We quickly break down 9 services Medicare does not cover that most seniors need. Feel free to share the article and infographic!
1. Dental Care
Medicare doesn’t pay for routine dental care, including cleanings and fillings. Dentures, implants, and other dental devices aren’t covered either. If you are hospitalized, Medicare Part A does pay for certain dental services received, but only if the services are medically necessary. You’ll need to buy a dental plan for your routine dental care needs or enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan with dental coverage. You can find and compare dental plans for seniors here.
2. Hearing Aids
Most people find it challenging to hear as they age, especially in a noisy environment. Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids or the exam required to select and fit an appropriate hearing device. However, Medicare might cover an exam if your doctor determines it’s medically necessary (e.g., balance-related). And Medicare covers surgically implanted devices, such as cochlear implants, that offer a sense of sound. Shop hearing aids here.
3. Routine Eye Exams
Medicare covers eye exams and tests for people with specific conditions, such as an annual glaucoma test for high-risk retirees, a yearly eye exam for diabetic retinopathy, and tests and treatments for age-related macular degeneration. However, vision checks to prescribe glasses and contact lenses are not covered. The exception to this rule is your “Welcome to Medicare” preventive care visit during the first 12 months you have Medicare Part B.
4. Glasses and Contact Lenses
Most of us will need corrective lenses to see well as we age, but Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of glasses or contact lenses for most people. But, if you need cataract surgery and your doctor implants an intraocular lens, Medicare will cover one pair of eyeglasses or one set of contact lenses from a Medicare-approved supplier.
5. Routine Foot Care
Medicare covers podiatry services for injuries to the foot, including hammertoes, bunions, and heel spurs. However, Medicare doesn’t cover foot care, such as removing calluses and corns, nail maintenance, or foot cleaning. Exams and treatment are covered if you need to treat a chronic condition, such as diabetes, including custom-molded shoes and inserts for those with severe diabetic foot disease and orthopedic shoes if you have a leg brace.
6. Acupuncture
Many people swear by acupuncture to relieve various ailments, but Medicare does not cover it. You can get your chiropractor visits for medically necessary manipulation of the spine covered, but Medicare may not cover other chiropractic services, such as X-rays and massage therapy.
7. Cosmetic Surgery
Medicare doesn’t cover cosmetic surgery unless it’s medically necessary. For example, Medicare will typically pay for the required surgery because of an injury or deformity. Common instances include:
Artificial limbs and their replacement parts.
Artificial eyes.
Breast prosthesis after a mastectomy.
8. Medical Care Received Outside the U.S. and its Territories
Medicare does not cover health services received in another country. However, when Medicare pays, circumstances such as if a foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital for a beneficiary injured in the U.S. The most common example is receiving emergency medical services in Canada while traveling between the continental U.S. and Alaska. If you plan to travel abroad, buy a Medicare supplement plan or travel insurance.
9. Personal Care & Long-Term Care
Medicare typically won’t cover the cost of personal care services, including help for bathing, dressing, getting out of bed, shopping, housekeeping, meals delivered to your home, or 24-hour assistance at home. You might qualify for custodial care costs through Medicaid if you’re poor.
Medicare does cover short-term care in a skilled nursing facility if it follows a hospital stay of three or more days. Although you don’t have any cost-sharing during the first 20 days of care, you’ll pay $170.50 per day (2019 rate) for days 21 through 100. Medicare does not cover nursing home stays that exceed 100 days. For this, you’ll need long-term care insurance. For information about LTC coverage, you can get more information about the Long-Term Care insurance guide here.
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Summary: Although Medicare covers most of your direct medical costs, it doesn’t cover everything. As you age into retirement, you’ll need to plan and buy additional coverage to ensure coverage for your dental, vision, hearing, long-term care, and other healthcare needs.
One of the most controversial mortgages available is the reverse mortgage. There has always been a double-sided debate about these loans among the senior homeowner population.
This Senior Affair article will uncover the truth about reverse mortgages so you can make the best decision.
Understanding Reverse Mortgages
On the one hand, the senior homeowner has earned the equity in their property. But, on the other hand, many seniors own their homes free and clear and deserve to relax and live comfortably without financial stress. On the other hand, many seniors struggle to make ends meet with fixed incomes, often juggling the cost of food, medications, home expenses, and everything else. On the other hand, a reverse mortgage is an excellent way for seniors to supplement their retirement income and alleviate the stress.
In opposition to these loans are the senior‘s heirs, who stand to inherit the home and other assets when they pass. The children know that the lender will get the property unless they can refinance the family home at the payoff event. The heirs try to make a reverse mortgage a family decision when it’s the homeowner’s choice.
A reverse mortgage is a way to liquidate your home equity and receive cash payments in return. These loans are only available to people 62 years of age or older. Unlike a standard mortgage, these loans work in reverse.
Think of a regular or forward mortgage where you borrow a sum of money to buy your property. Now reverse it so that the bank makes payments to you, up to the property’s value, with the property acting as collateral.
With a reverse mortgage, the bank pays the value of your home in a lump sum, monthly terms, or line of credit for a chosen time or the remainder of your life. As the payments are received, the home equity reduces.
A reverse mortgage is considered a loan advance and therefore not taxed for IRS purposes. From the lender’s perspective, this is a loan to the homeowner with the property as collateral, and the loan becomes due when one of the events occurs:
The homeowner dies;
The homeowner moves away; or
The homeowner sells the property.
Upon any of these events, the lender has a right to recover the principal, interest, fees, and mortgage insurance from the property’s value. Any proceeds remaining once they have regained their costs belong to the homeowner or their heirs.
The heirs may choose to pay the mortgage payments to keep the property in some cases. The reverse mortgage is structured so that the loan amount doesn’t exceed the property’s value so that the estate of the deceased homeowner isn’t liable.
So far, it looks like this type of mortgage is a winner for seniors. But there are some downsides.
What are the Costs of a Reverse Mortgage?
Be prepared to pay out some money for the appraisal to start the loan; these are COD or paid in advance for $250 to $1000 depending on your home size; there are origination fees you pay to the lender at the closing, this will get financed so you won’t need to worry about it upfront.
What Are the Downsides to a Reverse Mortgage?
Borrowers ages 62 and over can use a reverse mortgage to liquidate their property for cash. As the payments for the borrower are released by the lender, the borrower’s equity stake in the property decreases. Although it is marketed as a way for seniors to release liquidity, it does come with some drawbacks.
The biggest drawback comes in the form of loss of inheritance for the heirs. The loan is repaid by liquidating the property in question, usually after the borrower’s death. If funds are left over after paying the principal, interest, and fees, they are handed over to the heirs, but nothing is left over for their heirs if the funds are insufficient.
The disadvantage comes in heirs not receiving their inheritance or possibly not having a house to live in after the borrower dies. In some cases, heirs can choose to pay the mortgage to keep the property; however, it depends on their ability to afford it.
One of the reverse mortgage terms requires the borrowers to live in the mortgaged house as their primary residence. If at any point they vacate their premises for a year, the loan becomes payable.
Similarly, since many seniors take a reverse mortgage to pay medical expenses, they should consider that the loan will become payable if they move into a long-term care facility. In addition, the borrowers are required to furnish in writing that the property in question is their primary residence, so relocating or moving to a nursing facility will trigger the mortgage to become due. When considering a reverse mortgage as an option, carefully consider these possibilities.
What Happens If I Outlive My Reverse Mortgage?
Sadly, reverse mortgages are one of the most misunderstood financial products available. Some myths and misconceptions scare seniors out of using their homes as a living source of income.
If you or your spouse live in the house, you cannot outlive your reverse mortgage. However, the loan does not become due until the last homeowner leaves the home permanently.
It is possible to spend all the money in your line of credit. If that happens, then there is no more cash to draw out, but you still own the house and can live in it the rest of your life. You will be required to continue paying the property taxes, homeowner insurance, homeowner association dues (if any), and maintaining the home just like all property owners.
Once the home is vacated permanently, the loan becomes due. The homeowner or their heirs must let the servicing company know whether they plan to keep the house or sell it within 90 days. If the home has to be sold, it must be put on the market. Ninety-day extensions will be granted up to one year to sell the house as long as it is actively being marketed.
Previously, regulations allowed one of the homeowners to be removed from the title to qualify for a reverse mortgage or a larger reverse mortgage. That creates a problem for the homeowner when the borrower dies or leaves the home first. However, new regulations now fully protect the non-borrowing spouse.
Why Should You Never Get a Reverse Mortgage?
The main risk is that you can ultimately lose your home. As we get older, we don’t think that we may have to enter a nursing home or retirement home; at this time, the loan is due, and without the means to refinance the loan, it would effectively leave you homeless. So even though you’ll be getting the income from your reverse mortgage, you’ll have to maintain the home insurance, repairs, and property taxes; this could become too much to handle at some point.
The interest is building up while you are getting these monthly payments or the lump sum payment. And it could be considered more expensive than a traditional mortgage.
It could affect programs like qualifying for Medicaid; you don’t want to jeopardize your ability to get benefits, especially as you age.
How Much Money Do You Get from a Reverse Mortgage?
The amount of money you can get from a reverse mortgage depends on your available equity. For example, you can’t use more than 80% of the public equity, and that amount won’t be more than $679,650.
The exact amount you receive from the reverse mortgage depends on many factors, including your home value, your age, and the interest rate you qualify for. For example, rates can be as low in the 4s or 6s.
You can choose to get those funds in lump sum monthly payments or the popular option of taking a lump sum upfront to take care of the immediate need and then monthly payments for the duration of the loan; some choose a credit line that they can draw off until the funds run out.
