the elderly are more vulnerable to constipation than the young. According to Chen Yicheng, a hepatobiliary gastroenterologist at Changgeng hospital in Linkou, Taipei, one-third of patients over the age of 60 in the outpatient clinic suffer from constipation for a long time, abdominal distension and discomfort all day, and the quality of life is greatly affected. Moreover, constipation has a greater risk for the elderly with chronic diseases such as hypertension. Taiwan’s health magazine recently published 7 methods to prevent constipation, which can effectively help the elderly solve their pain.
method 1: set the water drinking plan
. Water can expand the fibers in the large intestine to produce enough stool and soft stool“ Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink water, “stressed Zheng Tingfang, a nutritionist at Taiwan’s Tai’an hospital. You must make drinking water a habit. If you drink a glass of water every hour, you can absorb 1500 ~ 2000cc of water all day.
method 2: shake hands and walk fast
when you are in good health, you can go out and walk fast for 30 minutes after drinking water to help water swim in the body and accelerate gastrointestinal peristalsis by means of slight exercise. If it is inconvenient to go out for a walk, at least stand up and shake hands for 10 minutes, which can also achieve the effect of exercise.
method 3: chop the food and cook
Taipei nutrition expert Zhang Leqi believes that to avoid large and fried crisp food, try to chop the ingredients and cook. Zheng Jinbao, director of the Nutrition Department of National Taiwan University, suggests that chopping vegetables into dumplings and steamed dumplings can not only keep water in the dumplings and make the fiber of vegetables easier to absorb, but also add minced meat to make nutrition more balanced.
method 4: juice does not filter residue
Zheng Tingfang nutritionist of Tai’an hospital suggests that we should try to eat fruit according to the season, beat it into comprehensive juice with juice machine, and eat it together with fruit residue, which can not only eat fiber, but also supplement vitamin C. However, she also reminded that if you eat two servings of fruit a day, each fruit is about one fist, and the weight is enough. Otherwise, the fruit has a high sweet score, and you may accidentally eat too much sugar, which will increase the burden on your body.
method 5: one plate of vegetables per meal
Ou Yangying, an expert on long-term dietary nutrition, suggested that you should eat at least one plate of vegetables per meal in order to effectively help defecation. It can be cooked and beaten into mud in a juice machine, or simply boiled with white water, which is a good way to eat. Zhuang Ping, deputy chief physician of Xiyuan Hospital of Chinese Academy of traditional Chinese medicine, reminded the elderly with constipation not to eat too many beans, which is easy to cause flatulence.
method 6: avoid hot and dry diet
Xu Yunqing, a nutritionist in Heping District of Taipei Municipal United Hospital, pointed out that when constipation, try to avoid foods that are irritating or considered “angry” by traditional Chinese medicine, otherwise it will cause hot and dry, making it more difficult to defecate. For example, food fried, fried, smoked and roasted, as well as spicy things such as pepper.
method 7: avoid irritant laxatives. If it is really difficult to defecate, or it is difficult to exercise in bed, you can apply laxative slightly to accelerate defecation. However, the elderly are weak, so we should pay attention to the physiological reaction after taking laxatives. Avoid the use of laxatives that are highly dependent or easy to cause irritation.