Experts believe that in winter, the elderly are vulnerable to foreign pathogens because of their decreased physiological functions and low cold and cold resistance, and they get pneumonia, flu and other common winter diseases. These new diseases are intertwined with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, nephropathy, gastrointestinal diseases, asthma, tracheitis, emphysema, rheumatoid arthritis and other old chronic diseases, which seriously threaten the health and life safety of the elderly. Therefore, only by taking preventive measures as early as possible can the elderly spend the long winter calmly and safely.
Keep up with the times, keep fit and resist evil.
The way of TCM health preservation pays attention to keeping pace with the times and adapting to the times. After winter, the climate changes from cool in autumn to cold in winter. In winter, yin flourishes and yang declines, and cold is the main qi in winter, which belongs to yin evil, and it is the easiest to hurt people's yang, and it needs people's yang to resist it most. Because the old people are old, their yang is weakening. Therefore, in October, November and December of the lunar calendar, it is more important for the elderly to keep warm from the cold, protect yang and benefit qi, and strengthen the body resistance and eliminate evil spirits.
The view of modern health preservation is similar to that of traditional health preservation. The experimental research shows that when the external temperature changes, the lower the temperature, the more heat directly radiated by the human body; The higher the temperature, the less heat the human body radiates. In the face of cold, in order to keep the body temperature constant, the human body must supplement itself with calories and increase clothes and diet. Therefore, it is necessary for the elderly to improve their cold tolerance and immune function in winter, and pay attention to scientific warmth.
Wearing thick clothes is not necessarily warm.
Old people should first pay attention to keep warm, but "wearing thick clothes to keep warm" is unscientific. Skin is the second respiratory organ of human body. It is necessary to continuously obtain nutrients in the air to maintain the balance of water and nutrients in the whole body. If you wear too thick and can't breathe, it will put pressure on your skin and make it unable to breathe freely. Therefore, dressing in winter should be scientific, and further, we should pay attention to "clothing climate". "Clothing climate" means that although the surface temperature of clothing is close to the outside temperature, the temperature between the inner layer of clothing and the skin is always kept at 32℃ ~ 33℃. This ideal "clothing climate" can create a good microclimate around human skin, buffer the invasion of external cold climate and keep the human body at a constant temperature. Therefore, the elderly should wear light and warm clothes in winter. The inner container of cotton-padded clothes should be made of wool, silk cotton, down and acrylic cotton with light weight, large volume and strong warmth retention.
Old people should wear dark clothes. Studies show that black absorbs 88% of solar radiation, while white only absorbs 20%. Dark clothes can absorb more solar radiation, so that the human body can get more heat and increase the effect of keeping warm. Old people should not add clothes at once. They should gradually add clothes as the temperature drops, so that their bodies can get exercise, gradually adapt to the cold and improve their cold resistance. Don't cut clothes suddenly after adding clothes.
Focus on protecting important parts
Old people should pay special attention to the protection of head, nose, neck, back, hands and feet.
As the saying goes: "Wearing a cotton-padded hat in winter is like wearing a cotton-padded jacket." Chinese medicine believes that the head is "the confluence of yang". Modern medicine believes that the head and neck are close to the heart, with large blood flow and large heat. The experiment shows that when the ambient temperature is 4℃, the heat lost by the head accounts for three fifths of the total heat, and at 65438 05℃, it accounts for three quarters. Moreover, cold weather causes disease, "bearing the brunt." Cold will significantly increase the incidence of stroke. Therefore, the elderly must wear hats in winter, especially when going out. Don't forget to protect your ears when you put on your hat.
Keeping the neck warm can prevent cervical spondylosis. In addition to wearing a scarf around the neck during the day, the elderly can apply a hot water bottle to the neck at night. Don't cover your neck with your mouth and wear a scarf. Because when you cover your nose and mouth with a scarf, falling fibers, dust and germs enter the body with breathing, which is easy to cause respiratory diseases.
