“Hey, Dad.”
Megan stepped into her father’s apartment with a fresh load of clean laundry in her arms. Since her mother’s death several months ago, her dad had slowly found his way through the process of living alone. He’d always been a fairly tidy person, so he kept his apartment clean and picked up. Megan had arranged for a thorough housecleaning once a month while he was out at his art class, and he kept things orderly the rest of the time. She did his laundry and ordered food delivered for him. Things were going well. Except…
Her dad saluted her with his soup spoon as he finished a bowl of tomato soup, his favourite. They chatted as she put his clothes away, and then went to check the cupboard. Row upon row of soup cans greeted her.
Turning to the fridge, she looked for the lettuce and other fresh vegetables she’d ordered. They were there, although most of them looked like their next trip would be to the recycle bin. She wanted to explode with frustration, but took several deep breaths and sat down across from him.
“It looks like you’re only eating soup, Dad.”
Looking a little ashamed, he said, “It’s easy and tastes good. That other stuff you send, it takes a lot of work.”
Her dad had never cooked while her mother was alive. Why should he? If he wanted to treat his wife, he took her out. Megan mentally kicked herself for not realizing he wouldn’t just take up the slack.
“Dad, last time we went to the doctor, he was really concerned about your sodium levels. A few other things were off, too, probably from only eating soup.”
“I don’t even add salt to things, so I’m not sure why my sodium’s so high.”
Megan grabbed three cans of different soups from the cupboard and turned to the ingredient labels. When he saw the sodium levels on each, his eyebrows raised.
“I guess that could be a problem. But Megan, I don’t know how to cook a lot of things, and I don’t want to learn at my age.”
Megan took his hand. “I understand, Dad. We’re going to have to come up with a new plan.”
What should we eat?
I grew up with the Canada Food Guide. I remember drawing the pyramid in elementary school and filling in the sections. But are you aware how many times the Canada Food Guide has changed over the years? I counted 10 changes. This is a good thing, as we learn more about nutrition and our culture evolves. However, we also need to make sure we have the most recent information.
Rather than a pyramid, today’s version shows a plate. What should be on your plate in what proportions?
- Fruits and vegetables should be half your plate. Notice the varieties of colours and textures. This should fill half your plate.
- Whole grains should fill a quarter of your plate. This accommodates diets which need to be wheat-free.
- Meats and other protein foods fill the last quarter of your plate.
Most of us don’t get the proportions correct!
What happened to the milk and milk products?
Several years ago, milk as a necessity for adults was changed in the food guide. Plain yogurt, cottage cheese, cheeses and other dairy products are listed with “forms of protein.”
What about fats?
The food guide suggests you limit your fat consumption to 2-3 tablespoons of unsaturated fats a day. (That’s not much, folks!) This includes vegetable oils such as canola, olive and soybean, salad dressings, margarine or butter, mayonnaise. 2.
I don’t see sugar listed…
Given the number of foods which contain sugar, it’s not realistic to totally remove sugar from our diets. Have you checked out the sugar content of your ketchup bottle lately? The new guidelines say sugar should be less than 10% of your daily intake. Reducing sugar and making sweets a rare treat takes awareness and discipline.
How do you implement this in an elder’s life, especially an elder living alone? And what about hydration, another huge issue. We’ll look at some answers in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
- Canada Food Guide Plate photo: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
2. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/H164-38-1-2007E.pdf
CLICK TO TWEET