How to make food for the elderly How to regulate their daily diet

As the elderly age, their organ functions decline, so they need to ensure that their daily diet is nutritionally complete and healthy. It is also best to process the food they eat to make it easier for them to digest, because the elderly at this stage are prone to rejection and swallowing difficulties.

How to cook food for the elderly

1. Processing of ingredients before cooking.

For hard-textured cereal staples, they can be crushed into small particles for consumption, such as corn being ground into corn grits or corn flour;

For hard fruits and vegetables, you can squeeze them into juice or chop them up before cooking;

For the meat of poultry and livestock that is difficult to digest, you can cut it into thin strips or slices, or mince or grind it into puree or minced meat;

For fish and shrimp, they can be made into fish fillets, fish soup, shrimp meat, or fish balls, shrimp balls, etc.

For hard nuts, they can also be ground into powder, such as walnut powder.

2. Choice of cooking method.

It is recommended to use less frying, grilling, smoking, salting and other methods, and instead use steaming, boiling, stewing, braising, and stewing to steam and cook the food thoroughly until it is soft.

How to regulate the daily diet of the elderly

Diversification of food

It is recommended that the elderly eat more than 12 kinds of food every day and more than 25 kinds of food every week. It is recommended that you eat more than 3 kinds of staple foods of cereals and tubers, more than 4 kinds of vegetables, fruits, fungi and algae, more than 3 kinds of livestock and poultry meat, fish and eggs, and 2 kinds of milk beans and berries. In terms of main meals, it is recommended to eat multi-grain porridge, eggs, milk, and vegetable and fruit salad for breakfast; eat two kinds of rice, 1-2 kinds of meat dishes, 1-2 kinds of vegetarian dishes, and 1 kind of soy product for lunch.

Eat small, frequent meals

It is recommended that the elderly do not eat too much during meals to reduce the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. They can eat meals in moderation and can selectively add snacks to the three meals a day.

Actively drink plenty of water

The elderly’s tolerance to dehydration decreases, but their perception of thirst does. Therefore, do not wait until you are thirsty to drink water. You should actively drink water and drink enough water. It is recommended to drink 7-8 glasses of water a day and ensure that you drink 1500-1700 ml of water.

Eat enough

If the elderly eat a large amount of food at one time, it will increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, and their ability to digest and absorb food is not high. It is recommended that they eat moderate amounts during meals and then have snacks between meals. The energy distribution ratio is 20-25% of the total energy for each meal and 5-10% of the total energy for each snack.

Actively participate in outdoor activities

Exposure to sunlight helps the body synthesize vitamin D. The elderly should exercise more outdoors to delay osteoporosis and muscle loss.

How much water should an elderly person drink in a day?

1. Drink a small amount of water multiple times, 50-100 mL each time, a glass of water in the morning and a glass of water 2 hours before going to bed. Do not drink water until you feel thirsty. Develop a habit of drinking water regularly and actively;

2. Drink no less than 1200mL of water per day, preferably 1500-1700mL;

3. Warm boiled water is preferred; light tea is also acceptable.