How can I keep my loved one from overly indulging in sweets during this Christmas season?
Maintaining good nutrition presents extra challenges for individuals with Alzheimer鈥檚 or dementia.
Malnutrition and weight maintenance is often an issue and can be related to different reasons such as a diminished or increased sense of hunger and thirst, problems with eating or swallowing, problems with using utensils or inability to self-feed, poor food choices and depression.
You can use some strategies that might assist in curbing obsessions with eating continually and indulging in sweets. You can prepare smaller meals or snacks and serve them more frequently. Eating five or six small meals a day may be easier than eating the same amount of food in three meals. Making the meals enjoyable and ones that are easy to make and eat, such as including lots of finger foods, benefit the affected individual and also makes food preparation easier for you. Have your loved one eat the more nutritious, higher-calorie foods in the meal first, so they will get full faster. Be aware that if your loved one is a wanderer, or paces all day, then this physical activity can stimulate his appetite, too.
Smell impairment,聽which interferes with taste, usually goes unrecognized in Alzheimer鈥檚. It could be that your loved one is experiencing this and thus is constantly eating because they want to taste something that appeals to them. As taste buds diminish with age, your loved one is in a quest for flavor, seeking out foods higher in salt and sugar, hence the attraction to sweet foods. Include protein-rich sweet foods such as pudding, fruit yogurt, frozen yogurt or high protein gelatin.
Additionally, since most affected individuals are so attracted to sweets, try sprinkling sugar or a sugar substitute on the main entr茅e. It will be the 鈥渇irst鈥 taste they eat so that might satisfy cravings for the sweet food. Further, using colored plates, like red or blue, offer a contrast and nutritious foods might look more appealing and attractive. Additionally, color contrasting plates can assist in stimulating appetite, should his appetite start to wane as the disease progresses.
With the wide variety of rich holiday foods, offer healthy snack alternatives instead. Keep cut up fruits and vegetables and have them on hand and allow your loved one to snack on granola bars that have less fat and more fiber. Encourage a diet low in salt and saturated fats and high in calcium. Try not to keep sugary snacks and holiday candy visible around the house as this serves as a constant temptation for your loved one to indulge. Above all, make sure your loved one drinks plenty of liquids. A good rule of thumb is to offer some water every two hours, and consuming water frequently might keep his appetite at a minimum.
Keep in mind, too, that mealtimes are a way of being connected. Simply, the act of sitting down to eat a meal provides opportunities for relating and connecting. It takes a lot of patience but sit and eat a meal together and engage in thoughtful conversation. This might distract your loved one and slow down the insatiability for food. If your loved one tends to always eat by himself, be cautioned that social isolation could eventually lead to loss of appetite, weight loss and a disinterest in eating.
Individuals with Alzheimer鈥檚 may need different levels or types of support for eating than were needed in the past. There are challenges in eating, but generally, mealtimes are a good place for positive interactions and for monitoring good nutrition.