One way to help old people live a healthier life is to pay attention to their nutritional needs. Eating right helps the elderly to delay or reduce the risk of contracting or prolonging their health disorders.
Vegetable oil is fine as long as we do not subject it to high heat which often happens when we fry with them.
THE population of old people around the world is increasing rapidly due to improved lifestyles and dietary habits.
Both the number and the population proportion of people, aged 60 and above, are growing in virtually all countries, and this upswing will continue, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
In 2002, there were about 605 million old people worldwide and nearly three quarters (about 400 million) live in low-income countries. Greece and Italy had the highest proportion of older persons – both at 24 per cent – in 2000.
By 2025, the number of older persons globally is expected to exceed 1.2 billion, with about 840 million living in low-income countries.
The two main contributing factors are the advancement in preventive healthcare, allowing people to live to an older age, and the trend towards late marriages and couples having children very late in life.
In the past, it was common to see people with large families but nowadays, most town or city folks are having fewer children. This means that the percentage of a country’s young people is getting smaller compared to old people, and this, in turn, will affect the young-to-old ratio of the world’s population.
Another oft-cited reason why the world is getting older can be traced to the so-called baby boom period – from the mid-1940s (after World War II) to the early 1960s when a significant number of babies were born because of the relative post-war calm. And the ‘baby boomers’, as they are termed, are now growing old.
How do you know your body needs the supplements? Who gives you the proof? Most probably, you are just assuming what your body needs. For example, people seem to think they need extra calcium – young or old. Who said so? That information might be completely inaccurate because only young people may need more calcium than old people. The elderly actually need more magnesium, manganese, and zinc.
Dato’ Sri Steve Yap, complementary medical practitioner
Greatest challenge
One of the greatest challenges old people face is deteriorating health. With age, their immune systems start losing their ability to fight diseases.
One way to help old people live a healthier life is to give them the necessary nutrition. Eating right helps the elderly delay or reduce the risk of contracting or prolonging their health disorders.
Nutritional requirements change as the body ages. While the body’s calorific needs decrease, its micro-nutritional needs increase. Health experts say it is never too late for old people to change dietary habits though it is better to start eating a balanced and nutrient-dense diet early in life.
Nutritional causes of ageing
According to Dato’ Sri Steve Yap, a complementary medical practitioner, there are four most common risk factors that together can contribute significantly to people gradually losing their vital health and accelerating their biological ageing process.
Yap, one of Malaysia’s specialists in the area of nutritional, anti-aging, regenerative and complementary medicine, and a speaker at the recent Asean Conference on Healthy Ageing, said the factors could be categorised under four technical names.
• Glycation: Eating too much refined starch and sugar can contribute to glycation, sometimes called non-enzymatic glycosylation.
It’s the result of the covalent bonding of a sugar molecule, such as glucose or fructose, to a protein or lipid molecule, without the controlling action of an enzyme.
• Methylation: A chemical process occurring in a cycle in the body’s cells that enables the cells to make other substances work correctly.
This process will be adversely affected by inadequate consumption of dark green vegetables. Methylation is one of the body’s most important and most common chemical processes.
It occurs in all the body’s cells but is especially crucial to healthy liver function and detoxification.
• Oxidation: This problem can be brought about by not eating enough food items which are freshly harvested and organic.
Fresh fruits and colourful vegetables contain anti-oxidants to help neutralise oxidation. For example, an apple here will turn brown very quickly because of insufficient anti-oxidants and because it’s not fresh after being brought into the country months ago.
Local fruits like ‘kedondong’ is actually better than apple because after being cut, it doesn’t turn brown. A fresh guava has about 50 times more Vitamin C than an apple.
The problem is many local people think local fruits are lower in quality – a wrong perception leading them to go for the less nutritious imported fruits.
• Inflammation: Any food deep fried, grilled, barbecued or microwaved can contribute to inflammation. Cooking oils rich in omega-6 from corn, sunflower, and even soy can turn into inflammatory chemicals when consumed.
The healthier and more nutritious way to prepare food is either to bake, boil or stew them. In some cases, eating organic veggies raw is beneficial because their nutrients are not destroyed by heat. Food high in refined sugar or fat content can also contribute to inflammation.
Which is better?
When it comes to fats and oils, people are spoilt for choice. Supermarket shelves are filled with all sorts of cooking oil brands and many of them claim to be ‘healthy’.
This can be confusing to consumers, especially when there are so many debates about the benefits and harms derivable from consuming various types of fats and oils.
Any food that is deep-fried, grilled, barbecued, or microwaved can contribute to inflammation.
So which fats and oils are best to cook with?
Yap said some people think vegetable oils are the healthier choice compared to consuming animal fat.
