Nutritional supplements

| In the elderly, there may be alterations in the diet that make them resort to the use of nutritional supplements

In the people of the seniors alterations in feeding may occur due to various problems: decreased appetite due to loss of taste sensation, dry mouth, chewing and swallowing problems, interactions with diseases and drugs, etc.

The most common situations include states of malnutrition energy, deficit of one or more nutrients or passage of food to the respiratory tract (bronchial aspiration) due to swallowing problems.

To avoid these situations, it can be recommended to add olive oil, milk powder or milk cream, cheese, honey, cereals, crushed, cooked egg white, etc., to increase the amount of energy or protein in food without dramatically increasing its volume.

However, there are situations where these "tricks" are not possible or do not fix the problem. In these cases, use nutritional supplements commercials already prepared. They can be used as a complement to regular kitchen dishes or as a complete diet, in case of food rejection, for more or less short periods.

Diets that include supplements

There are complete hypercaloric diets, suitable for diabetics, for kidney or liver failure, for patients with chronic respiratory failure, rich in fiber and others. They also exist on the market protein supplements to add to the usual dishes of the patient, or (a single, or more often multivitamins) with or without minerals and trace elements.

The presentations they are multiple; sachets to prepare smoothies, soups or cream by adding water or milk, containers with the product already prepared (tetrabricks or glass containers), large jars with protein supplements, ampoules, capsules or effervescent polyvitamin tablets. This allows adaptation to every need and each moment of the evolution of the nutritional needs of the elderly.

Swallowing problems

Regarding swallowing problems, they can be used jellies for hydration, already prepared in stores (in the refrigerated dessert section of the supermarket) or use neutral gelatins, to administer liquids reducing the risk of passage to the respiratory tree. However, the gelatin liquefies at a temperature of 37ºC, so that it becomes liquid if the bolus is in the old man's mouth for a long time before swallowing it, which does not solve the problem. In this case, the thickeners, which are presented as powder in a large container.

These preparations help maintain nutrition for the elderly in a situation of malnutrition or at risk of suffering from it and are a great resource in case of chronic diseases.