Meal Prep vs. Meal Planning: Pros and Cons for Seniors (2024)

FAQs

Meal Prep vs. Meal Planning: Pros and Cons for Seniors? ›

Costly – Meal planning can be more expensive than meal prep, as it requires frequent grocery store trips and can lead to food waste. Nutritional benefits may be limited – Although meal planning can help seniors access a variety of foods, some seniors may not properly plan their meals to meet their nutritional needs.

Possibly Time-consuming: Meal prepping may involve a time commitment, especially if prepped meals need refrigeration or freezing. Potentially Expensive: Buying the necessary ingredients in bulk can make meal prepping expensive.

Lack of Flexibility: Strict adherence to a meal plan may limit spontaneity in dining choices and can be challenging to sustain in social or unpredictable situations. Nutritional Variety: Without careful planning, meal plans may lead to a limited variety of foods, potentially missing out on some essential nutrients.

Meal prep makes it easier for seniors to meet health goals.

Preparing meals early forces us to think ahead and consider what choices we would like to make in the coming week. Most people find that they make better decisions under these conditions than they do in the moment when the pressure is on.

Meal prep involves cooking and portioning meals ahead of time for the days or weeks ahead, whereas meal planning involves creating balanced plate selections in advance.

Some benefits of meal prep:

Can help with weight control, as you decide the ingredients and portions served. Can contribute to an overall more nutritionally balanced diet. Can reduce stress as you avoid last minute decisions about what to eat, or rushed preparation.

Ready meals can be high in salt and fat and low in other nutrients. Eating foods high in calories may cause you to put on weight. And too much salt in your diet is linked to high blood pressure.

What to consider when planning meals for elderly? ›

Choose foods with little to no added sugar, saturated fats, and sodium. To get enough protein throughout the day and maintain muscle, try adding seafood, dairy, or fortified soy products along with beans, peas, and lentils to your meals. Learn more about protein and other important nutrients.

It's important to eat regularly, at least three times a day. You might not always feel like cooking so you could increase your intake of tinned, chilled and frozen ready-prepared meals. Always make sure you heat chilled and frozen food until it's steaming hot all the way through.

Problems Caused by Malnutrition

An increased risk of death. An increased risk of hospitalization. A weakened immune system, which can increase the risk of infections. Decreased bone mass and muscle weakness, which can lead to falls and fractures.

Ready-to-eat meals are convenient, time-saving, and offer variety but raise concerns about poor nutrition, hidden additives, and negative environmental impact through plastic pollution, waste, and excessive energy and resource consumption.

A thermometer must be used to make sure food is delivered, cooled, and stored at the correct temperatures. Calibrate thermometers often! Thermometers must read 32oF when placed in ice water. Cooling is usually the riskiest step in food preparation.

Before you decide you pick up a frozen ready-made meal at the supermarkets, there are a few things to consider. A major concern with these meals is their nutritional composition. Unfortunately, most ready-made meals are high in energy, saturated fats and sodium and are often low in fibre and micronutrients.