What characteristics must meals for the elderly have?

　　elderly Digestive function is reduced, and there are varying degrees of changes in the cardiovascular system and other organs. To keep the elderly healthy According to the physique of the elderly, the meals for the elderly should be specially prepared to have eight characteristics, which are: fragrant and good, complex and sparse, thin and rotten, hot and light.

　　1. Be fragrant: The elderly have poor taste and appetite, and often feel that their food lacks flavor and flavor. Therefore, when cooking meals for the elderly, you should pay attention to color, aroma and taste.

　　2. Be good: The body metabolism of the elderly is mainly catabolism, and more protein is needed to compensate for the consumption of tissue protein. For example, eat more chicken, fish, rabbit, mutton, beef, lean pork and soy products. The protein contained in these foods is high-quality protein, rich in nutrients, and easy to digest.

　　3. Miscellaneous: Protein, fat, sugar, vitamins, minerals and water are the six major nutrients necessary for the human body. These nutrients are widely present in various foods. In order to absorb nutrients in a balanced manner and maintain good health, you should eat a little of various foods. If possible, you should maintain about 10 kinds of main and non-staple foods every day. Fresh vegetables are healthy friends for the elderly. They are not only rich in vitamin C and minerals, but also have more fiber, which are good for cardiovascular protection and cancer prevention. constipate To play an important role, the daily intake of vegetables should be no less than 250 grams.

　　4. Eat less: Research shows that overeating is harmful to health. Elderly people should eat eight to nine percent full at each meal, especially dinner.

　　5. Be careful: Most elderly people have bad teeth and cannot chew completely before swallowing, which is bad for their health over time. So the food should be fine, the meat should be minced, and the things that are difficult to chew should be crushed. Chew carefully and slowly when eating to reduce the burden on the gastrointestinal tract and promote digestion.

　　6. To rot: Teeth in the elderly often become loose and fall off, the chewing muscles become weak, the secretion of digestive juice and digestive enzymes decreases, and the gastrointestinal digestive function decreases. Therefore, the food should be made softer and rotten.

　　7. Want heat: The elderly have poor resistance to cold. Eating cold food can cause vasoconstriction in the gastric wall, reduce blood supply, and reflexively reduce blood circulation in other internal organs, which is detrimental to health. Therefore, the diet of the elderly should be slightly hotter and should be suitable for oral consumption.

　　8. Be light: Some elderly people have heavy tastes. However, eating too much salt will increase the burden on the heart and kidneys and easily cause blood pressure to rise. For health reasons, the elderly should generally eat 6 to 8 grams of salt per day.