Healthy diet
Eating a healthy balanced diet and drinking plenty of liquids will help to keep you well, strong, and increases your resistance to illness.
If you do not drink enough you can get dehydrated. This can lead to headache, increased confusion, urinary tract infection and constipation which can make the symptoms of dementia worse.
You may have difficulty eating and drinking. There are many reasons for this including:
- low appetite
- not recognising food and drink
- not sensing when hungry or thirsty
- swallowing difficulties and problems with gums or teeth – oral health
If you have low appetite you should see your GP first to rule out any treatable causes. It's also important to maintain good oral hygiene so go for dental check-ups every 6 months.
Useful resources
- find links to resources to help you eat and drink well with dementia on the Age UK website
- the Eating and Drinking well with dementia toolkit is a useful resource for family carers
- find information on the challenges people with dementia have with eating and drinking on the Alzheimer’s Society website