As age gradually increases, many friends will gradually realize the importance of healthy eating when they reach middle-aged and elderly stages. When you are young, your body is very resistant. It is not a problem to eat a lot or go hungry for several meals. However, in middle-aged and elderly people, eating too much can easily lead to weight gain. Eating too much can also easily cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Excessive A partial eclipse and eating too little will affect the body's nutritional balance and also bring health risks.
Middle-aged and elderly people should pay more attention to reasonable arrangements for their healthy diet, which is a very important and correct view to maintain health in their later years. As people reach middle-aged and old age, the body's digestion and absorption capacity will gradually weaken, and the body's metabolic capacity will gradually weaken. If you eat too much, you will gain weight, and if you eat too little, you will become malnourished. How to find a balance between the two? Arranging dietary nutrition intake scientifically and reasonably is much more important than not paying attention to your diet but spending a lot of money on health care products.
Among the many nutrients needed by the human body, B vitamins are a very inconspicuous, but indispensable, very important type of nutrients. There are many members of this family, and the well-known ones are vitamins B1 and B2. , B3, B5, B6, B9 (folic acid), B12 (cobalamin) and so on.
The reason why these nutrients are classified into one category is that they are all water-soluble vitamins. In terms of physiological functions, they are indispensable for the development and growth of body cells, division and reproduction, and maintenance of amino acid metabolism. factors; on the other hand, there is a certain synergy between these B vitamin members. For example, the active metabolism of vitamin B6 in the body requires the participation of vitamin B2. If the body lacks vitamin B2, it will also lead to vitamin B6 deficiency. Lack of it can lead to more health risks.
In today’s popular science article, let’s talk to you about food supplementation of B vitamins.
Middle-aged and elderly people should pay more attention to the supplement of B vitamins.
As we said before, B vitamins are a big family, and this big family plays an indispensable and important role in maintaining the normal physiological functions of the human body.
In terms of maintaining the growth and development of cells, B vitamins are very important coenzymes . Especially in the reproduction of skin, mucous membrane cells, blood cells and other cells, B vitamins are indispensable. For example, lack of folic acid or vitamin B12 may cause health problems such as megaloblastic anemia . And if there is a lack of vitamins B1, B2, etc., it will cause lesions of the skin and mucous membranes, cheilitis, and skin itching. conjunctivitis and other disease problems may be related to the lack of related B vitamins.
Secondly, B vitamins also play an important role in promoting the metabolic transformation of amino acid in the body. For example, we often talk about the problem of high homocysteine . homocysteine is an intermediate metabolite of amino acids. If the concentration of this substance in the blood exceeds the normal range, it will have adverse effects on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It will cause harm to health, especially it will increase the risk of stroke . To store homocysteine for further metabolism, the active metabolite of folic acid, , tetrahydrofolate, , is an important reaction substrate, and vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are important coenzymes for its further transformation. If these are lacking, nutrients, or the body's inability to fully utilize these nutrients, the risk of elevated homocysteine is greatly increased.
The third important role of B vitamins is the role of in nourishing nerves and . A variety of vitamins, including folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, etc., are important nutrients for the division and reproduction of nerve cells and maintaining healthy nerve development. Not only does folic acid supplementation for women in early pregnancy reduce the chance of fetal neural tube defects , but also for pregnant women. For the elderly, paying more attention to the supplement of B vitamins also plays an important role in maintaining the health of the nervous system, protecting the brain, and preventing the risk of dementia.
For middle-aged and elderly friends, the body’s digestion and absorption capacity becomes weaker, especially those who have gastrointestinal malabsorption diseases (such as ulcerative colitis , atrophic gastritis , etc.), or those who Friends who have long-term heavy drinking habits, as well as middle-aged and elderly friends who have a picky eating habit or adhere to vegetarianism, will have a higher risk of B vitamin deficiency, and should pay more attention to the reasonable supplement of B vitamins.
Middle-aged and elderly people often eat 4 types of food, which will help vitamin B supplement
If you want to supplement vitamin B, is it more reliable to take health products directly or take dietary supplements? Regarding this point, many friends believe that taking dietary supplements can directly supplement daily needs in most cases, and there is no need to worry about dietary arrangements. It is a simpler and more trouble-free choice.
