Essay Sample on Nutrition

Introduction

I had visited New York last week for a wedding event, and while at my uncle's place I met this elderly woman, the lady is 83 years old and resides in Long Island, New York. I took my time to observe the foods she was eating during the meal; she served three portions of American soul food which comprises of a lot of fried chicken, soda, and a heavy desert (sweet potato pie). This means that she took proteins, starch, and Vitamin C. The lady failed to consume a balanced diet considering her age, she's supposed to eat healthy to get the required energy.

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Analysis

The elderly require special attention when it comes to nutrition status, the recommended nutrition for the elderly (Blake, Munoz & Volpe, 2019) include:

Energy

The energy required by the elderly reduce with progression in age, but it remains essential to maintain the nutrition density. Every stage requires its specific energy requirements, example, underweight persons need increased energy intakes which differs from overweight persons who require lesser energy intakes.

Protein

An average of about 0.75-0.8g of protein per kg of body weight should be able to meet all the requirements in the elderly persons. Good sources of proteins include; fish (twice a week), poultry (once or twice a week), and red meat (4 times a week). Other sources of proteins are; cheese, eggs also pulses (beans, peas, and lentils).

Vitamin C

RDA is about 60mg/day. Vitamin C helps in iron absorption, fighting infections, and wound healing. One glass of squeezed juice contains around 40-60mg/100ml vitamin C and is enough to give the recommended intake. It gets recommended that those older adults who don't take fruit juices should at least eat a fruit a day.

Folic Acid

RDA is about 300mcg/day for the elderly. Lack of sufficient folic acid in the body could result in the development of macrocytosis and megaloblastic anaemia. Sources of folic acid include; liver, kidney, and vegetables. Overcooking could destroy folate.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D gets obtained from direct sunlight, Irish RDA is about 7.5g/day. If the person is constrained indoors then eggs, oily fish, and liver could supplement with Vitamin D for the sake of compensating the lack of sunshine.

Iron

RDA is about 9mg/day. For adequate iron in the body, red meat should get consumed four times a week. Other concentrated sources of iron that could get included in the meals include; kidney, black pudding, and liver, once a week consumption is enough.

Calcium

RDA is about 800mg/day. Calcium could get mainly obtained from bread and milk. Lack of enough calcium in the body leads to bone losses. Besides, physical exercise helps in strengthening and improving the born structure of the elderly.

Dietary Fibre

It is essential for the elderly to maintain a substantial dietary intake, especially the cereal fibre. Increasing of fibre intake should be done gradually to avoid adverse outcomes such as; cramps, diarrhea, constipation, and flatulence. Cereals such as bran flakes, shredded, Weetabix, and bran contain a substantial amount of fibre and gets recommended.

Fluid

It gets recommended that the elderly should take at least six to eight glasses of fluid in a day to reduce dehydration in their bodies.

Conclusion

The meal she consumed was appropriate for the day since it is supposed to give 1/3 of the nutritional needs of the day. The goal of a meal is to achieve a balanced diet for healthier living, looking into her meal, she should reduce on the intake of meat and balance it with something else like a fruit, a glass of water could be essential and also little vegetables could be of help. At her age, it would be advisable to drink water or a glass of squeezed fruit juice instead of soda. Lastly, a health nutritionist would play a significant role in educating the elderly of the importance of a balanced diet and guiding them through the types of foods to eat and those to avoid (Blake, Munoz & Volpe, 2019).

Works Cited

Blake JS, Munoz KD, Volpe S. Nutrition: From Science to You. 4th ed. Boston, MA. Pearson; 2019. ISBN: 9780134668260.