Eating meat is a very realistic and sensitive topic for the elderly. In fact, many older people like to eat meat, but they are also afraid of getting sick from it. So, can the elderly eat meat, and how should they eat it?
1. You can eat it, but with care: Meat is rich in nutrients and contains many substances essential to the human body, and it is also the first choice for satisfying a craving. However, eating too much fat is obviously harmful to the health of the elderly. Therefore, eating pork, beef, or mutton is not as good as eating goose, duck, or chicken. Therefore, some people have proposed: "It is better to eat poultry than livestock, and better to eat fish than poultry." This statement is very reasonable.
2. Is lean meat safe? Some people might say, if you don't eat fatty meat, eating "lean" meat should be fine. In fact, taking lean pork as an example, it contains some invisible hidden fat, accounting for about 20%. For the elderly suffering from hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, arteriosclerosis, and fatty liver, eating too much of it is also not advisable.
3. Pairing meat with legumes: This is because bean products contain a large amount of lecithin, which can emulsify plasma, making cholesterol and fat particles smaller, suspending them in the plasma, preventing them from depositing on the vessel walls, and can prevent the formation of arteriosclerotic plaques.
4. The advantages of fish: Fish is the best type of meat. Its flesh is tender and more easily digested and absorbed than livestock or poultry meat. At the same time, fish has a low fat content, making it more appropriate for preventing and treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Eating fish regularly also has a brain-strengthening effect. Therefore, it is recommended that middle-aged and elderly people eat more fish.
5. It is ideal to drink stewed bone soup: Drinking soup is better than eating meat, because the broth is not only delicious and savory, but it also has higher protein, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus content. Therefore, often drinking stewed bone soup can reduce fat by 30-50%, lower cholesterol, and increase unsaturated fatty acids, making it an ideal nutritional supplement for the elderly.