Sodium intake is directly related to high blood pressure. If you lower the amount of sodium that is ingested daily, you can also lower blood pressure. Many seniors do not realize the amount of sodium that is in foods they typically eat. Being aware of sodium content is one way to battle high blood pressure. Below is a list that contains some useful tips and facts about sodium that Home Health Dallas thinks all seniors should know and practice.

1. The government passed regulation to label products differently. Anything with more than 480 mg will be labeled as high in sodium.

2. When you reduce sodium intake, you will notice foods taste differently. Do not give up. In a short time, your taste buds will adjust!

3. Do not cut out sodium completely. The body does require some intake. For adults, the minimum amount is 200-500mg/day. Those with high blood pressure should not exceed 1500mg/day.

4. Lower intake by reading food labels and being aware of sodium contents, make records of daily sodium intake, change some eating habits and find low-sodium alternatives to what you normally eat.

5. When dining out, eat from the salad bar and avoid soups and sauces. Also ask for a low-sodium menu.

6. Read labels. Manufacturers are required to tell you how much sodium is in a product based on a serving size. Look at the serving size and then at how much sodium is in each size.

7. Keep in mind that many of your medications may contain sodium. Check with your doctor for tips on how to lower sodium intake. Also remember that tap water contains sodium as well, so try to drink bottled or filtered water.

Source: hearthealthyonline.com

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

High blood pressure is a common ailment, but it can be very serious. It often leads to other health problems. Lowering blood pressure is one way to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Many seniors are now trying to lower their blood pressure by making simple changes at home.

Home Health Care Dallas wants to remind all seniors that they should consult their doctor before making any  drastic changes to their diet and exercise. The following tips however are a good starting place for anyone looking to lower blood pressure.

1. Reduce sodium intake. Daily intake for seniors or anyone over 50 should be less than 2,300 mg per day. Take the saltshaker off the table and try to eat foods that are low in sodium.

2. Change cooking habits and do not use salt. There are other ways to get great flavor when cooking. Use herbs and spices and avoid using bullion and prepared sauces. They contain high amounts of sodium. When dining out, ask for food to be prepared without salt or request a low sodium menu.

3. Check the medications you are currently taking. Many of them do contain sodium. Talk to your doctor about adding an aspirin to your daily regime. This can reduce chances of stroke and heart attack.

4. Reduce stress, add some exercise and quit smoking. All of these will lower your blood pressure. Losing a few pounds will also be beneficial.

5. If you can, monitor your blood pressure at home. If these changes do not work, you may have to ask for a prescription medication. Doctors will also suggest increasing your potassium intake.

Source: hearthealthyonline.com

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

No matter what the age or the physical condition, seniors can benefit from an exercise program. Not every senior can do the same exercise, but there are many to choose from. Exercise can greatly lower the risks associated with heart disease and can have a positive effect on over-all health. The list below contains some tips and facts pertaining to daily exercise for seniors.

Before making changes to a diet or adding exercise, Home Health Dallas wants to remind all seniors that they should always talk to their doctors first. Be sure to ask about medications, the ability to lift heavy objects and what exercises are safe for you.

1. Exercise can help circulation and strengthen the heart and cardiovascular system. It also lowers blood pressure, improves muscle tone and strength, boosts self-esteem and improves sleep.

2. Stretching exercises lengthen the muscles, preparing them for activity. It will reduce the chance of injury and muscle strain.

3. Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise strengthens the heart and lungs and will greatly improve the use of oxygen in the body.

4. Try to implement a walking program to start. Then you can move to jogging, biking or water aerobics.

5. An exercise session should last between 20 and 30 minutes to provide the best benefits for the body and over-all health. Exercise every day or every other day for the best results.

Source: webmd.com

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

Home Health Dallas wants all seniors to know that they should always talk to their doctor before starting a new exercise or diet program.

