Maintaining a healthy weight is important at every stage of life. But it can be a little more difficult as an older adult due to the physiological changes that occur as you age.
Older adults often struggle to get enough calories and protein, which puts them at risk for weight loss and low body weight. Too-low body weight can have a negative effect on your strength, energy levels and quality of life.
In order to gain weight as an older adult, you’ll need to eat nutrient-dense foods, snacks and drinks, and possibly add weight-gain supplements to what you already eat.
Here, learn why older adults may lose too much weight along with the best weight-gain drinks and foods to help the scale go up.
Why It Can Be Difficult for Older Adults to Gain Weight
There are several reasons why it’s harder for older adults to gain weight, or why they lose weight so easily.
As you age, your appetite decreases, and you tend to eat fewer calories than younger people. In fact, caloric intake has the potential to decline by as much as 500 to 700 calories per day in older adults between the ages of 60 and 74 compared to adults ages 20 to 39, per a January 2016 meta-analysis in Nutrients.
There are a few factors that can affect an older adult’s appetite and weight. Chronic diseases and appetite-suppressing medications (both more common in older people) can lead to a reduced appetite, per Mount Sinai.
And in some cases, dental problems can make it difficult to chew or swallow food, leading to less food intake, according to a June 2015 study in the Journal of Epidemiology.
Other factors that can contribute to unintentional weight loss in older adults include the following, per the Mayo Clinic:
- Depression
- Dementia (or memory loss and cognitive decline)
- A change in taste and smell
- Infection
- Certain medications
- Underlying illness (like heart disease or Parkinson’s disease)
Ultimately, the human body is constantly evolving, and age-related changes can greatly influence nutrition requirements and appetite, per Harvard Health Publishing.
5 Tips to Increase Appetite and Weight Gain in Older Adults
If you or a loved one is experiencing unintentional weight loss and/or a reduced appetite with age, there are a few actions you can take. These include:
1. Contact Your Doctor
To get to the bottom of your weight loss, it may be helpful to get a doctor involved, per the Mayo Clinic. They can diagnose any potential underlying health conditions and treat them properly.
Your doctor may also help adjust your diet or switch your medications if that is causing reduced appetite. And if dental issues are the problem, a trip to the dentist could resolve discomfort or chewing problems.
2. Stick to a Mealtime Schedule
One way to increase appetite and assist in weight gain is sticking with a mealtime schedule every day, per the National Institute on Aging. This can be achieved through meal prepping your own food, having a loved one help you or taking advantage of pre-made meals or local community centers that serve meals.
You can also try to eat multiple smaller meals during the day to stimulate appetite, rather than sitting down to three big meals, per the Mayo Clinic. This can also help you get more calories overall.
3. Engage in Light Exercise
Light to moderate exercise is a great way to increase appetite in older adults. Even something like taking a walk around the neighborhood each day can help.
By burning calories and stretching muscles through light exercise (think: walking or yoga), you’re more likely to have an appetite throughout the day, according to Michigan State University.
Over time, you could even engage in a well-rounded strength training program to enable the growth of muscle, which can lead to healthy weight gain, per the Cleveland Clinic.
4. Make Meals Look (and Taste) Appetizing
As mentioned above, it may help to keep portions small so they look easier to eat. With the approval of a doctor, you can also add spices and seasonings to food to make it more appealing.
Try adding new and nutritious toppings to your favorite foods, too, and introduce tempting side dishes, like cheesy mashed potatoes next to a plate of broccoli and lean beef, for example.
5. Ask About an Appetite Stimulant or Over-the-Counter Weight-Gain Supplement
If none of the above tactics work, ask your doctor about taking a prescription appetite stimulant. They may also recommend over-the-counter weight-gain supplements, food or drinks (more on that below).
A registered dietitian can also provide individualized counseling based on your weight-gain goals.
Calorie-Dense Foods for Weight Gain
Read the full article here