Conclusion
A reverse mortgage is an excellent way to access the equity in your home so you can live more comfortably in retirement. Lower lending limits usually allow equity to remain in your home at the end of the loan, but this largely depends on property values and how long the loan was in place. So, for example, your heirs can sell the house when you and your spouse die, pay off the loan, and benefit from the remaining equity. Then, appropriately done, everyone benefits.
Most of us have ordered something from Amazon before, and the kits they sell include nearly everything you’d need to make a meal. Still, they’re only available to Amazon Prime or Amazon Fresh Members who live in metro areas that offer grocery delivery or at select Whole Foods stores in those areas. The prep work is done for you with no subscription.
How Does Amazon Fresh Work?
Unlike meal delivery services, you can order one meal at a time whenever you need it. One of the catches with Amazon is that they have limited availability.
Amazon Fresh is currently available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington.
Even if you are in an Amazon Fresh delivery area, some kits aren’t available, customers in Seattle, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay area, Southern California, and the Northeast.
Do you live in one of these areas? Now you’ll need an Amazon Prime membership ($119 per year or $12.99 every month); most people already have Prime, so you may not have to sign up. They are offering a 30-day free trial here.
If you’re used to ordering groceries online, this might be a great option; you can schedule the delivery time straight to the door if you won’t be home or if you’re hard of hearing, the meals can sit until you get back.
Suppose you don’t live in the delivery area. In that case, you still have some options at Amazon Go stores, including Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, and some Whole Foods stores in the San Francisco Bay area, Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona.
How Do You Choose Amazon Fresh Meals?
Because the site has so much stuff on it, it’s tough to find the right things you want. It’s not clear how many meals Amazon has in its database, but at least eight options change at will.
The prices range from $15.99 to $19.99, with vegetarian meals being the cheapest and fish or steak meals being the most expensive.
Browsing the site to find the meal kits is hard because they happen to be mixed in with the groceries and everything else.
The customer reviews are helpful to read before making decisions.
They have Amazon Kitchen branded pre-made entrees; heat and eat. Spaghetti and meatballs as an example.
Sample Meal – Classic spaghetti and meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, topped with parmesan.
Prepared with other foods that contain milk, soy, and wheat.
They also offer Amazon Kitchen branded meal kits, like this Sweet Chile Chicken,
Sample meal: Chicken with bell peppers, baby corn, and water chestnuts in a sweet and spicy chile sauce, served over rice
You’ll get step-by-step instructions, mix the included ingredients, cook for 10 minutes; it serves two. The price is $14.99.
They also have separate meals with just main meats and veggies, like this Amazon Kitchen branded Chimichurri Rojo Beef with Chile-Lime Butter meal. They could pair it with this vegetarian side-dish Asparagus and Red Onions that are topped with hollandaise butter.
They feature multiple guaranteed fresh side salads; here is an Organic Kale, Caesar Salad kit, almost 10 ounces for only $4.99.
To top it off, you can order a choice of soups, come in 24 oz plastic tubs, prepare, just microwave in 5-6 minutes, or cook on the stove-top for 12-15 minutes. This creamy sharp cheddar and broccoli soup has a touch of nutmeg and lemon and is vegetarian.
Amazon Meal Kits: What’s included?
Each kit comes with a small cardboard box with a full-color recipe card. Usually, there are five or six steps you’ll need to with some helpful tips.
The photos can offer helpful visuals to help you along the prep process; oddly, the pictures are of the ingredients instead of the finished meal.
The packaging is less than other meal kit brands, and They don’t have big boxes to recycle or insulated liners encased in plastic. The kits come in compact paperboard boxes that you can easily recycle, and the ingredients can fit in the fridge.
Amazon will wrap the ingredients tightly in insulated plastic bags, clamshells, tiny tubs, and screw-top jars in bubble-wrapped packages. You may even get a pair of gloves to keep your hands from getting messy while prepping your meal.
The cooking process is fast; since the ingredients have already been prepped, you’ll find the Amazon meal kits to be easy and quick to make. With little prep to do, you can get right to cooking. Each meal takes 25 to 30 minutes, with very little cookware needed.
The recipes are simple and straightforward, so even beginners can make them.
The Conclusion:
Amazon meal kits are great for seniors or caregivers who already have Amazon Fresh or Prime and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and want to avoid a subscription.
You may get bored with this option if you prefer a large variety of meals to choose from.
The customer service is minimal, if you want a refund, you’ll be fine, but if you have questions about availability, sourcing, or even the extent of the menu options, it’s probably useless to get answers from them.
You should be able to change your order anytime since there is no subscription.
Getting Amazon meal kits may not be worth it for a senior unless they already have Amazon Prime.
The Paleo diet is a healthy diet plan that offers a clean diet restricting preservatives, additives, or dangerous chemicals.
You may address issues you are having by enjoying the benefits of anti-inflammatory nutrients in oils, seeds, nuts, and vegetables. Red meat guarantees a steady intake of iron.
Using meal delivery services have their benefits, they can eliminate cooking and save you trips to the grocery store. These services will allow you to eat fresh and organic meals that we curate, and the ingredients are proven to satisfy. Choosing to use a senior meal delivery service saves you time by eliminating the process of healthy meal planning.
If you were to buy all the ingredients to eat on a Paleo diet, it could get expensive. There are a few ways to save money when you switch diets. Use these tricks to make your groceries stretch.
The meal delivery services have relationships with the food vendors due to volume business, enabling them to offer lower prices, so you’ll save time and money.
How Do Compare Paleo Meal Delivery Services?
These services can be incredibly convenient if your goal is to stay independent and age-at-home.
A meal delivery service can become a great meal planning alternative making it easy to source nutritional meals designed to suit your personal needs and preferences.
You can find your favorite ready-to-eat Paleo dishes from their expansive menus and customize your delivery.
Seniors and their caregivers have peace of mind knowing that the shopping, prepping and measuring of ingredients, even preparing the meals themselves have been taken care of
All the top-ranked companies on our list have their kitchens run by professionals with experienced chefs. They create delicious and unique recipes, even prep, cook fresh meals for you, and send them to your home.
How Do You Choose The Right Paleo Meal Delivery Service?
Our goal of creating this round-up was to consolidate the overwhelming abundance of meal delivery options for seniors into an easy-to-research buyers guide. Our team of researchers has years of sampling and reviewing meal delivery services.
If you were to try out every single meal delivery on the market, it would be a long process and could get expensive and frustrating.
To make it easier for you, we’ve narrowed down the available services and written honest reviews about their offers and let you know what or what not to expect.
When we choose to list meal delivery services, we pay close attention to the aging-adult needs and what would be relevant for seniors and caregivers alike.
We check out what everymeal delivery service has to offer, including their menu and customer reviews. We determine if the service makes sense for seniors. Meaning we chose companies that offer vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, for, and Paleo options.
Our research process saves you time by giving you the ability to customize your order to your diet by avoiding the ingredients you are allergic to or dislike.
Variety is something to consider when choosing a meal delivery service. Some services offer limited menus that rarely change. The customer favorites are services that have rotating menus that introduce new meals weekly. Keep this in mind since you’ll have the opportunity to try lots of different meals.
We also consider the nutritional value of the meals. It’s also essential that the meals have flavor and taste good. You or your loved one won’t stand to eat them, ensuring that the optimal amount of necessary nutrients are in the meals.
Finally, we rate the services based on prices and flexibility. The meals need to be affordable for Senior Affair to recommend the service.
We report any hidden costs, including shipping costs or additional fees, and are flexible in terms of subscriptions.
Best Paleo Meal Delivery Services for Seniors
What do our top picks have in common? They are currently the best on the market. It’s time for you to discover what makes each Paleo meal delivery service unique.
The Myth’s about the Paleo Diet and Aging
There’s no truth to the accusation that a Paleo diet will make you drop dead. Switching to a Paleo diet as you age should prevent your body from going through a significant physical deterioration from continuing to eat like a 25-year old. Meaning the older we get, the more critical it is that we eat well.
This evolutionary theory explains that aging adults are even more vulnerable to risk from toxins in everyday foods.
Because they aren’t of reproductive age anymore, they often lose the ability to digest milk after childhood (we don’t need this anymore). Our aging bodily system can “turn off” particular digestive adaptations that younger people use to survive on a sub-optimal diet.
Diet and Aging – Micronutrients
One of the first ways the Paleo diet is beneficial is that it delivers many nutrients per calorie.
We lose muscle mass as we age, and the number of calories needed to survive drops also. Medically this is called the basal metabolic rate. Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories required to keep your body functioning at rest. BMR is also known as your body’s metabolism; therefore, any increase in your metabolic weight, such as exercise, will increase your BMR. You can calculate your BMR here.
Older people need less energy but the same amount of nutrients as younger people. You can preserve some muscle mass with exercise, but metabolic slow down will happen whether we like it or not.
It would be best to pursue a nutrient-dense diet as you age and don’t waste calories by consuming foods with low nutritional value. The main culprit would be sugar, and many of the so-called heart-healthy whole grains count too. The nutrients in these foods aren’t bioavailable and are bound up.
Sadly, many seniors enjoy what some consider “old people’s food,” including bland, sugar-filled, and nutrient-poor carbs.
They fill their diet with mac and cheese, white bread, boiled peas, vanilla pudding, jello, or pudding.
Reducing or cutting these empty calories and replacing them with more nutrient-dense whole foods could help prevent a host of dangerous complications.
Older men and post-menopausal women are osteoporosis, which is the gradual reduction of bone density that could leave you at risk for mobility-limiting fractures.