Keeping your nose warm can prevent colds. Studies have shown that when the temperature of nasal mucosa drops to 32℃, the local blood circulation will be obviously delayed, the phagocytosis of immune cells will decrease, and cold viruses will easily take advantage of it. Health experts believe that the health care effect of wearing a mask is not as good as that of nose massage: first, press the Xiang Ying point on both sides of the nose wing with your index finger and thumb for 20 ~ 30 times, and then gently massage the nose tip and nose wing with your hot palm, positive and negative directions 10 times. This method can also be used for the adjuvant treatment of common cold and nasal congestion.
As the saying goes, "cold starts from the feet." The sole of the foot is far away from the heart, with little blood supply and thin surface fat, which is the place with the lowest skin temperature. The measures to keep feet warm are: the size of shoes and socks should be slightly larger, and there should be a gap between feet and shoes. When choosing cotton shoes, the soles should be properly thickened, so that the shoes have good cold resistance. Old people who are prone to frostbite should wear cotton shoes as soon as possible.
In meridian science, the back is the main part of the bladder meridian of foot sun. The bladder meridian of the foot sun is the outside of the body, which plays the role of "fence" to prevent the invasion of external evils. Keeping your back warm can prevent "cold and cold". The way to keep warm is very simple, just wear a close-fitting cotton or fur vest. In addition, be careful not to let your back catch cold when you sleep.
Rich nutrition helps keep out the cold.
Nutrition experts believe that at low temperature, the characteristics of dietary nutrition should be: increasing thermogenic nutrients and ensuring sufficient heat energy. Thermogenic nutrients mainly include protein, fat and carbohydrate. For the elderly, the intake of fat should not be too much, so as not to induce other diseases, but should be adequate intake of protein. The supply of protein should be 15% ~ 17% of the total calories, and should be mainly made of high-quality protein, such as lean meat, eggs, fish, milk, beans and their products, which are not only convenient for human digestion and absorption, but also rich in essential amino acids, with high nutritional value, and can increase cold resistance and disease resistance.
Due to the influence of digestion, absorption and metabolism in the body, the elderly often lack potassium, calcium, sodium, iron and other elements. In addition, the inorganic salts discharged with urine in winter increase, which should be supplemented in time. Pang Wenzhen, a professor of nutrition at Tianjin Medical University, specifically said that the elderly should choose foods rich in iron (such as laver, persimmon, mushroom, black fungus, etc.); Foods rich in calcium (such as bean products, mung beans, lotus root starch, rape, laver, milk powder); Foods rich in vitamin A (such as carrots, Chinese cabbage, a small amount of eggs, a small amount of liver); Foods rich in vitamin B2 (such as black beans, mushrooms, milk powder, almonds). In order to prevent hypertension, the elderly should not only eat less salt (about 6 grams a day), but also eat more calcium (800 mg a day). In order to avoid hyperlipidemia, the cholesterol in the diet of the elderly should be more than 300 mg, that is, one egg can be eaten every day, but egg white is an excellent protein, so you can eat more. Cholesterol in crab roe, shrimp and pig liver is high, so it should be limited. If you eat too much grain and sucrose, your blood triglycerides will increase. You should choose low-sugar and low-fat snacks. Old people can eat more seafood (don't eat fish eggs and crab roe). Vegetables and fruits contain more calcium, trace elements, vitamins and dietary fiber, which can prevent coronary heart disease. Old people should eat cooked food and hot food in winter to avoid cold food.
Food supplement and medicine supplement go hand in hand.
It is more important for the elderly to "make up in winter and kill the tiger in spring". The elderly should choose warm things that can benefit qi and strengthen yang, mainly to tonify the kidney. Old people who are in good health mainly eat complementary food. Good tonics include beef and mutton, chicken, dog meat, dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, longan, sesame, fungus and honey. In addition, warm porridge soup should be taken for disease prevention and health care, such as glutinous rice porridge, peach kernel sesame paste, white fungus stewed rock sugar, longan lotus seed soup, antler gum porridge and so on. For people with physical weakness, tonics should be properly supplemented on the basis of food supplement to help make up the deficiency.
