Parents, don't be stingy with money, just eat these 4 snacks

Nowadays, young people are very happy to buy snacks for their grandparents. They hope that their grandparents can try their favorite snacks, such as skewers, spicy noodles, fried chicken, and milk tea. However, some snacks are not suitable for the elderly to eat for a long time. If the types of snacks can be slightly selected and adjusted, it can bring more health to the elderly.

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So, what types of snacks are more suitable for the elderly? What should we pay attention to when choosing nutritious and delicious snacks for the elderly?

When choosing snacks for the elderly, three things to keep in mind

The purpose of choosing snacks for the elderly is slightly different from that for young people. "Trying new things" and "checking in for popular internet foods" are secondary. The most important thing is that they must be nutritious, palatable, light, and easy to digest, and should not have the risk of inducing or aggravating common chronic diseases in the elderly.

1. Easy to chew and digest

A relatively common problem among the elderly is the decline in digestion and chewing ability. Once food is not easy to digest and chew, it is not only easy to cause resistance in the elderly, but also easy to increase the digestive burden. Therefore, good chewing and digestion are the basic premise for supplementing nutrition for the elderly through snacks.

Nowadays, young people are very happy to buy snacks for their grandparents. They hope that their grandparents can try their favorite snacks, such as skewers, spicy noodles, fried chicken, and milk tea. However, some snacks are not suitable for the elderly to eat for a long time. If the types of snacks can be slightly selected and adjusted, it can bring more health to the elderly.

Copyright images in the gallery. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes.

So, what types of snacks are more suitable for the elderly? What should we pay attention to when choosing nutritious and delicious snacks for the elderly?

When choosing snacks for the elderly, three things to keep in mind

The purpose of choosing snacks for the elderly is slightly different from that for young people. "Trying new things" and "checking in for popular internet foods" are secondary. The most important thing is that they must be nutritious, palatable, light, and easy to digest, and should not have the risk of inducing or aggravating common chronic diseases in the elderly.

1. Easy to chew and digest

A relatively common problem among the elderly is the decline in digestion and chewing ability. Once food is not easy to digest and chew, it is not only easy to cause resistance in the elderly, but also easy to increase the digestive burden. Therefore, good chewing and digestion are the basic premise for supplementing nutrition for the elderly through snacks.

Copyright images in the gallery. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes.

2. High nutritional density

The so-called nutritional density refers to the density of important nutrients contained in food per unit of calories.

Eating foods with high nutrient density can provide more nutrients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals with the same calorie intake. You can also understand that from the perspective of obtaining nutrition, eating foods with high nutrient density is more "cost-effective".

3. It depends on individual situation

Elderly people usually have some basic diseases, such as the three highs. Coupled with different daily diets, their individual nutritional needs vary greatly. When we choose snacks for the elderly at home, we must understand the physical condition and diet of the elderly in advance and make reasonable choices.

When choosing snacks for the elderly, remember these three things:

1. Avoid high-fat, high-sugar, and high-sodium foods

The elderly, especially those with three highs, need to be more careful than young people to avoid snacks that are high in oil, sugar and sodium.

When choosing, you can easily avoid disappointment by looking at these indicators on the "Nutrition Information Table" on the packaging.

Image source: provided by the author

In addition, we should also pay attention to the NRV%, or the nutrient reference intake value. This value represents the content of a certain nutrient in the snack as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for an average adult given in the Chinese Dietary Guidelines.

The picture is taken from the Internet

For example, in the snack above, we can see that its sodium NRV% is 62%. This value means that if you eat a unit amount (here 100g) of this snack, the salt intake will account for more than half of the daily recommended amount. This means that according to the new version of the dietary guidelines, the daily recommended salt intake for ordinary adults is 5g. After eating this snack, the salt in three meals a day and other foods should be controlled within 1.9g.

If you cook often, you will know how difficult it is to reach this amount. I am afraid that in many families, the amount of salt used in cooking a dish has reached 2g...

2. Don’t eat large portions

Large snacks are often popular during sales, but I suggest avoiding large snacks when buying snacks for the elderly. The elderly tend to consume snacks more slowly and are reluctant to throw them away even if they are expired. If they eat spoiled snacks, it will cause food safety issues.

3. Don’t be too innovative

When buying snacks for the elderly, you don’t have to pursue novelty. Many novel snacks are just rare in taste, color or shape, and may not be nutritious or easy to digest. In addition, the supervision of novel foods by relevant agencies is often lagging. If the purchase channel is not guaranteed, there is a possibility of buying counterfeit and shoddy products.

These 4 types of snacks are more suitable for the elderly

As people age, their chewing and digestive functions deteriorate, and their appetite also decreases. If they only rely on three meals a day to take in nutrients, they may suffer from malnutrition. At this time, it is a good idea to supplement some nutrients through healthy snacks and eat small and frequent meals to meet the nutritional needs of the elderly, especially for some important nutrients that are easy to be insufficiently consumed (such as protein, calcium, vitamins and dietary fiber).

1. Snacks made from meat, eggs, milk, and beans

Snacks made with meat, eggs, milk, and beans as the main ingredients, such as dried eggs, dried tofu, cheese, and milk bars, are likely to have the advantage of "high nutritional density". Some elderly people lack interest in meat and vegetables in their meals due to gastrointestinal problems. At this time, they can supplement some high-quality protein through these snacks. Of course, when choosing, you still need to consider factors such as whether it tastes light and is easy to chew and digest.

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2. Easy-to-chew fruits and vegetables, as well as snacks made from fruits and vegetables

Elderly people with good teeth can directly eat raw vegetables and fresh fruits as healthy snacks. However, some elderly people have difficulty eating fresh vegetables and fruits directly due to dental problems. Considering that long-term non-eating or eating less vegetables and fruits can easily lead to vitamin and dietary fiber deficiency, you can choose some snacks with vegetables and fruits as the main ingredients, such as dried fruits, freeze-dried fruits or freeze-dried vegetables. When choosing such snacks, pay attention to choosing those with a relatively soft or crispy texture, which is convenient for the elderly to chew.

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3. Snacks made from high-quality grains

Some elderly people have poor appetite or bad teeth, so they eat less staple food or only eat refined staple food. At this time, we can choose some snacks made from high-quality grains, such as oats, corn, oats, buckwheat, black rice, and highland barley. They can not only provide calories, but also supplement the dietary fiber and B vitamins that are lacking in refined grains.

4. Snacks made from original nuts

Nuts are healthy snacks for people of all ages. It is best to choose nuts that are less processed, original, or low in oil and salt. Some elderly people find it inconvenient to chew nuts, so they can choose nut crisps or nut crumbs.

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Healthy Snack Menu for Seniors

In order to provide you with some reference, let’s make a simple and practical inventory!

Recommended list of healthy and nutritious snacks for the elderly

Have you noticed that there are quite a few baby snacks and complementary food products on the recommended list?

In fact, the elderly and children have many similar nutritional needs: for example, they both need food that is easy to chew and digest; because they eat small amounts, they both need food with high nutritional density; for example, they both need food with light taste, low salt, low sugar and low oil; and so on.

Therefore, we can let the elderly try healthy snacks and complementary foods for infants and children. Furthermore, we can also treat the elderly with the same love and care we give to our own babies, and I believe that the elderly will become healthier and more comfortable.

Author: Wang Lu, registered dietitian

Reviewer: Ruan Guangfeng, Director of Science and Technology Department, Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center