Text: Dr. Xu
Edited by Chi You
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On an ordinary weekend, in a busy supermarket in Beijing's Chaoyang District, a middle school history teacher named Liu Yuan was pushing a shopping cart ready to buy a week's worth of ingredients.
As he passed by the vegetable section, he noticed a striking scene: a group of people gathered around the organic vegetable section, rushing to buy sweet potatoes there.
Liu Yuan leaned over curiously, and heard a middle-aged man in a white coat discussing with people: "Although sweet potatoes are good, they are not suitable for everyone, especially elderly friends. ”
Liu Yuan couldn't help but join the discussion.
The Mr. White Coat claimed to be a doctor, named Chen Bo, who specialized in the relationship between food and health.
If you eat sweet potatoes for a long time when you are old, you are prone to 3 diseases?
Dr Chan explained in detail what his research found that long-term consumption of large amounts of sweet potatoes, especially in older people, may trigger three diseases – gastrointestinal dysfunction, blood sugar control problems, and increased oxidative stress.
First of all, sweet potatoes contain a lot of fiber, which for young people undoubtedly contributes to the cleanliness and health of the digestive system.
But for some older people whose digestive function is starting to decline, too much fiber can cause gastrointestinal disorders such as bloating, constipation or diarrhea.
Chen cited a study involving 500 people over the age of 60, who found that nearly 30 percent of those who had been eating large amounts of sweet potatoes for a long time reported symptoms of indigestion.
Secondly, although sweet potatoes are a healthy food with a low glycemic index, their sugar content is not low.
For some elderly diabetic patients, if the amount of food is not properly controlled, long-term consumption of large amounts may cause blood sugar fluctuations.
Chen Bo pointed out that his team found in a comparative study that if the proportion of sweet potatoes in the daily diet of older adults with signs of prediabetes exceeded 30%, their blood sugar control status had a significant deterioration compared with other food intake groups.
Finally, sweet potatoes are rich in β-carotene and other antioxidants, which are beneficial to the human body in general.
However, due to the decline of the ability of the elderly metabolic and antioxidant system, after ingesting a large amount of antioxidants, they may produce excessive free radicals and increase oxidative stress, thereby accelerating the occurrence of cell aging and diseases.
This was confirmed in another study by Chen Bo involving 200 elderly people over 60 years old, who consumed more than two sweet potatoes a day and had more than 20 percent higher rates of oxidative stress-related diseases than the general diet group.
In the communication with Chen Bo and other customers, Liu Yuan was shocked.
He never realized that a seemingly harmless ordinary food could pose such a health risk under certain circumstances.
Liu Yuan was grateful for Chen Bo's explanation and decided to pay more attention to its impact on specific groups of people when choosing ingredients in the future.
At this point in the story, let's think about a question:
If food-induced oxidative stress is becoming more severe in older adults, can we balance this effect by modifying other lifestyle factors, such as increasing exercise, improving sleep quality, or adopting antioxidant strategies from other foods?
For this question, studies have shown that comprehensive lifestyle modifications can indeed significantly improve oxidative stress in older adults.
For example, a study involving 1,000 older participants showed that 30 minutes of light- to moderate-intensity exercise per day was effective in reducing levels of food-induced oxidative stress while improving sleep quality and overall well-being.
In addition, increasing the intake of foods rich in vitamins C and E, such as citrus fruits and leafy greens, has also been shown to combat the negative effects caused by excessive antioxidants in foods.
Through these comprehensive measures, we can not only alleviate food-related problems, but also improve the quality of life and health of the elderly.
What do you have to say about this? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section!