Poor Appetite

Poor Appetite

Experts agree that appetite can begin to malfunction as people age, though the exact reasons are not known. Many factors affect your yen for food. People who take various medications may have loss of appetite as a side effect. Ongoing health problems like upper-respiratory disease and diabetes can steal your appetite for food in some cases.

An age-related decline in your ability to taste and smell may also contribute to lowered appetite, says Susan Schiffman, Ph.D., professor of medical psychology at Duke University Medical School in Durham, North Carolina, because those senses trigger the first responses of the gastrointestinal system in preparation for digestion. ?They set up the whole appetite response, so if you don?t have taste and smell, you?re not mo tivated.?

?There?s a whole complexity of changes going on,? says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. ?For some people, it?s a lack of ability to feed themselves, a lack of social interaction, poverty. For others, there are genuine changes in the mechanisms for making them hungry.?

What happens to your weight when you lose your appetite? Some people will lose weight, but people also may gain weight if their eating is not regulated by a sense of hunger, says Susan Roberts, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and psychiatry and chief of the energy metabolism laboratory at Tufts University in Boston.

If your appetite has waned, there are actual strategies you can adopt to recapture your yearning for food. Here are some strategies that doctors recommend for recovering good digestion, appetite, and health.

Try This First

Go ahead?be bitter. Some naturopathic doctors suggest eating bitter herbs to stimulate the production of gastric juices that provoke appetite response.

For a quick response, Thomas Kruzel, naturopathic physician in private practice in Portland, Oregon, recommends a formula of tinctures of the herbs burdock, Oregon grape, and gentian in equal parts.

The tinctures, diluted plant extracts, are available in health food stores. Mix the three tinctures and take about 20 drops of the mixture in some water 10 to 15 minutes before you eat, advises Dr. Kruzel.

Other Wise Ways

Toast your way to a better appetite. A glass of red wine with dinner may improve your appetite by aiding digestion. The tannins in the wine help the digestive tract to secrete digestive enzymes, according to Dr. Kruzel. In addition to helping jump-start the digestive process, it helps you to absorb more nutrients, which could be very important if you?re eating less.

?Basically, beer and wine were initially used to help with digestion as well as being a part of rituals and religious ceremonies. A lot of the beer and the meads were peptic bitters, so they helped the person?s gastrointestinal track to secrete enzymes,? Dr. Kruzel says.

Try a vinegar cocktail. This alternative health remedy may not sound like the most appetizing cocktail, but a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water taken before a meal may help acidify your digestive system, which also aids in digestion. This is particularly important for older people, Dr. Kruzel says, because their stomach acidity naturally declines.

Eat when you?re hungry. This requires a little detective work on your part, says Karen Chapman-Novakofski, R.D., Ph.D., professor of nutrition with the College of Agriculture and College of Medicine at the University of Illinois in Urbana. ?You need to pay attention to when you are even the smallest bit hungry any time of the day,? Dr. Chapman-Novakofski says. ?And then you really need to capitalize on that. Have your main meal whenever you have a good appetite?even if it?s 10:30 in the morning,? she says.

Nibble like a bird all day. Some people may not be interested enough in food to eat the way we traditionally do?three large meals a day. Eating five or six smaller meals throughout the day may be more manageable and will give your body the energy you need, says Dr. Chapman-Novakofski.

Add some fiber to your diet. ?Constipation will cause loss of appetite because you feel full,? says Dr. Chapman-Novakofski. Adding a piece of fruit to each meal is a good way to increase fiber in your diet naturally.

If you add bran or other fibrous cereals, do it gradually and make sure that you drink enough water with it, she advises. Additional bran fiber takes some getting used to?and you might have to deal with gas at first. If you?re getting your fiber with fruits and vegetables, you don?t need to drink more fluids.

