Nutrition to prevent weight loss in stroke patients Essay

Nutrition to prevent weight loss in stroke patients - Essay Example Some cases will allow for the simple determination of nutritional ingredients. Many others are not as easy to deal with. In this essay, an attempt to present corresponding solutions to meet nutritional requirements will be done given the most common scenarios of stroke patients facing the risk of losing weight. Aside from the simple case, the following other situations will be considered: (1) stroke patients with poor appetite due to a damaged ability to chew and swallow normally; (2) poor taste and smell; (3) emotional issues preventing normal food intake; (4) the need for lifestyle change; and (5) stroke patients with chronic conditions. The purpose of including all these is to provide a ready set of guidelines for use when any of these situations are encountered. This essay is taken from the viewpoint of Nurses, Caregivers, and Nutritionists. A Case of Recovery from Stroke Without Complications: Determine Nutritional Requirements. There should be a periodic attempt to determine the stroke patient’s energy requirements in order to achieve a desirable weight. Of course, this is aside from taking BP before and after meals, and whenever there is a need to do so. Knowing the energy requirements will reveal how much calories are needed. Freda Myco (1983, p. 94) noted that â€Å"the energy needs of stroke patients†¦should be assessed in relation to body weight, body build, age, sex, health status, and physical activity levels.† For those who are normal, energy requirements would be about 2000 kcals/24 hours for men and 1,800 kcals/24 hours for women.... Knowing the energy requirements will reveal how much calories are needed. Freda Myco (1983, p. 94) noted that â€Å"the energy needs of stroke patients†¦should be assessed in relation to body weight, body build, age, sex, health status, and physical activity levels.† For those who are normal, energy requirements would be about 2000 kcals/24 hours for men and 1,800 kcals/24 hours for women. A stroke patient should take the right amount of calories to maintain weight. The consequence of too much calories will be weight gain, while lack of calories will turn the patient into a malnourished person with lack of energy to exercise. Since the topic of this paper is about nutrition to prevent weight loss of stroke patients, it should be worth mentioning that Freda Myco (1983, p.95) also clarified that â€Å"Malnutrition is not caused by simply taking too few calories, rather it is the result of a deficiency in the correct mixture of food constituents, vitamins, and minerals.â₠¬  Basic Rules For A Lean, Healthy Body What stroke patients will need is a good eating habit of the right diet containing adequate calories without the unwanted cholesterol. At Body Art, Tanya Lee Sheehan recommends (2008, p. 11) that a person should eat just enough every 3 hours. And the recipe should be â€Å"more lean protein, veggies, fruit and nuts†. There is a reason for eating more often but with less quantity. It gives time for food to be digested first before a new set will need digestion. But her ideas are for people who can still exercise and burn the food they eat through exercises. In the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of the UN, along with Ann Burgess, Peter Glasauer (2004, p.83), there is a guideline about â€Å"How to help sick