Boost your older parent’s health with breakfast

Skipping breakfast has been consistently linked with various health risks associated with older age. It’s not just an old wives tale! Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, but why?

Health benefits of eating breakfast include:

• Encouraging a Healthy Heart. New research by Harvard University, confirms that eating a healthy breakfast regularly can help to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. These are risk factors known to give rise to heart attack and heart disease
• Maintain a Healthy Weight: Eating breakfast in the morning can help to stabilize blood sugar levels and speed up metabolism, which begins to slow down as we age. A faster metabolism will help to regulate your parent’s appetite, helping them to feel less hungry mid-morning – allowing them to resist unhealthy snacks
• Keeping your parent happy, energized & mentally focused. As your parents get older, it is essential that they have a healthy breakfast every morning. This will provide them with vitamins and nutrients required to fuel their body for the day ahead. Eating breakfast can help to boost their energy levels, concentration, memory and even mood!

Choosing the right breakfast foods

A healthy breakfast should include a variety of foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, dairy and lean protein. On busy mornings, it can be all too easy to prepare a nutritious meal for your parent. Why not try these quick and healthy breakfast tips?

1. Smoothies are a great and yummy way to incorporate more fruit into your parent’s diet. Try blending strawberries, bananas and low-fat yogurt. Add some skimmed milk or fruit juice if it’s too thick
2. Serve whole-wheat pancakes topped with bananas, honey and blueberries. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants that are great for fighting off disease and signs of ageing in the body
3. Flavour morning whole grain bagels with spreads like, low-fat cream cheese or fresh fruit preserves
4. Add nuts or chopped fruit to whole-grain cereal or porridge for an energy boosting and easy to eat breakfast
5. Shave one ounce of dark chocolate onto a cup of low-fat yogurt. Not only is dark chocolate a yummy treat for your parent but it also contains antioxidants that can help reduce levels of bad cholesterol
6. Pour unsweetened orange juice. The vitamin C in this citrus fruit helps to strengthen the immune system and enhance collagen production, which is essential for keeping the skin looking plump and young
7. Make a healthy omelette using organic eggs and fill with your parent’s favorite vegetables, e.g. onion, peppers or mushrooms
8. Spread whole-nut peanut butter onto slices of apple. Peanuts contain vitamin E which helps to protect Alzheimer’s while apples provide fibre aiding normal digestive patterns
9. Serve breakfast meals with a cup of green tea- as it’s been found to lower blood pressure, reduce risk of diabetes and arthritis
10. Try providing breakfast to your parent within an hour of waking up. The longer they wait to eat breakfast, the hungrier they will become, making them more likely to overeat

If you’re concerned about your parent’s well-being and are keen to help them lead a healthier lifestyle, you might want to recommend that they get their health checked. Getting a screening can help your parent identify any current health issues and also understand future risk of health problems – so together, you can take action, with the help of a GP to make appropriate lifestyle changes.   Life Line Screening’s team of highly trained healthcare professionals are dedicated to providing reliable and affordable preventive health assessments. For more information please go to www.lifelinescreening.co.uk