[Features of the actual diet of persons in the older age groups in the Abkhazian ASSR].

Nutrition of the elderly population aged 60-90 years and over living in the rural areas of Abkhazia is conservative in nature. It is marked by strict adherence to national habits and traditions. The national features of the examined population include high consumption of dairy and vegetable products, low consumption of salt, sugar, meat, fish, vegetable oil, high content in the diets of acute flavors and vegetable sauces, moderate consumption of alcoholic drinks. In addition, nutrition of the examined population was found to be balanced almost in all main nutrients, in the magnitude of energy capacity, and to correlate with the formula of balanced nutrition. The nutrition pattern under discussion is marked by some characteristics whose role was evidenced by experimental prolongation of the lifetime. This pattern is completely deprived of the known alimentary risk factors of age-associated pathologies. The features of nutrition under consideration seem likely to be determined by the character of adaptation to the climatogeographic conditions and correlate with a good health status of the examinees and high level of longevity in the region under study.