Elderly health and seriousness

There is no need to chase internet celebrity health tips to stock up on sky-high price supplements, and there is no need to force yourself to complete overloaded exercise KPIs. The so-called "seriousness" essentially means not to fool around, not to follow the trend, and to do small things that suit your physical condition thoroughly over a long period of time.

To be honest, I have been doing health volunteer services in the community for almost 3 years, and I have seen too many elderly people who use their "seriousness" in the wrong place. Uncle Zhang downstairs attended 3 classes with the health group last year. He gritted his teeth and spent 32,000 yuan to buy a whole box of selenium-rich health products. Preventing cancer can cure joint pain. After taking it for three months, I felt dizzy and nauseated and went to the hospital. When I found out that my selenium level was twice as high as the standard, the doctor said to me, "If you eat a boiled egg and a small handful of broccoli every day, you are getting enough selenium. Why are you spending this unjust money and suffering?"

There is actually a lot of quarrel about the health of the elderly nowadays, and both schools of thought have their supporters. One group is the "hard-core health group", which believes that people must fight against aging when they get older. They must take 20,000 steps a day and take vitamins, fish oil, and coenzyme Q10 by the handful, hoping to bring all health-related indicators to the standards of young people. I have met 62-year-old Aunt Liu before. In order to reduce body fat, she danced for two hours a day and climbed 10 floors. In less than half a year, her meniscus was damaged three times. Now she has to use crutches even when she goes out to buy groceries. The other group is the "just lie down and let things happen" group. They feel that there is nothing wrong with their age, so they carry it if they feel uncomfortable, and do not bother to do physical examinations, for fear that problems will be discovered and cause trouble for themselves. Uncle Li in the community always said that dizziness is a "normal reaction of old age". It took him half a year to suddenly faint and send him to the hospital. It was found that he had three lacunar cerebral infarctions, and he had to rely on medicine for the rest of his life.

In fact, to put it bluntly, neither of these two groups understands what "seriousness" means about elderly health. It’s not asking you to compete with your body, nor is it asking you to break a jar, it’s just a snack in a small place. Take the most common blood pressure test as an example. Eight out of ten elderly people take the test incorrectly: they roll up their sleeves to take the measurement just after climbing the stairs and are panting. The cuff is tied loosely and slides down the forearm. After taking the test, no matter what the value is, they turn around and forget about it. If you make so many of these small mistakes, you can’t even figure out whether your blood pressure is normal or not. How can you talk about health? I have met the 78-year-old Grandma Wang, who is recognized as a "health model" in our community. She has never taken any sky-high-priced supplements, and has never followed the trend of running marathons or doing high-intensity aerobics. She just sits for 3 minutes before getting out of bed every day, drinks half a cup of warm salt water, walks downstairs for 20 minutes after watering the flowers, and plays with her old friend in the afternoon. Goalball for half an hour, soak my feet after watching the news broadcast in the evening, go to bed on time at 10 o'clock, strictly follow the nurse's instructions every time I measure my blood pressure, sit still for 5 minutes, tie the cuff on my elbow socket with two fingers, and write down the values neatly in a small book. Except for a slight calcium deficiency in my physical examination last year, all indicators are better than many recently retired people.

Of course, this does not mean that all supplements cannot be taken and all exercises cannot be done. If you go to the hospital for a physical examination and the doctor clearly says that you are vitamin D deficient and have osteoporosis, then you should take calcium supplements and vitamin supplements according to the doctor's instructions. Don't just listen to the online saying that "supplements are IQ tax" and just take it. ； If you have a good physical condition and like swimming and Tai Chi, there will certainly be many benefits to you if you stick to it, but don’t injure your knees by walking all afternoon just to compare steps with your old friend.

When I chatted with Grandma Wang last time, she said something to me that left a deep impression on me: "As we get older, seriousness is not about comparing yourself to others, nor is it about living a healthy life in the eyes of others. It is about taking care of your own body, not fooling it, and not tormenting it. If you treat it well, it will naturally treat you well." ”You see, there are so many complicated principles. To put it bluntly, this is all.