and psychological, the later being the more sneaky and destructive of the two.

Many have survived stress fairly unscathed, unfortunately, seniors are only a small number of it. Experts say that stress and depression in younger people are easier to detect since the person involved is most likely to recognize the signs at once while older adults, due to many stressful events they face everyday tend to overlook these telltale signs and dismiss them as part of the situation at hand. Some of the known stressful events which seniors put up with everyday are chronic aches and pain, illnesses and diseases, loss of a loved-one and financial status of the person. Here are some tips for seniors to reduce stress today, although it won’t guarantee a hundred percent no stress, it can alleviate and prevent it even for a bit:

·    Exercise is good for your mental and physical health. Even if you are not going for a hot bod, regular exercise makes a person feel good inside and out because for one, it releases toxins from the body and two, it activates the happy hormones.
·    Planning ahead will help you tremendously. When you plan, you’re well-prepared when the anticipated incident happens. Also, it will help you spot those potential problems that could occur along the way.
·    Get enough rest and sleep. It’s okay if you are having a hard time sleeping, you don’t have to push yourself too hard to sleep but instead, rest and don’t think about it. Just rest. It will help you refresh the mind for better understanding of things.
·    One of the most telltale signs of stress is when you suddenly feel short of breath as if there’s someone sitting right on top of your chest. When this happens, it’s time to back down a bit, breath deep and release tension.
·    Sometimes, anticipating bad things to happen is not pessimism. When you anticipate, you must be able to use it for planning your actions instead of dwelling on it for too long. You anticipate, plan and move on. While you’re at it, come up with backup plans too.
·    Counting your blessings will help you find peace of mind amidst chaos. Always do this in times of need.
·    Never take on a job that is too demanding for your age. Aging has its own limitations. Even if you feel much younger than your real age, it doesn’t mean you must use them all up.
·    Do things that are important to you. These activities can make you happy so you should stick with them.

Remember that happiness is a choice and when you choose to be happy, you’ll keep stress at bay. It’s okay to feel lonely every once in a while but the sooner you move on, the better it is for your own health.

Taking the first step in exercising is quite hard. Not only it seemed daunting, but also it can be challenging for an aging body such as ours. But once you get hooked on it, there’s no stopping you. When you think getting started is hard, wait until somebody points out those exercise hazards you’ve been taking unconsciously.

I would like to think that exercising is a constant challenge for the body. In this day and age, it seems that nobody is getting an adequate load of physical work hence the need to really go out of your way just to satisfy your body’s needs. Also, upon observation, I find that the body indeed memorizes your everyday physical demands such as when you hop on the bus, your body will instruct one-by-one all those involved parts of your body to complete the task. Notice how your right or left hand automatically reaches out for the bars to support your body when climbing, or how your left or right foot automatically steps up the ladder. These “automatic” actions are your body’s most comfortable movement and sadly, exercising is not because you don’t do it everyday unless you’re an athlete or exercising is a way of life for you.

It is highly recommended for seniors to train under the watchful eyes of a certified fitness instructor, no matter how proud you are of your capabilities. Everyday, the fitness world undergoes evolution and new equipments are introduced for the market to test. It only goes to say that new equipments pose new challenges as well and if there’s no one to keep an eye on you while you train, you’ll only increase your risk of being injured by these machines. Here are some points you need to consider while exercising:

·    Be very weary of new and complicated machines. When a new equipment comes in, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to use them at once. Give it some time and observe how people use it. When trying it out for the first time, be sure that your physical instructor is right there beside you.
·    Cardios are intense and it can be very challenging to a weary body. When a routine is making your body unable to support its weight, then might as well stop while you can. Cardio is done to make the heart go faster and so does your body’s metabolism rate, overdoing it will defeat the purpose all together.
·    Maintain a proper form when exercising. Many have fallen in this unavoidable trap just because longtime gym-going fellows think they already have perfected their forms while in reality their bodies only adjusted to the demand but never adapted the proper form. Lifting too much weight which your body finds it impossible to accommodate will only result to irreversible injuries. Lift only that is proper for your body.
·    Targeting your abdominals when you already have back problems is serious. Instead go for exercises that strengthen the whole core, namely the sides, back, and abdominals. Crunches are too strenuous for your back, opt for other alternatives instead.
·    Always remember to do warm-ups and cool-downs before and after doing routines.

Are you having trouble with your legs when trying not to move or when relaxing? Do normal day-to-day activities like sleeping and sitting still giving you problems most of the time? Do you experience unpleasant sensation, more like there’s crawling, creeping and burning feeling inside your entire leg but for sure it’s not cramps? Then you might be experiencing RLS or restless leg syndrome.

You would know that it is indeed a restless leg syndrome if these sensations manifest only when your legs are kept immobile for quite sometime. These sensations will only demonstrate when the leg starts to relax and would only go away when you move your entire leg such as jiggling and shaking. Unfortunately, the relief is temporary as it will only go back when you try to relax once more. In other words, a senior can only keep them at bay if they will not stop moving for longer periods of time which proves to be impossible especially when trying to sleep or traveling long distances. It was also believed to be worse in nighttime and better in daytime. Furthermore, it can also occur in different parts of the body especially the arms.

Although restless leg syndrome is mostly associated with seniors, younger adults—even kids—experience them too but it seems that this condition progresses as the years go by so ultimately, symptoms and frequency intensify as we grow older. RLS in itself is not an immediate health risk but it can severely affect a senior’s life since suffering from this condition will prevent sleep from happening. Lack of sleep will cause daytime drowsiness and impaired concentration—all of which are very hazardous to seniors’ life.

Evidently, there is no known cause for restless leg syndrome but experts believe that this is a nervous system disorder which affects the neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters process the brain signals and control muscle movement. It also acts as the middle man for your brain and skin that when the skin experiences a sensation, it will process the sensation into a message which the brain would then understand. Aside from this basic fact about restless leg syndrome, other suspected causes are:  Iron deficiency, hereditary, diabetes and too much alcohol in the blood. It was also noted to be present in the last trimester of pregnancy when a woman’s body is in a lot of stress.

As of this moment, healthcare providers have no recommended preventive measure for seniors suffering from RLS. Furthermore, there is no discovered cure yet. However, some lifestyle adjustments are highly recommended for RLS sufferers such as:

·    Seek massage therapy options available for you. This is done to help you relax and encourage good blood circulation.
·    Regular exercise also help in overall muscle stimulation so it only goes to say that engaging in one will be very beneficial for seniors.
·    It was noted that when the patient cuts back on caffeine intake, the condition improves although the link is not yet established. This noted improvement was also seen when known aggravators such as alcohol and nicotine were not introduced into the system for days.
·    Your healthcare provider may prescribe medications to alleviate the symptoms. Take them when needed.