Eating healthily is important for your overall health and wellbeing, but it can also help to prevent falls. Eating regular, nutritious meals and drinking plenty of non-alcoholic fluids can help to avoid problems that can contribute to a fall, including:
What can I do ?
The Eatwell guide highlights the different types of food that make up your diet. It also shows the proportions of each food group that you should eat to have a well-balanced and healthy diet.
It’s important to eat regularly to help avoid problems like light headidness and tiredness, which contribute to your risk of falling. At a minimum, you should be eating 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) everyday.
As we get older our appetites often decrease. If you find it difficult to eat regularly, eat smaller meals and include nutritious snacks as well. If this continues to be a problem for you, ask your GP if a referral to a dietician would be helpful.
Keeping your fluid intake up throughout the day is also important as dehydration can cause low blood pressure, dizziness and confusion, leading to an increased risk of falls.
Try to drink at least 6 to 8 cups of fluid every day, including:
Drinking alcohol can make you unsteady on your feet, leading to an increased risk of falls. Alcohol can affect memory, balance and coordination and this can lead to falls and accidents.
Some groups of people are more likely to be affected by alcohol and should be more careful of their level of drinking on any one occasion. For example, those at risk of falls, those on medication that may interact with alcohol or where it may exacerbate pre-existing physical and mental health problems.
The Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines for both men and women are: