There are lots of different treatments available for arthritis pain, but one of the easiest things to try might be swapping out some things in your senior’s diet. These ideas can help your elderly family member to experience less pain, swelling, and general inflammation that result from arthritis throughout her body.
Skip Inflammatory Foods
Some foods are believed to contribute to inflammation, and therefore pain, throughout the body. These are ingredients like saturated fats, trans fats, excess sugar, and even excess salt. Processed foods typically fall into all of these categories, for instance. This might mean revamping your elderly family member’s diet quite a bit, which is a lot easier with help from senior home care professionals.
Cut Back on Tobacco and Alcohol
If your elderly family member is a smoker or drinks more than a few alcoholic beverages a week, that can also contribute to inflammation. Cutting these out might be something that your senior’s doctor has recommended for a while and it could help her with a variety of health issues. Work with her doctor to do that safely.
Switch to Olive Oil
Healthy fats, like olive oil, are typically considered to be good for the heart and for the body overall. Switching to olive oil from butter or margarine can reduce the trans and saturated fats in your elderly family member’s diet, which might help her to experience less arthritis pain. Most people don’t notice a difference in how foods taste with this switch.
Seek Out Antioxidants
Antioxidants are specific nutrients that help to reduce oxidative stress in the body. They’re nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin C and beta-carotene. Your elderly family member can get a lot of her antioxidants from fresh fruits and vegetables, which are easier to eat when she has help with preparation. Home care providers can make meal preparation a lot easier and safer, which can help her to eat healthier overall.
Add Spices to Her Diet
Does your senior rely on salt a lot to season her food? She might want to rethink that and lean on herbs and spices more. Turmeric, ginger, and more all offer additional properties beyond being flavorful. They can also help to reduce inflammation, and hopefully pain, in your senior’s body. Bumping up the flavor profile of your senior’s meals can help her to lay off of salt.
Swap Coffee for Green Tea
Green tea contains caffeine, but it also contains lots of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. If your elderly family member is up for a swap, switching out even one cup of coffee for a mug of green tea could have some positive benefits for her. It’s worth a try.
Dietary changes are so much easier with someone there to help. Senior home care providers can tackle the heavy lifting part of cooking, meal preparation, and even cleanup on a daily basis. That can leave your senior free to enjoy eating a variety of healthier foods and hopefully feel a lot less discomfort from arthritis pain.