11 tips for healthy eating for the elderly

1. The quantity is smaller. Elderly The daily secretion of saliva is 1/3 of that of young people, and the secretion of gastric juice is also reduced to 1/5 of that of young people. Therefore, if you eat too much, your stomach will become bloated and you will not be able to digest it. Therefore, the amount of food the elderly eat at each meal should be about 10% less than when they were young, and at the same time, they should eat smaller meals more often.

Second, the quality is better. Protein plays an important role in maintaining normal metabolism and enhancing the body's resistance in the elderly. The average elderly person needs 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, and should mainly rely on high-quality protein sources such as fish, poultry, eggs, milk, and soybeans.

3. Have more vegetables. Eating more vegetables is very beneficial to cardiovascular protection and cancer prevention. The elderly should eat no less than 250 grams of vegetables every day.

4. The dishes should be lighter. The elderly's taste function has been reduced, and their food is often tasteless. They always like to eat food with strong taste to increase their appetite, which inadvertently increases their salt intake. Eating too much salt will increase the burden on the kidneys, may reduce the barrier function of the oral mucosa, and increase the chance of the cold virus surviving and spreading in the upper respiratory tract. Therefore, the elderly's daily salt intake should be controlled at about 5 grams, and they should eat less soy meat and other salty foods.

5. A little more variety. It is necessary to take into account both meat and vegetables, and match the thickness and thickness. The more varied the varieties, the better. The number of main and non-staple foods (excluding condiments) should not be less than 10 items per day.

6. The food should be more fragrant. The "fragrant" mentioned here does not mean using more salt, MSG and other seasonings, but adding more onions, ginger and other seasonings to the dishes appropriately. Human five senses are connected, and the sense of smell can be used to make up for the lack of taste.

7. The food should be hotter. Raw and cold foods are often cold in nature. Eating too much will affect the digestion and absorption of the spleen and stomach, and even cause damage. Therefore, the elderly should try to avoid eating cold and raw foods, especially in the severe winter.

8. The rice should be thinner. Making rice into porridge is not only soft and hard, palatable and easy to digest, but also has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, promoting body fluids and moistening dryness, which is beneficial to longevity. However, the elderly cannot drink porridge all the time because of this. After all, porridge is mainly water and has very little "dry food". When the stomach capacity is the same, the nutrition of the same volume of porridge is very different from that of steamed buns and rice. If things go on like this, they may become malnourished.

9. Eat slowly. Chewing slowly and slowly can help you feel full, prevent overeating, and help digest food better.

10. Breakfast is better. Breakfast should account for 30% to 40% of the total calories throughout the day. The quality and nutritional value should be higher and more refined. It is not suitable to eat greasy, fried, hard, and irritating foods.

11. Dinner should be earlier. "An uneasy stomach leads to restless nights". Eating dinner too late not only affects sleep and accumulates calories, but also easily causes urinary tract stones. The body's peak period of calcium excretion is 4 to 5 hours after a meal. If you eat dinner too late or often eat late-night snacks, the elderly may have already gone to bed when the peak of calcium excretion arrives. The best time for the elderly to have dinner is between 6 and 7 pm, and they should avoid or eat less late-night snacks.