For senior citizens, being conscious of their health is extremely important. Good heart health can extend a life a great deal. Seniors looking to keep their blood cholesterol low, helping to decrease the chances of heart disease, can turn to these simple guidelines.

• Saturated Fats—To follow the Heart Healthy Diet, only 8% to 10% of a senior’s total daily calories should come from saturated fats. This percentage is based upon the percentage of calories you actually eat. In other words, the amount will vary depending on how many calories you consume.

• Fats—A senior’s total daily calories from fat should be 30% or less. Once again, this percentage is based on the percentage of calories you eat.

• Dietary Cholesterol—Seniors should keep their daily dietary cholesterol intake under 300 milligrams if they want to stick with the heart healthy diet.

• Sodium—Sodium consumption should be limited to 2400 milligrams a day.

• Eating Habits —Seniors should not deprive themselves of calories or over eat. It is important to always eat enough calories towards maintaining or achieving a healthy weight. Also, a healthy calorie intake should help reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Source: nhlbisupport.com

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

For anyone, especially seniors, once January is in the past, so too are those New Year’s resolutions. Keeping those goals past January can become a struggle. Home Health Senior Care Dallas encourages you to keep with it, especially if your goals are health related, below is a list of simple solutions for keeping those resolutions.

• Keep Your Resolutions To A Minimum—If you have a laundry list of resolutions staring you in the face, discouragement will eventually follow when all goals are not met. Try to only make one or two resolutions for the New Year.

• Goals Should be Realistic - Weight loss or spending resolutions with large goals tend to fly out the window past January. Start small with any resolution. Losing a small amount of weight a week in comparison to setting a 20-pound goal for the month will be much easier to keep going.

• Be patient and don’t get discouraged—The saying “old habits die hard” could not be truer when it comes to New Years resolutions. Correcting old habits will take a while to change. Setbacks may present themselves, so do not get discouraged and punish yourself for falling back on an old habit.

• Give Yourself a Pat on the Back—When you accomplish a goal, reward yourself. Being proud of your accomplishments will give that additional incentive to keep up your resolutions just for how good it makes you feel.

Source:  ehow.com

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

Here at Home Health Dallas we have many goals we wish to accomplish this year, when you’re setting your goals this year, don’t do it alone. Encourage your grandchildren to make goals of their own, and then work with them to keep them motivated, and also keep your own goals on target. Collectively as a family you can make this year better than last.

1. Ask them to come up with an area that they could improve in their lives – be gentle, but ask them how they think they could improve. Would they like to get better grades? Get along better with a sibling? Learn a new skill? Once an area has been settled on, help them make that goal specific.

2. Motivate with group efforts – write down your resolutions along with theirs, and track progress with charts. Get the whole family involved, and come together to talk about how you’re doing with your resolutions

3. Use visual rewards for progress – when you check in with the progress of your grandchildren, reward them. Add stickers to a chart you’ve created, or give them pennies for their piggy bank for every step of the way

4. Keep the experience positive – motivate children by ensuring they always remain positive even if they have setbacks while trying to reach their goals

Via: eHow

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

Home Health Dallas knows that setting and achieving meaningful goals is a great way to build confidence and increase motivation. This could be exactly the medicine a senior that’s been feeling down needs. A crucial part of achieving goals is support, so as a caregiver, you can give the senior that you care for a helping hand towards success.

1. Help form a support team – you don’t have to do it alone! Help your loved one form a support network that will help them reach their goals. If it’s to eat better, consider hiring a nutritionist and encourage friends and family to adopt healthier eating habits around them too. If it’s exercise, attend classes with your senior and ask others to do the same.

2. Remind him/her it’s not always going to be easy – especially for seniors who often face so many challenges later in life, it’s easy to give up on something that’s not coming easy. Often, resolutions that will drastically change their life aren’t going to be easy. Certain goals can be physically and emotionally challenging, so give them a friendly push when needed

3. A slip up doesn’t mean give up – as part of overcoming the challenges that can come with new goals, seniors need to keep on going even if they slip up along the way. In that situation, encourage them to learn from what they were doing wrong, then put it behind them and move forward. Ask them if there’s anything you can do to give them a hand with starting new!

