What if the secret to living well into your golden years isn't found in a pill bottle but on your plate? In this enlightening episode of the Journey Out podcast, we dive deep into the science of nutrition for healthy aging with Dr. Shaneka Baylor, a clinical pharmacist who pivoted her career to focus on senior nutrition through her company, Chefs for Seniors.
Dr. Baylor brings a fascinating dual perspective to the conversation, blending pharmaceutical knowledge with nutritional expertise to address the unique dietary challenges seniors face. She reveals why protein becomes increasingly crucial as we age, sharing that we naturally lose 3-5% of muscle mass during the aging process—making what we eat more important than ever for maintaining strength and independence.
The discussion tackles practical challenges many seniors and their caregivers encounter daily. From combating decreased appetite with nutrient-dense smoothies to addressing the surprising dangers of dehydration (which can manifest as dizziness and unsteadiness), Dr. Baylor offers simple, actionable solutions. Her insights on the Mediterranean diet and Blue Zones—regions with the highest concentrations of centenarians—provide a roadmap for longevity through food choices.
Perhaps most valuable are the practical meal planning tips for both independent seniors and caregivers. Quick, nutritious options like simple soups, baked fish, and roasted vegetables can be prepared in minutes while delivering maximum nutritional benefit. Dr. Baylor distills her expertise into three powerful recommendations: fill your plate with plants first, prioritize hydration, and regularly incorporate beans, nuts, and seeds into your diet.
Whether you're a senior looking to enhance your health, a caregiver seeking better ways to nourish your loved one, or someone planning for your own healthy aging journey, this episode delivers wisdom you can implement today for a healthier tomorrow. Listen, learn, and discover how the right foods can help you thrive at any age.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Journey Out
podcast.
We are so happy to have you inwith us today.
We are continuing our series onhealthy aging living well at
every stage, and today we'retalking about nutrition and
wellness for seniors, and so wehave a very special guest here
with us today.
So let's just hop right in.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I was blessed.
They ain't never saw my mom anddad in stress.
They only shows.
They said I'm living comfortfrom the sweat off they bags and
that's why all I ever wantedwas to give it back.
I'm not ashamed because I wasraised right.
I would only be ashamed if Ididn't help you fight through
the pain, Help you drain out thegames that your mind played.
No matter what, I never let myshine fade away, Forever
(00:41):
searching for knowledge, hopingI find grace.
Keep.
(01:05):
We'll be right back.
If I ain't shopping, I ain't in.
This journey out togetherForever, J-O-P.
J-o-p.
It's Journey Out.
Journey Out Podcast.
Welcome to the Journey OutPodcast.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Alright, so with us today we have the awesome, the
amazing Dr Shanika Baylor here.
Give her a round of applause.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Hello.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Hello family, hello, alright, ms Shan family, hello,
yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
All right, Ms Shanika Baylor.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Dr Shanika.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Baylor, all right, get it right.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Can you start by sharing a little bit with us of
your background and yourexperience working with seniors?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Seniors in nutrition, absolutely, absolutely so, oh
gosh.
So I have been a pharmacist for16 years now Okay, okay, okay.
And so I've been a clinicalpharmacist for 16 years and so I
worked mostly with seniorsliving with diabetes, high blood
pressure, cholesterol issues,all of those things, and so a
(02:02):
lot of my seniors had, becauseof those issues, I was like food
, food is the main focal pointand so I also, like a lot of
people had issues with my weightand other things and I was like
what else can I do?
And I loved cooking and so Iactually started cooking for my
(02:24):
coworkers, lost a lot of weightmyself and I was like, what else
am I going to do?
So I actually went back to getmy master's in nutrition and
then, you know, found thiscompany called Chefs for Seniors
, fell in love with it anddecided to make it my new life's
work and so moved into that andreally got into the business of
(02:45):
helping seniors.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
And how long have you been doing on Chef for Seniors?
Six years, six years,congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
So, for breakdown, more about Chef for Seniors.
So you have the pharmaceuticalbackground.
Yes, then you went and got yourmaster's to become a doctor in
nutrition, and so tell us moreabout Chef for Seniors and what
you all do there.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
So, with Chefs for Seniors, we actually go into our
clients' homes and cook healthyfood for them.
So we can come in there once aweek, every other week, a couple
of times a week.
You know whatever works bestfor them and you know their
financial needs and you know wecook those meals based on what
they need.
It's 100% customizable.
So you know I go in there withthem, I do an in-home
(03:27):
consultation, we talk about whattheir dietary needs are, what
their health issues are.
You know what their tastepreferences are and then we work
with them, you know, to createthat menu.
You know we have a menu becausewe are a national franchise, so
we do have a curated menu thatthey can choose from.
Or you know if they haverecipes, if they have a
dietician that they're workingwith, um, you know that
(03:50):
dietician can create menus orrecipes as well.
And then we come in, we do thegrocery shopping for them and we
create those menus, put them inindividual containers and
literally all they will have todo is heat it up yes, awesome,
that's great, okay's great, okay, so tell me this yes what are
the most important nutrientsthat seniors should focus on?
(04:11):
Okay.
So I mean we can look at awhole gamut of things, but I
really like to tell them tofocus on protein.
So that's going to be reallyimportant.
We're going to be looking atvitamin D, we're going to be
looking at calcium, and thensome omega-3s and vitamin B12.
So that's going to be a goodplace to start.
Protein is probably going to bethe hallmark.
(04:32):
We think about it a lot and itcomes in a lot of different ways
, but that protein and thencalcium, those are going to be
our backbones, because that'sgoing to help keep your strong
bones with the calcium, and thenbecause as we age, you know, we
start, we lose weight, we loseweight, and so that protein is
going to help us to keep thatmuscle mass as we're aging Right
(04:53):
.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
And so and we did, we talked about that last week
that as we age, we lose three to5% of mass as we age.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So you know we're getting weaker we're doing all
those things, but also, as weage, I know loss of appetite is
(05:20):
something that a lot of ourseniors are dealing with and
they can't really control it,Right.
So how you're thinking aboutthat, let's talk about small
meals a day.
So even us, you know we're busy.
We were talking earlier aboutyou know, what we have for
breakfast, just coffee, and evenme because you know you joke
like are you still working your?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
15 job Because I'm a busy person.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
But you know, like a smoothie was my thing on the way
here, so smoothies, that's alsoa really easy thing that can
help them maintain a balancedmeal, because you can put
protein powder in there.
They can put almond or somekind of nut butter in there,
which is also full of goodprotein.
