What are the dietary taboos for a centenarian?

　　Is there any connection between their food taboos and longevity? We consulted a large amount of historical data and interviewed dozens of living centenarians, and found that in addition to some common taboos such as being vegetarian for many years and not eating meat and fish, there are also some other taboos. From a health perspective, some of these food taboos have certain benefits for health, while others are difficult to understand and even go against common sense. Here are a few examples for the readers’ convenience.

　　Dong Feng, a century-old famous doctor during the Three Kingdoms period, avoided eating grains and meat (also known as "pre-eating"). According to the "Biography of Immortals", Dong Feng lived for more than 300 years among the people. Although this is a legend, his health regimen of "preventing food" has been recorded in the annals of history. The ancients believed that cutting off the normal diet and eating only a small amount of plant fruits, water and wine would be beneficial to physical strength and energy, and have the effect of prolonging life. Dong Feng used this method to maintain his health.

　　Jia Ming, a 106-year-old health expert in the Yuan Dynasty, was very particular about food taboos, and one of them was to avoid eating too much salt. Modern medical research has found that the amount of salt in urine is related to the average life span of people. Moreover, salt is also the main culprit of high blood pressure. It can be seen that Jia Ming's statement of "avoid eating too much salt" is not groundless.

　　The 110-year-old Su Juxian, a famous calligrapher known as "the oldest man in Shanghai", avoids drinking strong tea. He believes that drinking tea can eliminate stomach fire, cheer up the spirit, and is beneficial to the human body without any harm. However, drinking strong tea can harm your health, so avoid drinking strong tea.

　　Soy products are a nutritious non-staple food, and many centenarians like to eat them. However, 100-year-old Shao Yin from Tong'an District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province has avoided eating soy products for life. He believes that eating soy products will "draw wind" and be harmful to the body.

　　There are three sisters from the Yao family in Bama Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi. The eldest Lu's sister is 112 years old, the second eldest Lu's younger is 105 years old, and the third eldest Lu's sister is 102 years old. The three of them all have a common food taboo, which is to avoid eating hot and sour food. They believe that hot and sour food has a stimulating effect on the elderly and is not good for the body. healthy。

　　Li Benlin, a 110-year-old man in Shouxian County, Anhui Province, is not allowed to drink boiled water. When he is thirsty, he takes a spoonful of water from the Pihe River and drinks it, but he has never had diarrhea. He believes: "River water is a natural product, sweet and delicious, but boiled water is not delicious. ”

　　The 137-year-old Tudi Shalayi from Kashgar District of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region avoids eating fried, stir-fried or overheated food. He believes that fried and stir-fried foods will increase cholesterol levels, and eating overheated foods will also "harm your body."

　　Li Mengzhu, a 104-year-old from Shijiazhuang City, began to fast in his later years. egg yellow. Some people expressed confusion about her dietary taboo. She said: "Eating egg yolks will have adverse effects on the health of the elderly. ”

　　Ruan Jinlian, a centenarian from Chongyang County, Hubei Province, has food taboos that can be said to be “seasonal taboos.” As soon as summer comes, she begins to avoid eating pork, lard, etc., on the grounds that “eating these things in summer is not good for the stomach. ”

　　There are many things that centenarians should avoid eating. For example, 101-year-old Mao Zhihua from Sichuan avoids eating rabbit meat and eels; 103-year-old Liang Chunhua and 101-year-old Zhang Huayu couple from Guangxi avoid eating dog meat and snake meat; 103-year-old Cheng Tang from Hunan avoids eating silver carp and carp, etc. These taboos do not have much health-preserving significance for them. At best, they are just a lifestyle habit, so I will not state them one by one here.