You are what you eat

Steel Cut oats almond milk organic strawberries chia and flax seed

GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) and other Chemicals in food cause brain plaque which leads to mood swings and memory loss. If you're feeling signs of depression, you might want to check your diet for GMO's. I also try to stay away from certain grocery store brands that rely on Monsanto for their ingredients, Monsanto is a conglomerate agricultural biotechnology corporation that uses heavy amounts of pesticides, chemicals and GMO's in their products, their primary platform would be corn, corn oil, and soybean oil which 85% of grocery store shelf products rely on. Here is a list of brands that rely on Monsanto to produce their products:

Grocery Store brands that rely on Monsanto

Because of these facts, I've altered mom's diet with mainly natural and organic foods. I'd say at least 90% of her diet is from real foods like protein and veggies. I also give mom Almond milk for calcium and organic bran/oatmeal because she's at a very low weight, and those complex carbs help her have a little meat on her bones as does brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes. I also cook using coconut oil and grape seed oil. (Look up the benefits).  
I'm not perfect, sometimes we eat fun junk food like nachos, cheeseburgers, but they come from my kitchen and I use grassfed beef because 1, it tastes better and 2, grassfed beef has a lot of health benefits with an increased source of iron plus the most important being it has no GMO's Benefits of Grassfed Beef .  Observe your diet, see what you eat the most of and buy the best. For example, if you eat chicken daily - buy organic chicken. If you eat salads daily, buy organic greens. Shop your local Farmer's Markets first. If you're reading this and you're from the valley, Mcallen, Brownsville, Mission, Weslaco and South Padre Island all have some sort of local growers/farmers markets. Call your local Chambers, and or libraries to find out where your local market is!

It can take years to cleanse your body and gut of the harmful toxins you've been ingesting over a long period of time. There are a lot of natural ways to cleanse your system, such as juicing organic greens/veggies/fruit, doing yoga, and drinking water daily.

I do yoga with mom 3 times a week, and after every session, she has energy and wants to continue moving so she usually sweeps the kitchen and house. No, none of these things I'm doing will heal my mom or any dementia patient, but it will give them longevity and clear their minds at times and most importantly give them energy! All movement helps their circulatory system; you don't want your parents sitting in bed all day with zero exercise, they will form blood clots and will lose all muscle. Mom has lost muscle, which is why she has dropped weight. There is only so much strength training she is able to do, so she will never get that muscle back; so sad. Mom used to be a marathon runner, and biker, also did triathlons - she was very very athletic and at her age developed "Runners Feet" and arthritis in her feet which can be painful for her at times, so even walking can tire her out!

it's important to provide quality of life to our aging parents whether they are sick or not, they are still alive and they still feel - it's up to us to care for them and make the rest of their lives as comfortable as we can. It can be a very stressful situation and like us, will have to sacrifice a lot of time, as mentioned before I resigned from work to care for and be with my mother full time because it takes 24 hours of real care and overseeing. I oversee mom 24 hours a day and care for her about 15 hours, and spend real daughter/mother time around 1 hour a day. Groom and shower her, read to her, clean her room and laundry, shop for her necessities, prepare all of her meals, I do it all with the help of my husband of course, but when mom's good and taken care of, I can then take time for myself and sit and read, swim or do yoga - go to a movie with my husband...anything. What good am I to my mom, family or myself if I don't take care of me? I mention this because changing the type of foods I've been preparing and eating has enabled me to drop 30 pounds. I don't follow any diet or exercise program, I just eat what I prepare and that includes steak, veggies, tacos, pancakes, salads - the thing is that it's all from my kitchen being made with real ingredients, no shortcuts! Also just daily exercise which is just yoga. I resigned in December 2012 and just a few days ago I weighed myself and saw that I've lost a total of 30 pounds. Imagine how much I can lose if I actually try to "lose weight". I think I'm too laxed for that though!