He added that animal fat is mostly saturated fat, which can withstand high heat better and has a longer shelf life than vegetable fat while animal fat has lower oxidation susceptibility but is more susceptible to the toxins and carcinogens compared to vegetable oils. However, he conceded vegetable oil is fine as long as it is not subjected to high heat, which often happens when we use it to fry.
“Vegetables oil actually should not be used to fry food. That’s why we never seem to ever see any advertisements in western countries showing vegetable oil being used to fry food. Vegetable oil, like olive oil, is best used as an ingredient for salad. And I would advise people to avoid using recycled cooking oil because consuming it can cause inflammation that is damaging to the body.”
Supplements
Yap said many people take supplements, hoping the ‘extras’ would not only make up for what thought they may have been missing but also give themselves an added boost of vitality to ward off diseases.
“We think the most convenient way is to get all the necessary nutrients from pills or capsules available in the market. But such supplement products don’t necessarily deliver on the promise of better health, especially when taken in larger than recommended amounts.
“There is no concrete scientific evidence that such products can really give you better health. How do you know your body needs the supplements? Who gives you the proof? Most probably, you are just assuming what your body needs.
“For example, people seem to think they need extra calcium – young or old. Who said so? That information might be completely inaccurate because only young people may need more calcium than old people. The elderly actually need more magnesium, manganese, and zinc.”
He pointed out that people, in fact, need not have to waste money on food or so-called supplements.
“They may claim you need Vitamin D. But which Vitamin D are they talking about? D1, D2 or D3?”
He said only D3 is likely to make the bone stronger for the elderly and overweight individuals but that particular vitamin is not generally available from food or supplement products but only found in the human body because it is made by the body when skin is exposed to sunlight.
“D3 may be available by prescription. Vitamin D1 and D2 are obtained from diets and pharmacies.”
Yap stressed it is also wrong to think a lot of sunlight is needed for the body to get all the necessary Vitamin Ds.
“In healthy youngsters, their kidneys can convert D2 to D3. There are actually various sub-groups of vitamins under each category of vitamin. For example, Vitamin E has eight sub-groups. Even protein comes under many types of amino acids.”
He added that as everyone is unique, so is his or her health, and there is no such thing as one standard health package for everyone.
“We can only find out accurately what each one of us needs or is lacking in our body by consulting a licensed practitioner of nutritional medicine. During a medical check-up, we try to find out which one or more of the four conditions (methylation, oxidation, inflammation and glycation) are adversely affecting the person.
“People should not be taking anything the body doesn’t need. And to know what nutrients your body really needs, you are advised to visit a nutritional medicine practitioner experienced in treating chronic disorders. All acute conditions must be referred to clinics and hospitals.”
But how can a person know when to see a therapist?
According to Yap, this is an individual choice.
“If you think you need to consult a therapist, seek out one who can be your partner in health. Just like how you regularly maintain your car.
“When you think it’s time to send your car to the workshop, you will usually do so without hesitation. But your car can’t be more important than your body, right?”
He suggested once a person feels he or she is ageing rapidly, concerns on health tend to set in. For a woman, it’s usually from 35 onwards and a man, 40 onwards.
He said if they could prevent the four ageing conditions from setting in, they would most probably be ageing slower than the average person in their age groups.
“Current understanding on anti-ageing medicine suggests we may be able to reverse up to 20 years of our biological age. However, very few individuals are disciplined enough to achieve this target.”
He said it was sad to see people from 40 onwards starting to suffer from tumour growth – usually a pre-cancer condition – or developing pre-diabetic conditions, and only then, they started to do something to try and reverse the condition.
“They may reduce health deterioration in their bodies if they have the discipline to take precautionary measures early.”
Vegetables or fruits?
Yap said fresh organic citric fruits and colourful vegetables are nearly similar in that both are good sources of fibre, antioxidant and phytonutrient, noting that the biggest difference was that tropical fruits tended to be higher in sugar (fructose) content.
Vegetables generally contain a higher concentration of the micronutrients – vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that are essential for good health, he added.
Eating a variety of foods from all food groups can help supply the nutrients people need as they age. A general pattern of healthy eating plan consists of eating more leafy vegetables, citric fruits, and moderate amount of low-fat or fat-free dairy products, organic lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, seeds and nuts.
In other words, just eat everything in moderation but it’s good to eat more of dark green vegetables, including sweet potato leaf and tapioca leaf.
Yap said balancing physical activities and a healthful diet may be the best recipe for health and fitness.
“Those who have been physically inactive should make time to start with at least a few minutes of sweat-producing movements like walking and from there they could gradually increase the intensity as they become stronger and gain better stamina. This may be one way to fight accelerated ageing and stay young longer,” he added.