They can put fruits in there,which has plenty of antioxidants
(06:02):
in there, and a lot of vitaminsand minerals, you know you can
get your vitamin D from yourcalcium, your milk, your
fortified milks in there, so youcan almost get a complete meal
from a healthy not you know andfrom a smoothie you put together
, not from a pre-made smoothie,right.
You know, so that's going to bea good thing.
And then other healthy snacks,so hard-boiled eggs, you know.
(06:23):
Get them little cans of liketuna or salmon, you know, cause
then again that's protein andthose are generally, you know,
inexpensively packed.
You know you can buy the smallcans of tuna Greek yogurt and
add some fruit and make sureyou're getting just the yogurt.
Don't get it with the addedfruits or things like that.
You can always sweeten it alittle bit yourself with like
(06:44):
honey or maple syrup orsomething like that, but do that
Mixed nuts or homemade granola,add those kinds of things, so
that way they're getting goodsupplemented snacks in there and
that way they can eat a littlesomething and then still get
those nutrients something andthen still get the those
nutrients.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So we talked about the smoothies and we talked
about snacks.
So what are some easy highprotein meals that they can cook
?
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know, if they decide well, right now I'm not
going to use chef for seeing,but you know, the easy thing
would just be call your girl andhave them come out here and fix
your meal.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Yes, yes, so you know , that's the thing.
So I always like to say get youa rotisserie chicken.
So you know, because somepeople like to cook, but if you
don't like my mom she used tocook, but she don't like to be
in the kitchen like that all thetime anymore.
So you get a rotisserie chickenbecause you can eat off that,
for you know vegetables in a can.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
There's too much sodium in that.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
So if you're going to get some frozen vegetables, you
can microwave them, but it'sreally easy to just take them
out the bag and then steam themon the stove, so something like
that.
Or, in the deli section, findthe meats that are already cut
up and then you can put those inthe oven.
(08:13):
So you know when you're lookingfor just things like that, the a
lot of times in the meatsection they're already going to
have a lot of the meats alreadycut.
So then, because a lot ofseniors also have issues with
dexterity- so you don't want tohave anything, that they're
having issues cutting things upor things like that.
So you want to make it easy forthem to just be able to put it
in the oven and then, you know,heat it up so they don't have to
(08:34):
do a lot of extras, especiallyif they're not trying to season
or do all those things that theyused to do.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Right, and let's talk about fiber too, because we do
know like, as we age, we're onmultiple medications.
Yes, Most times.
Yes, that can causeconstipation, and not everything
is not flowing as easy as itused to.
So how does fiber supportsenior health, and what are some
?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
of the best sources for it.
Okay, so it's all.
It's going to maintain thatregularity.
So that is the number one thingthat fiber is going to do.
It also helps with digestionbecause it can push things down,
so that's going to be important.
But also it helps with hearthealth.
So again, you know it's goingto help decrease your risk of
heart disease.
So you know we always thinkabout those things as we're
getting older.
(09:16):
So fiber has a whole lot ofextra health and resources.
But your whole grains, so youroats, so you know getting your
oats in the morning.
If you like oatmeal, a goodthing of oatmeal.
Or my grandmother used to likemato meal.
So that's also still you know agood option as well.
Obviously, your fruits andvegetables are going to be
(09:36):
really good, but then nuts andbeans are also going to be
really good sources of fiber aswell.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
So we're going to go into hydration.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
And this is because my grandmother, because I my
grandmother.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
The past week or so she was dealing with some what's
unsteady.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Unsteady.
So she was unsteady on her feet, she was dehydrated, really
dizzy Dehydration, and so wewere like, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
We didn't know what was going on and we took her out
of town and the altitude was alot different.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So that can make it worse.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
But listen, I went through the medication.
Hey, are you taking yourmedication?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
properly, or are you?
Speaker 3 (10:18):
doing X, y and Z to come and find out that she was
dehydrated, yep.
So why seniors are at a highrisk of dehydration?
Can you answer that questionfor me?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
So, yes, so there's a lot of things that happen.
So as we get older, our bodieschange how we process fluid, so
we are starting to lose morefluid as we get older.
So most times we lose the water, but we do know in certain
instances, you know when we haveour kidney failure we can
retain water, or if we haveheart failure.
(10:49):
We can retain water, but mosttimes we're losing it.
So that's why you know youthink about it when you also
think we lose the muscle but,you also see that our skin sags.
That's because we're losing thatwater as we age.
So that's where the dehydrationcomes in.
And then also, we talked abouthow we don't have the taste
perception.
So we also don't have thatthirst perception.
(11:09):
And even in regular adults, ifyou think about it so often, we
don't even think about that.
We're thirsty.
And I always like to remindpeople, by the time you think
you're thirsty, you're alreadydehydrated right, so for us if
we as adults don't even realizewe're dehydrated till we're
thirsty think?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
about what that?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
is for an older person, right.
So, and to the good thing withgranny, we told her like hey,
you're dehydrated, we're gonna,so we're going to drink some
more water, and she was fine.
But there are some seniors whojust don't like water.
They don't want to do it.
So what are some creativesolutions that we can try that
can kind of boost them to drinkthe water and encourage them to
do so?
Okay?
Speaker 4 (11:46):
So water is always going to be your first choice.
Right, right, right.
But there are other optionsother than water.
So I always like to sayencourage water first and then
think about other things to use.
But you can use, you know,small bottles of water.
So when my grandmother wasliving, we would always give her
the little eight ounce bottlesbecause she could manage that
better, so we could you know wewould sit those by her and we'd
(12:08):
be like, okay, me, ma, come on,you know, give me that before
we'd have her eat her food.
So, and we would encourage that.
So having them drink that smallbottle before they had their
food is always going to besomething, using reminders or
hydration schedule.
So those are going to be goodthings, because sometimes you
just forget Making it definitelywith mealtime or before
(12:30):
mealtime.
Using water-based foods isgoing to be another way to
increase hydration, and that'shydration-based food.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yes, hydration-based food, so like your cucumbers,
your watermelon celery, thoseall.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
So that increases it.
Broth.
Those are going to be it Now Ialways put as an aside.
As we get older, some peoplemight be on a fluid restriction.
So always remember you know, ifyour doctor has put you on a
fluid restriction, water, broth,soup, all those are going to be
included in that.
So you will have to calculateall that.
(13:06):
If they're on a fluidrestriction.
But, those are all things.
But then also think about ifthere's anything that might be
keeping them from drinking thewater.
So with Granny's experience,you know that was different, but
do they have some kind ofincontinence and that's why
they're not drinking the water?
So you want to ask them thosequestions too, because you know
(13:29):
they might want the water, butare they going places and they
don't want to use it onthemselves, right?
So make sure you're also havingthose questions and those
conversations with them andaddressing those issues.