The standard response to osteoporosis is to get more calcium by eating more dairy products.
However, eating more dairy doesn’t work since the US has the highest dairy intake and has exceptionally high osteoporosis rates. In contrast, countries with lower dairy intakes (like Japan) have lower rates.
Even consuming lots of calcium-rich non-dairy foods like seaweed won’t complete your diet. Something is missing.
Something happens to be essential vitamins you need, Vitamin D and Magnesium; what do you know about them?
You can’t get calcium without having a diet rich in the necessary micronutrients and low in toxins that prevent absorption. To get this done, Paleo is the perfect diet.
Some other nutrient deficiencies common with aging adults are Vitamin B12 deficiency that is a significant contributor to dementia and other brain-health diseases. An iron deficiency often causes brain fog and fatigue. Consuming high-quality animal products that are the nutritional core of Paleo are excellent sources of these nutrients.
Not detail the many potential nutritional deficiencies from surviving on a diet of mashed potatoes and prunes would do.
It’s easier to explain that the Paleo diet has addressed the aging community’s needs. The traditional American diet has failed.
Paleo provides high levels of all the essential nutrients needed with few or no empty calories.
To simplify, as we get older, we need the same amount of nutrients, but we need to get them in our system more efficiently and with less food overall.
Diet and Aging: Insulin, Diabetes, and Ketosis
Paleo is also preferred to the USDA recommended diet because it promotes insulin sensitivity. One of the most common complications happens to be insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance is when your body can no longer properly metabolize carbohydrates and is the precursor to Type 2 diabetes. This problem is more associated with adults over the age of 65, with 27% suffering from diabetes than the rest of the population, only 8%.
The complications from diabetes include kidney disease and loss of vision, and what’s more serious? A group of brain-health diseases like the all-feared Alzheimer’s disease slowly but surely causes increasing memory loss and confusion, marked by a steady brain function loss.
Anyone who has known someone or has taken care of a loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease knows how painful this can be for the patient and their family and friends.
This article in the European Journal of Internal Medicine suggests two main negative nutritional factors that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease: consuming excess carbohydrates (especially fructose). The second is a lack of cholesterol (you read that right!).
The correlation between carbs and Alzheimer’s is so strong that it’s sometimes referred to as Type 3 diabetes.
The researchers start by addressing what we already know. When you age, your sensitivity to insulin decreases, and insulin is attributed to forming memories so that a high-carb diet could be the reason for this alone. People with low serum cholesterol levels have higher neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, and dementia.
But it’s not so simple that you decide to eat more cholesterol. The problem is with digestion and the use of the cholesterol that you do get.
In this study, researchers found that fructose consumption promotes the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which prevents the brain from using LDL cholesterol properly.
They would suggest that seniors’ ideal diet would promote insulin sensitivity and good cholesterol in the brain.
One of the significant contributors to AGE’s forming is oxidative stress. A keto diet helps protect against this because it reduces carbs intake to levels that won’t cause insulin resistance.
There aren’t too many human studies on ketosis and aging, but the ones that exist like this prove that fact using a test group with “mild cognitive impairment” for six weeks.
They gave the group members a high carb (50% carbs) or a low carb ketogenic diet (5-10% carbs) diet, and they did not restrict the total calories in either group.
The ketogenic group improved in every tested marker, including verbal memory, weight, waist circumference, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin. This study with Parkinson’s Disease patients shows a benefit as well.
The USDA suggests we consume a high-carb diet. Still, the studies show that you should pursue a diet that is insulin-sensitizing and rich in fatty animal products, and low in carbohydrates.
For the Paleo diet, consuming coconut oil would be beneficial even on a diet that doesn’t cause complete ketosis.
Diet and Aging: Challenges and Solutions
A low-to-moderate carb Paleo diet provides an optimal composition of vital nutrients for healthy aging.
Sometimes physical and social changes associated with aging can be challenges to following a healthy diet even when someone knows what they should be eating.
Some challenges specific to older adults can range from having painful and bad-fitting dentures that may hurt to eat. Some seniors have limited mobility, so making it to the grocery store and shopping is a chore.
Other adults face financial struggles and can’t afford high-quality meats and vegetables.
Learning how to cook in new ways at this stage in this life can be stressful. Some older adults lose interest in eating and may lose their appetite.
In general, eating well can be difficult for seniors, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. Some ways to help cope with these challenges are:
Using grocery and meal delivery services that let you shop online, deliver the meals and food straight to your door. Even Amazon is offering these meals.
Invite friends over to help cook and eat a meal together; you both could help clean up!
Is chewing vegetables an issue? You should try soups (have you tried sweet potato and lime? Creme of tomato or Butternut squash, or cook your vegetables in soups and stews to make them softer.
Experiment with new seasonings to keep your food fresh and exciting.
A gluten-free diet is an eating plan that eliminates gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Some seniors follow a gluten-free diet because they have celiac disease, where gluten triggers white blood cells to attack the small intestine’s lining.
A person can be on a gluten-free diet and still eat gluten-free grains, including quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, sorghum, tapioca, millet, amaranth oats.
Consume gluten-free foods like fruits, vegetables, seeds, beans, legumes, and nuts in their unprocessed form.
Did you know eggs, unprocessed meats, fish and poultry, and low-fat products are also gluten-free? Some products typically have wheat in them, such as bread and cookies, made with other grains to be gluten-free.
Over the last decade or so, the idea of going “gluten-free” has become very popular, especially since recognizing individual sensitivities and allergies to certain foods.
One of these foods is gluten, a protein known as prolamins (primarily glutenin and gliadin). These proteins are in many cereal grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Every grain has a different amount of gluten and other proteins.
Surprisingly, you’ll find it in most bread, cereals, pasta, and many processed foods.
Some people have a hard time digesting gluten, especially those with celiac disease, which is a medical condition when you get sick from eating gluten. Celiac disease is a hereditary, autoimmune intestinal disorder that’s triggered by eating gluten. Your gut mistakes the protein as a foreign intruder; this causes inflammation and damage to your intestines.
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Once A Month Meals – Meal plans & recipes delivered every month to your day.
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This autoimmune disease affects only 1% of the population worldwide. The “threat” of gluten causes your body to overreact and attack the gluten; the attack also damages surrounding areas like your gut wall, which can lead to nutrient deficiencies, severe digestive issues and anemia, and other harmful diseases.
It is tough to diagnose celiac because the symptoms are common to many other medical conditions.
Symptoms of celiac disease include:
Rashes and other skin problems
Fatigue
Weight Loss
Bloating and gas
Anemia
Depression
Diarrhea and constipation
People who have this condition should avoid gluten; celiac is diagnosed with a series of blood tests, genetic tests, and removing the gluten from the diet to see if they improve. You could also have an endoscopy or a biopsy of tissue inside your intestines to check for inflammation.
Suppose you’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease. In that case, you should consider meeting with a dietician specializing in gluten-free diets to ensure that you closely follow the diet and make it a lifestyle.
Besides celiac disease, some people have severe allergies to gluten, while some 18 million Americans report having some gluten sensitivity.
This study in 2015 found that 86% of patients who thought they were sensitive to gluten were not. Maybe attribute this to the placebo effect.
Seniors who want to avoid gluten will need to read all labels to see if the product has gluten. The Celiac Disease Foundation reports that food like candies, potato chips, lunch meats, French fries, soups, salad dressing, marinades processed foods, even communion wafers, and herbal and nutritional supplements could contain gluten.
Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
People with non-celiac gluten sensitivity do not test positive for celiac disease or a wheat allergy; this affects only 0.5-13% of the population.
The symptoms are similar: stomach pain, bloating, changing bowel movements, tiredness, eczema, or rash.
Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity is a controversial subject; some experts believe this sensitivity exists, and some think it’s in the patient’s head.
A group of doctors performed a study on 35 people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The participants were given both gluten-free flour and wheat-based flour separately without identifying them. They discovered that only two-thirds could not tell the difference between gluten-free flour and wheat-based flour. Nearly half had worse symptoms after eating gluten-free flour.
Also, these symptoms could be other irritants like FODMAPS – short-chain carbohydrates that cause digestive problems.
Some evidence like this shows that gluten sensitivity exists.
Foods to Avoid
Altogether avoiding gluten is going to be complicated. Here is a shortlist that you can look out for, but remember first.
Wheat-based foods like wheat bran, wheat flour, spelt, durum, Kamut, and semolina.
Barley
Rye
Malt
Brewer’s yeast
These are some foods that could have ingredients that have gluten added to them.
Other foods – Couscous, broth (unless labeled gluten-free)
Main Sources of Gluten
The easiest way to avoid gluten is to remember: to always check the labels and ingredients.
Oats are naturally gluten-free, but they are often contaminated with gluten and processed in the same factory as other wheat-based foods.
The meal delivery services reviewed in this article have been selected based on the following criteria.
Gluten-free certification: Meals are certified gluten-free or produced in a gluten-free facility.
Menu variety: Weekly menus offer a diverse assortment of dishes with a variety of ingredients.
Ingredient quality: Services use high-quality, unprocessed ingredients that are often organic or sustainably sourced.
Availability: Shipping is available nationwide.
Price: Companies provide a good value for the price.
How Can I Begin a Gluten-Free Diet?
Eliminating gluten might be difficult, but there are resources and options available to help. There are a wide variety of gluten-free products for aging adults delivered to your door.
Start by researching and learning more about gluten-free foods, getting proper nutrients, food shopping, gluten-free cooking, dining, and setting up a gluten-free kitchen. They have appetizers, soups, entrees, and desserts; you can find many gluten-free recipes online and in cookbooks.
