As a family caregiver, this is the ideal opportunity for you to connect with your aging parent and encourage them to eat a healthier, more balanced diet, increase the nutrition they get on a regular basis, and live a healthier life through what they eat.

While there are many ways to do that, one of the simplest and most effective is simply to get more fruits and vegetables into their daily diet. For many adults, eating fruits and vegetables becomes less of a priority as they get older, and many senior adults are still relying on the meat and potatoes diet from when they were younger.

Introducing new fruits and vegetables may seem daunting, but there are some simple and accessible ways to make these foods appealing and delicious so they can become a beneficial part of your regular routine.

Some ways you can help your parent eat more fruits and vegetables in their diet include:

Talk to them about the fruits and vegetables that they already enjoy so you can find the flavor profiles that appeal to them. From here you can branch out to other produce that is similar.

Make it seem almost like a game for the two of you. Choose one new fruit and one new vegetable a week to try and sample them raw as well as in cooked form. See if you can come up with different ways to prepare them according to how they taste.

Research recipes together to find ones that work with those fruits and vegetables. Think of creative ways you can use them in place of other ingredients, or as a swap of other vegetables that may not have the same nutritional value. For example, encourage your parent to enjoy salads made with stronger leafy greens such as spinach or dandelion greens rather than just iceberg lettuce, or spread a small piece of avocado across a sandwich rather than mayonnaise.

Boost familiar ingredients with vegetables, such as adding carrots, onions, and peppers to spaghetti sauce, or mashing turn up or cauliflower in with mashed potatoes.

Trying to balance all of the responsibilities of your daily life along with taking care of your aging parent can be daunting. This is particularly true if you are a member of the sandwich generation caring, for your aging adult as well as your children. Fortunately, you never have to feel alone as a family caregiver.

Home care is there to help. A home care services provider offers a completely customizable set of services specifically designed to help your parent cope with their needs in meaningful ways, promote independence and autonomy, and support their overall well-being and quality of life. Knowing your parent has this care enables you to take a step back from specific care tasks, focus more energy and attention on the other elements of your life, manage your own personal needs, and not worry that your loved one isn’t getting the care they deserve.

For Home Care Services in Memphis TN, please contact the caring staff at Personal Care Services MidSouth today!