vitamin for elderly
March 4, 2008
A Review of Vitamins for the Elderly
As a person grows older, they learn a lot from experience, as the old adage says the older one gets, the wiser he becomes. However, when a person is aging the right food choices aren’t clearly known to them, they must fully understand that they should eat nutritionally balanced meals always.
On the other hand, elderly people don’t get enough vitamins and minerals needed by their aging bodies to fight the illnesses caused by aging. Because the fact that as people grow older, their bodies become less efficient in accepting and using nutrients. This tends to make them develop more illnesses, thus, needing more medications which have an adverse affect in the way their body accepts nutrients.
There are plenty of vitamins which help maintain the aging body of the elderly. One is Vitamin D, this is very important to them. It plays an important role since it is mainly a calcium vitamin which is required to keep healthy bones. Without this, bones tend to become brittle causing osteoporosis. Elderly people should eat proper dairy products because these are the best sources of Vitamin D.
Oxidation is a very serious condition among the elderly. This is caused by free radicals that destroy the healthy cells in the body. When the healthy cells are damaged, the seniors are at risk of developing arthritis, heart disease, cancers, Parkinson’s disease, cataracts and other disorders. Other physical signs of a damaged cells are wrinkles and the skin begins to sag because it loses its elasticity, thus making one look older. These can be prevented by antioxidants. Antioxidants which help neutralize free radicals can prevent the damage caused by these free radicals and they help our immune system function properly. Vitamins A, C and E are the important vitamins that contain beta carotenes which fight the free radicals. Other sources of antioxidants are fresh fruits and vegetables.
Few seniors get enough Vitamin K. Vitamin K is responsible for good blood circulation in the body; it helps maintain the proper functioning of the blood clotting mechanism. It also prevents excessive bleeding. Vitamin K also helps prevent the Alzheimer’s disease common among the elderly. The best sources of Vitamin K are green tea, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, cabbage and dark green lettuce. But avoid freezing them because cold temperatures destroy the Vitamin K found in these vegetables.
These are some of the helpful vitamins for the elderly, but keep in mind that regardless of age, it is very important to give our bodies nutrients through vitamins. As for the older people, choose the one which will suit their needs to help them maintain good health.