Practical ideas for increasing fiber intake in the elderly

[Kathrynne Holden,MS,RD]

Carol Porter wrote:

> Would any of you share practical ideas you have for increasing fiber

> intake in elderly people who are (1) edentulous or (2) have dysphagia >and are on pureed or other mechanically-altered diets?  


Carol,
If just chewing is the problem, you can add rolled oats to ground beef
when making meatloaf or burger patties. Also, I often recommend bran
cereals; when soaked in milk, they are easy to chew.

Our latest newsletter features cooked dried beans, "the world's
highest-fiber food." I don't think you can beat beans for fiber, ease of
chewing, nutrient value, and dollar value. Beans may also help control
blood sugar and cholesterol, for those with diabetes or heart disease. I
also provide samples of Beano for those who experience bloating, and
I've found that most of my clients do quite well with this.

I recommend cooked dried beans, split peas, and lentils whenever
possible. These can be mashed, thickened, or thinned to any consistency
for the edentulous; for patients with dysphagia, once the speech
pathologist has determined the proper consistency, the cooked beans can
be prepared accordingly. 

If you're interested, I can send you information on our copier-ready
handouts, and our monthly newsletter for older adults. The Topics make
good discharge diets, and the newsletter is good inservice material for
professionals and paraprofessionals both.

Best regards, 
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
Editor-in-Chief,
"Spotlight on Food--nutrition news for people 60-plus"
http://www.fortnet.org/~fivstar
and NUTRITION TOPICS copy-ready handouts
http://www.dietetics.com/class/fivstar/
Tel: 970-493-6532   Fax: 970-493-6538