Menus for assisted living patients are often so focused on fundamentals like fiber, sodium, fat, and sugar, that they overlook some simple ways to offer residents even better nutritional benefits.

What is a Superfood?

Superfoods are densely nutritional foods, with additional health benefits. Many of them are fruits and vegetables, but all of them offer a multitude of vitamins, minerals, and other healthy nutritional perks. Here are some superfoods that are easily tolerated and cost effective, which you can easily sneak into your facility’s menu:

• Non-Alkalized Cocoa Powder – Cocoa powder has less than 15 calories per tablespoon, and is nearly fat-free. Cocoa powder is loaded with flavonoids, which help to reduce overall blood pressure, and improve circulation to the heart and brain. With a little creativity, cocoa powder is easy to work into meals without loading it up with sugar. It works well in savory dishes, or it can be added to smoothies, where the other ingredients will complement the cocoa with their natural sugars. It’s important to note that Dutch, or alkalized, cocoa powder is so highly processed that it has very little health benefit.
• Seaweed – It’s easier and more cost effective than you might think to slip some seaweed into your residents’ diets. Seaweed is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help prevent heart attacks and strokes, and it’s also packed with beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium. Toss seaweed into salads, sprinkle chopped seaweed on a baked potato, or into a sauce.
• Nutritional Yeast – Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast, unlike active dry yeast used to make bread, or brewer’s yeast. It’s a fantastic source of protein, fiber, and vitamin B-12. Nutritional yeast has a tangy flavor, so it blends easily into soup, pasta sauce, gravy, or stir-fry dishes.
• Oats – Oats are a great way to boost magnesium, which helps the body to regulate blood sugar, and whole grain oats improve heart health, and help to protect against developing diabetes. How do you slip more oats into your menu without adding sugar? Oats are surprisingly versatile, once you step outside the “oats are for oatmeal” mindset. Use them in place of dried bread to make stuffing, make savory oatmeal for breakfast with a poached egg on top, or toast them with a spritz of olive oil and some seasonings to make a salad topper.

Simplify and Economize

Menus for assisted living facilities can be difficult to manage, and even more difficult to manage economically. Menu planning software makes it much easier to plan for dietary restrictions and your residents’ personal tastes, without breaking the bank, so it’s possible for you to consider offering better meals and more variety.

Grove Menus can help with their proprietary menu planning software, which helps you plan, cost, order, prep, and print trayline cards for each resident, making your menus for assisted living patients thoroughly customizable.