Upkeep Your Loved One’s Muscle Health during the Holiday

Thadingyut is a day of many festivities, but is also a holiday worthy of spending in peace and quiet with family. Especially with your elderly parents or loved ones because while staying connected brings out the smiles, you can keep track of their health. This is not only for Thadingyut time, but for the rest of the year too. For seniors, disruptions, even in a positive way, can be stressful, especially when it concerns muscles.^{1, 3} Make sure they are taking their medications, eating well (eg. provide extra support with Ensure Gold to fill in nutrients missing from food), and take note of any health issues like muscle weakness symptoms, which can affect their mobility.^{7, 8}

Keeping Connected (for Caregivers)

Your parents entering their senior years does not mean they no longer want to enjoy celebrations. Even if they feel like they cannot, you can help contact their friends for a nice at home celebration and light it up. Make it your top priority to go visit and if not, there are different platforms and devices that can make live video calls or send greeting cards by mail. Most importantly, the reason why staying connected is important is to check in on their health.^{2, 5}

When you Visit

When you first see your loved ones, check for any physical signs of health issues as they are easily identifiable. It may be a cultural thing, but sometimes your aging parents can hide any injuries or health ailments so that they do not trouble you. For this, you need to recognize the signs of muscle weakness. Are they leaning on one leg? Do their hands shake excessively when they pick up something? Have they lost significant weight? Do they hesitate to sit down or get up? Are they holding onto walls, railings, or other parts of the house to avoid falling? Those are some of the potential signs of muscle weakness.^{5, 6}

How to Help Keep Your Loved One’s Muscles Healthy How to Keep Muscle Weakness at Bay

Sarcopenia is an age-related biological process of progressive loss of muscle mass at a rate of up to 8% every decade after the age 40.⁷ This reason alone is enough to help upkeep muscle health in your loved ones. To help prevent muscle weakness, first prioritize proper rest, or make sure that their quality of sleep is good.³ Sleep not only helps your body repair muscles and reset, it helps aid in boosting your immune system. Once they are feeling a little more rested, encourage them to exercise in short bursts throughout the day (e.g. briskly climbing the stairs during ad breaks on TV).^{4, 6}

The key phrase here is staying on schedule. Sleep early, wake up on time, and eat early & healthy. A senior’s quality of nutritional intake throughout the day affects their overall wellbeing, especially the muscles. For this make sure that your parents or loved ones in your care prioritize protein. Versus when they were in their younger days, older adults’ bodies are less efficient at using protein they eat to build new muscle and not eating enough can further contribute to muscle loss.⁶ High quality sources of protein are milk, yogurt, fish, eggs, meat, whole grain rice, soybeans, and quinoa or similar.⁷ Since your parents may have dietary restrictions (they sometimes can hide it from you) by choice or due to medical reasons, food alone for nutrition may not be enough. For this Ensure Gold, rated as No. 1 Physician Recommended Oral Nutritional Supplement in the U.S.,⁹ can help. Made with high-quality protein, HMB (β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyric, a metabolite of amino acid leucine), and 28 vitamins and minerals, 12 of which help supports immunity¹⁰, Ensure Gold can help strengthen your senior parents’ nutrition foundation and clinically proven to restore strength in 8 weeks.¹¹ Make sure that they consume about 2 servings a day (6 scoops + 185ml of water per serving)⁸ for general nutritional foundation. Are they observing a vegetarian diet or the taste of milk is not preferred? Ensure Gold Plant Based is now available. Made with plant-based protein from soy, rice and quinoa and HMB, caregivers can be worry free that their vegetarian or non milk drinker loved ones can too remain healthy and celebrate Thadingyut for many years to come. Drop in on your parents on Thadingyut and give the gift of strength, immunity, and love because good health is not only limited to holidays.⁸

To get a sample, please visit Ensure Myanmar to sign up.

References:

1. https://www.myanmarinsider.com/thadingyut-and-tazaungdaing-festivals/
2. https://www.homecareassistancetampabay.com/senior-holiday-health-tips/
3. https://www.ashbridgemanor.com/tips-for-seniors-staying-healthy-during-the-holidays/
4. https://theupsidetoaging.com/2018/12/18/keep-the-holiday-pounds-away-with-these-4-exercises-for-older-adults/
5. https://www.ameswalker.com/blogs/news/how-to-stay-healthy-during-the-holidays-the-ultimate-guide-for-seniors
6. https://khni.kerry.com/news/maintaining-healthy-muscles-and-mobility-during-social-distancing/
7. https://static-nocdn.abbottnutrition.com/cms/preview/abbottnutrition-2016.com/img/Nourish%20your%20muscles%20as%20you%20age%20patient%20booklet.pdf
8. https://www.ensuremyanmar.com/eng/ensure-powder/

No. 1 Physician Recommended Oral Nutritional Supplement in the U.S.

1. IQVIA, using the ProVoice Survey, fielded 14,459 physicians from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

12 of which support immunity

1. Ensure Gold contains protein, Vitamin A, B6, B12, C, D, E, Folate and selenium, copper, zinc and iron, that help support the normal function of the immune system.

high-quality protein to support strength, vitality and activity.

1. Berton et al. PLoS One. 2015.