Kitchener-Waterloo, ON (Change Location)
Discover Heart-Healthy Meals for Seniors
By Brenda Enright
Owner of Home Instead Kitchener-Waterloo
A healthy heart is a cornerstone to living your best life. It pumps oxygenated blood to all areas of your body, ensuring organs and limbs get what they need. The heart requires nutrients and exercise to remain strong. Cooking for seniors may be challenging because it is easier to grab a fast sandwich or a bowl of cereal than to fix a healthy meal. Additionally, seniors often need help with dulled taste buds, making eating tedious. Ill-fitting dentures pose problems as well. Then there is the challenge of finding time to plan, shop, and cook a heart-healthy meal.
Ensure Mom and Dad get what they need to support their heart and body by hiring elder care professionals who cook for them. They can also provide respite care, so you can get the rest you need to be your parent’s best daughter or son.
New Recipes to Feed the Heart and Stomach
Finding new meals to prepare may seem challenging. Remember to aim for nutrient-dense foods when looking for new recipes. For example, some foods with the nutrition you seek include almonds and walnuts, beans, broccoli, carrots, fish, green tea, and dark chocolate. Who couldn’t find something yummy to eat with those ingredients?
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Banana Split Oatmeal: This tasty treat uses frozen yogurt and bananas to dress up oatmeal. It is yummy enough to eat for breakfast, snacks, or dessert.
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadillas: Sweet potatoes pack a powerful nutrient punch. Add the fibre of black beans wrapped up in a tortilla, and your senior will ask for seconds!
- Fusilli with Broccoli Pesto: This recipe isn’t the boring broccoli you grew up with. It uses fusilli pasta, frozen broccoli, basil, lemon zest, and more to give a tantalizing meal even your picky mother will enjoy.
- Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken: A new twist on chicken made with rice, green beans, kale, and tahini.
Find more recipes to make heart-healthy meals here:
Bonus Tips to Keep the Heart Healthy
Feeding the heart is only the beginning. Your senior needs these other hearty-healthy tips:
- Get physically active. Our bodies are designed to move. Regular movement gives your senior’s body what it needs to stay strong.
- Reduce stress. Stress management keeps the heart in better shape. Using physical activities, meditation, prayer, or talking with friends helps.
- Take medicines as prescribed. It is vital to ensure that any prescribed medication is taken as it should be. It supports the other aspects of your senior’s quality of life.
Elder Care Workers Support Heart Health
Provide your senior with healthy meals that give their bodies the proper nutrients for better heart health. The team at Home Instead Kitchener-Waterloo, ON is ready to step in to cook nutritious meals for your senior, help them with medication reminders, do light housekeeping, companionship, and even Alzheimer's and dementia care. We support the elderly and their families with tailored home care services to meet their needs. Let us do the same for you. Contact us today.
Call us at (519) 571-1665 to schedule a no-obligation, in-home consultation. Learn more about the compassionate, quality senior care we deliver every day to families in Kitchener-Waterloo, Breslau, Conestogo, Elmira, St Jacobs, and surrounding areas.