Hydration For Our Elderly
Are you taking care of your parents?
Giving them a hydration baseline would help so much. For the elderly, dehydration is infamous, with downstream effects such as memory decline and uncertainty, difficulties of balance and mobility, and classic urinary infection.
The book Quench, states: "Medication is also a risk factor, as older individuals tend to take more medication for a range of conditions."Believe it or not, this simultaneous use of medications has a name: polypharmacy. The first to perform a study that measured how polypharmacy affected dehydration among the elderly was Hooper, Bunn and Whitelock, all research nurses. Go, Nurses.
They noted that nurses need to be diligent and take action to help them drink more, as to whether their patients are drinking sufficiently. Logistics exist that complicate the issue, such as the mobility of patients and their concern about reaching the bathroom in time. They can also suffer from their physical inability to make or enter drinks or from difficulties with swallowing, which is popular among the elderly.
Elders do not want to drink because they want to control peeing and do not know how else to do it except to limit their drinking. This has such negative effects.
As their source of hydration, let's help them turn to some food. And for their well-being, smoothies or blended drinks can have such nutritious intensity.
More than 50 recipes for hydrating smoothies are offered in Quench, and virtually every day, their Instagram page #hydrationdaily offers a new recipe!
Right now, here's some real help. Chia seeds form a lovely moistening gel that creates within us a sponge like substance. They are gentle, full of hydration, protein, and neutral-flavored omega. How nice will that be? For example, Spring Aqua has successfully replicated what plants do to structure water from a physiology and chemistry standpoint, which enhances hydration like the Chia seed.
But how hard is it to get your sweeties to develop a new habit? Simply stir ground chia seeds (easier to absorb, no diverticulitis, neutral flavor and texture) into some liquid they do like, for example, orange juice (worked with my mom, 92!), or pomegranate juice. Chia seeds mitigate the insulin impact of sugars if you have insulin issues.
Another amazing treat is chia pudding. Who does not like pudding? Here’s the recipe:
- 3/4 cup coconut milk, almond milk, unsweetened, or any nut milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp chia seeds
- Stir well, let sit for 1 minute and stir again. This will prevent lumps. Then refrigerate overnight or devour as soon as it’s thickened to your taste.
- Can be topped with low sugar jam instead of other sweeteners. [1]