Or are they having some kind ofburied mobility issue?
Can they not grab the cup?
Is there something you know tomake sure that they can access
it?
That the way they need to?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Right and in a longer hydration.
I do know digestive health issomething that's super important
.
So as we age, of course seniorshave common like digestive
issues, whether it'sconstipation, bloated, bloating,
acid reflux and things likethat.
So how can digestion beimproved through diet and
lifestyle as we age?
Speaker 4 (14:11):
So fiber is going to be number one and hydration
those are going to be your toptwo, and if those aren't helping
, then you know, obviouslytalking to the doctor and making
sure that there is no otherkind of issues.
But then if there is an acidreflux, looking at what they are
eating, making sure there's nospices or some other kind of
(14:31):
food that's getting caught inthere and that's making the
reflux happen and then removingthose foods so that digestion is
better right.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
What role do probiotics play in gut health?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
oh, probiotics are great because they, you know it
makes that good bacteria, youknow.
So it makes the healthy gut.
Healthy gut makes yourdigestion better.
It can help, you know, with uh,helping you with constipation
and things like that, and itmakes it smoother.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
So we, we want to add probiotics to the, to the mix
okay so and and are there anylike probiotic or prebiotic
foods that they can like buyfrom stores at all?
Mostly pill-based.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Oh no, no, no everything.
Every food is good first youwill always hear me say food is
first.
Food is first.
So for probiotic foods you wantto look at yogurt, so you can
always find good yogurts thathave strains of probiotics in it
.
Kefir you can look atsauerkraut and then even kimchi
(15:29):
and kombucha.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So those are all the ways.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
It's a drink, kombucha is a drink, so it's
something you can drink and it'sit's almost like a soda, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
OK.
So what do you OK?
Sidebar.
So when you do right, when youOK, you want to cut back on
sodas and all the sugar drinksright.
So you got a kaboota kombucha.
So what is there anything thatyou can get past?
(16:00):
Maybe to taste, and it's morethan likely.
It's because, hey, we've beenused to certain sugar, certain
things for a long time andtrying something new, oh, I just
don't taste well for me.
But what is a way to surpassthat?
Is it any secret?
You the chef, you the doctor?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Really no.
So is when you're trying to getpast like sweet, sweet stuff
and trying to.
You just have to break thehabit.
So I usually say, because wehaven't.
So now, like I, we don't buy,like we buy plain yogurt and
then I sweeten it myself.
So most things you know, like Iadd fruit.
So, that's a natural sweetener.
(16:36):
And then I, you know, and we, Istopped using most artificial
sweeteners a long time ago.
Like we use monk fruit or we'lluse honey that's most and then
we'll use maple syrup for somethings, but that's generally
what we use to sweeten andchange the exactly.
So if you want something alittle sweet.
But then that's what you dolike you start off, you cut back
(16:57):
with how much of the sugar orthose you know the sweetener,
you put in and in and you usereal fruit to start sweetening
things so that you can changeyour taste of the sugar, so
kombucha.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Kombucha, kombucha.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
And that's like a soda, right?
Yeah, it's a soda, it'sfermented, right, it's fermented
soda.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
And you can actually make kombucha at home.
There's recipes online yeah soit's a I mean, and even you know
sauerkraut, you can make it athome, okay.
And kimchi.
You can make that at home too.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
And if you don't know how to guess what Just get
Chefs?
Speaker 4 (17:36):
for.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Seniors in here to come and help you.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
And then even with prebiotics.
Now that's even better, becauseprebiotics is the food for the
probiotics.
But prebiotics is like,basically it's what we can't
really digest, so it goes rightthrough us.
So it's good for us too, butyour body just kind of it just
goes through.
So when we're talking aboutprebiotics, we're looking at
(18:00):
garlic, onions, asparagus,bananas, you know, and whole
grains.
So those are things that youcan be eating all the time, so
those are good probiotics too.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
We love those.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I know we're talking about for seniors, right, but is
this good for all ages?
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Absolutely Great Okay .
Speaker 3 (18:20):
But is this?
Speaker 1 (18:21):
good for all ages?
Absolutely Great, okay, and thereason why we're talking about
nutrition as a whole anyway, isbecause we are looking for
longevity in our lives.
A lot of us, even at my age,are dealing with different what
do you want to call it chronicconditions because of the way
our lifestyles and what we eatand what we digest.
(18:41):
And so, as we're talking aboutnutrition and lifestyle for
longevity, talk to me about somediets that we can potentially
get on Like.
I know the Mediterranean dietright.
What makes the Mediterraneandiet one of the best for senior
health or just all inclusive foreverybody's health?
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So I think when they have done studies on the
Mediterranean diet, it's reallybecause of its high
concentration of fruits andvegetables, whole grains, okay,
it uses.
Its main source of fat is oliveoil, okay, and so you know
olive oil is a really goodhealthy fat.
That's, you know, been studied,and you know it doesn't use a
(19:22):
lot of the protein that itconcentrates on is like fish.
So you know it's all thosethings.
That has all the things that wepretty much talked about.
You know, like it's not a lotof dairy, but the dairy that it
is is healthy dairy.
You know, it's looking at yogurt, you know, a little bit of eggs
.
You it's the it's a plant-basedmostly lifestyle looking at
(19:44):
those kind of things.
So it you know it's looking atlowering that incidence of
chronic diseases.
So it's all of those thingsthat we've talked about and it
could be.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
It could be the way it's cooked spicy or not spicy.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Well, it does yeah, I mean they use spices you know,
but it's the mediterranean way,so they use their own spices.
So you know they're going touse garlic they're going to use,
you know they're going to usethe onion that we talked about.
They have their own set ofspices.
You know, in with chefs forseniors, we don't use salt
really because we're workingwith an older population, so
they're using other spices toflavor the foods and all those
(20:19):
kind of things.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
So yeah, okay.
So, uh, what are foods that arelinked to longer life and
better cognitive function?
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Okay, so I always like.
So last year, when I was doinga lot of talks um, I focused on
blue zones last year, so I don'tknow if y'all have ever heard
of the blue zones.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So okay so the blue zones is it was I don't know if
y'all have ever heard of theBlue Zones.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
No, I haven't heard of it.
I don't think so.
So okay, so the Blue Zones isit was.
I can't think of the name ofthe author right now, but he, he
worked at the time for NationalGeographic and he looked at
five regions all over the worldand they focused on it, found
like these five regions had highincidence of centenarians or
people who were living over ahundred, and so like it was in
(21:01):
Japan, um Costa Rica, um some acouple of places in the
Mediterranean and then in LomaLinda.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
California, and so right.
And then you said toMediterranean.
