The characteristic of scientific diet for the elderly is that nutrition should be comprehensive and reasonable, and attention should be paid to food quality and dietary hygiene habits. Specifically, there are the following points:

(1) The food should be comprehensive: maintain a variety of foods, do not be partial to food, including whole grains, livestock, poultry, eggs, milk, land and water vegetables, dried and fresh fruits, fish, shells, shrimps and crabs, and delicacies. I want to eat it all. Don't "talk about meat and meat" just because you have high blood pressure or coronary heart disease. Elderly people suffering from these two diseases can eat lean meat and milk, and it is better to eat more beans. Otherwise, the body will become thin due to malnutrition and the resistance will decrease, which will be detrimental to health.

(2) The diet should be light: Due to the loss of taste in the elderly, they especially like to eat rich, greasy and fried foods. However, such foods are not easy to digest and should be moderated. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that eating too much fat, sweet and rich food can easily promote dampness and produce phlegm, and even turn heat into poison, so a "light diet" should be the main one. Using grains as nourishment, fruits and vegetables as supplement, and meat as supplement, it can not only meet the supply of various nutrients, but also keep the stool smooth. But being light does not mean being vegetarian.

(3) Eat in moderation: The elderly have poor gastrointestinal adaptability and should avoid overeating. Overeating can lead to abnormal transportation and transformation, qi and blood stagnation, and food corruption, thereby causing symptoms such as abdominal distension, diarrhea, belching, and even death due to acute gastric dilatation or myocardial infarction. There was an old man who died of overeating when he was 152 years old. His body was dissected by the famous anatomy and physiologist Harvey, and it was found that the aging of his organs was not obvious. It would not have happened if he had not overeated. die.

(4) The food should be soft and rotten: the elderly have reduced chewing ability due to worn, loose or fallen teeth, reduced secretion of various digestive enzymes, and poor digestion ability. Therefore, the food should be chopped and cooked until the meat is cooked thoroughly. It can be made into minced meat, and young leaves should be used for vegetables. Cooking methods such as braising, stewing, steaming, and steaming are mostly used, and frying, greasy foods, and irritating condiments are used sparingly. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the combination of meat and vegetables, dry and dilute, and have good color, flavor and flavor, so as to increase appetite and promote digestion.

(5) Eat small meals frequently: the elderly’s liver’s ability to synthesize glycogen is reduced, their glycogen reserves are smaller, they have poor tolerance to hypoglycemia, and they are prone to feeling hungry and dizzy. Therefore, the elderly can eat a small amount of food as a snack before going to bed, after getting up or between meals. Generally, five meals can be arranged every day. The amount of each meal should not be too large. Do not eat snacks between meals, especially sweets, so as not to affect appetite and cause digestive disorders.

(6) The temperature should be appropriate: Because the elderly have reduced saliva secretion and decreased oral mucosal resistance, it is not advisable to eat overheated food. It is believed that eating overheated food is one of the causes of esophageal cancer. On the contrary, eating too cold food can easily damage the stomach qi. The saying "raw cold food damages the spleen, and hard objects are difficult to dissolve" is reasonable.

(7) Food should be fresh: rotten or spoiled fish, rotten fruits, rancid oils, moldy peanuts, beans, overnight leftovers, etc. are not suitable for consumption. , to avoid causing food poisoning or inducing cancer.

(8) Eat more fruits and vegetables: The elderly should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to ensure the supply of vitamins and minerals. Among them, pectin and cellulose can promote gastrointestinal motility, prevent feces from being retained in the intestine, and play an important role in preventing constipation and intestinal tumors. At the same time, the elderly eating kelp, seaweed and other marine plant foods can play a certain role in preventing arteriosclerosis and reducing the occurrence of cerebrovascular disease accidents.

Pay attention to calcium supplementation in the diet, and milk and dairy products are the best. Vegetables and beans, especially soybeans, as well as sesame paste, melon seeds, nostoc, kelp, and shrimp, etc., contain a lot of calcium. Oxidation in living organisms can produce chemically active groups, called free radicals, which can cause peroxidation of lipids in cell biomembranes, destroying biomembranes, leading to cell disease and even death. Free radicals are an important reason why the human body gradually ages and even suffers from diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Food contains antioxidants, including vitamin A and carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C, selenium, cysteine, etc. You can choose Foods rich in these nutrients.