Nutritional Needs of the Elderly undergoing Digestive Problems

Getting adequate nutrition is a challenge for elderly people and those with digestive problems. Deficiencies in nutrition can lead to weakened immune systems. Dr. Vandana Verma, Founder, Physiotherapist and Nutritionist at Fitness4all, suggests some easy remedies for this.

• Include abundant fruits and vegetables in your diet.

• Instead of having raw salads or vegetables, steam them to make them easily digestible.

• Eat ‘dense’ meals – This means fortifying individual meals for extra nutrition. For eg, instead of plain yogurt, add spinach or beetroot to your curd; add vegetables to your dough while making rotis (rather than plain ones). In this way, you can easily enhance the nutritional value of your daily food and balance out your nutritional needs.

• Eat small frequent meals for easier digestion and to reduce gastric issues.

• Enhance Fiber consumption.

• Add Pre and Probiotic foods to your diet.

o Probiotic foods – Yogurt, Buttermilk, Pickled vegetables
o Prebiotic foods- Ginger, Garlic to boost your immunity and for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.