What Can Make Food More Appealing for Your Senior?

Keeping your senior eating might feel like the biggest challenge you face as a caregiver. For a variety of reasons, your elderly family member might find that her appetite just isn’t what it used to be. Between medication side effects and changes to how her senses work, she might think food is just a bit too bland.

Homecare in Southampton NY: Make Food More Appealing

Bump up the Colors

Catching your senior’s attention with food might not be as easy as it used to be, especially if her sense of smell or even taste is functioning differently. In that case, appealing to her on a visual basis might be the way to go. Choose a variety of different colors of vegetables and fruits, mixing and matching them according to what’s in season.

Explore Herbs and Spices

Herbs and spices are another way to add some color, but more importantly, they can add a lot of flavors, too. Because your elderly family member’s tastes may have changed, some herbs and spices that she didn’t have an opinion about one way or another in the past could appeal to her in a different way now. It’s definitely worth branching out and seeing how those different flavors work for her.

Switch up the Serving Sizes

Because your senior’s appetite is a little different, she might also find that she’s not able to eat as much in one sitting anymore. Switching to smaller serving sizes for meals can be a lot less intimidating than a full dinner plate of food. You might even want to use a smaller plate, which can help you to scale down those larger serving sizes into smaller versions. Your senior might eat a little more often, which can help her to get the nutrients she needs.

Menu Plan with Your Senior

Keeping your senior involved in the menu planning process is an excellent way to try to keep up with what she might be interested in eating. Pinterest, magazines, and old cookbooks can all be great sources of information for new recipes that your elderly family member might enjoy trying. Don’t be afraid to branch out a little bit.

All of this is well and good if you’ve got the time to cook for your senior, but what if you don’t? Another option can be to have elderly care providers helping your senior with the cooking. They can ensure that she’s eating and that the foods she’s eating are healthy choices that taste great.

If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring Homecare in Southampton, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.