Nadezhda Runikhina, chief freelance specialist, geriatrician of the Moscow Department of Health, told what the diet of an elderly person should be.
She refuted judgments that older people do not need to eat much, as they move little and do not work.
“If an elderly person does not take in a sufficient amount of calories, if the amount of protein is reduced for some reason in his diet, there is not enough calcium, trace elements, vitamin D, then the aging process begins to occur very quickly, malnutrition syndrome develops – nutritional deficiency syndrome”, – the doctor pointed out.
According to the geriatrician, if the diet of an elderly person is not balanced, malnutrition develops very quickly and against this background, a person begins to lose his muscle strength, his mobility is impaired, immunity suffers, respiratory and other infections develop.
Runikhina recommended to consume in sufficient quantities foods containing calcium, vitamin D and protein, the norm of which, according to the doctor, is 1-1.5 g per 1 kg of body weight daily.
Earlier, in January, Rospotrebnadzor prepared recommendations on nutrition for people over 60 years old.
As noted in the department, the nutrition of the elderly should be fractional, limited in calorie content, but at the same time complete in the content of amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vegetable fats, dietary fiber, vitamins, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, chromium.