So then yes, yes, so we hadthat.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
So you know, the thing that they all had in
common was, again, most of themwere like plant based you know,
kind of diets, you know.
And then also they had otherthings about large areas of like
they were community based.
There was a lot of you knowwalking and other things, but
the like, the plant basedlifestyle, the way they ate, you
know high concentrations ofolive oil, you know lower meat
(21:39):
consumption, things like that,and traces of olive oil you know
lower meat consumption, thingslike that.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
So you know, when I say I didn't, want to say that
there was a specific food, butit was more of a lifestyle, like
focusing on the plant-baseddiets.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
You know, and making sure that we're consuming.
You know more of those things.
You know making sure thatyou're centering your plate
around plants.
And then you know you're adding, you know you're adding your
other protein-based foods andthings like that.
And that don't mean necessarilyyou have to go vegan, exactly
right because most of theseplaces, you know some of them,
because they're surrounded bywater, you know, of course,
(22:11):
they're going to be moreplant-based, and then you eat
what you have access to but inyou know, loma linda was
different because they are ohwhat are they?
I forgot which religion theypractice, so they were vegan.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
So, they were very, you know, they were the
completely vegan.
But most of the other placeseither had fish, you know, but
it might have been once or twicea week you know or?
maybe you know, and when theyhad red meat, you know it was
more like maybe on Sunday, okay,you know that kind of thing.
You know it was more like maybeon sunday, okay, you know that
kind of thing.
So it wasn't that they werecompletely, but in um costa rica
they were kind of thedifference, where it was more
(22:46):
traditional, like they wereeating more rice beans because
they were more of a cattlecountry right, as opposed to
some of the mediterranean places.
So you know there was somedifferences, but you could still
see that plants or whole grainswas the center of the meal.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
And let's go like more from your pharmaceutical
background too, like what is theimportance of vitamins and
supplements for aging adults.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
That's funny because, you know, when we were looking
at some of the things, it wasgoing to be one of my things I
was going to say at the end butvitamins, supplements, they play
a part, yeah, um, but I wouldsay they're not the main thing.
You know you, once you have awhole foods diet, right, then
you add the supplements to thatyou know, so kind of boosted,
(23:37):
exactly right.
But the food is the nutrient,is the nutrient yes, you want to
get as much of your nutrientsfrom your foods first.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Okay, awesome, awesome all right, uh, so a
practical meal planning tips forindependent seniors and
caregivers.
So what's that?
What that practical meal looklike?
What's a five minute, tenminute meal for a caregiver
taking care of their loved oneor a senior living by?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
themselves.
They're independent, they cando it.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
I mean you know you could do some soups, quick soups
.
You know stews, I mean you knowif you can brown some.
You know.
Lean ground beef, you know,every now and again um, we
talked about frozen vegetablesbuy you a bag of mixed
vegetables.
Right, make you, you know, buya thing.
This is the only time I willsay can a can of tomatoes, the
(24:24):
low sodium or no sodium, youknow, and some uh, no salt broth
, and you have yourself a uhsoup okay that will, you know,
literally take you 20 minutes,let it boil and you've got
yourself a soup and they can eaton that, you know, for a few
days.
And so you know, when you'retalking about your seniors or
your older adults, you also knowthat their appetite is
(24:46):
generally going to be smaller,so you know something like that
is going to last them for somedays.
You know, you can also talkabout.
You know, maybe some grilledfish or you know, season it up a
little bit, bake it in the ovenyou know, you know, cut up some
sweet potatoes, you know samekind of thing.
You can bake those or roast themin the oven.
You know, you know, cut up somesweet potatoes, you know same
kind of thing.
You can bake those or roastthem in the oven, because
roasting your vegetables isgoing to be good for you as well
(25:06):
.
A lot of times people forgetabout roasting, you know, and
that's also something that youcan do.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Well, I tell you what I'm hungry.
I know I mean we only hadcoffee today.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
So, you know, I understand that so.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Shanika you have talked about like some awesome
things.
And so I'm so glad they wereable to get all of this like
invaluable information from you.
I would say this I want threethings that I want them to take
away.
First thing if you had torecommend three simple dietary
changes for better senior health, what would they?
Speaker 4 (25:35):
be.
Fill your plate with plants.
That's where you want to start,and by plants I mean fruits,
vegetables, even whole grains.
All of that.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Make that the focal point so I'm, what about collard
green?
That's a plant right, but doyou do, you want?
Speaker 1 (25:52):
hog mouth.
Do you want?
Smoke them and do the turkeyturkey.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Okay, I'm just making sure, I like collard yes, yes,
but turkey, um, okay, that wasone.
And and even with that, don'tboil them, saute them or, you
know, keep them a little crunchy.
Yes, okay, yes, all of that yes, because when you boil them,
you're boiling out all the goodstuff okay, all right.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
So what about the?
What about the?
Uh stem?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
you, I mean you can cut off some of the stem yeah,
but saute them yes okay, allright all right, and then, um,
hydrate.
So you know, like we talkedabout, making sure, but within
whatever that restriction, youknow, if there's a restriction,
whatever that's supposed to be,and then making sure you're
incorporating beans, nuts andseeds because, uh, the other
thing I didn't mention is, um,the mind diet so that can also
(26:39):
help with cognitive health, andum so beans, nuts and seeds is
an important part of that somaking sure you're getting some
servings of beans and she's, sheloved
Speaker 1 (26:47):
beans yeah, I do not.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I I'm sorry, I won't eat them, but whatever, no, no,
I can do that no, I'm not eatingit.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
I can't eat it.
Okay, well, making sure you'regetting some servings of beans,
nuts and seeds, okay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Awesome.
Well, where can they find moreinformation about you and
connect with all of you onsocial media?
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Okay, so the best place to find me is going to be
if you just go tochefsforseniorscom.
That's our general website, butyou can find me in the
Arlington Grand Prairie or youcan look for me in the Fort
Worth or the Plano area.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
And all of those are me.
Okay, all of those are me.
And so, and if you're not, andif they're not living in those
areas, there's other chefs,seniors all over the country.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
And do they do?
I know you just said it but dothey?
(27:53):
Have a direct email orsomething to get to you.
Phone number whatever.
Yes, yes, so um, you can findme at shanika, that's
s-h-a-n-e-k-a.
At chefs for seniorscom andthen the number is 682-800-9994
perfect, perfect, listen collardgreens, smoked turkey and saute
.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Okay, look, I'm not, we're gonna get this together.
Yeah, when we finally juststart decide to start eating
breakfast in the morning, we'llget to the.
But I thank you so much forcoming on and being a part of
the journey, our podcast.
Thank you guys for having me.