The tricky part of the gluten-free diet is that it’s hidden in foods that you wouldn’t expect to have gluten in it. You have to pay extra attention to the food labels and menu to determine processed ingredients.
Besides bread and pasta with wheat, barley, or rye as the main ingredient, many processed foods add wheat or wheat gluten as thickening agents or flavors. Foods with wheat, barley, or rye have to have the grain’s name on the label. Look for foods that are specifically labeled “Gluten-free.”
If you don’t know what to buy, talk to your doctor or a dietician.
Foods Seniors Should Eat
Don’t worry; there are plenty of foods that are gluten-free that you can eat, including:
Meats and fish – all meats and fish, except battered or coated meats.
Eggs – All types of eggs are naturally gluten-free.
Dairy: Plain dairy products, like plain milk, plain yogurt, and cheeses, keep in mind that flavored dairy items may contain added ingredients that contain gluten. You will need to read the labels.
Fruits and Vegetables – All fruits and vegetables are naturally free of gluten.
Spreads and oils – All vegetables, oils, and butters.
Herbs and spices – All herbs and spices
Beverages – Most beverages, except for beer (unless labeled as gluten-free)
What are some Health Benefits of a Gluten Diet?
A gluten-free diet has many benefits, especially for someone with celiac disease. Here are some main advantages of a gluten-free diet.
May Aging Adults Relieve Digestive Symptoms with a Gluten-free Diet?
Some aging adults try a gluten-free diet to treat digestive problems. These can include bloating, diarrhea, constipation, gas or fatigue, and many other symptoms.
Studies have shown that a gluten-free diet can help ease some digestive issues for seniors with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
In another study to discover the effects of a gluten-free diet on gastrointestinal symptoms, they followed 215 people on a gluten-free diet for six months. The diet helped reduce stomach pain, frequency of diarrhea, nausea, and other symptoms significantly.
Can Seniors Reduce Chronic Inflammation Caused by Celiac Disease?
Inflammation is a natural process that helps the body treat and heal the infection. Sometimes this inflammation can get out of hand and last for weeks, months, or years. This process is known as chronic inflammation and could lead to lots of health problems.
A gluten-free diet can help reduce chronic inflammation in aging adults with celiac disease.
Several studies have shown that a gluten-free diet can reduce markers of inflammation like antibody levels. It can also help treat gut damage caused by gluten-related inflammation in seniors with celiac disease.
Can Seniors Boost Their Energy with the Gluten-free Diet?
Senior adults with celiac disease will often feel tired, sluggish, and experience brain fog.
In a study with 1031 people with celiac disease, 66% of them complained of fatigue. After following a gluten-free diet, only 22% of participants still experienced fatigue.
Can Seniors Help You Lose Weight with Gluten-free Diet?
It wouldn’t be unusual to lose weight when you start following a gluten-free diet. These results are typical because they eliminate junk food in your diet and replace it with real food, like fruits, veggies, and lean proteins.
The more complicated part is avoiding the processed “gluten-free” products like cakes, pastries, and snacks; these are empty calories, but they add up!
Why is Gluten Bad for Some Seniors?
Most seniors can eat gluten without having any issues. However, a small population has gluten intolerance or celiac disease and cannot tolerate it. Some people who have wheat allergies or non-celiac gluten sensitivity should also avoid gluten. Besides an allergy, there are two main reasons why someone would want to avoid gluten.
Is a Gluten-Free Diet Healthy for Seniors?
Only 5% of the population follows a gluten-free diet by their own choice with no medical diagnosis.
Comparing the Gluten-Free diet with the traditional American or Western diet may be healthier, but it’s not always the case. It may be better to include more gluten-free foods like fruit, vegetables, beans, raw nuts and seeds, eggs, lean non-processed meats, fish, poultry, and low-fat dairy products, healthier alternatives to the SAD diet.
The problem is that a gluten-free diet can be low in fiber, leading to nutritional deficiencies of minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins like vitamin B12, folate, and vitamin D.
Gluten-free diets depend on rice and rice-based products, which could increase exposure to arsenic. Gluten-free meals usually have more hydrogenated and saturated fats. They could contain foods with a higher glycemic index. Keep in mind that if you eradicate gluten from your diet, you’ll eliminate the whole grains you need that contain crucial nutrients.
Gluten-Free Meal Delivery Kits for Seniors
Gluten-free meal delivery kits for seniors include gluten-free recipes and all fresh pre-portioned ingredients needed to prepare the meals. The recipes have detailed and step-by-step instructions, some with visual cues that help make meal prep easy as possible.
How Much Do Gluten-Free Meal Delivery Kits for Seniors Cost?
The cost of the gluten-free meal delivery kits varies depending on the ingredients, meal types, number of meals, dietary restrictions, and other factors. Organic ingredients or compostable packaging may also increase the price of the meal kits.
Meals can range from $5 to $14 per serving. In general, the more meals you purchase, the lower the price per meal. Some plans include free shipping; other companies charge a reasonable fee.
What’s Considered Certified Gluten-Free?
Meal kits and prepared meal delivery services have started to create menus that follow the Gluten-free diet. These services can help seniors learn about what foods they can eat and retrain their eating habits.
Meal delivery services are perfect choices for aging adults who prefer not to cook or have trouble going grocery shopping and sourcing everything needed for healthy daily meals.
If you have celiac disease, you should look for a “certified gluten-free” provider, meaning the facilities do not come in contact with any products that may contain gluten.
How to Choose the Best Gluten-Free Meal Delivery for Seniors?
There are a lot of factors to consider when selecting a meal delivery service, especially if you plan to follow the gluten-free diet plan.
In doing your due diligence, check the menu for meal variety to see if any meals sound acceptable to you. Some meal delivery services offer vegetarian, keto, paleo, and low carb diets, which may be vital have other dietary restrictions.
If you prefer organic foods, you’ll want to check online to see what quality ingredients the service provides.
Also, keep in mind the preparation required to make the meals; some meal kits you can make in 20-40 mins; the prepared meals are ready to heat and eat.
The costs would be another main factor, in addition to the price of the meals, you should consider other costs like shipping and add-ons.
Compare the Most Popular Gluten-Free Meal Delivery Services for Seniors
Seared Steak & Lemony Herb Salsa with Roasted Potatoes & Carrots
Sample Meal
Seared Steak & Lemony Herb Salsa with Roasted Potatoes & Carrots
The seared steak meal kit has all the ingredients, including a 10 oz sirloin steak, garlic, cilantro, parsley, beef broth, one bag of carrots, and two potatoes. You’ll have to spend 30-40 minutes preparing this easy to make a low calorie, dairy-free meal with step-by-step instructions. The nutritional facts are 630 calories, 30g of fat, 40g of carbs.
2.) Freshly – The Gluten-Free meals from Freshly are prepared with high-quality proteins and healthy fats, choosing low glycemic carbohydrates instead of over-processed ingredients, sugars, and artificial sweeteners.
On the menu: All meals are ready-made, free of refined sugars and between 300 and 650 calories each, and certified gluten-free by the Gluten Intolerance Group. Freshly offers subscription plans with 4,6,10, or 12 meals per week, and you can choose which meals you like from their rotating menu. They feature over 35 gluten-free options every week. They price the meals around $8.49 to $11.49 for every meal, depending on the plan you choose.
320 Calories, Dairy-Free, High Protein, Gluten-Free
Seared chicken thigh with red bell peppers, creamy pinto beans, broccoli, fire-roasted mushroom spicy pad kee mao sauce, and green chickpeas. 29g carbs, 12g total fat, 23g protein.
3.) MagicKitchen – A dietician designs Their Gluten-free meals in line with the criteria on the celiac.com list to be healthy and free of gluten in the ingredients, but they are not certified gluten-free.
The items on the a la carte menu come sold in pairs; you can purchase meals individually.
Sample Meal
A gluten-free Meal bundle for two adults is $167.99.
It includes:
Beef Bourguignon, Magic Mashed Potatoes
Salmon Caponata, Fresh Cut Corn Medley
Chicken Ana Luisa (RC), Polenta with Spinach & Roasted Peppers
Smoked Boneless Pork Loin, Vegetable stew
Desserts – Panna Cotta – Double serving.
Right now, they are offering 10% off your first purchase.
4.) Silver Cuisine – All meals are tested to the FDA gluten for standard (20 ppm or less) and do not contain wheat, rye, or barley. They have chefs and dietitians create their meals with fresh, natural ingredients.
Silver Cuisine has over 90 gourmet home-delivered meals nutritionally designed for people over 50 years old and conveniently available for supporting caregivers. We handle the planning, grocery shopping, cooking, and delivery. With a wide selection of over 150 meals and snacks starting at just $5.95. These portioned controlled meals are ready to heat and eat when delivered to your door!
Sample Meal
Silver Cuisine Bacon and Potato Egg Scramble
Bacon and Potato Egg Scramble
Delicious uncured bacon, roasted red-skinned potatoes, and scrambled eggs with brown sugar-sweetened cinnamon apples on the side. Cheddar cheese with green onion. Contains egg and milk.
Two hundred fifty calories per serving, 9g of fat, 380mg sodium, 24g of carbs, 19g of protein.
5.) BistroMD – Choose from 150 meals weekly. The meals BistroMD offers are gluten-free, contain no aspartame, are never freeze-dried, not shelf stable, have no trans fats, and hold to the FDA standard – no wheat, rye, or barley. BistroMD has a complete no-commitment auto-delivery program that includes seven breakfasts, seven lunches, six dinners for a special promo price of 25% off + free shipping with $142.46 for your first week. You can decide to go with a 5-day program instead. Membership includes custom plan creation and unlimited coaching from a dietician.