But unfortunately, based on current research evidence, dietary supplements of additional nutrients and related nutrients of dietary supplements do not play the same role in preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and the risk of dementia. However, there is no clear evidence that dietary supplement use reduces the risk of these health problems. And if you don’t pay attention to controlling the amount, excessive supplementation may also bring some risks of side effects.
The reason why dietary supplements and health products cannot replace dietary supplements is that there is a view that the nutrients in food are rich and diverse, and most of them are ingested through a combination of multiple nutrients, which is more suitable for the body's absorption and utilization, and high-purity meals Supplements, on the contrary, cannot have such an effect. Therefore, today when we talk about supplementing vitamin B, we mainly introduce to you 4 types of healthy foods that can supplement vitamin B.
1, dairy products
Judging from the current dietary nutrition survey data, a large proportion of Chinese people still have insufficient intake of dairy products. In the newly released "Dietary Nutrition Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2022", it is recommended that the amount of pure milk that adults should drink every day is at least 300ml, or a considerable amount of dairy products. In real life, many people cannot reach this intake.
Many friends know that milk and dairy products are important nutritional supplements for calcium, , vitamin D, and dairy products are also rich in vitamin B12 and other B vitamins. It is also a good supplement for middle-aged and elderly people to supplement B vitamins. Therefore, if you want to fully supplement vitamin B, those who never drink milk, or rarely drink milk, should still pay attention to increasing the intake of dairy products.
2. Cereals
Compared with the white flour steamed bread, rice and other polished white flour staple foods that we often eat, whole grains and miscellaneous grains are healthier ingredients. If you can pay attention to mixing more grains in the staple food, it will be better for overall health. , increasing dietary fiber intake are all very reasonable choices. In addition to being rich in dietary fiber and lower in calories, cereals and grains are also rich in B vitamins, especially vitamins B1, B2 and other nutrients as well as a variety of mineral nutrients. Therefore, if you want to properly supplement vitamin B, you might as well eat more. Whole grain and miscellaneous grain staple foods.
3. Vegetables and fruits
Various fruits and vegetables are also important sources of B vitamins. In particular, some dark green vegetables are rich in B vitamins such as folic acid, and fruits are also rich in B vitamins and antioxidant nutrients. Judging from the dietary structure of Chinese residents, there is currently a common problem of insufficient fruit intake. Therefore, if you want to comprehensively supplement B vitamins, you might as well eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
In terms of vegetables, spinach, broccoli , mushrooms, carrots , tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, green peppers, eggplants and many other vegetables that we often eat in our daily lives are all ingredients rich in vitamin B, and Bananas, grapes, oranges, kiwis, cantaloupe, oranges and other fruits are also rich in B vitamins. If they can be properly combined with various fruits and vegetables, they are very good for supplementing B vitamins and maintaining good health. Meal arrangements.
4, seafood products
fruits and vegetables, although whole grains are rich in B vitamins, they lack a B vitamin that middle-aged and elderly people should pay special attention to - vitamin B12. If you want to supplement vitamin B12, you should mainly eat animal foods. Medium intake. Shellfish, prawns, deep-sea fish and other seafood products are rich in vitamin B12 and are a good source of vitamin B12 for the human body. In addition to vitamin B12, these ingredients are also rich in high-quality protein, as well as unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrients. They are a good meal combination for comprehensively replenishing body nutrition.
The four types of diets mentioned above are common meals that can help middle-aged and elderly people to supplement vitamin B. What needs to be understood is that such an introduction is just an introduction. If you want to comprehensively supplement nutrition and ensure the supply of B vitamins in the body, sufficient, we should still pay attention to the diversified arrangement of diet, and in the process of cooking and production, pay more attention to reducing the number of processes to minimize the loss of nutrients and the production of harmful substances. Only by doing reasonable, healthy and moderate cooking can we be better Ensure a healthy diet, supplement nutrition more comprehensively, and protect the overall health of the body. You are also welcome to actively forward and share it so that more people can see this kind of health science knowledge.