Via: Associated Content

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

Young people are not the only ones who make a New Year’s resolution to shed a few pounds. Many seniors are overweight, and losing extra pounds will not only make them feel better about themselves, but it will be beneficial to their over-all health. Below is a short list of tips that will help seniors implement ways to lose weight in the upcoming year.

1. Try to be more conscious of what you eat. While sweets are hard to resist, try eating a piece of fruit instead of candy. It will satisfy your craving for sugar and is much healthier.

2. Buy a scale for the bathroom. This will help monitor your weight. You can even use a journal to keep track of any changes. A good scale will help you through your weight-loss journey.

3. Increase physical activity. Seniors do not need to join a gym. A simple short walk each day will help burn extra calories. In addition, that walk can help keep your heart healthy.  Exercise also increases your mood, so not only will it have physical benefits, but your mental health will improve as well.

4. Discuss weight loss plans with a doctor. You want to make sure your diet is providing you with the intake you need to stay healthy yet at the same time will help you lose weight.

Source: aarp.org

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

Seniors often make New Year’s resolutions, but very few follow through on them past the first few turns of the calendar. 2010 is a great year for seniors, at least it can be if they stick to their goals that can improve their health and lives.

1. Focus on fun – particularly when it comes to losing weight or starting an exercise program, the resolution can become a burden rather than something you desire to achieve. Find exercise activities you enjoy, and if your resolutions have nothing to do with weight loss or exercise; ensure you go about attaining your goals in a way that’s focused on fun!

2. Think about your future today – if you have goals for the future, there’s no better time than now to start working towards achieving them. You might have excuses, whether it’s related to your age, your health, the logistics of getting around or something else; but those are aspects unlikely to change so take the bull by the horns and work towards the goals you set

3. Talk to others – if you tell others about your goals, you’ll be more likely to stick to them. It almost creates a challenge, since you’ll be encouraged to tell your friends and family that you’re successful rather than failing at your New Year’s resolutions. This also gives you a support network for encouragement

Via: AARP

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.

New Year’s resolutions can be hard to stick to, but for 2010 seniors can abide by resolutions that will improve their health, but also offer them some fun!

1. Be social – attend parties, classes, and social groups. Seniors who are socially active have better physical and mental health than those who are isolated. It’s not uncommon for seniors to withdraw, but avoid it in 2010

2. Try healthy indulgences – controlled amounts of red wine and dark chocolate are enjoyable and can improve health by preventing diabetes, lower blood pressure and more

3. Laugh a lot – you’ve heard laughter is the best medicine. It’s true. Laughter is about the only thing you shouldn’t do in moderation. People should get in a good laugh a couple of times a week to improve the health of their blood vessels

4. Take a snooze – heart related death has been proven to be reduced in seniors who nap for 30 minutes at least 30 times per week. It can also help seniors feel refreshed and improve their immune systems

5. Dance for health – dancing can help to prevent dementia, and is a great form of exercise. Get out those dancing shoes in 2010!

6. Eat some fat – linoleic acid and safflower oil can actually help seniors with a few pounds to shed lose weight, so incorporate them into your diet

7. Get some sun – don’t forget the sunscreen, but vitamin D can lift spirits and reduce the risk of heart disease

8. Try tai chi or yoga – these activities can improve mental health through meditation and help with balance, strength and flexibility

9. Have sex – many seniors give up sex, but it can help you to sleep better, reduce pain, blood pressure and stress

10. Spend time in nature – anxiety and depression are greatly reduced in those who appreciate green space!

Via: AARP

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Home Health Senior Care Dallas - Your elderly loved one prefers to live at home and our CAREGivers are trained to help them remain safe and healthy at home. Call us at 972-239-3934.