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Seniors: Health Risks of Being Underweight

Senior Health Article Copyrighted by Diet Bites

If you are underweight, I encourage you to meet with your doctor for a plan of action. Being underweight often signals malnourishment which can trigger or cause all sorts of unsavory health issues.

Oddly enough, weighing too little can impact health - just as weighing too much can.

If the underweight individual becomes ill, this only serves to compound issues as when we're not feeling well, we tend to lose our appetite - which generally causes a further drop in weight.

Some health studies that were summarized by professionals over the ages have actually encouraged seniors to carry around just a tab more weight so they could have some reserve fat should illness strike.

Weight and good health - it's all one big balancing act: a balanced diet, a balanced activity plan creates a balanced body via a healthy balanced daily diet.

Too little weight on the body can lead to or cause any of the following:

Malnutrition issues. The most prominent symptom is a lack of energy in the underweight individual. Keep in mind that food equals energy to the body. Without energy, then body becomes seriously compromised.

In severe malnutrition cases, several forms of disease and medical conditions can occur - which attract the body, the brain, or both. Marasmus is a condition where the body become emaciated; the individual may only weigh 1/4 to 1/2 of their normal body weight. In this condition, the ribs will protrude and the limbs will resemble pencils. There will be visible edema. The muscles will completely waste. There may be loose skin in various areas of the body. This condition can lead to dehydration, infection and death.

An insufficient amount of food containing saturated fats may lead to low sexual hormone levels. If not enough fat is within the daily diet, the malabsorption of fat-soluble vitamins occurs.

A deficiency in Omega 3's places the body at risk for cardiovascular disease. When iron is lacking in the diet, anemia may develop and can range from mild to severe.

If foods containing Vitamin A are excluded from the diet, night blindness is often a symptom.

A lack of Vitamin B1 trigger Beri-Beri which impacts the heart, nerves, and the gastrointestinal system. The affected individual will experience lethargy and listlessness. They will feel extremely fatigued.

Osteoarthritis is a typical health concern for the senior dieter and can be enhanced by a lack of adequate vitamins and minerals within the daily diet.

If the daily diet is lacking in calcium, the risks for Osteoporosis increases significantly.

And with the underweight condition there is a decrease in immunity so that attacks on the body are extremely difficult to fight off. There is also a decrease in muscle strength - and poor memory may be common.

Hypothermia also becomes an issue as the body struggles to retain warmth due to vacillating body temperatures.

When there is a deficiency in magnesium within the body, hypertension difficulties arise. In the ageing individual, blood pressure naturally rises to higher levels in some patients. When vitamin and mineral deficiencies enter the health scene, hypertension may be severe enough to produce strokes or a heart attack.

If you are caring for a senior who is currently battling an underweight condition, please speak with their doctor for guidance. Be aware to sudden changes in mental and physical capacities. While normal bruising occurs in healthy individuals when they bump too hard into something, the overweight individual may experience bruising or even haemorrhage due to insufficient Vitamin K intake.

While we often eat anything that we wish without taking care to notice the vitamin and mineral content, they indeed do matter and can cause the body a lot of unnecessary grief.

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