You get pre-portioned, fully prepared meals designed by a bariatric specialist to promote weight loss that you can heat and eat.
Sample Meal:
Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala has 290 calories, 630 mg of sodium, 5g of fiber, 30g of protein, and 10g of fat.
7.) Fresh n’ Lean – Fresh n’ Lean offers new menus weekly of fresh and organic meals ready to heat and eat. The meals have no Gluten, added sugars, processed ingredients, artificial flavors, GMOs, dairy, or animal products. Meals start at $9.33 per meal depending on the plan, which provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, or you can choose extra meals or snacks a la carte. Fresh N’ Lean is currently offering a promotion with $20 off and free delivery on your first order with free shipping.
Sample Meal:
Chicken Thigh with Curried Spinach with 420 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 34 carbs.
Chicken Thigh with Curried Spinach
8.) Purple Carrot – Purple Carrot offers all plant-based and vegan meal kits with fresh ingredients and step-by-step instructions, snacks like oat chocolate mint bars made with raw cacao, and prepared meals. You can get lunch and breakfast kits. The dinner meals are $12.99 per serving. Even though Purple Carrot is not certified gluten-free, its founder is a former pharmaceutical executive who also developed Crohn’s disease. You can try the service with a $25 discount on your first box
Vegan Plantain Black Bean Bowls with Apple Fennel Slaw
Sample Meal Kit
Plantain Black Bean Bowls with Apple Fennel Slaw & Lime Crema. The meal features vegan mayo, cilantro, brown rice, black beans, fruit, Gluten-Free, soy-free, nut-free, high protein. It takes 40 minutes to prepare this meal with 720 calories, 18g of fat, 120g of carbohydrates, and 22g of protein.
9.) Once A Month Meals – They design meal plans so that you can plan and cook and freeze, then thaw them in the fridge. Their membership includes a grocery shopping list that calculates the amount of each ingredient needed for the meal, organizes the products and produce by category, lists items in ounces since that’s how they appear at the store, separates the ingredients needed immediately, and for serving and eating. You can upload your list straight to Instacart for easy pickup and delivery!
You can sign-up for a free mini-meal plan with three recipes and a shopping list, recipe cards, labels, and more.
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pork Paprikash – Dump and Go Dinner
Sample Meal:
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pork Paprikash – Dump and Go Dinner
This meal is a gluten-free version of Pork Paprikash with spices, crimini mushroom, bell pepper, garlic clove, onion, spaghetti. This meal kit makes four servings of 1 cup of pork and 1 cup of spaghetti, 592 calories, 17g of fat, 92mg of sodium, 68g of carbs, and 45g of protein.
10.) Trifecta Nutrition – You can choose a meal plan; the meals have no gluten, soy, dairy, and GMOs, with no sugar, high protein, or nutrient-dense. Trifecta Nutrition uses organic produce, free-range chicken, grass-fed bison, grass-fed beef, wild-caught seafood, wild-caught fish that you can choose from, along with your choice of carbs, veggies, snacks. You custom choose your meals; their chefs cook your dishes from scratch and send me the meals throughout the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, with free shipping. With two meals a day for seven days, 14 meals cost $14.99 each for $209.86/week
Sample Meal
Turkey Patty, Brown Rice, Mixed Vegetables Meal
Turkey Patty Brown Rice Mixed Vegetables Meal
11.) Miracle Noodle – All of the products are non-GMO, vegan, and grain-free. They provide food for people with diet restrictions like diabetes, celiac, and general weight loss goals. Miracle Noodle makes it easy to adhere to strict guidelines managing sodium, calories, gluten, and fats.
They offer noodles, pasta, rice, soup, ready to eat, buns and cakes, spreads, sauces, flour, and cooking condiments.
Organic Shirataki Spaghetti, with only five calories per serving and one net carb. There is no bloating, with no energy crash, combined with a low-sugar sauce and fresh low-starch veggies to complete a healthy meal. They only take a few minutes to cook versus 15 minutes for traditional noodles.
The sampler has all the best-sellers included. You can duplicate your favorite recipes with these noodles and pasta.
It’s easy to make dishes like Capellini Pomodoro, Angel hair, Asian stir fry, and Spinach pesto.
Try these low-carb, low-calorie alternatives. Comes with Angel hair, Spinach Angel Air, Ziti, Rice, Organic Fettuccine, Japanese Curry, Thai Tom Yum, Ready to Eat Pad Thai, Ready to Eat Green Curry.
The noodles will pick up the flavor of the sauces you use with an “al dente” or tender but somewhat firm texture.
12.) CookSmarts – Do you still enjoy cooking but struggle coming up with recipe ideas? CookSmarts provides complete meal plans; all meals have a gluten-free option, with step-by-step guides and infographics. They offer a free trial so that you can test out the meal plan features. This meal plan membership is different from meal kits; you get to control the ingredients entirely. You don’t get meals shipped to your home. You or your caregiver prepares them for you.
Sample Meal:
Chipotle Guacamole Burger with Smoky Paprika Sweet Potato Fries
Chipotle Guacamole Burger with Smoky Paprika Sweet Potato Fries.
Comes with creamy avocado guacamole on a spicy chipotle burger patty served with a side of crispy sweet potato fries. You can choose a gluten-free bun.
The Conclusion
Gluten-free meal delivery services make it simple and easy to enjoy healthy gluten-free meals at home.
Before choosing a service, consider the factors of cost, ingredient quality, menu variety, and preparation time; also consider if the meals are certified gluten-free or produced in a gluten-free facility.
Many factors concerning the gluten-free diet could make it unattractive for seniors, including the expensive cost. Many studies show gluten-free products can cost 2-3 times more than similar non-gluten-free products. Since some processed foods, medications, and supplements contain gluten, attempting to void protein isn’t solely about staying away from pasta and bread. Facts also show that a gluten-free diet doesn’t mean improving your overall health or losing weight.
Just because something is gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s healthy; desserts, for example, can be gluten-free but has sugar listed as the first ingredient, it’s easy to eat unhealthy foods that are gluten-free.
Try not to fill your diet with packaged foods; instead, go for fresh fruits and vegetables. Eating salads and steamed veggies would help you maintain a naturally gluten-free diet.
FAQ
Q. What does Gluten-free mean?
Gluten is a protein found in individual grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Seniors with gluten sensitivity may be mildly affected by gluten, but if you’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease or other medical conditions associated with gluten, you must avoid it altogether. A gluten-free diet is when you prevent gluten in certain foods.
Q. What Is a Gluten-Free Meal Delivery Service for Seniors?
A gluten-free meal delivery service is tailored for seniors with gluten sensitivity and allergies and delivers meals free of gluten.
Q. How Much Does a Gluten-Free Meal Delivery Service For Seniors Cost?
Prices vary. Prices vary by company and by the number of servings ordered. At every place, prices start at $4.99 per serving. Sun Basket and Eatology average about $11 per serving, with other companies ranging in between these prices.
Since CBD has been featured in the media, and you’ve probably seen it as an add-in booster to one of your daily products. What is CBD exactly? Why is it popular all of a sudden?
How is cannabidiol different from marijuana?
CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is the second most prevalent of the many ingredients of cannabis (marijuana). CBD is an essential component of medical marijuana but is directly derived from the hemp plant, a cousin to the marijuana plant (one of the hundreds), and does not cause a “high.” The World Health Organization posted a report that “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential…To date, there is no evidence of public health-related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.”
Is Cannabidiol Legal?
CBD is easily obtainable in most states in the U.S., although its legal status is in flux. All 50 states have legalized hemp-derived CBD laws, while the federal government considers CBD in the same class as marijuana. The government’s position on CBD is confusing; it depends partly on if the CBD comes from hemp or marijuana.
What evidence exists of health benefits from CBD?
CBD is known for treating a wide variety of health issues, but the most notable scientific example is treating cruel childhood epilepsy syndromes, like Dravet syndrome and Lennon-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which typically doesn’t respond to traditional antiseizure; in many studies, CBD was able to reduce the number of seizures and in some cases, would stop them altogether. You can find videos of the effects of CBD on children with seizures can be found online; they are pretty striking. Recently the FDA approved the first-ever cannabis-derived medicine for these conditions called, Epidiolex, which contains CBD.
CBD is usually used to address anxiety, and for people who have insomnia, the studies reveal that CBD can help with falling asleep and staying asleep.
CBD may be an option for seniors who want to treat different types of chronic pain and inflammation due to arthritis.
Is Cannabidiol safe?
Some side effects of CBD are nausea, fatigue, and irritability. CBD can increase your natural blood thinner coumadin and can raise levels of medications in your blood by the same grapefruit juice does.
Because the FDA doesn’t regulate the safety and purity of dietary supplements, you can’t know for sure what the product contains and what other elements it may have.
CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil.
Does CBD Oil Help Sexually?
Tiffany Yelverton is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Sexinista of Entice, a professional sexual wellness coach. She mentions that she works with many menopausal women and cancer survivors who can experience pain during sex; these and all women can enjoy the benefits of CBD-infused lubricants and suppositories. CBD oil can be helpful for women who feel pain during sex. Many women hold tension in their pelvic floor, which makes it hard to insert anything, so having sex alone or with a partner is painful.
Here are Seven Benefits and Uses of CBD Oil and its Side Effects.