Ease off the caffeine. Dr. Chapman-Novakofski finds that retirees who are not very active can spend a lot of the day drinking coffee or tea. But, unfortunately, the caffeine in those beverages works as an appetite suppressant. She recommends switching to decaffeinated coffee or tea at mid-morning. Also, watch the volume you?re drinking (two to three cups is a moderate amount), because this could make you feel full and eat less.

Keep 30 percent of your diet from fat. Older people are often very health conscious, says Dr. Rolls. They?ll stuff their refrigerators and pack their pantries with low-fat foods.

But if your appetite is poor and you choose low-fat foods when you eat, you may not be consuming enough calories to keep up with your energy needs. This doesn?t mean that you can go wild eating ice cream. But cutting down to nonfat or low-fat foods, particularly if you are older than 75, is inappropriate. ?You should be getting 30 percent of your calories from fat,? Dr. Rolls says.

Take a vitamin. If you fear that your poor appetite is not allowing you to consume all the nutrients you need, take a multivitamin every day, says Sherry Briskey, naturopathic physician and staff physician at Southwest Naturopathic Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona.

Thirst for hydration. Sometimes, people older than 60 forget to keep hydrated, because they usually aren?t as active as they used to be and they don?t sweat as much. Be sure that you drink six to eight glasses of fluids a day, Dr. Kruzel says. He recommends drinking a lot early in the day so if you have bladder-control problems you won?t have to get up and go to the bathroom throughout the night. Good choices are filtered water and fresh fruit and vegetable juices. When replenishing fluids, you want to stay away from drinks that are diuretic or promote urination, such as coffee, beer, alcohol, and caffeine-containing sodas.

Get up off the couch. Exercise has the uncanny ability to help regulate appetite, says Dr. Chapman-Novakofski. ?For people who are undereating, some kind of physical activity usually increases their appetites some.? And it doesn?t take much. A simple walk around your neighborhood will do.

Adjust your dentures. Make sure your dentures fit and are well-cleaned. Ill-fitting dentures can be painful, and that could cause you to lose your appetite. Poor denture and dental hygiene can leave unpleasant tastes in your mouth that also kill your appetite, says Dr. Roberts.

Eat breakfast for dinner. If you?re too tired at the end of the day to prepare a meal, you may be tempted to go to bed without any supper. But skipping meals is bad because it sets up a calorie deficit. Try to nap in the afternoon to boost energy for the evening, or eat a bowl of fortified cereal with a glass of orange juice for dinner, Dr. Chapman-Novakofski advises. That breakfast is an easy meal with all the protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals you need. ?Make sure you don?t miss a meal completely, even if you eat something nonconventional,? she says.

Make mealtime fun. Because depression and loneliness can be factors in loss of appetite, making mealtime an experience can prompt you to eat. Set the table with your good china. Add some flowers or candles. Do whatever it is that will make dining a special event for you. If eating in front of the TV set is a real treat, then do that, Dr. Chapman-Novakofski says. But make it a real meal, she advises?not just eating anything from a TV tray.

Try to eat with family and friends. People eat more in social groups than when they?re alone, Dr. Rolls states.

Appeal to your other senses. Because the senses of taste and smell can decline as you age, visual presentations can become an important part of your culinary experience. Focus on colors, says chef Greg Tompkins of the National Baking Center in Minneapolis. Avoid a monochromatic plate. Help your green vegetables retain their color by steaming instead of boiling them. And be sure to include veggies such as carrots and sweet red peppers, which contain carotene and keep their strong colors no matter how they are cooked.

Try to arrange food on the plate so that it is asymmetrical and has some height to it. This design will cause your eye to move, creating visual stimulation and excitement about a dish.

Bring in the brine?first. An important thing to remember, says certified master chef Ronald De Santis, senior professor at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, is not to begin your meal with a fatty appetizer that could fill you up and further dull your appetite. He recommends briny, vinegary foods like capers, or acidic foods like tomatoes that get saliva flowing. Save the fat for dessert.