Modern society advocates thinness as beauty, but it is important to know that the natural body shape formed by one's own life is often the most suitable for the elderly themselves. As long as it is not overweight, underweight, or sudden weight gain or loss, and regular physical examinations are conducted, there is no need to pursue a certain body shape. Only with good health can the elderly lead a long life.
Being thin doesn't necessarily mean being healthy
Although excessive obesity is often accompanied by diseases, it is not accurate to simply say that being fat is bad. On the contrary, being thin doesn't necessarily mean longevity, and it is normal to be a bit overweight! Liu Yu pointed out that except for extreme cases, such as being too fat to move, for those whose BMI index is at the edge of the healthy range or slightly higher, even if various indicators are slightly elevated, most of them are due to the normal degeneration and weakened metabolism of the body. In fact, there is no need to deliberately diet and lose weight like Liu's grandmother, let alone be "horrified by being fat".
Liu Yu believes that due to the different physical characteristics, living habits, mental states, environments, and diseases of the elderly, their body shapes will inevitably vary, and even have significant differences. This is the individual characteristic of life. Elderly people have a strong herd mentality, and when they see others slim and energetic or fat and rich, they often go to great lengths to keep up with them, which actually goes against the laws of life. Many people, starting from middle age, due to changes in lifestyle and the decline in fat metabolism caused by aging, the body may "gain weight", and the skin and muscles may become loose, which is a normal physiological phenomenon. Therefore, the elderly should not deliberately pursue "being the same as others", as long as their body weight is within the normal range.
Being too thin leads to a sharp decline in immunity
Liu's grandmother, who is 78 years old, was in good health two years ago. With a height of 1.65 meters, her weight had always remained around 55 kilograms, and she was in good spirits. Throughout the year, she rarely had any illnesses. Two years ago, her blood lipids were found to be close to the upper limit of normal during a physical examination, but the doctor considered it to be no problem, so the elderly woman didn't worry about it. However, during a routine physical examination at the beginning of this year, Liu's grandmother's weight reached 61 kilograms. Besides gaining weight, her uric acid, blood lipids, and blood pressure were all slightly high. This made her anxious because her overweight husband had been suffering from hypertension for many years and needed to take medicine every day, which was very troublesome.
So, Liu's grandmother took the initiative to adjust her diet and living habits. She stopped eating meat for three meals a day and almost ate vegetables and tofu every day. She even avoided her favorite fish and seafood, making her husband worry about her bland taste. Liu's grandmother insisted on living a "bland life", and after more than six months, her weight dropped to around 56 kilograms. However, she couldn't be happy because she clearly felt a significant decline in physical strength and resistance. In previous years, she would only catch a cold once or twice, but this year she had caught a cold four or five times in a row, and she was more easily fatigued than before and sometimes even dizzy. Recently, her family saw that she had become spiritless due to her weight loss and were worried that there might be something wrong with her health, so they took her for another physical examination. The result was that although she did not have any organic diseases, she was diagnosed with severe malnutrition.
Advice on "being thin in old age"
"The elderly woman lost more than ten kilograms, but ended up with malnutrition and a sharp decline in immunity. Although she did not have any major illnesses, she constantly had minor illnesses. How can she live a long life like this?" Liu Yu, the director of the Spleen and Stomach Department of Chongqing Jiangjin District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, believes that in recent years, the publicity about the dangers of obesity has been somewhat "exaggerated", and there have been frequent exaggerated statements about the dangers of obesity.
Liu Yu pointed out that the saying "A thousand gold can't buy being thin in old age" by ancient people has a special context. In agrarian societies, the vast majority of people lived a life of working from sunrise to sunset, and there were not many obese people. Generally, those who were wealthy and did not have to work in their old age and had a good diet were relatively pampered and had more conditions to gain weight. These people fit the explanation of "diseases of high spirits" in the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon. In other words, the diseases of "fat and wealthy people" were caused by overeating rich and fatty foods and lack of exercise, and "being thin in old age" was more of advice for this type of people.
Getting fat
Liu Yu pointed out that ancient people did not think that gaining weight was bad, but rather called it "getting fat". In the past, it was considered impolite to mention someone being thin when meeting, because being thin was not auspicious and even a sign of a difficult and unhealthy life. Ancient people regarded being fat as "having good luck". But why is this concept rarely mentioned now? This is because modern society has abundant material life, machines have replaced heavy manual labor on a large scale, and there are more and more people who are idle and pampered, and fat people are becoming more and more common, so naturally it is no longer rare, and fewer people regard "being fat as being blessed".
Liu Yu pointed out that ancient people's belief that being thin is not auspicious and even indicative of illness is not unreasonable. Being fat or thin can indeed reflect the strength or weakness of a person's organ functions. Referring to Li Dongyuan, a famous physician from the Jin and Yuan dynasties, in his book "The Theory of Spleen and Stomach", he explained from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine: "If the spleen and stomach are strong, one can eat and become fat; if the spleen and stomach are weak, one cannot eat and becomes thin." Generally, only those who have good visceral functions and can absorb what they eat normally will gain weight, while those who do not gain weight even if they eat a lot need to properly regulate their organ functions and even check for hidden diseases.