We just love you and adore you.
And you guys, please, please,please, tune in with her.
Shanika at chefs for seniorscom.
She gave you the phone number.
Please look out for her.
(28:22):
If you or your loved one needssomeone to come in and prepare
those meals to make sure thatthey're healthy and they're
having the balanced diet thatthey deserve, please do not
hesitate to reach out Again.
If this episode was helpful andit just gave you all the
knowledge that you need to goout and be a resource to
somebody else, please feel freeto like, comment, share and
subscribe.
We are growing a really greatcommunity here and we're growing
(28:45):
super fast, so we thank you allfor all the love and support
and just continue to share thisinformation out for everybody so
they can journey out on thisjourney together with family and
community.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
And I hope this information was a resource to
you, for your family.
So take that resource to yourfamily and also to your
community, and we out.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Have a blessed one.
Bye y'all.
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Journey Out
podcast.
We are so happy to have you inwith us today.
We are continuing our series onhealthy aging living well at
every stage, and today we'retalking about nutrition and
wellness for seniors, and so wehave a very special guest here
with us today.
So let's just hop right in.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I was blessed.
They ain't never saw my mom anddad in stress.
They only shows.
They said I'm living comfortfrom the sweat off they bags and
that's why all I ever wantedwas to give it back.
I'm not ashamed because I wasraised right.
I would only be ashamed if Ididn't help you fight through
the pain, Help you drain out thegames that your mind played.
No matter what, I never let myshine fade away, Forever
(00:41):
searching for knowledge, hopingI find grace.
Keep.
(01:05):
We'll be right back.
If I ain't shopping, I ain't in.
This journey out togetherForever, J-O-P.
J-o-p.
It's Journey Out.
Journey Out Podcast.
Welcome to the Journey OutPodcast.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Alright, so with us today we have the awesome, the
amazing Dr Shanika Baylor here.
Give her a round of applause.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Hello.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Hello family, hello, alright, ms Shan family, hello,
yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
All right, Ms Shanika Baylor.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Dr Shanika.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Baylor, all right, get it right.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Can you start by sharing a little bit with us of
your background and yourexperience working with seniors?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Seniors in nutrition, absolutely, absolutely so, oh
gosh.
So I have been a pharmacist for16 years now Okay, okay, okay.
And so I've been a clinicalpharmacist for 16 years and so I
worked mostly with seniorsliving with diabetes, high blood
pressure, cholesterol issues,all of those things, and so a
(02:02):
lot of my seniors had, becauseof those issues, I was like food
, food is the main focal pointand so I also, like a lot of
people had issues with my weightand other things and I was like
what else can I do?
And I loved cooking and so Iactually started cooking for my
(02:24):
coworkers, lost a lot of weightmyself and I was like, what else
am I going to do?
So I actually went back to getmy master's in nutrition and
then, you know, found thiscompany called Chefs for Seniors
, fell in love with it anddecided to make it my new life's
work and so moved into that andreally got into the business of
(02:45):
helping seniors.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
And how long have you been doing on Chef for Seniors?
Six years, six years,congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
So, for breakdown, more about Chef for Seniors.
So you have the pharmaceuticalbackground.
Yes, then you went and got yourmaster's to become a doctor in
nutrition, and so tell us moreabout Chef for Seniors and what
you all do there.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
So, with Chefs for Seniors, we actually go into our
clients' homes and cook healthyfood for them.
So we can come in there once aweek, every other week, a couple
of times a week.
You know whatever works bestfor them and you know their
financial needs and you know wecook those meals based on what
they need.
It's 100% customizable.
So you know I go in there withthem, I do an in-home
(03:27):
consultation, we talk about whattheir dietary needs are, what
their health issues are.
You know what their tastepreferences are and then we work
with them, you know, to createthat menu.
You know we have a menu becausewe are a national franchise, so
we do have a curated menu thatthey can choose from.
Or you know if they haverecipes, if they have a
dietician that they're workingwith, um, you know that
(03:50):
dietician can create menus orrecipes as well.
And then we come in, we do thegrocery shopping for them and we
create those menus, put them inindividual containers and
literally all they will have todo is heat it up yes, awesome,
that's great, okay's great, okay, so tell me this yes what are
the most important nutrientsthat seniors should focus on?
(04:11):
Okay.
So I mean we can look at awhole gamut of things, but I
really like to tell them tofocus on protein.
So that's going to be reallyimportant.
We're going to be looking atvitamin D, we're going to be
looking at calcium, and thensome omega-3s and vitamin B12.
So that's going to be a goodplace to start.
Protein is probably going to bethe hallmark.
(04:32):
We think about it a lot and itcomes in a lot of different ways
, but that protein and thencalcium, those are going to be
our backbones, because that'sgoing to help keep your strong
bones with the calcium, and thenbecause as we age, you know, we
start, we lose weight, we loseweight, and so that protein is
going to help us to keep thatmuscle mass as we're aging Right
(04:53):
.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
And so and we did, we talked about that last week
that as we age, we lose three to5% of mass as we age.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So you know we're getting weaker we're doing all
those things, but also, as weage, I know loss of appetite is
(05:20):
something that a lot of ourseniors are dealing with and
they can't really control it,Right.
So how you're thinking aboutthat, let's talk about small
meals a day.
So even us, you know we're busy.
We were talking earlier aboutyou know, what we have for
breakfast, just coffee, and evenme because you know you joke
like are you still working your?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
15 job Because I'm a busy person.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
But you know, like a smoothie was my thing on the way
here, so smoothies, that's alsoa really easy thing that can
help them maintain a balancedmeal, because you can put
protein powder in there.
They can put almond or somekind of nut butter in there,
which is also full of goodprotein.
They can put fruits in there,which has plenty of antioxidants
(06:02):
in there, and a lot of vitaminsand minerals, you know you can
get your vitamin D from yourcalcium, your milk, your
fortified milks in there, so youcan almost get a complete meal
from a healthy not you know andfrom a smoothie you put together
, not from a pre-made smoothie,right.
You know, so that's going to bea good thing.
And then other healthy snacks,so hard-boiled eggs, you know.
(06:23):
Get them little cans of liketuna or salmon, you know, cause
then again that's protein andthose are generally, you know,
inexpensively packed.
You know you can buy the smallcans of tuna Greek yogurt and
add some fruit and make sureyou're getting just the yogurt.
Don't get it with the addedfruits or things like that.
You can always sweeten it alittle bit yourself with like
(06:44):
honey or maple syrup orsomething like that, but do that
Mixed nuts or homemade granola,add those kinds of things, so
that way they're getting goodsupplemented snacks in there and
that way they can eat a littlesomething and then still get
those nutrients something andthen still get the those
nutrients.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So we talked about the smoothies and we talked
about snacks.
