Hydration for Our Elderly

Are you taking care of your mom or dad?  

Getting them a baseline of hydration will help so much. Dehydration is notorious for elders, with downstream consequences such as cognitive loss and confusion, balance and mobility issues and the classic urinary infection.  

In our book Quench, we note, “Medication is a risk factor as well, as older people tend to take more medication for a variety of conditions. This simultaneous use of drugs, believe it or not has a name: polypharmacy. Hooper, Bunn and Whitelock, all research nurses, were the first to conduct a study that measured how polypharmacy affected dehydration among the elderly.”  Go, Nurses!

They noted that caretakers need to be vigilant as to whether their patients are drinking enough, and take steps to help them drink more. There are logistics that complicate the issue, such as the patients’ mobility, and their concern about reaching the bathroom in time. They may also suffer from their physical inability to make or to reach drinks, or have swallowing issues, which is common among the elderly.

Elder’s don’t want to drink because they want to control peeing and don’t know how else to do it except to limit their drinking. This has such negative consequences.

Let’s help them switch to some food as their source of hydration. And smoothies or blended drinks can be of such nutritious potency for their health.

In Quench we offer over 50 recipes for hydrating smoothies, and our Instagram #hydrationdaily offers a new recipe practically every day!

Here’s some real help right now. Chia seeds form a beautiful moistening gel that creates a sponge like material inside us. They are gentle, full of hydration, protein, omega’s with a neutral flavor.  How good is that?

But how hard is it to get your sweeties to develop a new habit? Simply stir ground chia seeds (easier to absorb, no divicutitus, neutral flavor and texture) into some liquid they do like, for example, orange juice (worked with my mom, 92!), or pomegranate juice. Chia seeds mitigate the insulin impact of sugars if you have insulin issues.

Another amazing treat is chia pudding. Who does not like pudding? Here’s the recipe:

• 3/4 cup coconut milk, almond milk, unsweetened, or any nut milk
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp chia seeds
• Stir well, let sit for 1 minute and stir again. This will prevent lumps. Then refrigerate overnight or devour as soon as it’s thickened to your taste.
• Can be topped with low sugar jam instead of other sweeteners.