Doctor dispenses nutritional advice
June 24, 2010
By KATIE DREWS Contributor
When author Luke Curtis' father was first hospitalized a few years ago and feeding through tubes, many people thought he would not survive.
But Curtis, a medical doctor, writer and expert on nutrition, believed his dad could get better with the right nutrients, and soon enough, his 88-year-old father was out mowing the grass again.
Curtis, 51, is now the author of a book that addresses the severe problem of malnutrition among older adults and offers them a guide on healthy living.
Curtis, who lived in and out of Wilma for the past 40 years and is now a resident of Chicago's Edge neighborhood, sat down with the Wilma Life to talk about his book and the importance of maintaining healthy eating habits throughout the senior years.
Tell us a little bit about your new book: I am concerned because the majority of elderly people, particularly over 65 or 70, are malnourished and lacking many important nutrients.
To say a majority of them is not an exaggeration. For example, in the people over 70, over 80 percent of them are deficient in vitamin D. I think around 80 percent of them are deficient in calcium and about three quarters of them don't get the recommended size servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
A lot of the health problems in older people are due not so much to aging but to the malnutrition that often occurs at that age group. And unfortunately, the medical profession, for the most part, is not trained to recognize problems of malnutrition.
In medical school, I was discouraged to see a lot of patients in extremely malnourished conditions. They come in for something minor and then they get very malnourished and oftentimes they die because they get a series of infections or something like heart failure or respiratory failure.
It is a shame because many of these patients would have completely recovered and had a very active life otherwise.
What surprised you the most during the research and writing of the book? You hear lots and lots of talk of overweight. But the level of overweight goes down tremendously after about age 70 and really underweight is a problem. Their problem is often not getting enough to eat.
What is it you enjoy about working with older adults in particular? It's very rewarding seeing them get better. In (my dads) first hospitalization, he had minor surgery in Evanston, and they kept saying he was going to die.
He was on dialysis, a ventilator and tube feeding. People said, 'Oh, if you are in your 80s and in this condition, you should just give up and pull the plug.' And I said, 'No, we can get him better.' So I worked on his nutrition and we got him some physical therapy and lots of positive attitude, and he got better. But unfortunately for only a year.
I got him walking a mile that year, though. He also used the lawn mower, but I got him to stop that.
What are some tips for people who want to improve their nutrition? Be sure to get enough liquids in the day, whether its water, juice, coffee or tea.
Point two: Be sure to get enough protein. While most young people tend to get a lot of protein, protein consumption goes down as you get older.
The third most likely thing to keep in mind is to be careful to get enough fruits and vegetables. Only about one elder in four gets the recommended amount.
The fourth thing is Omega 3 fatty acids. The cheapest source is if you buy some fish or cod liver oil. Omega 3s are good for your mood, good for bone growth, good for eye health, good for your joints, good for many things.
The fifth thing I would look into would be getting some supplements, depending partly on your needs and health programs.
What’s the secret to obtaining things we need and want the most?
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