Meat is an important player in the dinner table, some people even can’t live without it.

However, with the improvement of living conditions, more and more people are concerned about health issues, eating meat has become a very tangled thing, especially for the elderly – some people feel that thousands of gold can’t buy you old and thin, the three highs, cardiovascular disease and obesity-related, so you should eat less meat; and some people think that not eating meat is too thin is not good, poor physique , easy to get sick ……

So, when you get older, should you eat less meat or more meat?

Old people who eat more meat live longer

At the Heart Failure and World Congress on Acute Heart Failure, a joint research study across 11 countries noted that older adults who consume higher levels of protein, mainly from meat and eggs, have a lower risk of cancer and can live longer lives relative to those who are more vegetarian.

It was found that older people with a protein intake of 40 grams or more per day had a mortality rate of only 18 percent, while those who consumed less than 40 grams had a 31 percent mortality rate!

1 Why should seniors increase their meat intake?

Preventing malnutrition

Elderly people are susceptible to malnutrition due to reduced intake and absorption of energy and nutrients as a result of decreased food intake and digestion and absorption capacity. According to relevant statistics, more than 50% of Chinese people over the age of 65 are malnourished, and the situation is even more serious in the vast rural areas.

Meat is rich in protein, lipids, vitamin B12, fat-soluble vitamins such as iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium and other important sources of essential nutrients, especially livestock and poultry meat is an important source of hemoglobin iron, and these nutrients, and it is the elderly are prone to lack of.

Avoid osteoporosis, sarcopenia

The loss of muscle mass in human body has started from around 40 years of age, after 50 years of age the muscle mass decreases by 1% to 2% per year, after 60 years of age the muscle loss is about 30%, and above 80 years of age the loss of muscle mass can be up to about 50%. The decrease in muscle mass will increase the occurrence of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, etc., as well as increase the incidence of falls, fractures, disability and even death.

Muscle production requires protein, if a person eats less meat, protein deficiency, muscle “no food”; plus, the elderly originally absorb nutrients and synthesize muscle capacity is relatively poor, which further increases the chances of muscle loss.

Delaying Brain Aging

The concentration of antioxidants decreases as a person ages, and eating meat can help increase the concentration of antioxidants, as well as restoring acetylcholinesterase activity in brain tissue, thus reducing brain cell damage and avoiding problems such as memory loss.

2 Eating more meat ≠ high calorie diet

Researchers emphasize that while increasing meat in moderation, the elderly must reduce the intake of refined rice and noodles, potatoes and other carbohydrates to keep the total calories within the normal range. Otherwise, three highs, obesity, and cardiovascular problems may also find their way to the door.

In addition, a study by the University of Alabama pointed out that a low-carbon diet, appropriate reduction in the intake of rice flour and sugar, more meat, eggs and fish can significantly improve the health of the elderly, lose weight under the premise of maintaining a lean body mass, and lose visceral fat, but also improve the sensitivity of insulin, reducing the risk of developing a variety of diseases.

Eat meat correctly and master these 4 points

1 Eat less red meat and more white meat

Red meat mainly includes the meat of pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys and other livestock, containing high saturated fatty acids, excessive consumption will increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as hyperlipidemia and coronary heart disease. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, it is recommended that the daily intake of red meat should be controlled within 50g.

White meat, including chicken, duck, fish, etc., relatively speaking, less fat content, protein content is higher, and contains protein amino acid composition is closer to the amino acids needed by the human body, which is more conducive to digestion and absorption. Fish, in particular, is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which help control blood lipids and are more helpful in protecting the cardiovascular system.

Tip: Eat both red and white meat, as the iron in red meat is incomparable to white meat.

Specific meat consumption can be referred to:

① When eating one type of meat alone every day, eat 8 mouthfuls for those without legs, 6 mouthfuls for those with two legs, and up to 3 mouthfuls for those with four legs (about 10g of meat per mouthful).

② three types of meat all eat, fish and shrimp to eat 5 mouth, chicken and duck to eat 3 mouth, pig and sheep to eat 1 mouth (each mouth meat about 10g).

③When you don’t eat meat, supplement with soy products, which are rich in plant protein and to some extent can replace meat for protein.

2 It is best not to eat processed or cured meat

The WHO classifies processed meat as a class 1 carcinogen and suggests that it should not be eaten.

Processed meat contains a certain amount of nitrite, which may produce trace carcinogens nitrosamines, increasing the risk of cancer; and some processed meat products may also be added preservatives, color enhancers, etc., will increase the burden on the liver, kidneys, eat easy to damage the liver and kidney function.

And like bacon, salted chicken and other salt excess, on the one hand, will make the loss of nutrients in the meat, on the other hand, will aggravate or lead to increased blood pressure, fluctuations, on the human cardiovascular is also unfavorable, and which produces nitrites, which will indirectly increase the risk of esophageal cancer and stomach cancer.

3 Pay attention to the way you cook

Try to minimize the use of frying, deep-frying and baking.

Protein-rich food will produce heterocyclic amine carcinogens above 200℃; fat-rich food will produce a large amount of benzo(a)pyrene when it is close to 300℃; food containing starch, sugar and protein will produce a large amount of acrylamide between 120-180℃, and all these products are potentially carcinogenic.

Comparatively speaking, we recommend stewed meat, because stewed meat is tender and soft, most of the chewing function of the elderly decline, stewed meat is more suitable, and stewed slowly over low heat, can reduce saturated fat.

Journal of Food Science, an experiment shows that pork after a long period of stewing, because the fat in the meat will dissolve in the soup, so the meat of 30% to 50% fat content will be reduced, the cholesterol content is also relatively decreased. However, the fat content in the soup will be very high, it is best not to drink this kind of thick soup.

4 Meat’s “best friend.”

Meat choose the right “partner”, can let a person eat without worrying about not gaining weight!

① Vegetables rich in dietary fiber: konjac, dried matsutake mushrooms, dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots and so on.

Dietary fiber can assist in inhibiting fat absorption, adsorption of fat and out of the body; can also delay gastric emptying, increase the sense of satiety, to help control the amount of food.

② Fungus and mushrooms: shiitake mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and so on.

Mushrooms contain mycosterol (a kind of phytosterol), which can make cholesterol isomerization and reduce cholesterol absorption; and the proteins in mushrooms are not complete enough and lack certain amino acids, so stewing with meat not only has a good taste, but also can play the effect of amino acid complementation.

Therefore, whether it is braised meat or stir-fried meat, etc., you can properly add these two types of ingredients to cook together.