Four "common foods" that promote health and longevity.

Facing centenarians, many people are puzzled: how can they be so healthy and long-lived? Is it because they take expensive health supplements? Not at all. In fact, the secret to many elderly people's health and longevity often stems from their simple daily meals.

Mapo Tofu

To be healthy and long-lived, you don't necessarily have to eat very expensive food, health supplements, or保健品. "Commoner foods" like tofu, cabbage, and millet porridge can also help with health preservation.

What should you eat to be healthy and long-lived? Some people choose health supplements, while others choose priceless tonics. In fact, many common foods in daily life are beneficial for health and longevity. Let's take a look at what these foods are.

1. Tofu

The elderly generally love tofu. They say: "Fish causes internal heat, meat causes phlegm, but cabbage and tofu ensure peace and safety." The book "Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu" states: "It can be made everywhere, affordable for both the rich and the poor. It can be considered the great master of vegetarian food. It can also be used in non-vegetarian dishes, and those frozen in winter are especially delicious." The main components of tofu are protein and isoflavones. Tofu has the effects of replenishing qi, tonifying deficiency, lowering blood lead concentration, protecting the liver, and promoting metabolism. Regular consumption of tofu is beneficial for health and beauty and intellectual development. For the elderly, eating tofu often has a good therapeutic effect on conditions like arteriosclerosis and osteoporosis.

2. Porridge

Looking at the eating habits of long-lived elderly people, none of them dislike drinking porridge. The famous economist Ma Yinchu and his wife Zhang Guijun were both centenarians, and they especially loved drinking porridge. Every morning, they would add 50 grams of oatmeal to 250 grams of boiling water, let it steep for 2 minutes, and it would become porridge. They did this every day without fail. Mr. Su Juxian, a centenarian in Shanghai, ate rice porridge for all three meals. He had thin porridge in the morning and evening, and slightly thicker porridge at noon, with a fixed amount of a shallow bowl for each meal, which had become a habit. They said: "Drinking porridge makes the whole body comfortable and is good for one's health." Physicians and health experts throughout history have highly recommended the elderly drinking porridge. "Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi" says: "Porridge is the most nourishing thing in the world." Porridge is easy to digest and absorb, it can harmonize the stomach, tonify the spleen, clear the lungs, and moisten the bowels. The health expert of the Qing Dynasty, Cao Cisheng, said: "In old age, one can eat porridge all day, without counting meals, and still maintain a strong body and enjoy a long life." He compiled a porridge book with over a hundred varieties, which was very popular among the elderly.

Vinegar-Savoy Cabbage

3. Cabbage

Chinese cabbage, an ordinary vegetable, is the favorite of the elderly. Cabbage is delicious and suitable for both rich and poor meals. The master of traditional Chinese painting, Mr. Bai Shi, had a painting of Chinese cabbage, in which he alone called Chinese cabbage the "king of vegetables" and praised it, "a hundred vegetables are not as good as cabbage." The elderly often say: "Eat cabbage for half a year, and the doctor can enjoy a leisurely life." This shows that eating cabbage regularly is beneficial for preventing disease and prolonging life. Chinese cabbage contains minerals, vitamins, protein, and crude fiber. In terms of medicinal effects, Chinese cabbage has seven major benefits: nourishing the stomach, benefiting the intestines, sobering up, promoting bowel movements, lowering lipids, clearing heat, and preventing cancer.

4. Millet

The elderly love millet the most, considering it the best health supplement. Millet is the grain of foxtail millet after the husk is removed. It has long been praised with the saying, "Among the five grains, millet is the first." The elderly who are weak or ill often use millet to nourish their bodies. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that millet benefits the five organs, thickens the stomach and intestines, replenishes body fluids, strengthens muscles and bones, and promotes muscle growth. A famous physician of the Qing Dynasty said: "Millet is the most nourishing. The congee oil from boiling millet porridge is better than ginseng soup." This shows that there is a good reason why the long-lived elderly like millet.