3 Preparation for the elderly who need to be considered during fasting

Fasting can provide health benefits, including for the elderly. Quoted from Harvard Health fasting can help reduce high blood sugar levels. This happens because the body uses fat rather than glucose as an energy source.

However, Ramadan fasting for the elderly can be a challenge in itself so preparation is needed. One way is to take advantage of the time after opening and at dawn. The elderly can pay attention to various factors to support smooth fasting.

The health and body condition of the elderly cannot be equated with younger people. Therefore, try to do the following at opening and sahur time.

What are the fast preparations for the elderly that need to be done?

In addition to considering health conditions, the elderly must also pay attention to their food during fasting. Here are some factors that should be considered:

Consume a variety of food sources

The more varied the food consumed, the more various nutrients are likely to be obtained. The need for nutritional intake for the elderly during fasting needs to be considered and requires preparation, considering that most of the day is spent without getting any nutritional intake, including fluids.

For that, try to eat foods with a balanced portion. Some tips that can be applied such as:

• Increase eating fruits and vegetables. Vitamins and minerals that come from fruits and vegetables with content such as vitamins B6, B12, D, and folate are needed by the body to be able to work normally, especially when fasting.
• Eating whole grains, such as bread or oatmeal. Choosing healthy carbohydrate sources can reduce calorie and sugar intake, which are prone to causing health problems in the elderly, for example diabetes.
• Choose protein sources other than meat, such as fish and nuts (example: soybeans). Although meat is the best source of protein, the elderly should limit their intake to prevent several types of diseases such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.
• Add supplements if necessary. Often food alone is not enough to meet the nutritional needs of the elderly. For this reason, the elderly should consider taking supplements or food substitutes to overcome vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

The supplement in question can be milk. Not only as a source of protein, milk supplements can also be a source of other beneficial vitamins and minerals such as increasing endurance for the elderly during fasting, including calcium, vitamins D, E, B6, and B12.

Also pay attention to the portion of the meal. It takes your body about 20 minutes to send a signal whether you are full or not. Therefore, don't overeat during the iftar (breaking the fast).

Drink lots of water

The water content in the body during fasting will quickly decrease. However, all who perform this worship, including the elderly, can only drink after the fasting period ends.

Therefore, it is better to drink more fluids during the breaking time and before the time of ruling, even though you do not feel thirsty. Make sure to drink water at breaking fast and periodically until just before bedtime. You can follow the recommendation to drink eight glasses a day from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, namely one glass after getting up at dawn, after sahur, at breaking fast, after evening prayers, ishaas and tarawih, after dinner, and before going to bed.

Avoid caffeinated drinks, such as coffee, because they can make the body lose fluids faster. In addition, if the elderly have bladder problems controlling urine output, consult your doctor about how, when, and what types of fluids should be drunk.

Fasting can easily dehydrate you if you don't prepare by drinking lots of fluids the night before.

In a scientific article published in 2017, the elderly drinking adequate amounts of fluids has health benefits such as having a lower body temperature, accelerating metabolism, and maintaining various circulation in the body.

Water is certainly the best choice in restoring lost body fluids. In addition, other drinks such as fruit juices are also good as well as a source of vitamins. On the other hand, avoid drinks that are high in caffeine because they can speed up dehydration when fasting.

Make sure to stay active

Physical activity whether it's just actively moving or exercising is very good for health for all ages. However, every year after passing the age of 40, the body's metabolism will decrease, and often it becomes less than optimal for physical activity.

This is where the closest people play in providing encouragement and support so that the elderly are willing to move actively, including during the fasting month.

To outsmart time because it is difficult to exercise during the day during sports, taking advantage of the opening time and sahur is the way out.

Some people may do more physical activity after breaking the fast because of the longer time lag. You don't need to be too heavy, walking around the complex or exercising at home, for example yoga, cleaning, and tidying the house is also enough.

Elderly people who are still fasting need to pay attention to some of the things above so that fasting remains smooth and can be beneficial for health. The elderly are also advised to increase body nutrition not only through food, but also by consuming additional intake such as formula milk so that daily nutritional needs are met even though they do not eat and drink all day because of fasting.

For example, choosing milk that contains whey protein, vitamins, and minerals that are able to maintain function and increase endurance so that fasting remains smooth and undisturbed. Especially if the elderly choose milk that contains probiotics and prebiotics which are useful for the digestive tract.

This additional intake should not be missed considering that only eating and drinking is often not enough because of the limited time to eat.

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