🌿 Folk Prescriptions

69-year-old Ms. Li recently had to be hospitalized due to rapid weight loss and lung infection. During her hospitalization, her hemoglobin and plasma protein levels dropped significantly. After ruling out malignant tumors and other wasting diseases, doctors discovered she suffered from "elderly protein-energy malnutrition." The root cause? A piece of advice from her doctor during a routine check-up half a year ago: "Your diet should primarily consist of low-salt, low-fat, and low-sugar foods."
While it's good for seniors to pay attention to dietary control, overly strict adherence to the "three lows" and excessively reduced food intake can easily lead to malnutrition.
Signs of Malnutrition Include Weight Loss
When Ms. Li first noticed her weight dropping, she thought it was due to diabetes and didn’t take it seriously. Indeed, current evaluation standards for elderly nutritional deficiencies are still inadequate, and early clinical signs—such as fatigue, cold sensitivity, and ankle swelling—are often overlooked, even by healthcare professionals. Surveys show that the prevalence of malnutrition among hospitalized elderly ranges from 20% to 60%, and among non-hospitalized elderly, it's 5% to 10%. However, the diagnosis rate is only 36%.
Malnutrition is long neglected, eventually leading to worsening of underlying conditions. So how can elderly people determine if they’re suffering from malnutrition? Generally, if elderly individuals who strictly restrict their diets experience decreased appetite, fatigue, progressive weight loss, generalized or limb edema, frequent colds, recurrent infections, and lab results showing electrolyte imbalance, anemia, low serum cholesterol, or hypoproteinemia, it indicates they likely have malnutrition.
Dietary Restriction Must Be Scientific
For those like Ms. Li who suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, or diabetes, dietary control is necessary—but must be discussed with a doctor to understand the appropriate limits.
Generally, all elderly people should reduce staple food intake and increase consumption of protein-rich and fiber-rich side dishes, with total daily caloric intake not exceeding 2,000 kcal. Complete vegetarianism is not advisable; simply avoid fried, pickled, and grilled foods, refrain from organ meats, and limit sweets and chilled beverages.
Diabetic seniors should reduce carbohydrate intake, limiting daily calories to 20–25 kcal per kilogram of body weight, while appropriately supplementing meat, eggs, and dairy. Coronary heart disease patients should follow a low-calorie, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, limit salt intake to no more than 6 grams per day, eat plenty of fresh vegetables, and ensure adequate intake of iodine and potassium. Seniors with high blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides should minimize animal fats and cholesterol-containing foods, limit daily salt intake to under 4 grams, and increase intake of vitamins, calcium, and potassium.
Seniors already experiencing malnutrition should eat soft-cooked grains, vegetables, and fruits, add more seasonings to meals to stimulate appetite. They should also drink plenty of water and engage in moderate exercise to improve physical condition.
Be Alert to Excessive Medication Use
Clinical data indicate three groups of seniors need special attention to ensure adequate dietary intake:
First, seniors taking multiple medications. Some drugs—like sedatives—can reduce appetite due to drowsiness and lethargy. Others, such as theophylline and thyroid hormones, increase energy metabolism and impair nutrient absorption.
Second, seniors who drink alcohol frequently. Alcohol provides calories that replace those from food, reducing appetite. Long-term, this leads to malnutrition.
Third, seniors with poor mental health. Retirement, changes in financial status, or grief from spousal loss can trigger depression and loneliness, leading to reduced appetite. In such cases, seniors should focus on increasing nutrition, and seek medical help if needed.