Many people have heard this saying: the middle-aged and old people should eat less meat, and eating too much meat will lead to three highs. In fact, this is wrong. If middle-aged and old friends do not pay attention to nutrition balance and refuse to eat certain foods, it is easy to accelerate the decline of body organ functions.
eating meat does not necessarily lead to increased cholesterol
Nowadays, the Internet is full of information about “eating too much meat can easily lead to cardiovascular diseases and three highs”, which makes the elderly more worried about the rise of blood cholesterol caused by eating meat. In fact, the effect of cholesterol in meat on raising human cholesterol is not so sensational.
◆ there are two sources of cholesterol in the human body, about 70% ~ 80% of which is synthesized by the liver, and only a small part comes from diet;
◆ moreover, cholesterol in food is actually a kind of fat. It is the main component of human cell membrane and the material for synthesizing vitamin D, bile and some hormones.
Under normal diet, the effect of cholesterol in food on blood cholesterol is limited. Don’t worry too much about cholesterol in food, let alone think that eating meat will lead to high cholesterol.
when eating meat, you should pay attention to fat
Although there is no need to worry about cholesterol in meat, many cholesterol rich meat, especially red meat (pork, beef and mutton), should still be eaten less. The fat in this kind of meat often contains a large amount of saturated fatty acids that are harmful to health.
Therefore, eating meat should try to eat lean meat and less fat meat.
Match meat with beans to prevent arteriosclerosis
Soybean products contain a large amount of lecithin, which can emulsify plasma, make cholesterol and fat particles smaller, do not deposit to the blood vessel wall, and prevent the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. For example, fried soybeans with lean meat, stewed meat and dried beancurd can be used.
it’s better to eat poultry than livestock, and it’s better to eat fish than poultry.
We should pay attention to eating meat. Remember a pithy saying: “it’s better to eat poultry than livestock, and it’s better to eat fish than poultry”. That is to say, it’s better to eat poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese than pigs, cattle and sheep; It’s better to eat fish and seafood than chicken, duck and goose.
The fat content in animal meat is high, which is difficult to digest and also affects blood sugar and blood lipids; Poultry has less fat, and fish is especially suitable for the elderly.
In other words, the protein synthesis ability of the elderly is reduced and the protein utilization rate is low, so it is recommended to choose high-quality protein as much as possible, mainly to eat less red meat and as much white meat as possible.
Fish is easy to digest, low in fat, and has various nutritional proteins. Eating fish for patients with cardiovascular diseases not only has little impact, but also can prevent Alzheimer’s disease to a certain extent. Marine fish is more beneficial than river fish.
the “ten fist principles” of elderly diet
The dietary pagoda for the elderly in China has recommended the daily intake of each type of food. However, the data in this is really detailed and difficult to remember. Therefore, some nutrition experts also summarized the “ten fist principles”, that is, “meat: Grain: milk and beans: Fruits = 1:2:2:5” (calculated by weight ratio).
It is recommended that the elderly often roughly estimate the daily consumption of various foods (weight before cooking) according to the size of their fists:
◆ no more than: meat the size of a fist (including fish, poultry, eggs and meat)
◆ equivalent to: two fist sized cereals (various staple foods, including coarse grains, beans and potatoes)
◆ guarantee: two fist sized milk and bean products (all kinds of milk and bean products)
◆ no less than: five fist sized fruits and vegetables.
As the saying goes, “food is better than medicine”. When the elderly eat meat, they should remember these principles so that they don’t have to worry about rising cholesterol. Only balanced nutrition can ensure good health.
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