Nutritional supplements for the elderly

At present, no official authoritative organization in China has released a unified ranking of nutritional supplements for the elderly. All the lists with clear rankings that you can find are basically marketing content that brands spend money on. Judging from many years of practical experience in the clinical nutrition department and the common nutritional gap among the elderly in China, the priority nutritional products that are truly worth buying, from high to low, are probably complete nutritional formula powders, high-quality protein supplements, calcium + vitamin D compound preparations, high-purity Omega-3 fatty acid supplements, and soluble dietary fiber supplements. In addition, most products that claim to have "miraculous" and "curing" effects basically fall into the IQ tax category.

Why is there no unified official list? To put it bluntly, there are great individual differences among the elderly. Those with diabetes and those with gout, those with good teeth and those who can eat normally and those who can only eat liquids. The nutritional needs are so different that it is impossible to use one standard to rank them. Last week I went to a community nutrition clinic and met a 72-year-old Uncle Li. He had bought more than 2,000 yuan of "immunity-enhancing protein powder" from a sales promotion in the community. After taking it for half a month, he had a gout attack and went to the hospital. After a test, the uric acid level soared to 580. When I asked, I found out that the protein powder was crudely extracted from soybeans. The purine level was alarmingly high. He had gout and couldn't eat it at all. Isn't this just fooling around by looking at the rankings?

Many people think, “Why should I drink complete nutritional formula powder when I eat normally? ”, this is true, if you can eat 1 egg, 2 taels of lean pork/fish and shrimp, 300ml of pure milk, half a catty of fresh vegetables, and 4-6 taels of staple food such as grains and potatoes in a day, the nutrition is completely sufficient, and there is no need to supplement at all. But look at the old people around you, how many can do it? Just like Aunt Zhang downstairs in our house, she lost most of her teeth in the past few years and could not bite hard meat or vegetables. After her wife left, it was too troublesome to cook alone. Three meals a day were basically white porridge and pickles, which was not nutritious at all. Last year, her albumin was as low as 32 during her physical examination. The doctor asked her to make a cup of complete nutritional formula powder every day. After drinking it for three months, the index came up. It was much more useful than the cordyceps and ginseng she bought for thousands of yuan before. Of course, you have to pay attention. If you have diabetes, choose the low GI model. If you have chronic kidney disease, choose the low-protein special medical formula. Don’t just buy the general model.

Let’s talk about the protein powder that everyone often buys. Nowadays, there are many opinions. Some people say that whey protein is the “king of proteins” and should be bought by the elderly. Others say that soy protein is milder and suitable for Chinese people’s constitution. In fact, it’s not that particular. If you don’t feel bloated when drinking milk and don’t have vegetarian habits, you can choose whey protein isolate. It’s absorbed really quickly. ； If you are lactose intolerant, vegetarian, or have high uric acid, you can choose soy protein isolate. Again, if you can eat enough eggs, milk, and lean meat, you don’t need to buy extra. Don’t listen to the salesmen’s nonsense about “improving immunity” and “preventing colds.” If you take too much protein, you won’t be able to metabolize it, but it will increase the burden on your kidneys. I treated an aunt before. I heard from the salesperson that protein powder is good. She drank 3 cups a day for three months. The creatinine in the physical examination was directly above the normal value. After a month of stopping, it dropped back. It was purely over-supplementing.

Everyone is familiar with the concept of calcium + vitamin D, and there is a lot of controversy. A while ago, there was a study saying that excessive calcium supplementation will increase the risk of stones and cardiovascular disease, which scares many elderly people away from taking it. In fact, there is no need to overdo it. The average calcium intake of the elderly in China is less than half of the recommended amount. As long as the total daily intake (food supplement plus supplements) does not exceed 1000mg, it is completely fine. If you can drink 300ml of pure milk every day, bask in the sun for half an hour, and take one pill every other day, you don’t need to take it every day. In addition, there is really no need to buy the "active calcium" and "nano calcium" that cost hundreds of yuan a box. The effect is not much different from the OTC calcium carbonate D3 tablets that cost a few yuan a bottle in the drugstore. The extra money spent is all IQ tax.

The commonly mentioned deep-sea fish oil or algae oil, also known as Omega-3 supplements, has been the most controversial in the past two years. Some people say that taking it can lower blood lipids and prevent Alzheimer's disease, while others say that it is completely useless and is a scam. The current academic consensus is actually quite clear: for the elderly who already have hyperlipidemia, rheumatoid arthritis or cognitive degeneration, supplementing high-purity products with a purity of more than 85% of EPA+DHA can indeed help improve the condition. ； But if you are healthy, you can usually eat deep-sea fish twice a week, about 100g each time, and there is no need to supplement at all. Don’t buy the kind that costs tens of dollars for a large bottle. The purity of Omega-3 in it may only be 30%, and the rest is saturated fat and impurities. Eating it is not good for your health.

Dietary fiber supplements are easily ignored by many people. Many elderly people who have constipation take laxatives indiscriminately, which will cause great harm to the intestines in the long run. In fact, it is effective to give priority to supplementing with soluble dietary fiber, such as inulin and fructooligosaccharides. You can also supplement it by eating more boiled oats and white fungus. Of course, it is not suitable for everyone. Elderly people who have irritable bowel syndrome and are prone to flatulence may aggravate their discomfort after taking it. You should start with a small dose and slowly increase it. Don't make a big cup as soon as you start it.

Finally, to be honest, don’t trust any rankings. Many of the top-ranked products are only listed on the platform after paying advertising fees, especially those nutritional products that dare to claim that they can “lower blood pressure” and “cure diabetes.”

I buy only three kinds of nutritional supplements for my mother: take one pill of calcium D every other day, make a cup of complete nutritional powder when she is too lazy to cook, and make half a bag of inulin when she is constipated. I don’t buy any other mess. All the indicators in this year’s physical examination are within the normal range, and she is in much better health than her old sisters who buy a cabinet full of health supplements. To put it bluntly, the best "ranking list" is the one that suits your physical condition.