Are Dietary Supplements Right for Your Elderly Loved One?
Dietary supplements can be very beneficial for your elderly loved one. They can allow your loved one to get the minerals, nutrients, and vitamins they need. There are far too many senior citizens that aren’t getting proper nutrition. This is causing numerous health issues. Before having your elderly loved one take dietary supplements, you should check with their doctor first. Your loved one’s doctor might want to run a blood test to determine which minerals, vitamins, or nutrients are needed most.
Senior Care Ventura CA – Are Dietary Supplements Right for Your Elderly Loved One?
Getting More Vitamin B12
Your elderly loved one might need to get more vitamin B12. They can do this by eating more dairy, meat, shellfish, and fish. However, there are many senior citizens who don’t like these foods much. If this is the case for your elderly loved one, you may want to ask their doctor is a B12 dietary supplement would be best.
Getting More Calcium
The blood test might determine that your elderly loved one needs to get more calcium in their diet. This helps to reduce the risk of broken bones and fractures. Your elderly loved one can get more calcium in their diet through certain canned fish options, milk, milk-based products, and some vegetables. Research shows that women that are at least 50 years old need to have 1,200 mg. of calcium every day. Men who are between the ages of 51 to 70 should get 1,000 mg. of calcium every day. If your elderly loved one can’t get enough calcium from their diet, they might need to take a dietary supplement.
Getting More Vitamin D
Being exposed to sunlight for a minimum of 15 minutes, two times every week can help the body to get enough vitamin D. However, if your elderly loved one doesn’t get outdoors much during the sunlight hours, they might need to get a dietary supplement to reach 600 IU of vitamin D every day.
Getting More Vitamin B6
Your elderly loved one might need more vitamin B6, as well. This helps to keep their red blood cells healthy. Bananas, potatoes, fortified cereals, and chicken breasts have a lot of vitamin B6 in them. If your elderly loved one isn’t getting enough of this vitamin in their diet, they might need a supplement instead. Women should get 1.5 mg. and men should get 1.7 mg. of vitamin B6 every day.
Getting More Antioxidants
Antioxidants are important for your elderly loved one’s diet, as well. These can be gotten by eating more wheat germ, peppers, tomatoes, nuts, seeds, and citrus fruits. If your elderly loved one needs more antioxidants that they aren’t getting through their diet, they might need a dietary supplement.
Your or your elderly loved one’s senior care provider should contact their doctor to find out more about which supplements might be needed.
Sources: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/dietary-supplements
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Senior Care Services in Ventura CA, please contact the caring staff at Assisting Hearts Home Care today. Proudly Serving the Los Angeles & Ventura County. Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! (805) 371-0033, (818) 593-0094.
Our team is comprised of highly experienced and dedicated professionals who are focused on providing exceptional in-home care services to our clients and their families.We are proud to have served thousands of individuals and families since our inception.
Assisting Hearts Home Care was established in 2008 by two professionals a husband and wife team who started the company after personally experiencing the challenges of caring for their aging parents and grandparents. They experienced first-hand at how difficult it was to find care that worked around your schedule and not the schedule of the agency with caring and dedicated caregivers. Since January 2008 Assisting Hearts Home Care has been owned and operated by Robert Ruetschle.Prior to opening Assisting Hearts Home Care, Robert was in upper management of a national pharmaceutical manufacturing company and he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. Robert is passionate about supporting our older adult community and helping individuals age with dignity and grace in their own homes.
It is our mission to give peace of mind to our clients and their families by providing exceptional care.Our caregivers are also supported by an office staff of Senior Advisors and advanced CNA’s.Our team looks forward to getting to know each client and family personally.
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