February is here, and as stores stock their shelves with hearts full of chocolate, we’re celebrating hearts with a more health-related focus. In addition to Valentine’s Day, February marks American Heart Month, which gives Liberty Lutheran the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about our nation’s heart-health dilemma and to share what you can do to keep your heart healthy.

Heart disease, which causes an average of 610,000 deaths on an annual basis, is the leading cause of mortality in the United States.

While American Heart Month focuses on multiple aspects of heart health, including blood pressure, congenital heart defects and more, coronary heart disease (CHD) is what comes to mind for most individuals when they think of heart-related health issues.

As with all aspects of our health, the lifestyle choices we make have a significant correlation with the chances for being diagnosed with CHD. Top risk factors for developing heart disease are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. Fortunately, there are a variety of things we can do to control these frustrating risk factors and benefit our heart health.

Here are some healthy habits that you can pursue to reduce your risk for CHD:

Manage stress: Stress, although a common occurrence for many of us, can be a large contributor to CHD risk factors. Finding healthy ways to cope with stress is crucial to your heart’s health. Healthy stress management can consist of practicing meditation, consulting a therapist, and regular exercise.
Exercise: According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, inactive people are nearly twice as likely to develop CHD as those who are active. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic exercise each week for the average adult. Make sure to move as much as possible throughout your day. The more activity you do the more benefits your heart receives.
Eat heart healthy foods: To adopt a heart-healthy diet consume mainly vegetables, fruits, fat-free or low-fat dairy foods, and lean meats. Avoid foods high in sodium as well as saturated and trans fats as these are known to raise blood pressure.
Maintain a healthy weight: Determine what weight is healthy for you based on your body mass index (BMI). Consult a doctor or healthcare professional for better understanding when adopting certain dietary changes.
Quit smoking: According to the American Heart Association smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in the United States and causes one of every fourth deaths from cardiovascular disease. Quitting smoking can decrease your risk for heart disease significantly, as well as many other potentially fatal health complications.

Liberty Lutheran Empowers Individuals to Keep Hearts Healthy

When we make healthy decisions we lead healthy lives. Liberty Lutheran takes pride in empowering individuals to make healthy choices and live well. Whether it is our staff or residents, we’re dedicated to providing resources for all members of our community to maintain their well-being for healthful living. Here’s how our Senior Wellness Services can help you:

The Becoming Center

Located at Artman, the Becoming Center offers personalized, comprehensive, preventive, and restorative holistic wellness for active adults seeking to improve their fitness and overall well-being. Not just for senior residents of the Artman community, the Becoming Center is open to individuals from the surrounding area who want to achieve their health and wellness goals.

With amenities like a fully equipped exercise room, a therapeutic heated pool, yoga room, as well as private treatment rooms for alternative therapies and massage, the Becoming Center certainly has the capacity to keep all heart’s healthy. Additionally, there’s on-site exercise physiologists, nutritionists and trainers for members interested in personalized programs.

Liberty Lifestyles

Liberty Lifestyles is a unique fitness program offered to all senior residents that provides customized plans to help them reach their ideal level of fitness. Valuing healthy hearts and lifestyles for residents at all of our senior communities, this program is designed by specially trained Liberty Lifestyles coordinators after thorough assessments of residents’ physical and cognitive abilities.

Liberty Lifestyles breaks the mold in senior fitness and gives residents the confidence they need to know they’re living a healthy and active life.

Employee Wellness Works Program

Our employee Wellness Works program not only gives staff the tools they need to live a healthy lifestyle, but additional incentives that motivate them to achieve it. With monetary bonuses and diverse opportunities like a 24/7 online health portal, monthly wellness challenges, healthy cooking demonstrations, stress reduction workshops, and on-site preventive health screenings, our program makes healthy living easy.

Since its start in 2006, Wellness Works has lowered blood pressure, cholesterol, and tobacco use among staff considerably, so much so that it continues to stay below the national average. Our dedication to being a dependable health advocate for employees is just one of many reasons why Liberty Lutheran was named Top Workplace in 2017.

Heart healthy habits are crucial to maintaining your health and overall well-being. Keep these tips in mind when considering how to make heart-healthy decisions, and learn more about how Liberty Lutheran can help you live healthfully and happily throughout your senior years by clicking here.

