As people age, the taste buds on their tongues gradually degenerate, leading to a diminished perception of food. Secondly, a decline in digestive function can lead to "stomach coldness" and poor appetite. Sometimes, excessive consumption of "heat-clearing" herbs (such as Coptis chinensis) can also cause loss of appetite, with a particular aversion to raw, cold, or greasy foods.
For different causes, there are several practical methods to help seniors increase their appetite.
If an elderly person shows a particular aversion to raw, cold, or greasy foods, it may be due to excessive "coldness" and insufficient heat in the stomach. In this case, ginger and cardamom can be used as seasonings to warm the stomach, disperse cold, stimulate the sense of taste, enhance appetite, and reduce greasiness. Ginger can be added to dishes and dumplings, or made into a ginger tea; cardamom is generally used in soups.
If an elderly person suffers from poor absorption and indigestion due to a decline in digestive system function, one can regulate their digestive function with foods that strengthen the stomach and aid digestion, such as hawthorn, dried tangerine peel, and medicated leaven.
Fresh hawthorn can be eaten as a snack, dried hawthorn can be steeped in water for drinking, or it can be boiled into a soup. Dried tangerine peel can be shredded and steeped as a drink. Medicated leaven can be used to make a tea or boiled in a soup. If an elderly person can drink a glass of hawthorn juice or tangerine peel tea about half an hour before a meal, the effect will be even better.
The absorption of the digestive system mainly relies on the spleen and stomach. Therefore, regulating the function of the spleen and stomach will directly affect an elderly person's sense of taste and appetite. A decoction of cinnamon, dried ginger, Chinese yam, licorice, green tangerine peel, and Atractylodes macrocephala can be taken, with about 9 grams of each herb, twice a day. For a continuous period of half a month to a month, this can, to a certain extent, stimulate the taste buds and thereby increase their appetite.
In addition, regularly massaging the Zusanli point (ST36) is another method to improve spleen and stomach function. Zusanli is located 3 cun below the kneecap and about one thumb's width to the outside of the shinbone. To massage, press the tip of your thumb firmly onto the Zusanli point, then push and knead the muscle, repeating 7 times on each side alternately.
rubbing the legs with the palm from top to bottom for about 1-3 minutes can also help clear heat, harmonize the stomach, promote digestion and absorption, and increase appetite.