So what are some easy highprotein meals that they can cook
?
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know, if they decide well, right now I'm not
going to use chef for seeing,but you know, the easy thing
would just be call your girl andhave them come out here and fix
your meal.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Yes, yes, so you know , that's the thing.
So I always like to say get youa rotisserie chicken.
So you know, because somepeople like to cook, but if you
don't like my mom she used tocook, but she don't like to be
in the kitchen like that all thetime anymore.
So you get a rotisserie chickenbecause you can eat off that,
for you know vegetables in a can.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
There's too much sodium in that.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
So if you're going to get some frozen vegetables, you
can microwave them, but it'sreally easy to just take them
out the bag and then steam themon the stove, so something like
that.
Or, in the deli section, findthe meats that are already cut
up and then you can put those inthe oven.
(08:13):
So you know when you're lookingfor just things like that, the a
lot of times in the meatsection they're already going to
have a lot of the meats alreadycut.
So then, because a lot ofseniors also have issues with
dexterity- so you don't want tohave anything, that they're
having issues cutting things upor things like that.
So you want to make it easy forthem to just be able to put it
in the oven and then, you know,heat it up so they don't have to
(08:34):
do a lot of extras, especiallyif they're not trying to season
or do all those things that theyused to do.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Right, and let's talk about fiber too, because we do
know like, as we age, we're onmultiple medications.
Yes, Most times.
Yes, that can causeconstipation, and not everything
is not flowing as easy as itused to.
So how does fiber supportsenior health, and what are some
?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
of the best sources for it.
Okay, so it's all.
It's going to maintain thatregularity.
So that is the number one thingthat fiber is going to do.
It also helps with digestionbecause it can push things down,
so that's going to be important.
But also it helps with hearthealth.
So again, you know it's goingto help decrease your risk of
heart disease.
So you know we always thinkabout those things as we're
getting older.
(09:16):
So fiber has a whole lot ofextra health and resources.
But your whole grains, so youroats, so you know getting your
oats in the morning.
If you like oatmeal, a goodthing of oatmeal.
Or my grandmother used to likemato meal.
So that's also still you know agood option as well.
Obviously, your fruits andvegetables are going to be
(09:36):
really good, but then nuts andbeans are also going to be
really good sources of fiber aswell.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
So we're going to go into hydration.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
And this is because my grandmother, because I my
grandmother.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
The past week or so she was dealing with some what's
unsteady.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Unsteady.
So she was unsteady on her feet, she was dehydrated, really
dizzy Dehydration, and so wewere like, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
We didn't know what was going on and we took her out
of town and the altitude was alot different.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So that can make it worse.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
But listen, I went through the medication.
Hey, are you taking yourmedication?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
properly, or are you?
Speaker 3 (10:18):
doing X, y and Z to come and find out that she was
dehydrated, yep.
So why seniors are at a highrisk of dehydration?
Can you answer that questionfor me?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
So, yes, so there's a lot of things that happen.
So as we get older, our bodieschange how we process fluid, so
we are starting to lose morefluid as we get older.
So most times we lose the water, but we do know in certain
instances, you know when we haveour kidney failure we can
retain water, or if we haveheart failure.
(10:49):
We can retain water, but mosttimes we're losing it.
So that's why you know youthink about it when you also
think we lose the muscle but,you also see that our skin sags.
That's because we're losing thatwater as we age.
So that's where the dehydrationcomes in.
And then also, we talked abouthow we don't have the taste
perception.
So we also don't have thatthirst perception.
(11:09):
And even in regular adults, ifyou think about it so often, we
don't even think about that.
We're thirsty.
And I always like to remindpeople, by the time you think
you're thirsty, you're alreadydehydrated right, so for us if
we as adults don't even realizewe're dehydrated till we're
thirsty think?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
about what that?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
is for an older person, right.
So, and to the good thing withgranny, we told her like hey,
you're dehydrated, we're gonna,so we're going to drink some
more water, and she was fine.
But there are some seniors whojust don't like water.
They don't want to do it.
So what are some creativesolutions that we can try that
can kind of boost them to drinkthe water and encourage them to
do so?
Okay?
Speaker 4 (11:46):
So water is always going to be your first choice.
Right, right, right.
But there are other optionsother than water.
So I always like to sayencourage water first and then
think about other things to use.
But you can use, you know,small bottles of water.
So when my grandmother wasliving, we would always give her
the little eight ounce bottlesbecause she could manage that
better, so we could you know wewould sit those by her and we'd
(12:08):
be like, okay, me, ma, come on,you know, give me that before
we'd have her eat her food.
So, and we would encourage that.
So having them drink that smallbottle before they had their
food is always going to besomething, using reminders or
hydration schedule.
So those are going to be goodthings, because sometimes you
just forget Making it definitelywith mealtime or before
(12:30):
mealtime.
Using water-based foods isgoing to be another way to
increase hydration, and that'shydration-based food.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yes, hydration-based food, so like your cucumbers,
your watermelon celery, thoseall.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
So that increases it.
Broth.
Those are going to be it Now Ialways put as an aside.
As we get older, some peoplemight be on a fluid restriction.
So always remember you know, ifyour doctor has put you on a
fluid restriction, water, broth,soup, all those are going to be
included in that.
So you will have to calculateall that.
(13:06):
If they're on a fluidrestriction.
But, those are all things.
But then also think about ifthere's anything that might be
keeping them from drinking thewater.
So with Granny's experience,you know that was different, but
do they have some kind ofincontinence and that's why
they're not drinking the water?
So you want to ask them thosequestions too, because you know
(13:29):
they might want the water, butare they going places and they
don't want to use it onthemselves, right?
So make sure you're also havingthose questions and those
conversations with them andaddressing those issues.
Or are they having some kind ofburied mobility issue?
Can they not grab the cup?
Is there something you know tomake sure that they can access
it?
That the way they need to?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Right and in a longer hydration.
I do know digestive health issomething that's super important
.
So as we age, of course seniorshave common like digestive
issues, whether it'sconstipation, bloated, bloating,
acid reflux and things likethat.
So how can digestion beimproved through diet and
lifestyle as we age?
Speaker 4 (14:11):
So fiber is going to be number one and hydration
those are going to be your toptwo, and if those aren't helping
, then you know, obviouslytalking to the doctor and making
sure that there is no otherkind of issues.
But then if there is an acidreflux, looking at what they are
eating, making sure there's nospices or some other kind of
(14:31):
food that's getting caught inthere and that's making the
reflux happen and then removingthose foods so that digestion is
better right.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
What role do probiotics play in gut health?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
oh, probiotics are great because they, you know it
makes that good bacteria, youknow.
