Twickenham-based nutritional therapist Nicola Moore offers some practical and easily accessible nutrition tips to particularly support the elderly or immune-compromised.
“As we become older our nutritional requirements change, for example, elderly people have a higher need for protein, an important essential nutrient which comes from dietary sources and affects everything from how we function emotionally to our immune system,” says Nicola.
“Preparing a simple healthy meal for a friend or relative who is perhaps less mobile or may find cooking healthy food more challenging could help to give a physical and emotional boost”
Nicola’s top tips
- Encouraging them to increase their intake of eggs, perhaps making them a daily meal for breakfast could be really useful
- Add more nuts into the diet - such as walnuts - which are good for the immune system
- Make a weekly chicken broth with added immune-boosting extras like ginger, turmeric and shitake mushrooms
- Use this stock to make nutritious soups with plenty of protein and vegetables
- Adding additional calories into meals like soups can be really important - a tin of coconut milk will add beneficial short-chain fatty acids which are good for the gut, for energy requirements and for helping you feel full and satisfied
- Encourage plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables in a range of colours, especially dark purple, red, green and orange
- Dehydration is a big problem in older people and increasing water intake links to a reduction in inflammation to infection markers. Improving hydration has also been shown to improve cognition and energy levels too
- Increase water intake by switching some tea and coffee for a glass of water, and avoid excess alcohol
Nicola has produced free online tutorials covering nutritional strategies during the coronavirus pandemic. Nicola is also offering 121 appointments online. For more information go to nicola-moore.com @nicolamoorenutrition
