Who knew that technology could be a way to keep healthy and a highly beneficial way to keep track of a seniors’ nutritional needs? From diabetes, to a low sodium diet or healthy heart diet, there is software available for keeping track of meal plans and dietary needs of elderly individuals.
From software that helps you to keep track of calorie intake to software that helps you to stay on top of your supplements, understanding your body can go far in helping you to keep your health strong and your health risks in check.
While going to the doctor will help seniors to know what types of foods they should avoid, whether or not they are overweight, and whether they need to change their meal plan for a better BMI, BMR, or body fat percentage, health related calculator software can help them to follow-up on their doctor visits from home. Following is information on how software can help you as a senior or if you are a senior’s caregiver know how to plan well-rounded and nutritional meals according to health needs and body weight.
Why and How Does It Help?
If you are curious as to why and how using software such as a BMR calculator can help seniors to stay healthy and in control of their nutritional needs, think about what most seniors may be facing when it comes to their health needs.
As you grow older, your body changes and different ailments that you never had to deal with become evident. Whether you have developed heart problems, low blood sugar, high blood pressure, diabetes, or other problems that require a healthy and controlled diet, you can help to keep yourself or seniors in your care healthy.
While meal planning should always be important, no matter what age you are, it is a key component of senior’s living healthier and longer lives. High cholesterol, heart problems, diabetes, chronic health problems, blood sugar and blood pressure issues, and more are all things that elderly people have to watch out for and monitor through healthy nutrition and overall health care.
Monitoring is made much easier with online calculators that are easy to use. Software allows you to simply put in information about your body and habits to calculate your percentages and helps you or your caregiver be aware of how you should be eating.
Without software, any average individual would need the assistance of someone who understands nutrition and meal planning. With software, anyone can understand their own body fat and body mass percentages, for example, and stay aware of what their diet should consist of.
Examples of Dietary Needs Software
Following are a few examples of healthcare software that can make all the difference in a senior’s meal planning. While they can work for any age, these online software programs can ensure that seniors receive the proper nutrition that is important for optimum health and keeping health problems at bay:
Body Fat Calculator
It is important to keep track of your body fat, no matter how young or how old you are, but when it comes to elderly people, maintaining a healthy body weight is imperative for optimum health. A body fat calculator can help seniors to understand whether they have a healthy body fat percentage or if changes need to be made in their diet.
Online body fat calculators (health software) are the best way for you to understand whether or not you need to lose weight or if your body fat is in a healthy percentage. All you have to do is enter some information about your body, such as weight, age, height, etc., and you will receive information on how high or how low your body fat percentage is, helping you to be able to determine your meal plan.
A high percentage of body fat in a senior can be cause for concern as obesity can lead to a number of health issues, even in a young person, so this calculator can make a difference in helping someone to understand if they need to change their diet.
Apart from keeping your weight in check, what else is important in maintaining good health, especially as a senior? Know and understanding your Basal Metabolic Rate is a necessary component of meal planning for seniors. The BMR calculation will help determine a baseline for the correct number of calories someone should eat each day to maintain their weight. Use the HealthStatus BMR calculator to determine a good starting point for calories.
As you age, your heart may weaken due to unhealthy habits or the onset of diseases. For this reason, you may need to start checking your body mass index to ensure that you are not over the weight you should be for a healthy heart. Seniors who have weak hearts may face serious risk if they are struggling with obesity. The best way to keep body weight in check and understand your dietary needs for meal planning is by using a BMI calculator regularly. It can also help you to know if you are underweight, which is also important to stay aware of. A BMI calculator can greatly help seniors who may not be sure of whether or not they are eating right for their health needs understand if they need to plan their meals differently.
As a senior, you may not be exercising vigorously as you used to, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care to try to burn calories if you are overweight. While you should always follow your doctor’s advice on how much physical activity you should be doing, exercising can help to keep you and your heart healthy. All you have to do is enter your weight, height, age, and gender, as well as your daily activities and you can understand how you are burning calories, even without trying sometimes. Whether you are a senior or not, it is important to plan your meals according to your dietary needs.
Knowing what your ideal weight is isn’t only about vanity, for seniors it could mean staying healthy for more years and them or their caregivers knowing how to plan healthy and personalized meals. Health software can help seniors know if they what their ideal weight should be for their age. Neither extreme of being overweight or underweight is healthy for anyone, much less for seniors who face a myriad of health problems associated with aging.
Calories to Gain or Lose Weight
Once you determine whether or not you are overweight or underweight, you can then calculate how many calories you should be eating on a daily basis. According to your activity and your weight, you should be taking in a certain amount every day while burning calories as well. A calorie calculator can help you keep track of this so that you are eating the foods that have the right amount of calories for your needs, especially if you are a senior.
Of course, each scenario is different. If you need to gain weight, you will want to make sure that you are eating enough calories according to your activity and on the flip side, if you are overweight, you will want to less or increase daily activity that is safe for your age and health.
Supplements for Healthy Senior Living
Something else that can help seniors to stay healthy and receive the nutrition that they need is by taking supplements. As we age, our body absorbs nutrients more slowly and sometimes we need to take extra supplements to ensure that we are getting the proper amount of vitamins and nutrients necessary for proper health. There are a variety of supplements available for all types of needs and health issues. One example of the importance of taking supplements or vitamins is the importance of taking vitamin D.
Typically as we get older we spend less time outdoors and in the sun, thus minimizing our intake of vitamin D and the benefits that we receive from it. Many seniors should take vitamin D supplements in order to keep bones healthy and get enough calcium. Other supplements may help in heart strength, absorbing nutrients from the food they eat, and helping them to receive nutrients that their body may have a more difficult time processing through disease or aging.
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