Pain Relief – Marijuana has been known to treat pain since 2900 B.C. more recently, scientists have discovered that some components of marijuana, including CBD, are responsible for its pain-relieving effects. The human body has an internal system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which regulates sleep, appetite, pain, and our immune system response. Your body naturally produces endocannabinoids, a fancy name for neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors in your body. After an experiment on rats, they found that injections of CBD reduced the pain response in surgery. In contrast, another rat study discovered that oral CBD treatment greatly reduced sciatic nerve pain and inflammation. Human studies found that combining CBD and THC is effective in treating pain from multiple sclerosis and arthritis. The ElixinolDaily Balance Tincture CBD oil is 15mg of Full Spectrum extract; the new formula is THC free, can be used orally or topically, and is very high-quality, that’s been lab-tested.
Anxiety and Depression Reduction – According to the World Health Organization, depression is the single largest contributor to disability worldwide, while anxiety disorders are ranked sixth. Both are common mental health disorders commonly treated with pharmaceutical drugs, which cause several side effects like headache, sexual dysfunction, agitation, insomnia, and drowsiness. More importantly, drugs like benzodiazepines can be addictive and can lead to substance abuse. In this study, CBD oil showed positive results after 57 men took an oral CBD or a placebo 90 minutes before they had to speak in public as a test. The researchers saw that a 300-mg dose of CBD was effective at reducing anxiety during the test. Interesting enough, the placebo was a 150-mg dose of CBD, and a 600-mg dose had little to no effect on anxiety. Here they give CBD oil to children with PTSD to treat insomnia. Some antidepressant studies have been performed on animals using CBD, and there is proof of CBD’s ability to act on the brain’s receptors for serotonin. This neurotransmitter regulates your mood and social behavior.
CBD is known to reduce symptoms related to cancer and the side effects related to traditional treatment like nausea, vomiting, and pain. They conducted a study on 177 people with cancer who experienced cancer-related pain who couldn’t get relief from their medications. After receiving either an extract containing a full spectrum extract with THC and CBD, they discovered that the full spectrum was more effective than pure THC extract. The most common chemo-related side effect for those with cancer is nausea and vomiting, CBD could help with those issues. This study of 16 people going through chemo consumed a one-to-one (1:1) combination of CBD and THC sprayed orally or under the tongue, which reduced nausea and vomiting better than treatment alone. In test tubes and animal studies have shown that CBD may have anti-cancer properties; this study illustrates that concentrated CBD can kill human breast cancer cells. This study was performed on mice and proved that CBD inhibited the spread of aggressive breast cancer. Keep in mind since they are animal studies and test-tube experiments and can only suggest a correlation. More studies in humans are needed before we make any conclusions.
Could Reduce Acne – Acne is a fairly common condition that affects 9.4% of the population. It’s thought that it’s caused by different factors, including genetics, bacteria, inflammation, and the overproduction of sebum – an oily secretion made by the sebaceous glands in your skin. The science studies of recent reports that CBD could help treat acne due to its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to reduce sebum production. This test-tube study discovered that CBD oil exerted anti-inflammatory properties by preventing the activation of acne-forming agents like inflammatory cytokines and prevented the sebaceous gland cells from secreting excessive sebum. This study on acne found that CBD could be an efficient and safe way to treat acne, partly to its amazing ability to fight inflammation.
Benefits for those with Neurological Disorders – Researchers believe that due to the endocannabinoid system and CBD’s ability to affect it, it could benefit people with neurological disorders like epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. This study of 214 people found that giving severe epilepsy patients 0.9-2.3 grams of CBD oil reduced seizures by 36.5%. The childhood epilepsy disorder, Dravet syndrome was tested to be found that CBD oil reduced seizure activity dramatically. It’s important to note that some people in these studies had adverse effects from the CBD treatment like convulsions, fever, and fatigue. In related studies, CBD improved quality of life and sleep conditions for Parkinson’s patients, and in test-tube studies, they found that CBD could decrease inflammation and help prevent the neurodegeneration that happens when you get Alzheimer’s disease. Using mice who were predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease in a long-term study found that they could prevent cognitive decline by giving them CBD.
Could Provide Healthy Heart Benefits – Recent studies have shown that CBD can help the heart and circulatory system by lowering high blood pressure. High blood pressure is linked to a host of serious problems, including stroke, heart attack, and metabolic syndrome. In this study, they gave nine men a single 600 mg dose of CBD oil, it no only reduced resting blood pressure, but in that same study, they gave those men a stress test to raise their blood pressure, they discovered that the CBD caused the men to have a decreased blood pressure response. They’ve conducted many studies with animals to observe the stress and anxiety-reducing properties of CBD, in this study on mice with heart disease shows CBD could reduce inflammation and cell death due to heart disease, mainly because of its powerful antioxidant and stress-relieving properties.
They are Still Discovering Benefits – In a study of people with schizophrenia and other mental disorders, they used CBD to treat psychotic symptoms. CBD was given to rats to see if CBD could reduce morphine and heroin addiction and dependence by modifying circuits in the brain related to drug addiction. CBD is used to prevent the spread of breast, prostate, brain, colon, and lung cancer in animal and test-tube studies you can read here. In diabetic mice, this study revealed that CBD reduced diabetes by 56% by dramatically reducing inflammation.
What Are Some Side Effects of CBD?
Generally, CBD is well tolerated and considered safe; it still could cause some adverse reactions in some people. Some side effects they found in studies were diarrhea, changes in appetite and weight, and fatigue. CBD is also known to interact with several prescriptions. Before you use CBD oil, please consult your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you. Checking with your physician is especially important if you take medications or supplements that come with a “grapefruit warning” since both CBD and grapefruit interfere with cytochrome P450 (CYPs), a group of enzymes needed for drug metabolism.
The Conclusion on Cannabidiol
Some CBD manufacturers have gotten themselves in hot water for making wild claims that aren’t provable, like saying that CBD is a cure-all for cancer, which it is not. More research is needed, but CBD has proven to be a good option for managing anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain.
CBD is currently available as an unregulated supplement; it’s challenging to know what you’re getting. If you decide to try CBD, consult with your doctor and test the recommended products from sources you trust.
Any legitimate product has testing info available, Elixinol sources their products from reputable sources then tests these products for purity, efficacy, etc.
Demystifying CBD with Dr. Trinh and Helene Blanchette from Physicians CBD Council.
Dr. Trinh M.D. is a Doctor in Orange County specializing in Alzheimer’s, brain health, inflammation, and CBD.
His discovery of the effects of CBD was through medical journals and first-hand experiences with his patients. Laguna Woods is a community of 18,000 seniors actively taking CBD and related products.
He was traditionally trained to believe CBD was weed or cannabis as a doctor; like most, he had a negative view of those associated with it.
Still, soon Dr. Trinh found thousands of studies to suggest multiple theories of pain relief, anxiety, and depression treatment, even lowering blood pressure and enhancing sexual compatibility, especially in women going through menopause or cancer survivors.
CBD or cannabidiol is a hot topic, but a lot of it can be considered suspect or self-serving.
The Weight Watchers Program (now known as WW) is one of the most widely used healthy eating programs globally. They have over one million subscribers globally. Do you follow a Weight Watchers points program? Over the past 15 years, Weight Watchers has had three meal programs: Points, PointsPlus, and currently Smart Points.
There are three diet plans now, using the WW ZeroPoint Food plans, The Green Plan, Blue Plan, and Purple Plan. The one you choose depends on if you want more variety, then your Smartpoints budget will be smaller. Want more Smartpoints? You’ll want to go with the Green plan with fewer ZeroPoint foods.
How Do Points Work in Weight Watchers?
Under Weight Watchers, the food and drinks are assigned a point value. Healthier foods have fewer points, sugar and high-fat snacks have more points. In Weight Watchers, followers have a daily and weekly allowance of points they can redeem. The goal is to use more points than allocated. There are three-point values central to the Weight Watchers program – daily, weekly, and activity points.
Daily Points – Each person has a personalized allowance, the lowest being 30 (under SmartPoints). Your daily points goal is personalized based on several factors, including height, weight, weight, gender, activity level, and desired weight-loss plan. The daily points are reset every day.
Weekly Points – Dieters also receive a weekly “buffer” of points to save for a special occasion or add to their daily allowance. Under PointsPlus, everyone received 49 points; now, the value is personalized. The weekly allowances also reset.
Activity Points – The participants can earn extra points for exercising; for example, walking 3,000 steps earn 3-5 points (based on weight), and dieters can choose to trade activity points for food.
How Do You Calculate Your Points?
For example, if you wanted to have breakfast, you could have an eff (2 SP), bacon (5 SP), and 1 oz of cheddar cheese (1 SP). You would use 8 SmartPoints. Suppose your allowance was 30; you would have 22 points for the rest of the day; it’s that simple.
What Foods Can You Eat?
The reason Weight Watchers has been successful is because no foods are forbidden. You can eat and drink whatever you want, even my favorite chocolate cake! You have to track your food.
Weight Watchers rewards healthy eating; when you fill up on healthy foods like fruits and veggies, they cost fewer points than the sugar foods like soda, which might cost you 10 points, but 3 ounces of chicken breasts only sets you back 3 points.
If you stay within your allowance, you can enjoy your favorite foods, even dessert, and wine.
What is (WW) Weight Watchers Reimagined?
In 2019 Weight Watchers introduced new quick-prep meals, chef-inspired, nutritionist-approved, and ready to eat in 10 minutes or less. They rolled out more than 200 stores across the Midwest.
The meals are perfect for seniors because they are nutritious and can be prepared quickly. You don’t have to spend any time prepping or cooking.
WW Fresh meals serve two people and range in price from $14 to $20; all the ingredients are pre-prepped with the proteins pre-cooked; you or your caregiver combine the ingredients, heat, and eat. Here are six meals that rolled out in their launch.
