It is a good thing to eat fruit in winter, but for elderly people with weak spleen and stomach, eating improperly can be detrimental to their health. In cold weather, elderly people can heat many fruits before consumption to reduce the stimulation to the intestines and stomach.
Generally speaking, elderly people tend to have a cold constitution, so they can choose to eat some warm fruits, such as lychee, longan, pomegranate, kumquat, and red dates. However, it is best to heat fruits with cooling properties, such as pear, grapefruit, and banana, as well as neutral fruits like apple, grape, sugarcane, and papaya.
Boiling soup: Pears, apples, and hawthorns can be boiled with rock sugar to make soup. However, because hawthorns are sour, elderly people with excessive stomach acid should eat less or be cautious.
Cooking porridge: Fruits that can be cooked with porridge include longan, dried red dates, raisins, etc.
Stewing meat: Water chestnut, longan, etc. can be added to meat soup for stewing, which can enhance the taste of the meat.
Steaming: Hawthorns, red dates, and apples have good effects on nourishing the middle and benefiting qi, nourishing blood, and calming the mind. Steamed dates, in particular, are more easily digestible than raw dates, so people with weaker spleen and stomach function can eat them in moderation.
Microwave heating: Oranges, pears, apples, etc. can be cut into small pieces, heated in a microwave, and consumed. They can also be juiced and then heated in a microwave for drinking.
Cooking: The most common way to cook with fruit is caramelizing. Cut the fruit into pieces, cook white sugar into syrup, and coat the fruit with the syrup, forming threads. Examples include caramelized oranges, caramelized bananas, caramelized apples, caramelized pears, etc.
When the weather is cold, it is still not advisable for elderly people to eat too much fruit. Generally, one serving per day, about the size of an apple, is recommended. Otherwise, it may harm the spleen and stomach, and it is best to consume fruit during lunchtime.