Health and nutrition are important at every stage of life, but as we age our bodies change as well as our needed nutrients. Regardless of the changes our bodies experience, whether it’s a decrease in energy, or loss of hearing, a desire to live well remains the same through every phase of life, especially our later years. This is why understanding the proper nutrition for older adults is crucial to living happily and healthfully.

How Our Body Changes with Age and its Effect on Our Nutrition

While many of the changes our bodies experience with age are out of our control, they can often cause us to adopt poor nutritional habits, or vice versa. Here are the major changes that impact nutrition for older adults.

Changes to Our Senses

Loss of hearing, smell, and/or taste

For many older adults a loss of hearing, smell, or taste is common, which can ultimately affect the way we eat. For example, changes in taste can make it increasingly difficult to find food that tastes good, which potentially results in under eating. Perceptual changes, while not detrimental to our overall health, can be a common cause of inadequate nutrition for older adults.

Physiological Changes

Organ function

As we age, our organs age with us. The organs that most commonly experience a loss of function with age are our kidneys, heart, and lungs. This is due to the progressive alteration of cells and connective tissues that occur in later years of life.

Loss of energy

Research shows that energy expenditure, or the amount of energy someone needs to carry out a physical function, decreases with age. This means that as we age, the amount of energy we have to burn calories drops. In fact, studies show that the decline in energy expenditure is especially rapid after age 40 for men, and after age 50 for women.

Gastrointestinal Changes

Common gastrointestinal changes like constipation, gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), and excessive gas can negatively affect eating habits and nutrition for older adults.

Recommended Foods and Nutrients for Older Adults

The way our bodies change with age clearly impacts our health and behavior. And when it comes to nutrition for older adults, it’s not always a matter of neglect but a simple unawareness of the nutrients we need to keep our bodies healthy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in their nutritional advisory program “Food Patterns,” recommends that adults over the age of 50 should be conscious of their caloric intake while eating the right amount of foods from five various food groups: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean protein, and healthy oils.

How many calories should I eat?

Depending on your gender, age, and activity level your amount of daily recommended calories will vary. The following are general recommendations for Americans over the age of 60 based on activity level:

Inactive adults: 1,600 calories/day

Inactive adults are those who do not intentionally exercise.

Moderately active: 1,800 calories/day

Moderately active adults are those who participate in workouts or physical activity about once or twice a week. This could include two mile walks, or a session at the gym.

Active: 2,000 calories/day

Active adults are those who participate in physical activity at least three days each week.

Are you getting enough of these nutrients?

Older adults should aim to incorporate the following nutrients into their diets:

Calcium

Proper nutrition for older adults requires sufficient amounts of calcium, which helps maintain bone health. You can include calcium in your diet by eating fortified cereals, dark green and leafy vegetables, canned fish, as well as drinking milk and fortified plant beverages. Try to have three servings of calcium rich foods every day.

Vitamin B12

According to the National Library of Medicine 38% of older adults may exhibit mild vitamin B12 deficiency and depleted vitamin B12 stores. Low levels of vitamin B12 can cause anemia, neuropathy, and cognitive impairment. Fortunately, your doctor can determine your vitamin B12 levels with a simple blood test.

Fiber

For older adults experiencing constipation or other gastrointestinal issues, adding fiber to your diet can make a world of difference. Research from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics also shows that fiber can reduce your risk for heart disease as well as type 2 diabetes.

Potassium

Older adults should aim to consume 4,700 mg of potassium every day. You can incorporate more potassium into your diet by eating bananas, oranges, prunes, spinach, broccoli, and other fruits and vegetables.

Nutrition should be a priority at every age, but as we get older, our nutritional needs change. Liberty Lutheran believes in empowering seniors to improve their health, decrease stress, and attain their ideal levels of activity. Our abundant senior wellness programs focus on fitness, nutrition, and well-being to enhance your health and vitality in new ways. For more information on how we can help you maintain your health and achieve your fitness goals take a look at Liberty Lutheran’s senior wellness services

Category Archives: Senior Health and Nutrition

February is American Heart Month: How to Keep Your Heart Healthy