Beef Baja Bowl with Fire-Roasted Corn and Black Beans – Mexican-inspired meal with beef and veggies like green/red peppers, beans, onions, corn with pico de gallo, and tortilla strips, uses 6 SmartPoints value per serving.
Grilled Chicken Tacos with Roasted Chipotle Sauce and Pineapple Slaw – With a roasted chipotle sauce and lime salsa, these chicken tacos come with sweet slaw on the side that tastes excellent topping the tacos! These will “cost” you 5 SmartPoints value per serving.
Two Cheese Butternut Squash Rotini with Bread Crumbs – A healthy version of mac-n-cheese with butternut squash, cheddar, parmesan, and a crispy panko bread crumb topping (12 SmartPoints value per serving)
Dragon Bowl with Thai Peanut Sauce – Nutritional vegan meal with quinoa, butternut squash, and baby broccoli with a bold spicy-sweet peanut sauce and squeeze of lime. These are 8 SmartPoints value per serving.
Creamy Cavatappi with Parmesan, Chicken, and Mushrooms – Chicken breast, mushrooms, and asparagus paired with a classic Alfredo sauce cost 7 SmartPoints value per serving.
Lemon, Chicken & Kale Salad with Parmesan and Almonds – This is a layered dinner salad complete with chicken, cherry tomatoes, and carrots, honey-lemon dressing with parmesan, and almonds are finishers. This meal is 7 SmartPoints value per serving.
If you are staying inside or don’t live near a location that carries these meals, you can get to deliver them to your doorstep via their meal delivery service partnership.
If you’re a first-time customer, you’ll get a $60 discount on your first three boxes.
Weight Watchers Shop
They have an excellent menu with categories like Breakfast, Snacks, Coffee, desserts, Pancakes, Pasta, Chocolate, Popcorn, all kinds of Snacks – meat snacks, puffed snacks, snack bars, Smoothies, chips, crisps, and crackers.
They have exciting filters like – sort by special diet whether you are on a gluten-free, high protein, vegetarian, low carb, or high in fiber, looking for dairy-free, sugar-free, kosher, or vegan choices you’ll find something here.
Weight Watchers Reimagined
To pique your interest, sort by taste – Sweet, Salty, crunchy, chocolatey, fruity, cheesy, creamy, crispy, savory, and spicy!
They’ve expanded into kitchen and lifestyle products as well. They have their signature collections of products.
Weight Watchers has a shop with all kinds of stuff, including cookbooks, food, drink containers, kitchen tools, utensils, and even small appliances. You’ll find scales and books, gifts and sets, supplements.
The ShopCash program rewards you with extra points rewarding you for shopping; you earn and redeem the ShopCash coupons during specific periods.
Blue Apron’s partnership with Weight Watchers offers Seniors a Meal Plan Delivered to Their Door.
Blue Apron’s WW service is a meal kit delivery service that Blue Apron runs in partnership with the new WW (formerly weight watchers) that meets WW’s wellness and nutrition standards. The WW menu offers a weekly rotation of 6 WW-approved freestyle recipes that cost the same as Blue Apron’s existing two-serving meal plan: $59.94 per week, including shipping, three recipes, and two servings, or $9.99 per serving.
What is the Blue Apron Weight Watchers plan?
WW approves up to three of the recipes designed by nutritionists that indicate with their WW Mark of Wellness. These recipes with the WW contain vegetables, low calories, low in saturated fats, and low salt and sugar.
Do you want to know how the Blue Apron meal delivery service works?
You visit the Blue Apron website and choose up to 3 recipes.
You’ll get the meal kit recipe, step-by-step instructions, and pre-portioned ingredients in an insulated and cooled box.
You follow the directions to prepare the meals, which take less than 10 minutes to make, with no grocery stores or meal planning!
In addition, Blue Apron offers non-WW-approved vegetarian Paleo with quality ingredients and carb-conscious, diabetes-friendly meals on their signature menu. These are better for people who wish to lose weight and eat healthier.
They offer an intuitive app called Digital for your smartphone that will input your Blue Apron recipes with the simple use of a barcode: when you get your recipes, using your smartphone and scanning the attached barcode plugs all the info into your WW app. Scan the barcodes and find out what foods fit your personal weight loss goals or maintenance goals. Your myWW color visually tracks them. To use Digital for the private members-only community, 5-minute coaching audios, meal plan and
Keep in mind that meal kit companies aren’t in business to save you money. They’re in business to provide convenience. The companies develop the recipes and curate high-quality, healthy meal plans and send you all the ingredients. This model makes it easy to avoid grocery stores and still get access to meal options.
What is the Blue Apron WW Freestyle Program?
Subscribe to a meal plan with new recipes and meal kits added each week.
You can choose recipes between 4-15 WW Freestyle points that offer a good variety of items. For example, if you eat most of your points during the day, you could choose a 4-point salad or something more filling like a 12-15 point pasta or rice option.
If you prefer a Mediterranean diet – one that includes no pasta, no sandwiches, no flatbread, 0 point proteins, high-quality vegetables, and a grain combo with an exciting sauce, you’ll find 4-6 options to work with your plan.
The best thing about choosing a Weight Watchers meal from the WW Freestyle menu over HelloFresh is they don’t have a subscription model.
Customers who have tried using WW points with companies like Chef’d before they shut down and resold under the existing company True Chef. They found that they needed to reduce the portion sizes to achieve the point values. Maybe they weren’t thinking about making those meals more filling by maximizing the zero and low-point ingredients. In contrast, those same expressed delight with alternative Sun Basket and Green Chef.
Walk-in tubs provide safety and therapeutic benefits for seniors and people with limited mobility. There are many standard and optional features to choose from and options for installing walk-in tubs. We also feature the only portable walk-in tub on the market today.
What Are the Best Walk-in Tubs for Seniors?
A walk-in tub is an important mobility aid for many older people. It makes bathing easier and safer. Finding the right walk-in tub can be challenging, and you want to find the best option!
We’ve made a choice easier by researching the best walk-in tubs on the market today, and we picked our top favorites.
To help you decide, you can find all the features and benefits below.
Walk-in tubs look like regular bathtubs, but they have an airtight door on the side to make them easier to get in and out of. So you open the door, walk in, and sit down. Since there are many walk-in tubs on the market with many features, let’s look at them.
What is the Purpose of a Walk-in Tub?
A walk-in tub makes giving and taking a bath easier if you have limited mobility. Climbing in and out of a standard bathtub can be risky for anyone with balance issues, joint problems, stiffness, or weakness. It’s easy to lose your balance and fall; this could break bones or leave you all bruised and sore. A walk-in tub is much easier to get in and out of.
What Safety Features are Important in a Walk-in Tub?
A quality walk-in tub should have these safety features, so check for them.
Safety Bars – Check for ample safety bars to grab and hold onto. Seniors can be a little unsteady, especially when getting in and out of a tub or moving from sitting to standing.
Anti-scald Systems – These systems protect seniors’ delicate skin from sudden temperature changes, like when someone turns on the faucet or flushes the toilet somewhere else in the house. It regulates the temperature in the showerheads and faucets.
Quick Drain System – Look for a quick-release drain feature that lets the user or a caregiver or EMT hit a button and drain the bath instantly to prevent accidents. It’s also convenient because it allows the bath user to exit faster and not sit there cold while the bath drains.
Anti-Slip Surfaces – Slips and falls are a considerable risk for seniors, so walk-in tubs must come with non-slip floors and seats as standard.
Built-in seat: Many walk-in tubs have a built-in seat, which allows users to sit down while taking a bath, reducing the risk of falls.
Automatic shut-off: Some walk-in tubs have an automatic shut-off feature that stops the flow of water if the tub becomes overfilled, reducing the risk of flooding.
Heated surfaces: Some walk-in tubs have heated surfaces, which can help prevent slips and falls by keeping the floor and walls of the tub warm and dry.
What Other Features Should Walk-in Tubs Have?
Self-cleaning systems – To keep down the build-up of mold and harmful bacteria in your water lines, it’s helpful to have a self-cleaning system.
Low threshold – Many people choose walk-in tubs because it’s hard to access a standard tub. A low point makes it easier to enter and exit.
Easy-to-use buttons – Ensure the controls are easy to press, even for someone with arthritis.
Lifetime guarantee – Since a walk-in tub is a considerable investment, having the peace of mind that you’re covered for life just in case of problems is priceless.
Extra-wide door – A wider door makes it easier to get in and out of the tub, especially for larger patients or anyone suffering from stiffness or pain in their hips.
Leak-proof door seals – all good walk-in tubs should have a leak-proof door seal with a lifetime guarantee to prevent bathroom flooding.
Therapy Options
Various luxury options feature contoured seating, hydrotherapy, and massage features. These aren’t necessarily needed but can enhance relaxation and stress relief and provide additional joint pain or stiffness solutions.
Whirlpool models use water jets to keep water moving and provide a massage experience.
Air jetted – air-jetted models use compressed air rather than water, and provide a more gentle experience.
Soakers – Soaker tubs don’t have any added massage or water jet functions. They are great for soaking in the bathtub, but many enjoy the added options.
What Are the Different Types of Walk-in Tubs?
There are many kinds of walk-in tubs for every budget and need; here are the most common:
Bariatric tubs are made for bariatric patients who weigh 300 lbs or more, there are similar to inward swinging tubs and have the same features but are more prominent with a wider entrance.
Inward swinging door – the most common kind of walk-in tub for home use, they can be the cheapest and yet classiest to look. These are perfect for a senior without special needs, like needing an extra-large or wheelchair-accessible tub. These are a good choices.
