Nutritional mix for the elderly

The core principle of nutrition for the elderly is never to copy the unified "elderly recipes" on the Internet, but to dynamically adjust based on the individual's underlying disease, chewing and digestion ability, and daily activity level, giving priority to ensuring the intake of high-quality protein and adequate trace elements, and avoiding the two extremes of excessive dieting and excessive supplementation. This is the core conclusion I have drawn from the actual situations of more than 200 elderly people who have been doing nutrition education in the community for 5 years.

Don't believe it. Last summer I met Aunt Zhang, who lives in Building 3 of the community. She is 72 years old and has type 2 diabetes for almost 10 years. I heard a health class outside that said "elderly people should be light and eat meat to raise blood sugar." Later, we adjusted her diet, adding one boiled egg and two ounces of lean tenderloin every day, steamed or stir-fried, and the oil was controlled within 5 grams. After three months of eating, her blood sugar did not rise, but her physical strength improved a lot. Last week, she went to climb a mountain in the suburbs with the community's senior citizen group.

There is actually a lot of quarrel about nutrition for the elderly nowadays, and both groups of people have their own reasons. One group is the staunch "light school". The core basis is that the basal metabolism of the elderly is about 30% lower than that of young people. A diet high in oil, salt and sugar is indeed easy to induce basic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. This logic is tenable, but many people go to the extreme and put "light" directly. It is equivalent to "protein deficiency", and you can't wait to let the elderly eat white porridge with pickles. Instead, they ignore that the muscle mass of the elderly over 60 years old will decrease at a rate of 0.5%-1% every year. If the protein intake is not enough, the muscles will lose faster. Not only will the balance be poor and they will fall, but the immunity will also decrease.

The other group is the "nutritionists", who believe that the elderly have poor digestion and absorption and cannot supplement their nutrition through meals. All kinds of protein powder, bird's nest, and fish oil are moved home in boxes. This is not completely unreasonable. For example, the elderly with chewing disorders or particularly weak digestive functions do need additional nutritional supplements, but the mistake is to supplement them regardless of the situation: I have met an old man with gout before.； There are also elderly people with high blood lipids who eat nourishing soup made from lard every day, and their blood lipids rise faster than riding a rocket.

Speaking of this, I just paid a visit to the 81-year-old Uncle Wang last month. He has full dentures. He couldn’t chew meat before. He drank white porridge with pickled radish every day. He was as thin as a bamboo pole. He fell and fractured his bones last winter and lay down for two months before getting up. The advice we gave him was very simple. There is no need to make any complicated tricks. When making porridge every day, add one or two minced lean pork, two handfuls of chopped green vegetables, and a cup of warm milk. If he feels that it is tasteless, just add a little less light soy sauce to enhance the freshness. After eating like this for half a year, his muscle mass increased by 0.8 kilograms during this physical examination. The last physical fitness test for the elderly in the community showed that his balance was better than many 70-year-olds.

By the way, there is a new trend in the academic world now, that is, the nutritional standards for elderly people over 80 years old are actually different from those for younger people aged 60-79. Many studies have suggested that elderly people do not need to control salt and oil too strictly, but should prioritize energy intake. After all, for them, the risk of malnutrition is much greater than the risk of slightly higher blood lipids and blood sugar. Of course, this view is still controversial. Some doctors think that basic disease indicators should be strictly controlled, while others think that priority should be given to ensuring the quality of life. In this case, the best way is to combine the old man's own feelings - if the food is slightly salty and oily, the old man has a big appetite and eats more without any discomfort, then there is no need to be too stuck. After all, eating well and being in a good mood are more important than anything else.

There are also many elderly people who ask me if I really can’t eat egg yolks, saying that egg yolks are high in cholesterol. In fact, as long as you don’t have severe hypercholesterolemia, it’s absolutely fine to eat one a day. The lecithin in egg yolks is good for the brain and can prevent cognitive deterioration. There are also elderly people who drink milk every day and still suffer from calcium deficiency, which is probably due to vitamin D deficiency. Going out to bask in the sun for 15 minutes every day is much more effective than drinking two extra cartons of milk.

A few days ago, I had dinner with a nutritionist from a community hospital. We talked about this and said that after working on nutrition for the elderly for so long, the biggest feeling is that there is never a "one-size-fits-all" recipe for the elderly. Some elderly people eat some braised pork every day and are in good health. Some elderly people have high blood fat after just one bite. The best one is suitable for them. To put it bluntly, don’t go to extremes. If you can eat it, feel comfortable, and have no major problems with your physical examination indicators, it will work better than any expensive supplements or standard recipes.