One of the best ways seniors maintain good health as they age is to develop healthy habits. When seniors practice healthy habits daily, they are much more likely to have good health for a more extended period as they age. Engaging in healthy habits will also help seniors be happier as they get older, and happiness matters as much as staying healthy does. If your senior parent is aging at home and you want to help them stay healthy encourage them to try forming some of these strongly recommended healthy habits:
Go For A Walk Daily
Seniors need exercise. The more seniors move, the healthier they will be. Walking is one of the best ways for seniors to exercise because almost any senior can do it. All your senior parent needs to do is walk to dramatically improve their health. Strenuous workouts and trendy exercises are not necessary. All seniors need to do is a 30-minute walk every day to see significant health benefits. Of course, the more exercise seniors do, the healthier they will be. But getting in the habit of taking a 30-minute walk each day can work wonders for a senior’s health.
Eat Veggies At Every Meal
Seniors need to eat more vegetables. Most seniors don’t eat enough food, especially vegetables. To keep things simple, it’s a good idea for seniors to include veggies at every meal. Elder care for seniors can help ensure that seniors eat healthy meals, including veggies. There are many ways that seniors can incorporate at least one vegetable into every meal. There are also a lot of cookbooks and recipe sites that can help seniors and their elder care providers come up with fun new meal ideas to try.
Drink More Water
Studies indicate as many as 50% of all seniors are dehydrated. Seniors should drink a glass of water every 1-2 hours or whenever they feel thirsty. But some seniors don’t recognize their thirst cues because of medical conditions like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Others may take medications or have medical conditions that make them thirsty and give them a dry mouth. Remind your senior loved ones to drink water regularly throughout the day to get the necessary water to stay healthy. Sports drinks are also a good option for seniors, who might need to replenish their electrolytes. Just make sure there’s no sugar in the sports drink.
Go To Bed Early
Getting enough sleep is critical for good health, and most seniors don’t get enough sleep. Seniors should be going to bed in enough time to give themselves 8-10 hours of restful sleep. But even if seniors go to bed early, they might have trouble falling or staying asleep.
Medications, medical conditions, stress, and anxiety can result in sleeplessness for seniors. Finding out why your senior loved one isn’t getting restful sleep can give you the information you need to get your loved one whatever help they need to sleep.
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