Caregivers Review Osteoporosis Facts & Diet Options To Help Prevent It in Georgetown, TX
You’ve probably heard of osteoporosis before, likely through an ad on TV, but, how much do you really know about it? Are you confident that you could help your loved one ensure that they are getting the right nutrients to help with prevention?
A Few Facts About Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a common ailment that is caused when bones lose minerals faster than they can be replaced, causing them to become fragile and prone to fractures. There are often no visible symptoms of osteoporosis until a fracture occurs.
This is why it is often called the “silent disease”.
Over time, these fractures can cause health issues like chronic pain, loss of independence or mobility, or in extreme cases even premature death.
Get Some Calcium!
So, now we know what osteoporosis is, how can we help prevent our loved ones from developing it?
One of the best ways, is by making sure they’re getting all the vitamins and minerals they need starting with calcium. You can do this by encouraging your senior to include more calcium rich foods, like milk, cheese, or other dairy products, into their diet. If they don’t get enough calcium through their diet they can also take a supplement.
Some delicious calcium rich products include:
- Veggies: spinach, okra, collards, white beans, and kale
- Calcium Fortified Foods: breakfast cereal, oatmeal, and some orange juices
- Almond Milk: it has 2x more calcium than cow’s milk!
- Fish: sardines, salmon, trout, and perch
Why Do We Need Vitamin D?
What makes vitamin D so important to bone health? It all has to do with calcium absorption.
When the body doesn’t get enough vitamin D it cannot produce enough of the hormone called calcitriol (known as Active Vitamin D), which leads to insufficient calcium absorption. This causes the body to take calcium from bones, making them brittle, more prone to fracture, and preventing to growth of new, strong bone.
There are three ways you can get vitamin D: through skin from sun exposure, from supplements, and through diet.
Recommended vitamin D rich foods include:
- Fortified foods like cereals, some dairy products, or soy milk
- Beef liver
- Egg yolks
- Fatty fish, such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon
Is That All I Should Know?
Making sure your loved one is eating a nutritious diet with plenty of vitamin D and calcium is just one part of a an osteoporosis prevention plan and it may not mitigate other factors. Things like lifestyle choices, medications, and menopause can all affect bone density.
If you’re worried about your loved one’s bone health, please consult their doctor.
How In Home Care Can Help
At Comfort Keepers®, we know that no matter how much you care for your senior loved one, it just isn’t always possible to keep up with everything in their life and in yours. This is where our wonderful caregivers can help!
Our caregivers will not only monitor your loved one’s diet to ensure they’re getting all the nutrients they need but, will also provide support for their mental, physical, and social health through Interactive Caregiving™.
Our goal is to support and empower seniors to do more than simply view, and Interactive Caregiving™ is one of the ways we accomplish that. Your senior will work with their caregiver in order to decide meal plans, social calls, and even more activities that they can look forward to in order to make their golden years shine even brighter.
If you’d like to learn more about how our compassionate caregivers can help your senior improve their bone health through diet and exercise, our other care services, or would like to schedule your free in home consultation, please contact us online any time or call us at (512) 255-6633.
Trusted Care For Seniors in Georgetown, TX and
the Surrounding Areas
Offering a full range of in home companionship and personal care services to support independent senior living
at home in Georgetown, Austin and the surrounding areas in Texas
