Healthy tips for seniors

Don't impose other people's health standards, find a rhythm that you are comfortable with and can stick to for a long time, it will work better than anything else.

To be honest, I have seen too many elderly people make health care a KPI, but in the end they developed problems. Uncle Zhang, who lives downstairs, saw a short video last year saying, "If you walk 10,000 steps a day, you will live to be ninety-nine." He walked for three months with pain in his knees. In the end, the fluid accumulated and swollen and he couldn't even go downstairs. The community doctor woke him up after scolding him: You are 68 and your knees already have degenerative lesions. How can you compare your steps with a young man in his twenties and thirties? Later, he changed to going to the park to play Tai Chi with others for half an hour every morning, and playing two games of chess with his old friend under the shade of a tree in the afternoon. Over the past six months, his weight has stabilized, and the pain in his knees has not returned.

Speaking of this, I have to mention one of the most controversial topics in the health care circle right now: Should the elderly be vegetarian or eat meat? The view of Western medicine nutrition is very clear. The rate of muscle loss in the elderly is three times that of young people. To prevent sarcopenia, one must ensure sufficient high-quality protein every day, including eggs, milk, fish and shrimp. Old people with no problem with blood lipids are perfectly fine eating red meat two or three times a week. ； However, the views of traditional Chinese medicine are also reasonable. Many elderly people have weak spleen and stomach. Eating too much meat is prone to stagnation and phlegm production. Especially eating too much at night may lead to poor sleep and harm the body. Both statements are supported by clinical data, and there is no right or wrong at all - digestion is good and there is no discomfort after eating meat. There is no need to force yourself to eat plain water and boiled vegetables every day. ； If you already have a weak spleen and stomach and your stomach becomes bloated after eating some meat, don't force yourself to suffer from so-called "nutritional food".

I accompanied my grandma for a physical examination before, and I met a 72-year-old aunt who said that she had been drinking "eight glasses of water a day" as recommended on the Internet for half a year. Recently, she always felt swollen in her legs. After a checkup, she found out that her kidney function was not good, and drinking too much water only increased the burden on her kidneys. You see, this is a typical practice of cutting your feet to fit your shoes. What is a good way to maintain your health may become a hidden danger for you. Even the saying that "early to bed and early to rise is better" is not absolute. Some old people have been accustomed to going to bed at 10pm and waking up at 4am all their lives. Some people after retirement like to stay up until 11pm to watch opera programs and wake up again at 9am the next day. As long as the quality of sleep is sufficient and you don't feel tired when you wake up, it is completely fine. There is no need to force yourself to adjust your schedule. Instead, you will lie in bed tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, and suffering from anxiety will be more harmful to the body.

In fact, compared to eating and moving, what many people tend to overlook is that emotions have a much greater impact on the health of the elderly than you think. Aunt Wang, whom I know, has been suffering from diabetes for almost ten years. Before, she didn’t dare touch anything sweet. She stared at her blood sugar level every day and sighed. If it was slightly higher, she would be unable to sleep all night long. As a result, her blood sugar fluctuated more and more. Later, the attending doctor told her that as long as the total calories were controlled, it was okay to eat something sweet once in a while. Now she and her old sisters go to the community teahouse for afternoon tea every Saturday, with half a piece of mousse and a cup of light tea. There is no problem with her blood sugar, and her overall energy is much better than before. There are also many elderly people who measure their blood pressure three times a day in the morning, noon and evening. If the blood pressure is slightly higher than the normal value, they quickly take antihypertensive drugs. However, excessive anxiety causes repeated fluctuations in blood pressure. Instead, it is better to reduce the frequency of blood pressure measurement to once a day, and spend the rest of the time watering flowers and visiting the vegetable market. When the mood stabilizes, the blood pressure will naturally stabilize.

I recently chatted with Dr. Li, who has been working in a community hospital for almost 40 years. He said that the oldest old people he has ever seen are not the kind who live strictly according to the health schedule: some drink 2 taels of home-brewed rice wine at noon every day, some just like to nibble on soy sauce elbows, and some do not like to exercise in their lives. They just write calligraphy and read newspapers at home every day. What they have in common is that they never compete with themselves for health care and do not take anything seriously.

There is no universal health secret. After all, you have lived for most of your life, and you know your body’s temperament best. You don’t have to listen to what others say and just go with it. Being able to eat well, sleep well, and be a little happy every day is more effective than tens of thousands of yuan in health care products or hundreds of health advice.