So it makes the healthy gut.
Healthy gut makes yourdigestion better.
It can help, you know, with uh,helping you with constipation
and things like that, and itmakes it smoother.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
So we, we want to add probiotics to the, to the mix
okay so and and are there anylike probiotic or prebiotic
foods that they can like buyfrom stores at all?
Mostly pill-based.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Oh no, no, no everything.
Every food is good first youwill always hear me say food is
first.
Food is first.
So for probiotic foods you wantto look at yogurt, so you can
always find good yogurts thathave strains of probiotics in it
.
Kefir you can look atsauerkraut and then even kimchi
(15:29):
and kombucha.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So those are all the ways.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
It's a drink, kombucha is a drink, so it's
something you can drink and it'sit's almost like a soda, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
OK.
So what do you OK?
Sidebar.
So when you do right, when youOK, you want to cut back on
sodas and all the sugar drinksright.
So you got a kaboota kombucha.
So what is there anything thatyou can get past?
(16:00):
Maybe to taste, and it's morethan likely.
It's because, hey, we've beenused to certain sugar, certain
things for a long time andtrying something new, oh, I just
don't taste well for me.
But what is a way to surpassthat?
Is it any secret?
You the chef, you the doctor?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Really no.
So is when you're trying to getpast like sweet, sweet stuff
and trying to.
You just have to break thehabit.
So I usually say, because wehaven't.
So now, like I, we don't buy,like we buy plain yogurt and
then I sweeten it myself.
So most things you know, like Iadd fruit.
So, that's a natural sweetener.
(16:36):
And then I, you know, and we, Istopped using most artificial
sweeteners a long time ago.
Like we use monk fruit or we'lluse honey that's most and then
we'll use maple syrup for somethings, but that's generally
what we use to sweeten andchange the exactly.
So if you want something alittle sweet.
But then that's what you dolike you start off, you cut back
(16:57):
with how much of the sugar orthose you know the sweetener,
you put in and in and you usereal fruit to start sweetening
things so that you can changeyour taste of the sugar, so
kombucha.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Kombucha, kombucha.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
And that's like a soda, right?
Yeah, it's a soda, it'sfermented, right, it's fermented
soda.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
And you can actually make kombucha at home.
There's recipes online yeah soit's a I mean, and even you know
sauerkraut, you can make it athome, okay.
And kimchi.
You can make that at home too.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
And if you don't know how to guess what Just get
Chefs?
Speaker 4 (17:36):
for.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Seniors in here to come and help you.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
And then even with prebiotics.
Now that's even better, becauseprebiotics is the food for the
probiotics.
But prebiotics is like,basically it's what we can't
really digest, so it goes rightthrough us.
So it's good for us too, butyour body just kind of it just
goes through.
So when we're talking aboutprebiotics, we're looking at
(18:00):
garlic, onions, asparagus,bananas, you know, and whole
grains.
So those are things that youcan be eating all the time, so
those are good probiotics too.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
We love those.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I know we're talking about for seniors, right, but is
this good for all ages?
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Absolutely Great Okay .
Speaker 3 (18:20):
But is this?
Speaker 1 (18:21):
good for all ages?
Absolutely Great, okay, and thereason why we're talking about
nutrition as a whole anyway, isbecause we are looking for
longevity in our lives.
A lot of us, even at my age,are dealing with different what
do you want to call it chronicconditions because of the way
our lifestyles and what we eatand what we digest.
(18:41):
And so, as we're talking aboutnutrition and lifestyle for
longevity, talk to me about somediets that we can potentially
get on Like.
I know the Mediterranean dietright.
What makes the Mediterraneandiet one of the best for senior
health or just all inclusive foreverybody's health?
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So I think when they have done studies on the
Mediterranean diet, it's reallybecause of its high
concentration of fruits andvegetables, whole grains, okay,
it uses.
Its main source of fat is oliveoil, okay, and so you know
olive oil is a really goodhealthy fat.
That's, you know, been studied,and you know it doesn't use a
(19:22):
lot of the protein that itconcentrates on is like fish.
So you know it's all thosethings.
That has all the things that wepretty much talked about.
You know, like it's not a lotof dairy, but the dairy that it
is is healthy dairy.
You know, it's looking at yogurt, you know, a little bit of eggs
.
You it's the it's a plant-basedmostly lifestyle looking at
(19:44):
those kind of things.
So it you know it's looking atlowering that incidence of
chronic diseases.
So it's all of those thingsthat we've talked about and it
could be.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
It could be the way it's cooked spicy or not spicy.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Well, it does yeah, I mean they use spices you know,
but it's the mediterranean way,so they use their own spices.
So you know they're going touse garlic they're going to use,
you know they're going to usethe onion that we talked about.
They have their own set ofspices.
You know, in with chefs forseniors, we don't use salt
really because we're workingwith an older population, so
they're using other spices toflavor the foods and all those
(20:19):
kind of things.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
So yeah, okay.
So, uh, what are foods that arelinked to longer life and
better cognitive function?
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Okay, so I always like.
So last year, when I was doinga lot of talks um, I focused on
blue zones last year, so I don'tknow if y'all have ever heard
of the blue zones.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So okay so the blue zones is it was I don't know if
y'all have ever heard of theBlue Zones.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
No, I haven't heard of it.
I don't think so.
So okay, so the Blue Zones isit was.
I can't think of the name ofthe author right now, but he, he
worked at the time for NationalGeographic and he looked at
five regions all over the worldand they focused on it, found
like these five regions had highincidence of centenarians or
people who were living over ahundred, and so like it was in
(21:01):
Japan, um Costa Rica, um some acouple of places in the
Mediterranean and then in LomaLinda.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
California, and so right.
And then you said toMediterranean.
So then yes, yes, so we hadthat.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
So you know, the thing that they all had in
common was, again, most of themwere like plant based you know,
kind of diets, you know.
And then also they had otherthings about large areas of like
they were community based.
There was a lot of you knowwalking and other things, but
the like, the plant basedlifestyle, the way they ate, you
know high concentrations ofolive oil, you know lower meat
(21:39):
consumption, things like that,and traces of olive oil you know
lower meat consumption, thingslike that.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
So you know, when I say I didn't, want to say that
there was a specific food, butit was more of a lifestyle, like
focusing on the plant-baseddiets.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
You know, and making sure that we're consuming.
You know more of those things.
You know making sure thatyou're centering your plate
around plants.
And then you know you're adding, you know you're adding your
other protein-based foods andthings like that.
