The importance of nutritious diet

The core value of nutritious diet is not at all a single additional benefit such as "fat loss" and "better skin" as popularly believed, but a comprehensive health infrastructure that supports cell metabolism, immune defense, chronic disease prevention and control, and even emotional cognition. It is the basic solution with the lowest cost, the widest coverage of the population, and the highest long-term benefits among all health intervention methods.

When I was working on an elderly nutrition intervention project in the community two years ago, I met 62-year-old Aunt Zhang. She had been diagnosed with high blood pressure for 3 years and abnormal glucose tolerance for 1 year. We didn't ask her to change her eating habits at that time, but made three small requests: add one-third of oats and beans to the white rice, add an extra chopstick to dark green leafy vegetables at each meal, and add half a spoonful less salt when cooking. With such a small change, after a re-examination three months later, she found that her antihypertensive medication had been reduced by half as prescribed by the doctor, and her fasting blood sugar was stable within 6.1mmol/L. She said that she was no longer feeling sleepy every afternoon, and she could pick up her grandson from school and walk for two stops without gasping for breath.

Don’t think this is an isolated case. The Global Burden of Disease Study data released by The Lancet in 2023 clearly shows that the number of cardiovascular disease deaths caused by three types of dietary problems: high sodium diet, insufficient whole grain intake, and insufficient fruit intake in my country every year exceeds 3 million. In other words, almost 4 out of every 10 people who die from cardiovascular disease are caused by eating problems.

Interestingly, there are more and more disputes about "how to eat to be nutritious". Supporters of the ketogenic diet say that carbohydrates are the root of all evil, vegans advocate the elimination of all animal-derived foods, and there is another group that firmly holds the view that the Mediterranean diet is the best solution in the world. No one can convince anyone. I have come across two extreme cases. One is a boy who works in back-end development. He followed the trend of ketosis for three months. At the beginning, his concentration really improved and he lost 12 pounds. However, the physical examination showed that the low-density lipoprotein was 0.8mmol/L higher than before, and the doctor ordered him to recover immediately. Normal carbohydrate intake; there is also a girl who works for environmental protection and charity. She has been vegan for two years and seems to be thin and healthy. It was not until a physical examination revealed severe iron deficiency anemia that her hair fell out in handfuls. Later, she added three eggs and two cups of room temperature yogurt every week, and the index was restored in three months.

In fact, is there any perfect recipe that is universally applicable? The underlying logic of nutritious diet is never to let you follow the requirements of a certain school, but to adapt to your own physical condition, living habits and even dietary preferences.

The questions I get most often come from young people in their twenties, who just say, "I work overtime and eat takeout every day, so I don't have time to eat nutritiously." Last year, a little operating girl who was born in 1999 came to me and said that she had oral ulcers at least three times a month. Her aunt was in pain so much that she had to take painkillers, and her hair kept falling out. She wondered if she had a serious illness. I checked her food record for the week: she drank full-sugar milk tea five times a week, ordered braised rice bowls every time, and almost no green vegetables. Calculated, her daily intake of added sugar exceeded the recommended amount by three times, sodium exceeded by two times, and vitamin C was less than 40% of the recommended amount. I didn’t list any complicated recipes for her, so I made two requests: add an extra serving of blanched vegetables when ordering takeout, and change the milk tea from full sugar to three-thirds of sugar. After two weeks of this change, she specifically sent me a message saying that she didn't have any oral ulcers this month, and my aunt didn't even take any painkillers.

You see, you don’t need to eat boiled vegetables every meal or count the calories when eating. Just make 10% small adjustments in your existing living habits, and the benefits will be much higher than spending thousands on health care products and functional skin care products.

Many people think that I am young and in good health now, and it is okay to stay up late, drink wine and eat junk food. In fact, the wear and tear on my body is accumulated quietly. A 2019 tracking study in "Cell Metabolism" showed that a person's basal metabolic rate will gradually decrease from the age of 25. If a nutritionally imbalanced diet is maintained for a long time, the risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia after the age of 40 is 2.7 times higher than that of people with a balanced diet.

I have been doing nutrition consulting for almost 6 years, and what bothers me the most is people asking me, "Is there a universal healthy recipe?" Really not. If you eat in the workplace canteen every day, pick two more dishes of different colors and take less sweet drinks every time you cook. If you travel frequently, stuffing an apple and a vacuum-packed hard-boiled egg in your bag is better than eating instant noodles in the service area. If you like to keep fit, add more protein, and don't eat chicken breasts. If you switch with fish, shrimp, tofu, and milk, you can always eat it without getting tired and ensure complete nutrition.

A few days ago, a friend joked with me, saying that he spends 3,000 yuan a month on anti-aging essences and stays up late drinking full-sugar milk tea every day. To be honest, every bite of food you eat will eventually become a part of your body. The condition of your skin, the quality of your energy, and even your ability to withstand every attack of the flu have actually been hidden in your daily rice bowl. This account with small investment and high returns is a good deal no matter how you calculate it, right?