Eat for the Health of it
Snacks, meals, what’s the difference? It was fun shopping for “healthy” snacks, but healthy meal ideas still illude me. Dietitians recommend meal service programs offered by local Divisions on Ageing to distract us when cooking for one or two becomes too much of a chore.
Why don’t we like to cook? Food allergies, decreased appetites, the high cost of groceries, and constant pressure to eat the “right” foods make cooking too complicated.
Fast foods, frozen entrees, or meals that can be thrown together in 30 minutes or less have taken the place of what we used to call “home cooking”. Even restaurants that advertise “home cooking” leave you wondering whose home are they talking about.
My mother was a good cook but that was another time. When we started restricting fat, sodium, grains, dairy, and sugars, it changed our world. Our taste buds became so tainted that we literally lost our appetites.
Good cooks used real butter, whole milk, heavy cream and bacon grease but we let ourselves be convinced that anything “good” was bad for us. Just try cooking for family members who are gluten intolerant, hooked on organic, vegans, lactose intolerant, or sugar free. It took the fun out of “home cooking” didn’t it?
It is too late to return to earlier times. Our taste buds are already dead, but we need to eat to thrive. The library had recipe books for all sorts of diets, but none of them are specifically for seniors, so we may be on our own.
Why bother? Well, a senior’s body reacts negatively to dehydration and malnutrition. You are wrong if you think constipation, hemorrhoids, weight gain or loss, and muscle weakness are part of the aging process. Seniors spend hundreds of dollars a year on stool softeners, antacids, fiber enhancers, and laxatives when Mother Nature has already provided prunes, high fiber grains and fluids. Go figure.
Don’t be of those seniors who end up in the emergency room with abdominal pain to find out they are just constipated. Pretty embarrassing, don’t you think? We need to eat. What can we do to make eating pleasurable again?
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