And that don't mean necessarilyyou have to go vegan, exactly
right because most of theseplaces, you know some of them,
because they're surrounded bywater, you know, of course,
(22:11):
they're going to be moreplant-based, and then you eat
what you have access to but inyou know, loma linda was
different because they are ohwhat are they?
I forgot which religion theypractice, so they were vegan.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
So, they were very, you know, they were the
completely vegan.
But most of the other placeseither had fish, you know, but
it might have been once or twicea week you know or?
maybe you know, and when theyhad red meat, you know it was
more like maybe on Sunday, okay,you know that kind of thing.
You know it was more like maybeon sunday, okay, you know that
kind of thing.
So it wasn't that they werecompletely, but in um costa rica
they were kind of thedifference, where it was more
(22:46):
traditional, like they wereeating more rice beans because
they were more of a cattlecountry right, as opposed to
some of the mediterranean places.
So you know there was somedifferences, but you could still
see that plants or whole grainswas the center of the meal.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
And let's go like more from your pharmaceutical
background too, like what is theimportance of vitamins and
supplements for aging adults.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
That's funny because, you know, when we were looking
at some of the things, it wasgoing to be one of my things I
was going to say at the end butvitamins, supplements, they play
a part, yeah, um, but I wouldsay they're not the main thing.
You know you, once you have awhole foods diet, right, then
you add the supplements to thatyou know, so kind of boosted,
(23:37):
exactly right.
But the food is the nutrient,is the nutrient yes, you want to
get as much of your nutrientsfrom your foods first.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Okay, awesome, awesome all right, uh, so a
practical meal planning tips forindependent seniors and
caregivers.
So what's that?
What that practical meal looklike?
What's a five minute, tenminute meal for a caregiver
taking care of their loved oneor a senior living by?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
themselves.
They're independent, they cando it.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
I mean you know you could do some soups, quick soups
.
You know stews, I mean you knowif you can brown some.
You know.
Lean ground beef, you know,every now and again um, we
talked about frozen vegetablesbuy you a bag of mixed
vegetables.
Right, make you, you know, buya thing.
This is the only time I willsay can a can of tomatoes, the
(24:24):
low sodium or no sodium, youknow, and some uh, no salt broth
, and you have yourself a uhsoup okay that will, you know,
literally take you 20 minutes,let it boil and you've got
yourself a soup and they can eaton that, you know, for a few
days.
And so you know, when you'retalking about your seniors or
your older adults, you also knowthat their appetite is
(24:46):
generally going to be smaller,so you know something like that
is going to last them for somedays.
You know, you can also talkabout.
You know, maybe some grilledfish or you know, season it up a
little bit, bake it in the ovenyou know, you know, cut up some
sweet potatoes, you know samekind of thing.
You can bake those or roast themin the oven.
You know, you know, cut up somesweet potatoes, you know same
kind of thing.
You can bake those or roastthem in the oven, because
roasting your vegetables isgoing to be good for you as well
(25:06):
.
A lot of times people forgetabout roasting, you know, and
that's also something that youcan do.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Well, I tell you what I'm hungry.
I know I mean we only hadcoffee today.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
So, you know, I understand that so.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Shanika you have talked about like some awesome
things.
And so I'm so glad they wereable to get all of this like
invaluable information from you.
I would say this I want threethings that I want them to take
away.
First thing if you had torecommend three simple dietary
changes for better senior health, what would they?
Speaker 4 (25:35):
be.
Fill your plate with plants.
That's where you want to start,and by plants I mean fruits,
vegetables, even whole grains.
All of that.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Make that the focal point so I'm, what about collard
green?
That's a plant right, but doyou do, you want?
Speaker 1 (25:52):
hog mouth.
Do you want?
Smoke them and do the turkeyturkey.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Okay, I'm just making sure, I like collard yes, yes,
but turkey, um, okay, that wasone.
And and even with that, don'tboil them, saute them or, you
know, keep them a little crunchy.
Yes, okay, yes, all of that yes, because when you boil them,
you're boiling out all the goodstuff okay, all right.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
So what about the?
What about the?
Uh stem?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
you, I mean you can cut off some of the stem yeah,
but saute them yes okay, allright all right, and then, um,
hydrate.
So you know, like we talkedabout, making sure, but within
whatever that restriction, youknow, if there's a restriction,
whatever that's supposed to be,and then making sure you're
incorporating beans, nuts andseeds because, uh, the other
thing I didn't mention is, um,the mind diet so that can also
(26:39):
help with cognitive health, andum so beans, nuts and seeds is
an important part of that somaking sure you're getting some
servings of beans and she's, sheloved
Speaker 1 (26:47):
beans yeah, I do not.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I I'm sorry, I won't eat them, but whatever, no, no,
I can do that no, I'm not eatingit.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
I can't eat it.
Okay, well, making sure you'regetting some servings of beans,
nuts and seeds, okay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Awesome.
Well, where can they find moreinformation about you and
connect with all of you onsocial media?
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Okay, so the best place to find me is going to be
if you just go tochefsforseniorscom.
That's our general website, butyou can find me in the
Arlington Grand Prairie or youcan look for me in the Fort
Worth or the Plano area.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
And all of those are me.
Okay, all of those are me.
And so, and if you're not, andif they're not living in those
areas, there's other chefs,seniors all over the country.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
And do they do?
I know you just said it but dothey?
(27:53):
Have a direct email orsomething to get to you.
Phone number whatever.
Yes, yes, so um, you can findme at shanika, that's
s-h-a-n-e-k-a.
At chefs for seniorscom andthen the number is 682-800-9994
perfect, perfect, listen collardgreens, smoked turkey and saute
.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Okay, look, I'm not, we're gonna get this together.
Yeah, when we finally juststart decide to start eating
breakfast in the morning, we'llget to the.
But I thank you so much forcoming on and being a part of
the journey, our podcast.
Thank you guys for having me.
We just love you and adore you.
And you guys, please, please,please, tune in with her.
Shanika at chefs for seniorscom.
She gave you the phone number.
Please look out for her.
(28:22):
If you or your loved one needssomeone to come in and prepare
those meals to make sure thatthey're healthy and they're
having the balanced diet thatthey deserve, please do not
hesitate to reach out Again.
If this episode was helpful andit just gave you all the
knowledge that you need to goout and be a resource to
somebody else, please feel freeto like, comment, share and
subscribe.
We are growing a really greatcommunity here and we're growing
(28:45):
super fast, so we thank you allfor all the love and support
and just continue to share thisinformation out for everybody so
they can journey out on thisjourney together with family and
community.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
And I hope this information was a resource to
you, for your family.
So take that resource to yourfamily and also to your
community, and we out.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Have a blessed one.
Bye y'all.
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