Experts say that tonic based on syndrome differentiation and treatment in winter is the key, otherwise it is safe to eat tonic. Old people with kidney deficiency should distinguish between kidney yin deficiency and kidney yang deficiency. Kidney yin is called kidney yin in traditional Chinese medicine, which plays a nourishing and moisturizing role in various viscera; It is called kidney yang that plays a role in promoting and warming. Old people with kidney yin deficiency often have symptoms such as lung heat, dry throat, soreness of waist and knees, tinnitus and dizziness, red tongue and insufficient body fluid. They can eat sea cucumber, medlar, turtle and tremella. People with kidney-yang deficiency often have symptoms such as chills, mental fatigue, backache and tinnitus, and pale and fat tongue. They can take mutton, deer kidney, Psoralea corylifolia, Alpinia oxyphylla, Cistanche deserticola, cinnamon and so on.
Health experts suggest that elderly people take 1 small glass of ginseng wine or astragalus wine every morning in winter to prevent cold and promote blood circulation. Cough and asthma patients eat a few walnuts before going to bed every night (don't take off the thin clothes on the nuts), and then put a piece of ginger in their mouth to chew slowly, which can relieve cough and asthma. Often eat stewed hens, lean meat, tendons, often drink milk, soy milk and so on. , can enhance physical fitness. Mutton and radish are cooked together, then radish is removed, and cistanche deserticola 15g, Morinda officinalis 15g, and Lycium barbarum 15g are added. Eating mutton and drinking soup has the effect of tonifying yang and warming up. Take two thoroughly-developed sea cucumbers, slice them, add 10 jujube and rice to cook porridge, and add salt to taste, which has the effects of nourishing stomach and spleen, tonifying kidney and blood, warming middle warmer and dispelling cold.
It is best for the elderly to strengthen the spleen and stomach before tonic, and do a good job of "bottom tonic", especially for the elderly who need medication. The so-called "bottom" is to lay a foundation and strengthen the function of the spleen and stomach, so that it will not be "empty but not tonic." Euryale ferox is the best food choice for bottom supplement. You can choose Gordon Euryale, red dates or peanut kernels with brown sugar to make soup, or stew beef and mutton with Gordon Euryale. You can also take some drugs such as Codonopsis pilosula, Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria, Coix seed, lentils, dried tangerine peel and so on to regulate the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, when the elderly suffer from exogenous diseases such as cold, fever and cough. Don't take supplements, so as not to leave evil as the enemy, and continue to take supplements after the acute disease is cured.
Pay attention to the temperature of the washing water.
Old people wash their faces with cold water every morning and after a nap in winter, which will constrict the blood vessels in the face and nasal cavity. After the stimulation of cold water disappears, these blood vessels will quickly produce reflex congestion and dilation. This relaxation is a good "vascular gymnastics", which can promote facial blood circulation, improve the adaptability to cold, and prevent respiratory diseases such as colds and tracheitis. At the same time, it can make the elderly clear-headed and energetic.
Old people should brush their teeth with warm water. The optimum temperature of tooth metabolism is 35℃ ~ 36.5℃. Warm water is a benign protective agent, which can protect the mouth, teeth and throat. Drinking a cup of warm water after brushing your teeth in the morning can not only warm your body, but also clean the gastrointestinal tract, dilute your blood, prevent cerebral thrombosis and myocardial ischemia, while maintaining cell permeability and promoting cell metabolism.
As the saying goes, "It's better to take tonic if you burn your feet before going to bed." Washing feet with hot water (60℃ ~ 70℃) can stimulate the abundant peripheral nerves of the foot to reflect to the cerebral cortex, thus promoting the blood circulation of the whole body, enhancing the immune function, eliminating the heavy feeling and fatigue of the lower limbs and promoting sleep. Washing feet can be combined with massage: massaging the big toe can soothe the liver and strengthen the spleen; Massage the fourth toe can cure costal pain; Massage the Yongquan point of the foot heart can benefit the kidney and tonify deficiency, strengthen the waist and strengthen the body, and enhance memory.
Old people's skin often itches in winter, which is often caused by frequent bathing and high water temperature. Therefore, it is best to control the water temperature below 50℃ to avoid the oil on the skin surface being washed away by too hot water. Old people don't need to take a bath every day. After taking a bath, they can apply a small amount of skin cream.
Getting more sunshine is good for your body and mind.