Wheelchair-accessible tubs – they also call these slide-in tubs. These are walk-in tubs with a wider entrance and no step to climb over, making them ideal for wheelchair users who can be helped from their chairs and into their seat. Because they are larger, they are more expensive and will take up more space because of the outward opening door, but for a wheelchair user, this makes life much easier when it comes to bath time!
Why Would Someone Need or Consider a Walk-in Tub?
A walk-in tub is excellent for seniors with mobility problems, balance issues, struggling with their weight, or in a wheelchair. Compared to a standard tub, it’s much safer to get in and out of, and they have built-in features like non-slip surfaces and handrails.
Stepping into a walk-in tub is safer and more straightforward than a standard tub; walk-in tubs allow seniors to stay independent and age at home.
How to Choose a Walk-in Tub?
First, consider your needs. Do you require something wheelchair-accessible? What features are a must for them? Once you know the size and shape of the tub you need, you can consider luxury features like hydrotherapy or massage; then, you can shop for every model that has what you need and fits your budget.
With the choices on the market, you will find the best model for the loved one in your life. Please review the safety features listed here to ensure that your chosen tub has all of the necessary features.
Usually, when you think of a diet, changing something in your lifestyle could also mean a pattern of eating.
When you talk about the Mediterranean diet, it’s based on the eating habits of the traditional cuisine in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They choose a plant-based but not 100% vegan or vegetarian because it includes fish and seafood several times a week. Sometimes you add some dairy, eggs, and poultry, but red meats and sugar are restricted or considerably moderated.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
So it’s not a diet at all. It happens to be a pattern of eating that focuses on nutrient-rich, high-quality whole foods like:
Fruits and Vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Legumes and beans
Whole grains
Healthy fats low in saturated fats, like olive oil
Herbs and spices
Seafood a few times a week
Poultry, eggs, cheese, and yogurt in moderation
Meats and sweets are restricted or in small portions
This way of eating is associated with a low incidence of chronic disease and longevity. It’s been ranked Number 1 best overall diet by health experts yearly.
The Mediterranean diet has been linked to lower heart disease and correlated with:
Lower blood pressure
Reduced risk of diabetes
Lower risk of stroke
Reduced risk of developing certain types of cancer
Reduced risk of developing cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Since the Mediterranean diet restricts sugar and processed foods, it’s a favorite with many dietitians.
Some processed foods that involve canning or freezing are considered healthy and tolerated in moderation. The Mediterranean diet focuses on consuming fresh foods closest to their natural forms.
Cooking your meals at home will ensure you know what’s in the dishes. When done right, the diet will provide all the needed phytonutrients, minerals, and vitamins with lots of protein and fiber, all essential components of good health.
Red wine is an accepted casual, moderate drink with meals on the Mediterranean diet. However, it’s important to note that you shouldn’t start drinking wine if you haven’t had it before. Alcohol is associated with an increased risk of different kinds of cancers.
Weight Loss vs. Eating Healthy
Before you make a significant lifestyle change and switch diets overnight, you should check with your doctor and dietitian first to determine what the perfect diet would be, including portion control.
It’s important to consider that certain foods that fit in this diet can have lots of calories like olive oil, olives, and nuts. Because of this, it’s easy to consume too many calories, which would make you gain weight, which can be frustrating since you assume you can eat as much as you want “because it’s healthy,” this is where dietitians can help.
The Mediterranean diet is a healthy way of eating but may not be the best diet for weight loss. Weight loss and health are two different goals independent of each other.
How Can Seniors Gradually Transition to Mediterranean Diet?
Making incremental changes over time might be best for seniors wanting to change their eating habits, first think about your goals, then start with 2-3 meals a week following the Mediterranean diet while at the same time cutting out processed foods and sweets.
Don’t worry about following the diet “perfectly”; there is no such thing.
A meal kit delivery service can be a great way to source Mediterranean diet meals. They handle all the tasks of finding a recipe, planning the menu, creating a meal ingredient list, grocery shopping, prepping the ingredients, and cooking the meals.
Some of those tasks might have to be handled by someone else if you are aging and have mobility issues or have trouble balancing groceries and cooking.
You can maintain your health and independence by using a popular Mediterranean diet meal delivery service.
Should You Get a Prepared Meal or Meal Kit?
When you choose a Mediterranean meal delivery service, you’ll want to consider if you prefer a prepared meal or if you like to prep and cook. Some services offer both, but most offer one or the other.
The heat and eat meals are the most straightforward option, pop them into the microwave or heat up in a pan quickly.
The meal kit services send all the ingredients to you pre-portioned and lightly prepped. You or your caregiver can follow the easy-to-follow instructions on the recipe card and cook the meal. These meals usually take about 30 minutes to prepare.
Should You Choose Frozen or Fresh?
Meal delivery services deliver their packages either fresh or frozen, and they stand firm on their reasons for doing so. Fresh may seem better at first, but it’s not always the case, especially if you don’t plan on eating all the meals right away.
The problem with frozen meals is that they can get a little watered down and bland when heated. If you don’t prefer frozen or fresh, consider how long the meals need to last in the fridge or freezer when you choose.
Compare the Most Popular Mediterranean Diet Meal Delivery for Seniors
HelloFresh – 14 Free Meals across 5 boxes Plus Free Shipping. See Review.
BistroMD – Weekly subscription with 5-day and 7-day programs available. Avg cost $6.78-$9.74, Shipping – $19.95 per order, ready-made meals – heat/eat
Dinnerly– Dinnerly brings recipes and ingredients to your door for unfussy, affordable weeknight meals. It is the first subscription meal kit service to offer $4.49 per serving.
Marley Spoon – Marley Spoon and Martha Sturarsends the recipes of your choice and the fresh, pre-portioned ingredients you need to cook them directly to your door
Silver Cuisine – The meals are catered to older adults, but anyone would enjoy them. Silver Cuisine specializes in the tastes of mature diners and focuses on nutritional quality, taste, and portion sizes. They offer over 50 meals that are aligned with the Mediterranean diet philosophy.
NutriSystem – Lose up to 18 lbs FAST! Lose weight fast! Money back guaranteed.
MagicKitchen – Customers can order from a full menu of easy-to-prepare Gourmet Meals – Soups, Entrees, Desserts & more delivered to their home.
Omaha Steaks – Wide variety of the finest quality USDA-approved, grain-fed beef and other gourmet foods including seafood, pork, poultry, side dishes, appetizers, complete meals and desserts.
Lobster Anywhere – Trusted source for the best Maine lobster delivery to your front door, overnight, guaranteed.
Trifecta – Trifecta sources, manufacturers, and distributes fully cooked meals.
Home Bistro – They offer a lineup of 10 Mediterranean heat and eat meals, arriving frozen at your doorstep. The meals are designed to be boiled in a bag.
Home Chef – A top meal kit company that delivers fresh ingredients and easy-follow recipes can mix and match the meals to create 26 weekly choices. You can easily create your Mediterranean meal plan. You’ll find lots of fish, poultry, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. They also have smoothies you can add to any heart-friendly meals.
Freshly – Each meal is chef-prepared by a qualified chef and delivered fresh to you. The ingredients are fresh; the meals are packed immediately; you heat and eat as soon as it arrives. They have a large selection of protein-focused meals but no breakfast or snack options.
Top Companies that Deliver Mediterranean Diet Meals to Seniors
Only a few meal delivery services offer Mediterranean meal plans for seniors, but many conform to the diet without calling them that. You can customize a plant-based, vegan or vegetarian diet to make it Mediterranean by adding a few servings of fish or lean meats per week.
HelloFresh
Easy-to-follow recipes with clear nutritional info.
Farm-to-table sourcing of high-quality ingredients.
Most meals are ready in under 30 minutes.
One of the most extensive meal kit delivery services in the market, HelloFresh offers various Mediterranean-friendly meals to subscribers, although they don’t label them as such. The meal plans start at only $7.49 per meal and fall into four categories:
Meat & Veggies
Veggie
Family-friendly
Calorie Smart
Each option is available for 2 or 4 people, and you can choose from two to five meals per week. HelloFresh offers a selection of Italian, Mexican, African, Thai, French, and Irish options.
BistroMD
Fully prepared meals, heat and eat
Perfectly portioned to promote healthy weight loss or other health goals.
A bariatric doctor designs menus
More than 150 meals to choose from weekly.
A bariatric specialist developed BistroMD to offer weight loss programs to fit a wide variety of health needs and preferences.
These specialized programs include:
Woman’s program
Men’s program
Heart-healthy program
Gluten-free program
Diabetic-friendly program
Vegetarian program
Menopause program
Even though the heart-healthy program isn’t labeled as a specific Mediterranean diet, it follows the principles of this eating approach.
Some seniors choose BistroMD to lose weight, and the company reports that, on average, the members lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week.
The heart-healthy program offers many plan options:
The complete program, seven days. The program has seven breakfasts, seven lunches, six dinners, and My Night, which is described as a “structured break to practice what you learn.” The current cost is $142.46 per week.
Lunches and dinners, seven days. This program includes seven lunches and seven dinners. The current cost is $119.96 per week.
Lunches and dinners, five days. This program includes five lunches and five dinners.
BistroMD is currently offering, for a limited time, 25% off plus free shipping for new members.
Conclusion
When this diet first originated, the people in the Mediterranean lived this lifestyle of eating from the land, laboring, and walking everywhere they went daily, and their stress levels were lower.
This diet is strictly limited to Mediterranean dishes meaning Greek or Italian foods, but you can still get the benefits.