Sunbathing in winter is very beneficial to the health of the elderly. Geriatrics experts have found that elderly people who stay indoors for a long time and rarely go outdoors to receive sunlight generally have symptoms of vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis. Those old people who often bask in the sun in front of the window also have osteoporosis. This is because the window glass filters out some ultraviolet rays, which are essential to promote the synthesis of vitamin D in the human body. Therefore, health experts encourage the elderly to go outdoors to bask in the sun in winter, which helps to prevent osteoporosis in the elderly.
The sunshine in winter can not only prevent osteoporosis, but also reduce the mental depression that often occurs in the elderly. Old people are prone to depression in winter, which is caused by short days and long nights in winter and insufficient light. Sunlight can increase human androgen, inhibit the secretion of melatonin in pineal gland, and help to control emotions.
There are many precautions for cold-resistant exercise.
In winter, the elderly can take appropriate outdoor activities in sunny and windy weather, which can prevent diseases and improve their ability to keep out the cold, but we should pay attention to the amount and manner of exercise.
Old people should not neglect to keep warm when exercising. Don't take off your coat as soon as you start exercising, and then gradually reduce your clothes after your body is slightly hot. After the exercise, you should immediately wipe your sweat and put on your clothes to prevent catching a cold. Old people should not exercise on an empty stomach, especially when they just get up in the morning, otherwise they may die of hypoglycemia and heart disease. After waking up in the morning, the elderly should rest for 5 minutes before getting up, get up slowly, eat properly and exercise after drinking water. The elderly should not exercise suddenly, but should do some simple physical exercises before exercise to prevent ligament and muscle sprain. Choose softer exercise methods, such as Tai Ji Chuan, walking and aerobics. Do not take part in strenuous activities. Patients with asthma, hypertension, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris and stroke should be careful to do cold-resistant exercise, because cold can easily lead to acute attacks of these diseases and cause danger.
Old people should pay attention to foods that should not be eaten more.
1, tremella
Tremella fuciformis is rich in nutrition, has the effects of tonifying kidney and moistening lung, promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, and is deeply loved by the elderly. However, in clinic, it is also very common for the elderly to have intestinal obstruction due to improper consumption of tremella. This is because the elderly have poor digestive function and tremella is not easy to digest. If you eat too much at one time or eat too many meals continuously, it will cause intestinal obstruction, which is manifested as paroxysmal abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, constipation and stop of anal exhaust. Some patients are seriously ill and even need surgery.
2. Fish roe
Caviar is a nutritious food, which contains a lot of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins and riboflavin, as well as rich cholesterol. It is a good supplement and tonic for human brain and bone marrow, but the elderly should eat as little as possible, because caviar is rich in cholesterol, and it is useless for the elderly to eat too much.
In addition, although roe is very small, it is difficult to cook and digest after eating, and it is easy to indigestion and cause diarrhea. So cook caviar thoroughly, and don't overeat when eating.
3. Sunflower seeds
Although sunflower seeds are nutritious and delicious, they are not suitable for the elderly.
First of all, sunflower seeds have high oil content, and most of these oils belong to unsaturated fatty acids. Eating too much will not only consume choline in the body, but also cause imbalance of fat metabolism in the body, which will deposit fat in the liver, affect the normal function of liver cells, cause liver dysfunction, and easily cause connective tissue proliferation, and even induce liver tissue necrosis or cirrhosis.
Secondly, some spices used for frying sunflower seeds, such as cinnamon and pepper, have a certain stimulating effect on the stomach.
4. Tofu
Tofu is a common food with high nutritional value, but it is not suitable for the elderly. Tofu is rich in protein, phytic acid and flatulence factors. If you eat too much at one time, it will not only hinder the absorption of iron, but also easily lead to indigestion, abdominal distension and diarrhea in protein. In addition, the soybean that makes tofu contains a substance called saponin, which can not only prevent atherosclerosis, but also promote the excretion of iodine in the human body, resulting in iodine deficiency in the human body.
Chinese medicine believes that people with cold tofu and stomach and those who are prone to diarrhea, abdominal distension, spleen deficiency and kidney deficiency and frequent nocturnal emission should not eat more.